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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you typically enjoy all of Alan Silvestri's action material, even those scores that stir up significant noise without really grabbing your attention. Avoid it... if you are tired of formulaic and predictable action scores that essentially don't offer anything you haven't heard before (in greater length, too). Filmtracks Editorial Review:
Two primary themes exist in Volcano: one to represent the lava and one for the humans battling to stop and/or channel it. Neither is heard at the outset of the film. Silvestri uses a slight tingling motif from synthesizers to introduce the city landscape, using hopelessly optimistic string alternations in the major key. He throws in a few dissonant chords in conjunction with this dancing rhythm to make sure the audience knows that now is the right time to get the heck out of the city. As signs of an impending eruption appear in "Miracle Mile," the lava's theme is hinted at as the dissonance grows more prevalent. A short burst of sustained action at the end of the cue offers an independent theme. In "Tarnation," the lava's full representation in the score is felt, including its deliberate low brass theme that sounds like leftovers from Predator. Also of intriguing use is trilling horns, a technique not normally employed by Silvestri; his use of the wavering brass here is far lower in the instruments' ranges than Elliot Goldenthal's concurrent use in scores of the time, and is therefore more listenable. The percussion section is put to the test in this cue as well, adding both broad thumps and militaristic snare rips at regular intervals. A sense of cohesion, however, doesn't arrive until "Teamwork," in which the synth choir is added to higher ranges of brass and the full bed of percussion to introduce the humans' theme at the end of the cue. An extension of this sound continues in the following two cues, arguably the best on the album. The lava and humans' themes do battle in heroic statements as a nearly constant rhythm propels them both forward. The concert suite from Volcano, of sorts, is "March of the Lava," the only truly engaging piece on album. Aside from a victorious crescendo with synth choir in "Roark's Missing," the score loses its steam and resolves with a light woodwind finale in "Cleansing Rain" that takes a page or two from Jerry Goldsmith's sensitivity. Never does the Volcano score really involve the listener on album; even at its height, it's a score that can pass by with little notice despite the significant noise that it produces. A very short running time on album also makes the score a difficult prospect to recommend, despite the fact that Silvestri accomplishes everything he basically needed to do for the assignment. ***
The insert includes no extra information about the score or film. Recorded and Mixed by: Dennis Sands Assistant Engineers: Tom Harditsy, Dave Marquette, Charlie Paakkari Music Editor: Kenneth Karman Assistant Music Editor: Jacqui Tager Synclavier Programming: Simon Franglen Auricle Programming: David Bifano | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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