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While the atmosphere of Beltrami and Sanders' music for Ford v Ferrari is pitch perfect, their handling of each cue as a singular jam session doesn't allow for a truly cohesive narrative across the whole. Don't expect to hear thematic development of any significant depth in the score, with simple, rising figures repeating at a few moments to provide the film with its only distinguishing motifs. This material seems aimed primarily at the redemption of the Miles character; slight hints of these structures emerge on acoustic guitar in "The Request/The Car is Yours/Perfect Lap," transition to somber electric guitars in "Team Player" and "Crescent Wrench," and only evolve to a more expected sports movie mode in "Le Mans 66," where Rocky-like trumpets express the matured phrasing over aggressive rock rhythms. The "Le Mans 66" cue is the one place in the score when the composers were allowed to really exert the sports element in full, and expect this cue to receive the most attention from film score collectors. Other cues in the score are singular expressions by the band, and how the composers comprise each cue is more important than the rather mundane melodic meanderings they follow. Three or four electric and acoustic guitars are joined by electric and/or string bass, drum kit, a saxophone/flute player, a handful of trumpets and trombones, and a piano/organ player. For the scenes earlier in the chronology, as in "Henry Ford the Second," you hear the string base, piano, and trombones. Likewise, the coolness of "Ferrari Factory" extends those same instruments but adds the flute for a touch of European sophistication. For the younger characters, the electric guitars and organ play an enhanced role. There are a few passages when Beltrami and Sanders employ their band as a replacement for their synthesizers, capturing the suspenseful moments such as "Chasing Bandini" and "Night Driving" by forcing the players into non-traditional performance methods to produce a more grating edge; these cues are clearly a detriment to the otherwise groovy listening experience on album. On the flip side, there are some underachieving cues of sparse but pleasant atmosphere, such as "7000 RPM." The three score cues that made the song album for Ford v Ferrari present a solid 11 minutes of representation and will serve casual enthusiasts well. For collectors of Beltrami and Sanders' music, be prepared for a score-only album of vintage jazz and rock jams that is badly out of film order and therefore fails to maintain even a minimal narrative flow. It's cool but disjointed.  ***   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Marco Beltrami reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.73 (in 26 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 2.79 (in 17,244 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.

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