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Filmtracks Editorial Review:
The music itself is at the upper end of your run of the mill, stock action variety. Poledouris uses two three-note sequences as the entirety of his theme, and manipulates them appropriately throughout the score. This simplicity in theme affords him easy functionality --a tactic that Jerry Goldsmith uses for his stock action scores like U.S. Marshals-- but it doesn't provide for a very melodic listening experiences. The bold statements by brass in Switchback are often ambiguous in theme, but they, like the rest of the score, make up it with the sheer power and size of the performing orchestra. The Seattle recording quality is better than some that come from the region, and it is because of the volume of the orchestra that Switchback is a functional score. The majority of music is very listenable, however not overly interesting. Only once the train (a character in and of itself) becomes involved near the end does Poledouris kick in with an impressive array of timpani, electronic beats, and brass and produce an outstanding album experience. One good aspect of the score's non-descript action cues is the consistency that they create on album. Without one dominant theme or motif, the score has no particular high or low points; it melds together for 40+ minutes of consistenly good background music. The album is very well constructed and is one of the most impressive designs of any Intrada release to date. Switchback is the first volume of a series of limited editions from the specialty label. Intrada owner Doug Fake's organization of the album is commendable. The score is presented in its entirety on the album, with some slight variation in track order (for listenability purposes). The outtakes and electronic ambience cues are presented in a suite at the end for anyone who's a fanatic for every slight cue. The attractive, full color packaging with notes makes me hopeful for similar superior products in Intrada's future limited series releases. Meanwhile, Switchback is a good score for background appreciation, on the same level as its companion score, Breakdown. For anyone who has been scratching around the secondary market searching for a bootleg of this score, or any fan of Poledouris or Goldsmith scores for late-night action films, this album is for you. ***
The insert contains notes about Poledouris, the album, and the film. An excerpt: "Basil Poledouris had tough choices to make. The movie had mystery, suspense, and closely-kept secrets. There were tough, violent action scenes. Central characters were cold, methodical, driven. To complicate things, the story unfolded amidst spectacular outdoor locations, including the awesome Rocky Mountains. And there was another character, the "218" -- a powerful, speeding train. He chose to anchor the score around a tiny 3-note motif, heard at the very beginning of the score on solo flute. Extremely flexible, this motif worked alone, sometimes expanded into longer ideas, blended with more abstract material and played as a muscular line for the action music. As the emotional centerpiece to his music, Poledouris chose the Rockies, letting the motif act as a signature for the snow-covered peaks. For outdoor settings Poledouris used a full symphony orchestra and a rich harmonic palette. For suspenseful segments he utilized electronic timbres and more abstract sounds. The violent scenes received some of the composer's fiercest orchestral writing. But it was the speeding "218" that inspired a scoring highlight: energetic rhythms for low brass and percussion under fortissimo quotes of the primary motif. Keeping everything on track is the musical interval of a major second. It's part of the 3-note motif. It's present in subtler parts, in action sequences, even becoming a color in the harmonies. No matter what direction the music takes, the interval is close at hand, opening the score, following characters in and out, boarding the "218," and finishing it all. In preparing this album for Switchback we had access to digital master tapes for the entire score. Many cues appeared briefly in the movie. Others were buried under sound effects and are now ostensibly heard for the first time. The movie divides roughly into thirds, with the score matching each part. The initial crimes, and introduction of seemingly unrelated characters, required music meshing with the sound design as a whole. Poledouris managed this with an array of electronic sounds. The middle segment developed the two separate storylines. Music for these scenes remained neutral, giving the plots equal weight, so as not to tip off the twists ahead. The last part emphasized action, tied the stories together, and spotlighted the speeding train with full orchestral music. We elected to present the entire score, including brief pieces not used in the finished film. Because of the previously-mentioned story requirements, an imbalance of musical color exists when listening in exact picture order. While retaining the basic narrative, we've assembled shorter cues into longer ones and added contrast by including a few cues out of strict picture sequence. A few cues designed solely for texture or mood, including alternates, necessarily became outtakes. We chose to include them as well, fashioning a bonus "suite of outtakes" at the conclusion of the dramatic score. A longer pause exists between the last two tracks, allowing listeners to enjoy the orchestral music alone or follow it with the additional sound textures."
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