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Review of Bite the Bullet (Alex North)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you appreciate the distinct style of the few Western
scores in Alex North's career and, like others nostalgic for a dying
genre in the 1970's, seek a relatively safe throwback effort.
Avoid it... if you expect to hear North's more unconventional style of instrumentation and rhythm rather than his romantic leanings for a conservative character score.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Bite the Bullet: (Alex North) Acclaimed Western
director Richard Brooks wasn't particularly concerned about the slow
demise of the genre in the 1970's. Even by the time of 1975's Bite
the Bullet, Brooks was still intent on writing and directing
traditional Westerns that examined what it was to be an American. The
story of Bite the Bullet addressed the end of the true wild West,
conveying a plot that largely symbolized urban America's incorporation
of the region into its fold during the early 1900's. A variety of
characters participate in a 700-mile race (inspired by a real event)
through Wyoming and Colorado for a cash prize, and those individuals are
just as much a hindrance to each other as the difficult landscape. The
film was met with mixed reactions, with fans of old-style, message-based
Westerns embracing the picture while the younger generation wanted
something with a sharper edge. Still, with a cast led by Gene Hackman
and Candice Bergen, Bite the Bullet earned two Academy Award
nominations and maintains a certain amount of respect when looking back
at its defiance of the Western's general demise. Composer Alex North was
in command of his career by the 1970's, a regular nominee for Oscars and
established as an artist with a distinct and influential compositional
style. North did not compose many Westerns in his career (many continue
to consider his best venture here to be Viva Zapata), but Bite
the Bullet nevertheless serves to round out a career and genre of
film that were both fading from the spotlight at the time. Although
North would continue on to complete a few more average accomplishments
in the 1980's, Bite the Bullet is among the scores that his
devoted fans consider to be his final, great Hollywood achievements. It
is not surprising that North's music for the occasion clings to
traditional Western elements while also embracing some of the more
unconventional methods of scoring he was helping to popularize by the
early 1970's.
Nominated for an Academy Award during the year of its release, the score for Bite the Bullet features moments from seemingly different parts of North's career rolled into one. The rich selection of character themes that run through the score add a romanticism that was missing from many Western scores of the time and are reminiscent of the Golden Age of film music. In fact, the very best moments of Bite the Bullet are those that contemplate the relations between the main characters in the film. Conversely, the weak parts of the score are more difficult to enjoy because North's action music is rather generic when compared to what Jerry Goldsmith was producing at the same time. This especially applies to the music's effectiveness on album, and is perhaps attributable to the wear and tear that the genre was applying to North's folk music styles by 1975. North's abundant use of abnormally layered percussion is, at times, overwhelming, and his unique handling of the flutes tempts you to form a hatred for the fluttering, often dissonant nuisance. Also, North has a habit of leaving his treble and bass elements out of synch, with the bass performers often bouncing along at a clip that is slightly disjointed from the rest of the players. That may be an odd thing to gripe about, and this style of composition attracts a great many people, but in Bite the Bullet this tendency is especially evident when the brass section is asked to perform cohesive action statements. The album also exposes the score's weaker moments for acoustic guitar; North's love of Mexican music, as well as the incorporation of a Mexican character into this story, made this a predictable move. But the lengthy solo guitar performances here are nothing more than boring, occupying far more of the album than they really need to. Goldsmith fans, though, will enjoy an adaptation of the same character theme heard in Wild Rovers on woodwinds during "Old Timer's Horse." Never before released on album, Bite the Bullet was offered in 1999 as the fourth limited edition in a newly started series by Prometheus Records and, arguably, this North score was the most anticipated of those four. As with his other compositions, this score is generally a coveted item for North's collectors, as well as those who are in search for popular works from the latter part of the Silver Age of film music. The album from Prometheus is extraordinarily complete, with an inclusion of tracks approved by North for an album that never made it to the presses at the time. While the eighteen tracks of straight underscore are a strong presentation of the work, the same cannot be said about the source cues and marches that follow. The Mexican sources in particular are quite irritating, and the vocals of "Ole, Ole" are an extreme annoyance right after the conclusion of North's "End Title." The marches serve the Americana aspect of the tale, but most listeners will have heard them before and they don't add much to the package either. On the bright side, the album is well designed, with all of North's actual score material conveniently arranged together for the first two-thirds of the album. Archival sound quality will be an issue for any Digital Age listener attempting to branch out into this realm, and while the soundscape for Bite the Bullet is crisp, it does remain tiresome in its tinny incarnation. The liner notes are also problematic, with perhaps more fanboy enthusiasm than is professional. Like the other entries in Prometheus' series, Bite the Bullet is available only as a limited release. With only 2,500 copies pressed, it was thought at the time that the product would sell out in late 1999 or early 2000 due to heightened interest from North's collectors, but almost a decade later, the album is still readily available for reasonable prices at soundtrack specialty outlets and on the secondary market. ***
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 62:42
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert contains lengthy notes (by Jack Smith, who is obviously a huge fan of
Alex North) about both the movie and score.
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1999-2024, Filmtracks Publications. All rights reserved.
The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Bite the Bullet are Copyright © 1999, Prometheus Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 12/10/99 and last updated 6/14/08. |
