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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you want a troubled, but intriguing cross between John Barry's sultry jazz from Body Heat and his trademark James Bond-style action motifs. Avoid it... if you have no interest in the echoes of Barry's jazzy past or a curiosity about what Barry might have written had he continued in the Bond franchise. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
By 1994, of course, the James Bond franchise was stalled, though Barry had contributed to his own exile from the franchise anyway by declaring the quality of the films to be poorer each time (by the time he would reconsider, David Arnold was firmly rooted in the franchise, and door had been slammed shut on Barry's return). Nonetheless, Barry still had some Bond-style writing in his blood, for The Specialist remains the closest Bond-like inspiration recorded by Barry late in his career. Some fans have speculated that the score for The Specialist contains some of the sound that Barry might have employed for Goldeneye the following year, had he been assigned to the project. Keep in mind, however, that unlike the Bond films, The Specialist was primarily treated as a darkly romantic thriller, and so the level of action is held to a minority of the album. In its favor, The Specialist leaves behind Barry's lushly layered strings that had redefined melodramatic romance on screen throughout the 1980's, so at the very least, the score has a sound largely distinct from the stale instrumentation and/or orchestration of his concurrent efforts. Still, every aspect of The Specialist is trademark Barry in its underlying rhythm and construct. The title action piece has the snare rips and brass motifs straight from the Bond franchise, with more suspenseful cues in the middle offering familiar meandering deep-note piano performances and tingling metallic percussion that would yield better results in The Scarlet Letter the following year. Far more intriguing in The Specialist is Barry's seductive love theme, which is performed generously throughout the score; if a film were to ever over emphasize a theme in an attempt to sway the entire demeanor of the film, it would be this one. Straight from the echoing halls of Barry's well-respected, sultry Body Heat, the "Did You Call Me" theme (based on a song version in the film) is Barry's response to Jerry Goldsmith's The Russia House. Featuring elegant piano (by Mike Lang, the same performer from the Goldsmith score), lonely sax, stylish bass, and light percussion, the theme slowly builds in its performances throughout the film until it is joined by a brass-dominated orchestra (led by full-fledged noir trumpet) with fantastic effect in the "End Titles." Unfortunately for Barry, his ambitious "End Titles" performance of the theme was removed from the film in favor of the vocal song, which prompted Barry to insult the head of Warner's music department in a public interview. One other standout cue in the score is "Ray Meets May at her Funeral," which offers a tight crescendo of slightly dissonant choral layers, in the same style as some of Moonraker's choral use. Overall sound quality is strong, but not quite as clear as in Chaplin or his three scores in 1995. On album, the score is has significant repetition, with some of the suspenseful underscore perhaps unnecessary for inclusion. A song album with significant cuts from Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine include the opening and closing tracks from the score-only album, which fell badly out of print and remains difficult to find. For Barry, The Specialist is a troubled, but ever intriguing effort. ****
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