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There are two themes developed fairly well by Silvestri throughout Allied, and where their performances fail to impress, their constructs are actually somewhat interesting. That's because Silvestri introduces both of them in deconstructed form and allows them to gain more structure as the score goes on. The main family theme of sour romantic ambivalence consists of eight-note phrases of moderately yearning but subdued drama, with zero romance to be heard in each of the performances. The deconstructed version of the theme conveys echoing fragments on the eerie electric keyboarding throughout "Essaouira Desert" and a little more focused in "Main Title." This mode continues on solemn woodwinds in "What Are Our Odds?" and hints of electric keyboarding at the end of "German Embassy." The fully developed theme is heard formally at the outset of "It's a Girl" on strings, where its secondary phrasing is attractive but, like the main phrases, too slow and passionless to suffice. Here, it shifts to solo piano over restrained strings, later exploring a variation slightly in the first half of "Trust." The family theme starts "Best Day Ever" on solo oboe and expands to the rest of the orchestra (but still in muted form), and it barely occupies the beginning of "Confession" in sparse woodwind form. The theme begins "The Letter/End Credit" on solo oboe again, reprising "Best Day Ever" almost wholesale before the "End Credit" portion of the cue opens with piano and builds some loftier string presence. These signs of life come too late to save the theme and score, however. The other theme is one of menace, rising three-note progressions that repeat endlessly without much harmonic variation. Debuting at 2:36 into "Main Title" on tense strings and later brass, this idea ascends out of more thumping synthetic rhythms and slapping percussion in "German Embassy" but never evolves during this cue or takes the listener in any new direction. It finally expands into a broader, more engaged, action-oriented expression of force in "Trust," and this longer development continues a minute into "Confession/Escape." There's not much else in this short score, however, and its drab demeanor is worsened by the album's (reportedly admitted) mastering errors that cause the soundscape to shift into mono sound in the middle of "Essaouira Desert," most of "Escape," and a brief moment in "The Letter." The whole experience would be dreadful if not for the pretty and soothing nature of the family theme's marginally deeper renditions. If anything, listeners will find themselves seeking the song recordings more readily than the score.  **   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Alan Silvestri reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.43 (in 44 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.31 (in 40,283 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.

Total Time: 42:27