Buy it... if you want a more varied and interesting adaptation of the atmosphere created by Cliff Martinez for the feature score.

Avoid it... if the bleak, less defined aspect of the feature film's atmosphere was what attracted you to it in the first place.

Traffic: The Miniseries: (Jeff Rona) Based on the Academy Award-winning movie of the same name, Traffic: The Miniseries was a three-night cable television film that first aired on January 26th, 2004 on the USA Network. It followed the same structure as the feature film, delving into the lives of seemingly unconnected characters and using the overwhelming power of the drug industry to create ties between them. The television version of the concept, however, did not carry over the powerful acting ensemble or other high-priced talent from the feature film. The series tackles the approach to the drug industry by filming it in a sort of documentary style, offering a news-like glimpse into drug and other trades all around the world. While the central focus of the film continues to be on drug trafficking, Traffic: The Miniseries branches off into weapons and human smuggling as well, stretching in location from Seattle to Afghanistan. The success of the television series is yet to be determined, although it would seem to the lack of extended advertisements and popular mention that it may not have had the same effect on audiences as the film that inspired it. Whether evaluating the series or its music, you have to remember that the subject matter is both bleak and tense, and if you allow yourself to be engaged in either the show or score, you have to accept that it's not going to be the most consistent or pleasant of experiences. For the feature film, director Steven Soderbergh had turned to his usual collaborator, Cliff Martinez, for the score, with very underwhelming results. Their idea was to establish the troublesome landscape solely through muddled, electronic colors on a dark canvas, aiming for all atmosphere and no distinct definition of good, bad, or any other polar feeling. For the miniseries, veteran television composer Jeff Rona would take that approach to a more workable level.

While Rona's output for mainstream score collectors may be very limited, his connection to Hans Zimmer is perhaps his best known affiliation in the industry. Like others affiliated with Zimmer and/or the now crumbling Media Ventures organization, Rona is an artist very familiar with the integration of electronic samples, orchestral elements, and the lending of his own performing talents. Rona was faced with a difficult task for Traffic: The Miniseries; while the idea of producing the mass of the music with atmosphere was the primary concern, Rona also had to bypass the pitfalls of writing worldly music, avoiding droning tendencies and elevating the score's usefulness in this adaptation. To this end, he has succeeded in walking that tightrope. His score definitely establishes itself as a piece that is meant to create powerful tension in the gut. In nearly every cue, a very heavy, dreamy bass --usually established with drawn-out keyboarding-- rocks the floor with unease. Slapping, scrappy percussion often accompanies the faster moments, and with deliberate distortion introduced throughout, memories of Martinez's film score are bound to arise. Where Rona departs from that sound, however, is his ability to maintain the same disruption of calm while also inserting just enough flavor to make the music both varied and interesting. These variations bring both the score's best and worst attributes to light, making Rona's work as a whole into a somewhat difficult experience. But the voice of Mamal Khadem, who Zimmer fans will immediately recognize from The Peacemaker (an album prepared by Rona), makes several vocal performances of elegance for the score, and along with a duduk, saz, and Rona's own woodwind performances, provides quite a few memorable moments. There isn't noteworthy thematic development in Traffic: The Miniseries, but through these elements of diversity, the score has its shining cues ("The Bus Home," "Through the Pass"). Conversely, distorted cues, such as "Foot Chase" and "Cityscape" offer awkward keyboarding and sound effects that are difficult to take. Overall, the album for this score is lengthy, and contains about ten minutes of fantastic material, another twenty of interesting material, and several cues that are closer to Martinez's line of droning underscore. Enticing, but inconsistent. ***