Expect to read many accounts that applaud Goldenthal's approach to Cobb, most of which once again glowing about the composer's wildly inventive clashes of musical identities. Indeed, there has to be intellectual appreciation of what the composer accomplishes here; rarely do you hear film music with so many intentional collisions of disparate tones, genres, rhythms, and pitches. At the same time, Cobb is a score without any sensible cohesion outside of its direct adherence to the context of the movie. On one hand, you hear Goldenthal addressing the pastoral aspect of the sport and its legend, using a wholesome trumpet theme over sentimental strings for what little sincerely caring angle exists in the story. Heard in "Variations on an Old Baptist Hymn" and "Stump Meets Cobb," the idea dissolves in much of the score until a melancholy reprise in "Cobb Dies." Even within these seemingly wholesome passages, Goldenthal toys with the progressions of the theme to twist it into the minor key at periodic intervals. The same technique permeates the lengthy Americana string performances in the "Cooperstown Aria" cues and "The Homecoming," all of which brooding more often than not. Other motifs exist in the score, but not to a structurally important end. Rather, the score's chaotic blend of vintage jazz, hymns from America's Deep South, and roaring action sequences keep the listener guessing. The opening hymn utilizes Goldenthal's own gritty, soulful vocals in eerie layers, and "Stump Meets Cobb" features unnaturally skittish string figures to perhaps represent the scheming Stump. While "Nevada Nightlight" and "Meant Monk" present straight forward vintage night club jazz, "Newsreel Mirror" and "Georgia Peach Rag" intentionally mangle that genre with extremely abrasive brass and woodwind textures supplemented by groaning dissonance and shattering percussion that wouldn't be out of place in Alien 3. The two "Reno Ho" cues offer tremendous symphonic action akin to Goldenthal's Final Fantasy work (stripped back in "Sour Mash Scherzo"). Softer cues of battling tones on woodwinds and strings in "Winter Walk" and "Hart and Hunter" are unsettling at best. Throaty horror overtakes the pastoral side in "The Baptism," a cue that ends with a rowdy crescendo of pure, swirling Goldenthal character. Perhaps not unexpectedly, the cue "The Beast Within," inspired by Alien 3, is credited and included on this soundtrack, followed by the vintage baseball-appropriate song "The Ball Game." All together, every moment of Cobb contains Goldenthal's usual brilliance of construct and instrumentation, but unless you specifically seek the composer's score to appreciate them intellectually, don't expect this work to hit a home run. Like many of the composer's most impressive achievements, Cobb could drive a person crazy.   @Amazon.com: CD or Download