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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you're the ultimate Elliot Goldenthal enthusiast and want to hear his vast talents at work on one album. Avoid it... if you dislike scores that serve more as samplers of a composer's stylistic talents rather than cohesive listening experiences. Original Review, by Christian Clemmensen
Taymor, of course, turned to her husband to create the score of limitless potential; the two would collaborate for an Academy Award win for Frida two years later. As he would for Frida, Goldenthal went to the filming locale for inspiration on how to approach Titus. In the process, he heard ancient choral music in his mind while also hearing a variety of modern music throughout Rome (including Elvis!) as he traveled by car. Thus, he had his idea for the score. To mirror the awkward disparity between tragedy and comedy, as well as the disparity between ancient and modern visual elements in the film, Goldenthal would simply follow the same path of disparity and infuse several genres of music into one score. He would open the film with exactly the kind of magnificent, bombastic, choral music that you would expect for the base setting, and then he slowly strips away that common denominator as he introduces more and more eclectic genres into the score. Jazz, heavy metal, neo-classicism, swing, and, of course, Goldenthal's own atonal, dreary underscore would all prevail. An adagio (which seems mislabeled on the album by one cue) will please fans of Alien 3. There would even be moments of seemingly drug-enhanced cues of carnivalesque mayhem that Danny Elfman would appreciate. Each element is handled with talent and a smart edge for eccentricity. Fans of Goldenthal's work praise this score highly because of that creativity. What they miss, however, is the fact that this score failed for mainstream audiences for the same reason the film failed in theatres. When you have so many disparate elements, in both the story's emotions and the film's visual presentation of those plots, you need something to root the film a consistency that audiences can hold on to. Composers are often the tools with which to accomplish this. What Goldenthal did for Titus, however, was simply repeat the same disparity, and thus added even more delirious confusion to the mix. In the film, therefore, it may be successful. On album, it doesn't work. Had Goldenthal been able to merge all these elements together during the entirety of the score, then Titus could have been magnificent. But the tone changes from cue to cue, ranging from a collection of rather mundane, underscored cues to a frenetic sprinkling of different genres with sharp cuts. The genres begin and end with distinct edges (and sometimes poor editing of the music itself), and thus, the score cannot create a cohesive whole. Each element by itself --the swing, the adagio, the choral, and even "Pickled Heads"-- has talent and merit, but together they don't even begin to work. If the cuts between genres had been better faded, better integrated, and better introduced, then Titus would stand as a masterpiece. As is, it is a headache waiting to happen, and you can be guaranteed that the mainstream listener, along with the vast majority of film score collectors, will either be confused by or intolerant of Goldenthal's inconsistent approach to a film that needed something rooted in consistency. So close, and yet, so terribly far. **
Review #2, by Isaac Engelhorn
Titus: (Elliot Goldenthal) There is absolutely no more creative voice in modern film scoring than Elliot Goldenthal. It's orchestral writing like this that makes me wonder what in the world anyone can have against him. He's a genius! The man can skillfully combine so many genres so well that is just makes my mind boggle. And the scary thing is that he writes music of the highest quality for each genre that he dabbles in. If you're looking for an incredibly eclectic, yet extremely listenable score for fans of all types of music, then look no further than Titus. What makes this score so great is not the simple fact that there are so many styles, it's the fact that the composer fuses them together so well. Some of the different styles are traditional orchestral, swing, techno grunge, hard rock, and Goldenthal's usual atonal writing (my personal favorite). "Pickled Heads" is easily the most eclectic track of all, and is the second most interesting. It starts out with the rather noisy techno grunge and rock but becomes a terrific jazz piece with a really weird use of sax and accordion. The most interesting track has to be "Mad Ole Titus" which contains saxophones playing some of the most atonal music I've ever heard. The sound just flies everywhere, and the effect is so intriguing that I have to applaud Goldenthal for it. The wonderful thing is that it is also very listenable. ***** Read the entire donated review.
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