Buy it... if you're looking for an ironically pleasant listen on a bright, sunny day.

Avoid it... if you expect the bombast and excitement of David Arnold's disaster scores for previous Roland Emmerich ventures in the genre.

Kloser

The Day After Tomorrow: (Harald Kloser) To understand why ridiculous movies like this even get made, you have to look upon the fortunes and personality of director/co-producer/co-writer Roland Emmerich, an avid environmentalist who votes Green Party and has had an obsession with worldwide disaster scenarios since his childhood. Thus, The Day After Tomorrow is a culmination of everything that an obsessed man like Emmerich could ever want: a film about impending environmental doom, not-so-subtle attacks on the policies of the Bush/Cheney administration in America (you just have to love how much actor Kenneth Welsh looks like the equally untrustworthy, corporate-bought Dick Cheney), and, of course, spectacular shots of immense destruction. The city of New York in particular, not spared a firey demise in Independence Day and the massive feet of a monster in Godzilla, is not even sacred in Emmerich's post-9/11 era. Without a doubt, Emmerich and his crew are good at showing the annihilation of cityscapes, but what seems to escape these movie-makers is any sense of reality, logic, drama, passion, emotion, tension, psychology, or even witty humor. As with Emmerich's other disaster flicks, the highlight of The Day After Tomorrow is indeed the 20 or so minutes of total chaos that ensues at the sudden start of the next ice age. The rest of the film is bland at best, and that distinction also applies to Harald Kloser's score. Emmerich's previous disaster films have featured the popular orchestral action of David Arnold, but a disagreement between them (over the 2000 film The Patriot) ended their collaboration (and Arnold's skyrocketing fees may have prohibited him from this one as well, had it not been for the strained relationship). Kloser, who is widely known only for his average score for 1999's The Thirteenth Floor, is put in a position to benefit from such a sudden and huge assignment, to the same end perhaps that Arnold enjoyed from such exposure. As expected, Kloser takes a mainly orchestral approach for this Western human drama, although his result is far less inspiring than Arnold's early music for the genre.

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As with the film as a whole, the pieces for a good score were in place. Kloser's music is sufficient in its length, thematic attention, and emotional development. Where it sadly lacks, however, is in its depth and level of enthusiasm for the massive scale for which it plays. The music takes no chances, slipping into the realm of cliches and stock sounds at times when a truly powerful score was called for. The opening of the score has the expected female vocal to represent either human vulnerability or mother nature (doesn't really matter which it is) and presents a solid, although uninspiring theme that dissolves at the end into the use of a solo trumpet to salute the fallen. The cliches continue as we jump right into the action; the "Tornado Warning" cue offers a tolling bell for humanity, deep bass strings foreshadowing death, and even a distant screeching sound for scary effect. Kloser whips out a solo viola or violin for a stab at the sounds of persecution. Wandering notes at the very bottom of the piano mark another overworn horror technique in "Blizzard." When waves are crashes and millions are dying, Kloser sets a moderate rhythm to pounding percussion and various electronic clicking sounds. The metallic rhythms are a welcome spark of life, but never sustain themselves long enough to maintain audience interest. The cues of subtle underscore are sensitive and plenty throughout The Day After Tomorrow, harmonious by nature, often repeating the title theme in some long, drawn-out variation. And yet they lack grip. The cue "President's Speech" is a lesson in yawning compared to Arnold's equivalent for ID4, even leaving the listener yearning for the emotional depth of James Horner's Deep Impact (no matter how unoriginal that score was). Even a more evident use of the female vocals by Carmel Echols could have injected this score with some additional life (she performs only four notes on the album). In the end, we have a score like Alan Silvestri's Volcano... decent, functional, but not special by any stretch of the imagination. Ironically, the album of The Day After Tomorrow, while playing short and perhaps diminishing Kloser's effort, is a very consistent and harmonious listening experience. It's a rare circumstance in which you have a disaster score that is a pleasant listen on a bright, sunny day... not what Kloser was probably looking to achieve.   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download

Music as Heard in the Film: **
Music as Heard on Album: ***
Overall: ***