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The thematic grace that exists from start to finish in Fly Away Home has a spirited personality that distinguishes itself from Isham's other music. So harmonically rich is the foundation of this entire score that it combines the wholesome melodic grace of the prettiest portions of Racing Stripes with the same determination (though less obviously bold) as Isham's famous fanfare for the U.S. Army's many television recruitment commercials. Both of these efforts came far later in his career, however, and many film score critics have correctly argued that Fly Away Home is the strongest score of Isham's first dozen years of major film scoring. While the score's constructs and instrumentation might not alone win over curmudgeons, its simply gorgeous renderings will touch the heart of even the most cynical enthusiasts of the minor key. Isham reaches out to embrace the same kind of rhythmic enthusiasm and thematic constants that draw Rachel Portman fans, but with a different character. The tragedy of this romantic score is, of course, that it completely fell through the cracks when the time came to release it on album. It is rare that a score of this immense, lasting popularity in the mainstream receives no release at all, raising questions about the kind of studio mishaps that lead to these unfortunate situations. A promotional CD meant for awards consideration was released with nine cues amounting to a little over half an hour of music at the time that Fly Away Home came up for a possible Oscar nomination. After this promotional album quickly disappeared, bootlegs began surfacing with regularity, and one in particular (under the false "Fly Away Records" label and featuring a handful of cues from other Isham works) took hold and worked its way into many collections. When the ultimate edition of the film was released on DVD in 2003, fans cheered when they saw an isolated score advertised as part of the product. Unfortunately, it was one of those "commentary" tracks during which Isham analyzes his work over some of the important moments, including the beautiful opening and closing cues. Thus, the DVD still isn't the answer for fans of the score. While those devoted to the film represent the most desperate seekers of the bootleg, all film music collectors should take a moment to explore this beautifully lovable and uncomplicated score.  *****   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Mark Isham reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.84 (in 26 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 2.87 (in 9,959 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.