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Congo: (Jerry Goldsmith) With the massive cinematic
success of
Jurassic Park a few years earlier, there was never any
doubt that studios would jump on the Michael Crichton bandwagon and
bring another animal versus human challenge by the popular author to the
big screen. Never had
Congo been as successful a concept as many
of the writer's other stories of technology and nature, but the film's
distinguishing production feature would be the massive apes themselves.
Even with many of the technical obstacles conquered by the filmmakers
(an issue that had delayed the adaptation for more than a decade), the
production suffered from a terrible translation into a nonsensical
screenplay, with an unknown cast and questionable directorial execution
hampering its appeal. An expedition containing an eclectic group of
scientists and treasure-seekers venture to the Congo for wildly
different reasons, and when they start getting killed off by maniacal
wild apes, a few cheers are merited. Several extraordinary, unbelievable
elements take their toll by the end of the adventure-turned-fantasy,
making the whole laughable for some audiences. Composer Jerry Goldsmith
had been lucky, in many regards, in the African and jungle-related
assignments he received in the 1990's. Even in the common circumstance
in which Goldsmith was handed a truly horrible film to write music for,
he would return with a serviceable and, occasionally, very enjoyable
primordial score. Goldsmith would likely have been involved with
Congo had it originally been shot as planned in the early 1980's
(having been Crichton's regular collaborator at the time), and he
stepped in as a replacement for James Newton Howard (who bowed out due
to scheduling conflicts after doing some preliminary work for the film)
when it was eventually green-lighted for its 1995 release. In an attempt
to do his best to salvage
Congo from the pits of cinematic
despair, Goldsmith teamed up with already-involved Howard collaborator
Lebo M. and assembled a percussion-heavy orchestral ensemble to provide
a robust score for the picture.
The involvement of Lebo M. in
Congo wasn't a
surprise, for his arrangements for
The Lion King were still
bouncing around theatres with enormous success when production began on
Congo. Before long, however, Lebo M. had arguably become
repetitive and highly stereotyped, partly due to his continued
collaboration with Hans Zimmer and related artists. His arrangements and
performances in
Congo are surprisingly limited to a relatively
short song called "Spirit of Africa." The framework for this recording
is the film's central theme, composed by Jerry Goldsmith for
interpolation into the rest of the score. While Lebo M. takes the song
in a new direction in the waning moments of the "End Titles" cue,
Goldsmith's theme still anchors the piece. The Lebo M. aspect of the
"Spirit of Africa" song is very generic, with pounding drums and African
chanting yielding to one great performance of the score's orchestral
version of the theme by Goldsmith's ensemble in the middle of the first
song appearance. Otherwise, the Lebo M. elements are sorely lost in the
central mass of the score, diminishing their effectiveness in
Congo as a whole. Goldsmith's underscore does a valiant job on
its own to compensate for the film's weaknesses, usually choosing to
blast the listener with frantic, brassy action cues and underplayed
ambience rather than accentuate the finer points of the story. The
cliched, varied drums from the song are offered several times throughout
the score, setting a rolling, easy rhythm for the orchestra to meander
along to. Occasionally, the percussion boils up into an impressive
rumble, the full ensemble obliging it with an extended performance of
the thematic material. Expect the main theme to be highly reminiscent of
horn-led equivalents in
The Ghost and the Darkness and
The
Edge, its long lines attractive in highlights such as "Deep Jungle,"
"Crash Site," "Bail Out," and "The Rapids." These bold passages may
alone be worth the price of the album for some Goldsmith collectors, and
enthusiasts of the theme can enjoy it in shorter snippets ("Road Block")
and softer,
Medicine Man-like variants ("Gates of Zinj"). A
secondary theme for the lead ape ("Meet Amy") is tepid.
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1995 Album: | | |
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Only $9.99
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No matter how strongly Goldsmith attempts to infuse
life into the non-thematic sections of
Congo, however, the
straight action material is second rate compared to the composer's usual
standard. One notable exception is the introductory character sequence
in "Meet Monroe Kelly," which revisits traditional Goldsmith action
meters in its quick burst of energy. The anonymous nature of most of the
other action sections is an unfortunate mirror of the kind of bland
material that Goldsmith often provided for substandard films in the
following years. At times, he comes close to capturing the spirit and
the energy of the rhythms and sustained muscular performances of
The
Ghost and the Darkness, but never with the enthusiasm or excitement
of the later score; a touch of that popular 1996 work is especially
previewed at the start of the "Crash Site" cue. Additionally, the use of
clanging metallic percussion and Goldsmith's usual array of synthesizers
is adequate, but not inspired to the same level of beauty as heard in
Medicine Man. Overall, outside of a few truly worthy thematic and
rhythmic highlights, the remainder of
Congo seems rather flat.
It's not as intolerable as the film itself, but it expresses ideas that
hint at the strengths of other superior jungle scores by the composer
without ever actually delivering upon its promises. The original album
release, however, was just as frustrating as the movie. Designed by
someone named Christine Wilson (whose name is listed on the packaging
right next to a phone number that you can call and complain to! Way to
go!), the
Congo album was the first largely known case in which
the track titles were intentionally listed incorrectly on the packaging
of the product. As it states, the true track order is only available on
the CD itself. Such insanity should severely damage any art designer's
career. Fortunately, Intrada Records uncovered the full recording
sessions for
Congo and provided nearly twice the material on a
limited 2013 product that adds a significant quantity of the score's
highlights to the properly titled listening experience. Avoid the 1995
album like you would a crazed albino ape; in a strange sort of way, that
product perfectly topped off a decent and occasionally exciting, but
generally unoriginal Goldsmith score for a terrible film.
Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download
Music as Written for the Film: ***
Music as Heard on the 1995 Album: **
Music as Heard on the 2013 Album: ***
Overall: ***
| Bias Check: | For Jerry Goldsmith reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating
is 3.26 (in 113 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.32
(in 133,462 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The packaging of the 1995 Epic album is extremely difficult to read and
understand, and it includes no extra information about the film or score. It
intentionally jumbled the track titles on that packaging for no good reason. The
insert of the 2013 Intrada album features extensive information about the film
and score.
