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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you can imagine enjoying Patrick Doyle's hopelessly positive and treble-rich repetitions of blatantly heroic and slightly cheesy fantasy themes. Avoid it... if you expect your sword and sorcery scores to shake the floors with a genuine sense of dread and solemn contemplation (to go along with those grandiose themes). Filmtracks Editorial Review:
Thematically, Eragon is a rich and vibrant score. The opening suite establishes the major themes for the boy, the dragon, and other associated motifs in clear view, with some form of one of these themes almost constantly present in each cue of the subsequent score. What will punch you in the face immediately is the force of the major key, with valiance so prominent in Doyle's frolicking statements of theme that they border on almost orgasmic; it's as though the sprightly and jubilant attitude of Much Ado About Nothing's ceremonious crescendos is bloated to the ultimate proportion. Given the story's upbeat, conquering spirit and the omnipresent goal of pleasing the younger crowd, Doyle doesn't step too far out of bounds with this blatant, cymbal-crashing optimism, but be warned that Eragon could easily rub you the wrong way if you're in a bad mood. If Doyle's goal was to achieve the same broad depth of sound that Howard Shore demonstrated with his The Lord of the Rings score, then he's a step or two behind, for rarely in Eragon's score is there convincing danger or genuine contemplation. The score seems to be one glorious statement of theme after another despite its softer interludes, and perhaps this phenomenon can be attributed to the fact that Doyle's more thoughtful pieces (starting with "Roran Leaves") are pleasantly conservative and non-descript. The meandering statements of theme in Eragon rarely feature notable solos; the mix of the score is one of ensemble first, individual last. The only solo of any impact is the Legend-like female voice in "Together," a sadly underutilized element. There's an interesting note about Doyle's overall writing for the fantasy genre that needs to mentioned here, for it might have something to do with precisely that mix. More than any other composer in recent memory, Doyle seems fascinated with the high end of the orchestra's aural spectrum. In simplistic terms, you could say that his fantasy music is heavily weighted towards the treble region rather than the bass one (the exact opposite of his rather unique --in retrospect-- score for Great Expectations in 1998). From Quest for Camelot to Eragon, Doyle's adventures maintain their happy-go-lucky attitude because of a significant emphasis on performances by cymbals and violins, trumpets, harp, and flutes in their highest ranges. Both the title theme and Saphira's theme (the dragon) are punctuated by extremely high ranges that could possibly be the reason for the score's tendency to be intrusive. The truly interesting cues in Eragon are those like "Battle for Varden," which offer sequences where the middle ranges of the string section, the trombones and French horns, and the rolling beds of percussion are presented without these flourishing high ranges. Of particular note are snippets of rhythmic progressions at 2:30 and 8:50 in that lengthy battle cue. When Doyle needs to rumble the floors with dread --something Shore was extremely effective at in his trilogy of scores-- Doyle clutches to that faintly positive, melodramatic spirit and never allows an expansive bass to convince you that true evil exists (this applies mostly to "Ra'zac," which occasionally and amusingly sounds like a Shakespearian skit gone horribly awry). Perhaps this was intentional, but it seems odd. The choral presence in Eragon waits to make its presence felt until the final half, but is satisfying despite a somewhat weak level of mixing. On the whole, however, it's important to remember that despite its persistent flaws, Eragon is a worthy listening experience with a handful of roaring cues that will impress. While being a blunt instrument of happy intent for most of its length, Doyle's music still provides all the expected thematic integrations, heroic crescendos, and rhythmic battle accompaniment. Given the very low expectations for the film, Doyle succeeds quite well in providing a score that attempts to transcend the bias against the circumstances of the story. Those circumstances do reach up to bite you, the listener, in the butt at the end of the album, however. Two insipid female pop performances beg for coolness, the latter of which is actually a sickly variation on Doyle's main theme. These rock song entries aside, Doyle's hyperactive 45 minutes of score on album will attempt to leave you with the same hopelessly upbeat mood that Much Ado About Nothing did. Whether or not you accept that fluffy spirit from a massive fantasy score is your choice. ****
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