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Filmtracks Editorial Review:
In scope, the performances for Atlantis are along the same lines as those for Dinosaur. Howard has raised the bar, though, in terms of the amount of choral and percussive creativity for Atlantis. The score and album begins weakly. The song for the film, performed by Mya, is far less engaging than the Faith Hill song that Diane Warren also wrote for the end credits of Pearl Harbor, and may fail to stimulate album sales as highly as initially hoped. The first eight tracks of James Newton Howard's score are by far the least interesting of Atlantis. It is the kind of score and album which could easily discourage you early. The music of these sequences, as we get to know the zany crew of the submarine, hails back to the jerky comedy cues of Alan Menken's Disney scores of the 1990's. Only once the journey reaches Atlantis itself does the score begin to sweep the listener into the action. The strong orchestral cues are led by a title theme that is not as pronounced or mature as the one which sparked so much interest in Dinosaur (and more specifically, the cue "The Egg Travels"), but at the same time, there is no plagiarism issue with the more abstract Atlantis theme than there had been with Dinosaur. The thematic performances in Atlantis aren't always the highlight of the score, interestingly, as Howard saves the most vibrant cues for various scenes of wonderment in the latter half of the film. To be greatly impressed by the score for Atlantis, all you have to do is start playing the album around the ninth track. The following collection of cues, as the submarine discovers and tours Atlantis and its fantastic scenery, are a sibling of the grand underwater cues that Howard wrote for Waterworld. Howard's knack for writing simplistically harmonious chord progressions, always substantiated by a strong bass of string and brass, is flavored with an array of solo vocalists. Female sopranos are well used alone and in chorus to represent the majesty of the seas, and a fuller adult chorus reflects the ghosts of the empire's citezens with haunting beauty. The choral elements, which are mixed rather flatly at the start of the album, sound better integrated with the orchestral and electronic tracks later in the score. Howard's area of expertise in electronics is well utilized for Atlantis, providing an exotic touch of percussion throughout the second half of the score. Chimes, bells, and synthesized mettalic elements, not much different from those heard in Waterworld, appear in three or four tracks, and when combined with the orchestra and chorus, are nothing short of magnificent. Howard also captures the adventurous spirit of the journey with cues such as "Going After Rouke" and "Just Do It," which are built upon snare rhythms and trumpeting brass. Whereas the score begins without much excitement, it crescendos between tracks 9 and 17, ultimately allowing for twenty or so minutes of superb fantasy music. There is a certain amount of overblown fantasy in the score that may cause it to sound too childish and heroic for some listeners, but given the genre of the film, the music is more than appropriate for Atlantis. Upon contemplating the score for Atlantis a while, it is easy to see why Disney has chosen James Newton Howard over Alan Menken for this revived kind of animated film. Menken's specialty remains in song-writing, whereas Howard has the expertise working with enormous performing groups to produce epic scores, which is what these new films need. The album for Atlantis offers exactly 50 minutes of Howard's score, which is generous given Disney's past disregard for the presentation of straight orchestral music off the screen. Ironically, the album was released on the same day as the one for Pearl Harbor, and the Zimmer score has stolen much of the spotlight away from Atlantis... for the time being. I suspect that Atlantis is the type of score that will win over audiences in the theatre with its superb outbursts of orchestral and choral beauty, and will eventually outsell Pearl Harbor in the stores. There is no doubt in mind that the score for Atlantis: The Lost Empire is a more inconsistent listen than Pearl Harbor on album, but the latter score doesn't have half the amount of energy that Howard has provided for twenty or so minutes of Atlantis. Jump to the ninth track of this album and start listening from there --you won't be disappointed. **** NOTE: Be aware! If you put this album into your computer to listen to it, as I always do, the CD will automatically launch your browser and load up an annoying advertisment for other products from the film. In my case, this interrupted a lengthy download and caused my browser (MSIE 5) to crash. This marketing ploy by Disney Records is simply unacceptable and inexcusable.
The insert contains extensive credits and an advertisement poster for other products related to the film, but no information about the score or film. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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