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| • | Newest Major Reviews: | . | • | This Week's Most Popular Reviews: | • | Best-Selling Albums: | ||
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1. The Dark Knight 2. WALL·E 3. Kung Fu Panda 4. The Incredible Hulk 5. Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull | . | . |
1. Moulin Rouge 2. Gladiator 3. POTC: Curse of the Black Pearl 4. Star Wars: A New Hope 5. Edward Scissorhands |
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1. Varèse Sarabande 25th 2. The Last of the Mohicans 3. Legends of the Fall 4. Schindler's List 5. LOTR: Return of the King (Set) |
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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... only if you consider yourself a devoted fan of the Highlander franchise and seek a decent, though underwhelming culmination of musical styles throughout the years of its run. Avoid it... if you are only a casual observer of the cult phenomenon and hoped for a big, thematic, and symphonic score for the closing of the franchise. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
What the two composers' music (along with that of a couple of other contributors to single cues) has in common is a reliance on synthesizers and a handful of specialty instruments. The lack of a symphonic score for this last Highlander film is really disappointing, for the score sounds distinctly cheap in all of its parts. Even within the composers' own music, the primary style changes genres frequently and the little thematic development is too sparse to be effective. There are pieces of traditional Scottish themes and instrumentation mixed with hard electric guitars, harmonicas mixed with fantastic female vocals, and bagpipes dubbed over standard, trashy Media Ventures keyboarding. If a cue starts to click, and a few of them do start to crank up the mysticism, you can rest assured that you won't hear that motif again. The highlight of the soundtrack is, perhaps not surprisingly, the arrangement of two traditional Scottish songs performed in Enya style by Jennifer McNeil. The first of these is significant because of its usage in the television show. Graziano's original material is more innovative per se than Glennie-Smith's, utilizing McNeil's vocals and energetic electronic rhythms in an almost-Gothic atmosphere. The ripping of electric guitars for the slashing fight sequences is easily his music's greatest weakness. Glennie-Smith produces exactly what you'd expect from a Media Ventures veteran: electronic chorus, broad brass and string samples, and simple chord progressions. It is very functional music, and in "Killing an Old Friend" and the latter half of "Heather Cuts Her Hair," it is predictably attractive, but overall his contribution is nothing spectacular. Because of its functionality and whimsical changes of tone and style, which is probably logical given the drastic time shifts of the saga, fans of the film will likely find much to enjoy on the album. That inconsistency is a double-edged sword, however, and don't be surprised if you keep coming back to only the vocalizations of traditional arrangements. The final track is an unrelated and unimpressive tribute piece by neither composer and does not appear in the film. Despite some strong stylistic expressions in parts, the album is not quite as immortal as many might have hoped. ***
* traditional arrangement by Stephen Graziano ** score by Stephen Graziano *** score by Nick Glennie-Smith ^ score by Stephen Graziano and Nick Glennie-Smith ^^ music by Chris Neel, not contained in the film
The insert contains extensive notes about the franchise and both primary composers. It also features some of the best artwork ever pressed on a GNP Crescendo product. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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