There's nothing revolutionary to be heard in Shaiman's output for The Bucket List. It's a lovely little jazz and light drama score for soloists over tasteful orchestral recordings consisting primarily of strings but also occasionally utilizing subtle woodwinds and brass. Acoustic guitar, trumpet, harp, and saxophone are the usual suspects, though it's the piano performances that really earn this score its stars. Thematically, Shaiman doesn't allow the music to overflow with emotional gravity in a way someone like Rachel Portman might allow, instead exercising restraint even at the film's most melancholy or redemptive moments. The primary thematic identity wafts through the room with remarkable ease, exhibiting the heart that Shaiman's more dramatic scores exude without ever relying upon volume to jerk those tears from the audience. As such, the victory of experience and human bonding is a tad bittersweet in The Bucket List, on album developing into a listening experience much like the sequences in between the major ensemble performances in Shaiman's deservingly popular The American President. Only a few source cues in the middle of the score break up the flow of a presentation that gains traction as it approaches its final cues. The "End Credits" track contains the most well-rounded arrangement of the score's ideas, performed by trumpet and piano over an orchestral ensemble that finally makes clear use of woodwind and brass elements for depth and/or noble counterpoint. Ironically, this cue was replaced on screen by John Mayer's "Say," a song unfortunately not included on the soundtrack album. On the whole, The Bucket List is a decent, innocuous, and short score that couldn't sustain an album on its own, so Varèse Sarabande worked with Shaiman to include piano renditions of some of the composer's most famous themes for the latter half of the product. Shaiman often creates lyrics for the themes of his scores (some of which hilarious) and the one from The American President is turned into a pretty choral and piano tribute to, of all things, farming. Shaiman's ability to so precisely perform difficult ideas from City Slickers and The Addams Family with outstanding emphasis is remarkable, making his contributions with ensemble for The Bucket List (a first for the composer) seem like child's play. His synthesizer and vocal performance of John Barry's Goldfinger theme is pure Shaiman at his best, yielding just one of his many funny commentaries about the industry. Finally, this review can't conclude without a special mention of agent Richard Kraft's lengthy and equally entertaining note (in the CD's insert) about working with Shaiman over all these years. Together, the entire package will bring a smile to the face of anyone who appreciates Shaiman and his music, despite the fact that The Bucket List by itself is modestly mundane.   @Amazon.com: CD or Download