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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you're ready for an effective musical interpretation of the film's polarized and frustrated emotions, alternating between kick-ass rhythms and lengthy world-instrument atmospherics. Avoid it... if unfocused dissolution in the form of an awkward rhythmic merging of American and world sounds is not your idea of a pleasant listening experience. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
The progression that Newman follows in the score is quite remarkable in that he very effectively interprets the changing attitudes of the primary characters in the story. The first half has all the kick-ass militaristic electric guitars and powerful bass rhythms that you expect the soldiers to embody during their training and deployment. Newman plays along familiar expectations for these cues, with "Zoomies" perhaps best characterizing the American "go-get-'em" attitude in its military; the echoes of men sounding off in unison yield to muscular guitar and drum rhythms that degenerate eventually into the sound effect of a tire turning on gravel. These heavily American rhythms start and stop in anticipatory fashion throughout the score, but ultimately are spurned due to the lack of justifying action in the film. Instead, the rhythms turn to a consistent presence of Newman's wild array of world instruments. Because of the military process, and its inherent alertness, Newman keeps these rhythms churning, even when they are performed by odd combinations of instruments from half a world apart (and not just from America and the Middle-East; Newman doesn't limit himself at all). There is little actual Middle-Eastern flavor outside of ideas presented in the distance behind cues like "Welcome to the Suck" (obscured under a heavy guitar rhythm) and "Scuds," the latter of which a highlight cue and being one of two major cues to feature the string orchestra. Newman turns to the strings during the obvious contemplation cues, including "Jarhead for Life." These are the end result of the useless time spent in the desert; the second half of the score often meanders in a daze of whole notes that extend for entire minutes. The only awkward cue in Newman's mix is the pseudo-comical "Dickskinner" (for good reason), and yet, Jarhead as a musical package is not a readily listenable score. It's a case where the composer does a very good job of capturing the essence of the film's emotions, but in doing so, creates a musical journey that won't likely appeal to many outside of the context of the film. Songs from the film are sprinkled throughout the album. Overall, it's a Thomas Newman score to appreciate, but an equally difficult one to enjoy.
Music as Heard on Album: ** Overall: ***
The insert includes extensive credits, but no extra information about the score or film. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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