I think that most of the problems that reviewers have are with the album itself. Within the movie, there is far more music than on the album, and the music chosen rather poorly represents the movie's pacing and sense of humor. Sure, it starts off well enough, but after 'River Goes Wild' it begins to get a bit monotonous. Tracks seven through eleven all pretty much begin to meld together, and when the action music *does* come, it's so harsh and out of the blue that it is a little grating. It took me several listens to find *any* sort of melodic structure in it, but mostly because I was hardly prepared by what had come before. I think if they had at least used the music from Inara's rescue, it would have both broken the earlier monotony nicely, and also helped prep a little more for when the *real* action began.

Ultimately, I think this music would be *far* better served by one of those Deluxe Editions that Varese has been setting up lately. If they can rescue 'Aliens' and the 'Omen' scores, they can do it for 'Serenity.'

Newman and Whedon deserve better!

-Tim