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Filmtracks Editorial Review:
As a partial remedy, Ottman has been working for a while to get his score for Cruel Intentions released on a commercial album. The film Cruel Intentions, while featuring a story that gained cult status with the pop culture audience, was plagued by poor choices in the supervision of its songs and score. When it was discovered that the film was not scoring as well with test audiences as the producers had hoped, the "powers that be" decided to rearrange the songs and replace Ottman's laborious work with a pitiful effort by Edward Shearmur. Even with these last minute changes, the film continued to suffer from poor musical accompaniment, and the chance for an engaging score --as well as potentially best-selling album of score and songs-- went out the window. The twenty-five minutes of rejected score on this new album reveal an even greater creativity than we might have anticipated. To respond to the need for a more contemporary score for the young audiences, Ottman assembled a small group of musicians and produced a strikingly powerful result. A variety of synthesizers are complimented by three string players (affectionately referred to as "The Pussy Trio") and a female vocalist (Lisa Donahue); and even though many scores with only so few performers end up in the "minimalist" category of thinking, Ottman, with the pop rhythms and masterful mixing of his own performances, has created a seductive and passionate score. The female voice that haunts the character of Sebastian would have added another layer of emotional development to that character had the score been used. In all, Ottman's music has just the right balance between the sharp edge of deceit and the romantic maturing of the genuine love that prevails at the end of the film. Most of the other music on the album (the majority, in fact) is material that is available on other commercial albums. The exceptions are Fantasy Island and The Cable Guy, which were released together in promotional form in 1999. Both of those scores show the light side of Ottman's pen while also maintaining his standard of solid orchestral performances. One of great assets of the suite section of the album is the collection of music from Incognito, which is regarded by many to be Ottman's most magical work to date. Because of a few pops found in the original master tapes of Incognito, the score was run through a filter, and this caused its sound to become somewhat tinny for its full album release. When Ottman discovered the master tapes for the score, in their original form prior to editing, it was decided that three of its tracks could be included on this compilation. Interestingly, I had always considered the "echoing effect" of the filter on the original album release to be a positive attribute, giving the score a sense of neat, whimsical flightiness, but I fathom that the majority of Ottman fans would prefer the more intimate, deep recording on this CD. The tracks from Incognito on this album are an even extra bonus because the original album has become very difficult to find in stores over the past few years, and three of its best five tracks are included here. They are a pleasure to hear on any album. The Cruel Intentions album is rounded out by samples from numerous other scores. Ottman's rejected score to Halloween H2O was released by Varese in 1998 under the name "Portrait of Terror," and his opening titles displayed here --complete with a robust interpretation of Carpenter's theme-- is the highlight of that score. Also an impressive effort is Apt Pupil, which is represented on this compilation by its haunting and militaristic theme, dominated by poetic choral and string performances. To appreciate Snow White: A Tale of Terror fully, I would suggest listening to the full Citadel album; it is difficult to get into the mood that that score requires in just the few minutes heard here. Finally, Ottman's only weak score to date, Lake Placid, which was plagued by production problems with the film, is inserted here (likely because Varese holds the rights to it already). Notable scores missing from this album are Ottman's first large scale and dark score, Usual Suspects, and his quirky and perverted Goodbye Lover from last year. Overall, this album is nothing but a delight. It is difficult not to become attached to Ottman's scores, and while his fans applaud his continuing involvement in the directing and editing of films, many of them secretly hope that he chooses to focus his career on film scoring. He's clearly established his talents for producing complex and enjoyable scores, and this compilation album with Cruel Intentions is more than enough evidence to prove it. *****
The insert includes a short note about the circumstances around Cruel Intentions and Incognito. For more information, visit the album's page at John Ottman's Official Site. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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