Filmtracks: Ghostbusters: Afterlife (Rob Simonsen)

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Written 11/22/21

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Buy it... if you are a nostalgic fool still attached to the 1980's, for Rob Simonsen brilliantly adapts Elmer Bernstein's 1984 score with total authenticity for this loving narrative expansion.

Avoid it... if you have never been able to connect to the rather sparse tone of Bernstein's comedy and fantasy material for Ghostbusters, his techniques reprised here without any modern synthesizers or bass enhancement.

Simonsen

Ghostbusters: Afterlife: (Rob Simonsen) After decades of wrangling with actor Bill Murray and then struggling through the death of writer and actor Harold Ramis, a third Ghostbusters film from the original concept came to life in 2021. Taking the helm from his father for Ghostbusters: Afterlife is Jason Reitman, though Ivan Reitman remained as a producer, and the two of them delicately steered the project to retain the nostalgia and authenticity of a franchise damaged by a 2016 reboot. The original Ghostbusters have only a minor role in the 2021 picture, a group of teens and pre-teens in Oklahoma taking over the narrative, but the story is absolutely saturated with plot elements relating to the 1984 film. The descendants of Egon Spengler arrive in the small town of Summerville to clean up Egon's estate after his death only to find that he had established a one-man ghostbusting base there. Egon had discovered that a nearby mine was the next point of arrival for Gozer the Gozerian, thanks to J.K. Simmons as Gozer cult leader Ivo Shandor. He had abandoned the remaining Ghostbusters, who moved on with their lives, and the family and the community grapple with learning about the legacies of Egon and the mine in their quaint little town. The movie has far less of the outward humor than the original two films despite some wonderful destruction of a Walmart by the minions of Gozer, serving as a tribute to 1980's fantasy dramas as much as this particular franchise. But the Reitmans succeed in their balancing act and provide fitting closure for the original Ghostbuster team while opening the doors for a new generation to join some of the remaining members in potential sequels. Reflective scenes for Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson are a delight. Jason Reitman was adamant that Ghostbusters: Afterlife be faithful to Ghostbusters in each of the various production elements, including the music. The format of the soundtrack is somewhat similar to that of the 1984 movie, with the title song over the end credits joined by a few other songs placed throughout the film's first half. But the songs in Ghostbusters: Afterlife don't carry big fantasy sequences like they did in 1984, forcing more heavy lifting onto the composer of the original score.

Initially, Jason Reitman explored hiring a composer for Ghostbusters: Afterlife who could capably blend the sound of Elmer Bernstein and classic fantasy music of the 1980's, and his usual collaborator, Rob Simonsen, wasn't the natural fit for the assignment. But Simonsen, himself a massive enthusiast of 1980's film music, took it upon himself to write a seven-minute suite of music inspired by Bernstein's Ghostbusters score, revising the sound into more of a dramatic realm, and recorded it with a full orchestra. This impressive work, some of which ultimately inspiring the final score, earned Simonsen the job. From there, he and Reitman strategized about how to make the score sound authentic to Ghostbusters while also enhancing the fantasy and drama aspects that were largely lacking or brief in that work. They decided against two possible avenues quickly: modern synthesizers and enhanced bass. For the former, Simonson employed only synthesizers that were used in the original, largely a Yamaha DX7. He also managed to hire regular Bernstein performer Cynthia Millar to reprise her duties on the ondes martenot, the French keyboard variation of the theremin that was ubiquitous in Bernstein's career and especially in Ghostbusters. For the latter, the bass element, Simonson sought to utilize brass in ways to enhance the bass without artificial augmentation, going so far as to hire Peter Bernstein, Elmer's son and the orchestrator of the first score, along with William Ross to advise on how to accomplish this task. The prominent tuba presence in the work, including the trademark blurts of the original, may be a result of this partnership. Extremely precise piano techniques, an actual source application in the first film, are also no accident. Simonsen and Reitman explicitly resurrected the sounds of 1980's fantasy, action, and drama from John Williams, Alan Silvestri, and James Horner, the score often serving as just as much a tribute to their famous works of the era as it is to Bernstein. Add into the mix three of the themes from Ghostbusters and you have an ultimate nostalgia score for an ultimate nostalgia movie. It's safe to say that if a viewer is bothered by how backwards-looking this film really is, then the music may be just as much an irritant. But for those listeners who appreciate when extreme care is taken to preserve and expand upon a vintage sound, Simonsen's remarkably overachieving result will be an absolute delight.

Veteran film music collectors will notice more than just an overwhelming dose of Bernstein in Ghostbusters: Afterlife. The action rhythms are a pure reference to Alan Silvestri (and mainly Back to the Future), the mystery passages are reminiscent of James Horner's fantasy techniques (especially in woodwinds), and the outright drama at the end pulls at the John Williams heartstrings a la E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. An occasional side-reference to Jerry Goldsmith also occurs at times. One side effect of maintaining the tone of Bernstein's score is that the fantasy and drama parts may seem somewhat sparse to a few listeners, as though striving for the depth of Horner's sound but not actually achieving it. The Silvestri emulation is more successful, however, the snare-driven rhythms of "Trap Him" a definite highlight. Interestingly, these cues in the score aren't always thematic, "The Plan" and "Suit Up" featuring solid rhythmic and percussive material that stand well on their own. At times, Simonsen does reference Bernstein's own limited action music, as in the Slimer hotel hallway attack on Peter Venkman reprised at the outset of "Protecting the Farm." In other cues, the composer resorts back to Bernstein's comedy techniques from beyond Ghostbusters, "Summerville" serving as pure Bernstein Americana humor. Each of these moments is handled exceptionally well as translated into the chosen orchestral palette for this recording. His handling of themes in Ghostbusters: Afterlife is downright superb, the composer bringing back three of the four main themes from Ghostbusters and writing a handful of new tunes led by a highly effective theme for the Spengler family. Bernstein's main theme from the original film is quirky, to say the least, but Simonsen manages to reprise its original character several times but also allow it to evolve into a dramatic identity as well. Secondary themes for the supernatural and Gozer's arrival also return, the former adapted heavily as a mystery motif. Simonsen does not reference the love theme for Venkman and Dana Barrett; their one scene together is a mid-credits cameo specifically meant to cut off the credits music. The original themes include the Spengler family theme, its "ghost call" variant, a more general fantasy motif for the Summerville hauntings, and various minor motifs for specific plot elements. The keen connection between the Spengler family theme and the ghost call motif is a splendid narrative technique by Simonsen.

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The new themes in Ghostbusters: Afterlife speak to the heart of the tale's younger generation, and it's here that the composer requires some patience of the listener. The pairing of the Spengler family theme and the ghost call motif isn't obvious at the outset, the story only explaining them in the final third of the picture. The primary new identity is that family theme, a single phrase from which makes connections to Egon during his frantic chase at 2:07 and 3:27 into "Trapped" to open the film. It returns in hints during the middle of "Under the Floor" and underneath Bernstein's mystery theme in first half of "Laboratory." A slight fragment is heard at 0:30 into "Mini Stay-Pufts," with more prominent brass allusions later in the cue. A bit more cohesion comes to the theme on strings and woodwinds at 3:45 into "Down the Well," and a quick reference shines at 0:40 into "The Plan." Fuller lines of the theme serve as an interlude to action at 1:39 into "Getaway." The idea finally achieves its true purpose in "Callie," building from a tender harp rhythm early to a major performance at 1:28. As the family battles Gozer, Simonsen shifts the theme to massive drama at 0:12 into "Showdown" and reveals a strong second verse to the theme. Its presence dominates the second half of "Reconciliation," overlapping with Bernstein's main theme at 2:24 and taking the tone of vintage John Williams string drama at 2:40. The theme repeats several times at the climax of the cue in very attractive iterations. By this cue, Simonsen also makes clear that his ghost call motif is actually a shortened and accelerated version of the family theme. He uses this motif to denote the ghostly presence of Egon throughout the first half of the movie, and it therefore also represents his gadget, the P.K.E. Meter, that the family uses to track his presence. The motif is almost always called on flutes, sometimes extending to lower woodwinds, and its innocence has all the hallmarks of a James Horner technique. It is teased in foreshadowing at 2:07 into "Trapped" but really makes itself known throughout "Dirt Farm" and at 0:32 into "Under the Floor" on flutes and then the lower winds. It concludes "Research," opens "Laboratory," and is resolved on flute at 0:52 into "Reconciliation" as Simonsen reveals the motif's purpose. Some listeners might argue that these two ideas are not clearly delineated enough in the score, but given the airtime that the composer affords to the Bernstein themes, his handling of the family material is about as adept as possible. You also have to accept that the theme is largely fragmentary by design until the final scene, as the Spengler family is certainly not at peace before that point.

Simonsen explores a few secondary original motifs in Ghostbusters: Afterlife, though none is particularly memorable. He devises a new fantasy theme that is essentially a cooler, more fluid version of Bernstein's Gozer material. It's subtle but promises potential at 0:47 into "Research" and comes forth in "Down the Well," vague hints early leading to its fuller phrasing at 0:34. Simonsen allows the full ensemble to glorify the theme at 1:33 into "No, I'm Twelve" and at 2:09 into "Callie," expanding it even further to include pipe organ at 0:18 into "Protecting the Farm" and aiding the Bernstein Gozer crescendo at 2:53. Other unique motifs in Ghostbusters: Afterlife include the descending phrases of a mischief idea at 2:11 into "Mini Stay-Pufts" and a secondary character theme that consolidates at 1:20 into "Reconciliation" with extraordinary Williams-like melodrama, perhaps setting up a purpose for that identity in possible sequels. Otherwise, the score is dominated by the three existing Bernstein themes, the main idea receiving far more development and exposure in this film than it ever experienced in 1984. Previewed at 4:28 into "Trapped," it toys with the end of "Dirt Farm" and its underlying rhythm is cutely inverted at the start of "Chess." As relics from the original Ghostbusters become more prominent, so too does the theme, a fuller rendition on solo horn at 2:00 into "Under the Floor" leading to other sections carrying the idea's secondary phrases. The iconic piano rhythm pops up in "Nice Replica" and becomes playful at 0:53 into "Culpable." It's applied as smart counterpoint to the ghost call motif early in "Laboratory" before becoming soothing later, as Egon's cool lab is explored. Bernstein enthusiasts will love "Lab Partners," which offers the rhythm and theme in a clunky, honky-tonk variant with a fantastic persona, developing into the fullest version of theme with the entire midsection intact. The theme shifts to heightened action mode at 0:39 into "Definitely Class Five" and exciting fragments open the chase of "Trap Him" and inform the rest of the cue. The latter cue is an undeniable highlight of the score, switching from Bernstein and Silvestri influences to Williams' Jurassic Park mode with timpani in its second half. Toyed with early in the melancholy "Don't Go Chasing Ghosts," the main theme takes redemptive shape on solo horn in that cue. Action heroics await the theme at 1:26 into "Getaway," and a good rise of major-key resilience occurs at 3:34 into "Protecting the Farm," followed by a snippet of the comedy rhythm. The theme's transformation into an action identity is solidified in this cue, Simonsen expertly altering the final chords of each of the theme's first two phrases to bring new usefulness to the idea.

Bernstein's main theme really excels with Simonsen's new underlying chords in Ghostbusters: Afterlife at 0:39 into "Showdown," the identity soaring to dramatic heights never contemplated in the original film. This shift translates into sappy, Horner-inspired drama at 0:29 into "Reconciliation" but returns to its native form at 2:02, the comedy rhythm and theme enjoying a light, glittery performance together. The majesty of E.T also impacts this theme at 3:50 for a massive sendoff and in the solo horn and woodwinds that close out the cue with noble resolution. Bernstein's ascending mystery theme for the supernatural is liberally applied throughout Ghostbusters: Afterlife as well, menacing at 3:54 into "Trapped," light on the ondes martenot at 2:38 into "Dirt Farm," slightly ominous at 0:35 into "Chess," opening "Research" on low strings, and hinted in the middle of "Under the Floor." It's understated but spooky at 0:48 into "Laboratory," opens "Go Go Go" in frantic chasing mode, is tentative at 2:33 into "Down the Well," starts softly at 0:22 into "The Temple Resurrected" (and later mingles loudly with the Gozer theme), extends the suspense early in "No, I'm Twelve," is kicked into action mode at 0:47 into "Getaway" and 3:06 into "Protecting the Farm," the latter with ondes martenot in full force, and the triumphant ending of "Showdown" literally conquers the theme. Meanwhile, Bernstein's corny but fun, rising Gozer theme is faintly hinted at 0:47 into "Dirt Farm," foreshadowed at the end of "Research," achieves its destined pompous fanfare at 0:27 into "Culpable," and litters much of the score from 3:24 into "Trap Him" to soft shades at 2:02 into "Don't Go Chasing Ghosts," but it's the bravado of its massive performances that reign, as at 0:59 into "The Temple Resurrected" and twice at 0:32 into "No, I'm Twelve" with even more force. Variants of the Gozer theme culminate at 2:23 into "Protecting the Farm" and again near the cue's end. The score's vintage Gozer references may seem overblown in the movie, but that's the whole point. When you hear the ghost-annoying piano technique for the opening logos, you know exactly what type of score Simonsen devised for Ghostbusters: Afterlife. On album, there are slow parts to the experience, but even there, the composer maintains an intelligent blend of history and narrative. The recording may sound sparse to younger listeners, but the lack of booming bass was the whole point here. A CD option exists for the score-only presentation; neither the end credits' Ray Parker, Jr. franchise song or actress Mckenna Grace's mediocre "Haunted House" is included. Simonson's work is a mixture of brilliant adaptation, dedicated authenticity, loving nostalgia, and a hearty narrative, all of which more satisfying than anyone could have expected. ***** @Amazon.com: CD or Download

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