Buy it... if your favorite suspense scores create their ambience with an excess of unusual instrumentation, because Shadow Conspiracy offers a persona defined by a massive percussion section.

Avoid it... if exploding, pounding timpani sequences and only two cues of large-scale brass statements of theme can't compensate for the otherwise typical genre material in between.

Broughton

Shadow Conspiracy: (Bruce Broughton) The middle of the 1990's were a renaissance period for Hollywood films about the American president, and that included a fair share of tales involving presidential scandals. The plotline of the 1996 film Shadow Conspiracy held many parallels with films such as Murder at 1600 and Absolute Power, and it suffered from overkill of the subject at the box office. Part of the problem involved its own total ineptitude, from the casting of Charlie Sheen in the lead to an obvious reliance on action sequences stolen from other movies to attempt an atmosphere of excitement. There's even a scene in which a little toy helicopter is supposed to fire bullets at the president; think about the physics of that one for a moment. An incredible dumb script can indeed sink a film and cause the studio to delay it by several months to hide its debut in the doldrums of January. The intrigue involving the White House in this film revolves around a plot (involving, predictably, Donald Sutherland) to overthrow the entire American government. Bringing the thriller to the big screen was director George Cosmatos (of Rambo movie fame), and composer Bruce Broughton had collaborated with Cosmatos for the successful project of Tombstone a few years earlier (some had hoped that Cosmatos would return to his fruitful partnership with the veteran Jerry Goldsmith, but to no avail). For Shadow Conspiracy, Broughton was be able to raise a noble theme similar in basic style to what he had produced for Tombstone, though he wouldn't be able to hold on to it for very long. Cosmatos had a very specific idea in mind when he hired Broughton for the project; he wanted the score for Shadow Conspiracy to be performed by a symphony orchestra with a massive percussion section (and, more specifically, extra drums). The idea was a precursor to Goldsmith's taut technique for L.A. Confidential the following year, and listeners will notice parallels in instrumental mixing between the two scores.

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Broughton responded by not only employing an extra percussionist for the drums, but went over the top with a wide range of percussion instruments to be performed by six total percussionists. The effect of this massive collection is to produce a constant, deep rumbling of sound that was meant to carry the (or perhaps compensate for the inherent lack of) suspense of the film. Broughton does indeed create the correct atmosphere for the genre, with the drums exploding during pounding sequences of terrifying action. The timpani performances alone well portray the unseen power of evil government forces. The cue "Touched by Evil" has a particularly strong timpani solo, for those of you who take perverse pleasure in rattling your elderly neighbors. Similarly, Broughton uses two pianos to perform an ambitious, low background rhythm to accelerate the pace of the many chase scenes. These action cues fit the film well due to their sheer size and intensity, and the same emotional draw is leveled by suspenseful strings in the slower passages. The snare drum, throughout the entire score, serves as another reminder of the presidential stature of the story. It's somewhat of a cliché, but it functions. The title theme, which fleetingly appears in snippets during several cues, is offered in full at the beginning and end of the album. The finale cue is arguably the best track on that album, with a ten minute resolution of returned nobility in the pleasantly harmonic performances of theme. The layered brass at the end of that finale cue is remarkably powerful, and will offer Tombstone fans continued enjoyment of that kind of Broughton style. Outside of these large-scale thematic statements, however, the score is a typical, symphonic suspense thriller (with the exception of having a large presence of percussion to spice up the mix). The album for Shadow Conspiracy provides a consistent listening experience, with Broughton's material playing predictably to the suspense genre without interruption. Released by Intrada Records, the album has disappeared from commercial venues, and is primarily available through the label itself. Overall, the score for Shadow Conspiracy is a decent, percussive thriller with two cues highlighting an outstanding brass theme. Don't expect any surprises. ***   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Bruce Broughton reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.3 (in 10 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.23 (in 3,620 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.