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Review of Cowboys & Aliens (Harry Gregson-Williams)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if a safely predictable and occasionally entertaining merging of contemporary Western and science-fiction scoring techniques is the most you could ask for in this unique hybrid scenario.

Avoid it... if you expect Harry Gregson-Williams to translate his intelligent instrumental applications into a cohesive narrative flow with truly clear and satisfying thematic development.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Cowboys & Aliens: (Harry Gregson-Williams) At a time when studios are clamoring to adapt graphic novels into feature films, the creator of the "Cowboys & Aliens" concept didn't wait for the printing presses to get to work before pushing it on the studios. Scott Mitchell Rosenberg's idea was immediately pounced upon in the late 1990's, but the usual, endless circle of studio production woes caused the film to take so long that it finally hit the big screen five years after Rosenberg went ahead and finished the graphic novel. Director Jon Favreau of Iron Man success helms to movie and oversees lead actors Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford in roles they could play in their sleep. They represent bandits and lawmen, respectively, in 1873 Arizona, a place under mysterious attack from alien forces that require the gold minerals in that era to power their starships. The underdog humans mount a defense and then counterattack against the invaders in Independence Day fashion, aided by some sympathetic alien forces and the usual well placed wise cracks. The merging of the Western and science fiction genres posed a problem for the studio in its marketing blitz for the film, combating difficulties in appealing to audiences turned off by one or the other. Mixed reviews and only moderate immediate box office success testify to that ceiling of revenue potential for the film. The same cross-genre dilemmas applied to the music for Cowboys & Aliens as well, putting veteran blockbuster composer Harry Gregson-Williams in the position of addressing the past and the future at once in his music. Aside from Ramin Djawadi's obnoxiously deficient score for Iron Man, Favreau has maintained a solid working relationship with John Debney, though for Cowboys & Aliens he turned to Gregson-Williams, and it's easy to get the impression that the final score for the movie would have been comparable with either composer attached. Among the graduates of the Hans Zimmer film scoring production machine, Gregson-Williams is one of the most capable at cranking out immensely intelligent, satisfying music. On the other hand, he has written more than his fair number of stinkers for contemporary thrillers, so Cowboys & Aliens may have seemed by some to be an extremely unpredictable prospect. In the end, he took the most predictable approach, following a style that merges those of John Powell and Henry Jackman while also combining the symphonic action and contemporary Western genres into a surprisingly formulaic score.

The choice of instrumentation in Cowboys & Aliens takes inspiration from a wide range of sources. First, you hear modern Western elements that blend the hard edge of Marco Beltrami's 3:10 to Yuma with the soothing tone of Marty Stuart's All the Pretty Horses. Throw in some hard-ass George Doering electric guitar rips and some Spaghetti Western-style synthetic whistling effects and you have the absolute most contemporary version of Western tones possible. On top of that, you have the expected dose of David Arnold-inspired alien attack mayhem from the orchestra, with an enhanced role for guitars and other electric elements to give the villains a truly futuristic sound in contrast to the setting. Then, you have the slapping percussive momentum-setters common to Powell and James Newton Howard action scores, though in the style more common to Gregson-Williams' own writing. Also familiar to the composer's usual mode of operation is a variety of choral layers, highlighted by angelic heights in the upper female range and using Lisbeth Scott's voice not necessarily as a true soloist, but as its own sound effect on top of the ensemble. Throw in a Heitor Pereira acoustic guitar performance and some occasional synthetic manipulation of sounds to make for a lot of eerie dissonance for the suspenseful moments, and you end up with a very predictable score. Unfortunately, if all of this sounds anonymous to you, then the situation with the themes won't help much. Gregson-Williams offers two major identities to Cowboys & Aliens, neither of which developed to satisfaction. The first is the modern Western theme for Craig's Jake Lonergan. Heard in full swing in the opening album track and reprised in shorter fashion at the end in "See You Around," this idea really goes underutilized in the bulk of the film. Only in a heroic moment at about 3:00 into "I See Them" does it make much of an impact. Instead, the main theme of the film is dedicated to the posse that the lead characters and other humans form to battle the aliens. Hints of this ascending idea on banjo in the second half of "Palms to Heaven" foreshadow the theme's formal introduction as the posse takes shape in "A Kid, a Dog, & a Woman." This driving blend of the Western elements and orchestra is entertaining in each of its appearances in the score, but too infrequent in its full performances to really function well (the fantastic secondary sections of this theme are only explored a couple of times). The other complete presentation of the idea occurs in "Jake's Army," during which it is aided by electric and acoustic guitar rhythms to formally merge the instrumentation of the score's two major identities.

The posse theme that comes to define Cowboys & Aliens is interpolated with subtlety into several major cues, however, including some sprinkling into the Independence Day leftovers of "Alien Air Attack" and during "Goodbye Jake." Tender renditions of this theme do offer some of the more poignant moments of Cowboys & Aliens, starting with the piano and strings of "She's Gone" and extending to easy, but rather slight string and acoustic guitar performances in the aftermath cues, "Do You Remember Me?" and "Return to the Cabin." The final thematic representation in the score is more of a sound effect motif; Gregson-Williams applies an echoing series of startling electric guitar squeaks to moments of fright involving the alien creatures. The motif is first heard at 2:47 into "A Kid, a Dog, & a Woman" and recurs at the start of "Emmett's Close Encounter," late in "Godspeed," and interrupting the secondary phrases of the posse theme in "Goodbye Jake." Singular moments of interest in the score include a short homage to Alan Silvestri's Predator at 3:00 into "Godspeed," followed by the entirety of "Ella's Mission," which opens with more snare-ripping Independence Day emulation before launching into the score's most diverse and beautiful choral shades for a sense of awe at the conclusion of the cue. Unfortunately, there's more than enough non-descript suspense material in Cowboys & Aliens to counter these highlights. The long and boring "I Know Where They Are" cue breaks the flow of an album presentation that is almost an hour long when it probably could have been trimmed to 45 minutes with ease. Gregson-Williams' handling of dissonant synthetic suspense for the threat of the aliens is a bit disappointing in general, and, like the predictability of the rest of the score's portions, will likely leave the listener seeking more substance. There were several of opportunities for Gregson-Williams to let rip with highly cohesive, tonal action sequences, and it's telling that the only interesting moment to result from these scenes is the brief reminder of Predator. Lack of straight forward thematic continuity and prominence will also bother some fans. The "Col. Woodrow Dolarhyde" cue does nothing to provide Ford's character with any representation more than stoic, ambient thumping. Leading the positive attributes of the album presentation is a very crisp and dynamic mix, with all of the discordant elements balanced quite well. On the whole, Cowboys & Aliens is a functional and mildly entertaining score with roughly ten to fifteen minutes of truly engaging highlights, but it fails to leave a lasting positive impression due to its surprisingly conventional personality.  ***

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 57:23

• 1. Jake Lonergan (3:07) • 2. Palms to Heaven (2:24) • 3. Col. Woodrow Dolarhyde (4:51) • 4. Attack & Abductions (4:22) • 5. A Kid, a Dog & a Woman (3:57) • 6. Emmett's Close Encounter (4:54) • 7. Alien Air Attack (3:04) • 8. She's Gone (4:36) • 9. I Know Where They Are (6:28)

• 10. Jake's Army (2:40) • 11. Godspeed (3:34) • 12. Goodbye Jake (2:50) • 13. I See Them (3:31) • 14. Ella's Mission (2:04) • 15. Do You Remember Me? (1:48) • 16. Return to the Cabin (1:12) • 17. See You Around (1:33)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The insert includes a list of performers but no extra information about the score or film.

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