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In terms of functionality, the score for Arlington Road is as adequate as could be expected for this film. The opening cue in the film and on album, for a scene in which a neighbor boy stumbles bloodily down the street with half his arm blown off, contains some of the single-handedly noisiest and irritating music ever to exist on film, with percussive clanging and dissonant pounding of electronics that are actually painful to the ears. As "Bloody Boy" turns to "Neon Reprise," Badalamenti crosses over into the techno realm for a bizarre and disjointed rhythmic effect. This cue makes similarly conceived ideas by Howard Shore for 1990's horror efforts seem like grand, harmonic overtures. After that frightening beginning, the score levels out into a consistent droning of electronics and uninspired orchestral underscore. In the film, the only positive musical presence worth mentioning is at the shell-shocked finale, when the realization sequence of the plot pulls back and reveals the secrets of its characters to the audience. This cue, "Aftermath," is among the only listenable moments in the work. Otherwise, Badalamenti's music features no redeeming characteristics, especially when heard on its own. The only notable theme, exhibited at the end of the album, is too dapper for even this project, making the listener wonder how the composer's usual romantic European sensibility eluded him this time. In the vast realm of Badalamenti's works, this is about as far from Cousins as one could get. As mentioned before, however, this score has a very loyal following, as evidenced by opinions online. But bad music is bad music, and when it exists for a bad film, you get an album that is destined to only collect dust on the back shelves. A few additional cues (six minutes worth) for Arlington Road were provided by Tom Hajdu and Andrew Milburn (otherwise known as "Tom and Andy"), whose credits in the 1990's were highlighted by some recognizable television commercial music. Even their contribution, using the touted "Evolution System," is uninspired, and it blends in with Badalamenti's droning muck without so much as an interesting new motif. Overall, this is an all-around morbid and pointless work when divorced from the visuals. There's use for the album as a tool of annoyance when dealing with troublesome roommates or neighbors, but that is about all it'll be good for.  *   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Total Time: 67:52