: (Kris Bowers) Combining animation with
basketball has proven to have enduring appeal, and 2026's
into that equation. The Stephen
Curry production applies the youthful street art style of
to a rather standard underdog story involving
a goat that aspires to be a star in the "roarball" league he idolizes
and eventually does so through some unlikely circumstances. You have
veteran players of all animal specials suspicious of this newcomer, but
the profession team is terrible and on the verge of sale anyway, so the
goat manages to inspire them to a playoff run and high redemption at the
end for all. Interpersonal strife and animosity between competitors are
the common thread with prior sports genre movies. It's interesting to
contemplate the difference in white and black audience reactions to
, the former less likely to find anything unique in the
combination of concepts (based on critical responses, at the least) but
the latter better identifying with it. The movie makes extensive use of
songs that span the genres of hip hop, pop, rock, and R&B, and the
original score by Kris Bowers strives to match. This approach is
expected for the sport of basketball, though some electronica is added
as well. Star player Kobe Bryant recommended to Bowers some John
Williams-styled orchestra for the big game at the end, which is no
surprise given Bryant and Williams' collaboration on the short film
in 2017. The assignment excited Bowers because of
the opportunity write black-oriented music for a major picture. The
immensely talented composer had shied away from being typecast into
writing for this kind of topic before, as other black composers like
Terence Blanchard had found themselves stuck writing music only for
black filmmakers without the same opportunity for broader Hollywood
work. Bowers' widespread success, especially vaulting to the mainstream
with
, then allowed him the career freedom to
explore the black tones of his youth in a major score without such
concerns.
The composer's approach to
GOAT is highly competent
and admirable, though it is challenging to absorb in its sheer force of
energy. Electric bass and synthesizers with typical contemporary
manipulation dominate the "cool" tones, the composer's electric
keyboarding strongly resembling the Roz side of the score for
The
Wild Robot. Outright electric guitar provides more ambient,
dissonant stress than actual coolness. Percussion widely varies as in
The Wild Robot, providing more ethnicity and rhythm for the
animal groups. In conjunction with them, sound effects contribute, but
not basketball-specific ones. A standard orchestra of mainly strings and
brass increasingly factors in the second half, woodwinds sparing. An
accordion is an amusing addition to the soundscape in a handful of
mid-section cues while a gong and other percussion provides some
quasi-oriental character tones in "Flo." Large adult choral tones
intervene for the climax in "Fate of the Universe on the Line" and are
perhaps a bit too much for this context. The overall sound is extremely
stylish as an inspirational package, overflowing with personality and
vibrance. Some listeners may be overwhelmed by the very saturated
experience out of context, though given that the genre is animation, a
certain amount of that excessive flair is excusable. Dissonance and
manipulation do hinder when needed, especially by "Just Give Me the
Ball" when the team is breaking apart. Light comedy from "Morning
Routine" to "Not Even Media-Trained" is anonymous compared to the rest.
Mostly, however,
GOAT is a highly thematic effort even if those
ideas don't really reach out and grab you. Bowers gets extreme mileage
out of his main theme, which is built around a core figure of three
notes, sometimes with a fourth integral, a rise after the first leading
to repeated second, third, and other notes a step above. That higher
note is sometimes repeated several more times for additional emphasis.
This phrase is part of a fuller theme that is somewhat elusive through
much of the score, never really receiving a fully elongated performance
of straight drama in its entirety. But the opening of the idea
definitely works well in and of itself because of its easy placement and
its inherent memorability. Bowers definitely has a way with catchy,
repetitive phrasing.
The main theme of
GOAT is heard immediately in a
hip hop-focused personality with finger-snapping in "Good Morning
Vineland;" the volume fade-out at the end is a bit cheesy here, but
that's the score's only such instance. The same personality shifts
deeper in "Look Who It Is" but continues identical reprises. More
deliberate keyboarding for the idea in "Long Walk Home" punctuates a
soft pop moment, these three opening cues well establishing the breadth
of hip hop, pop, and R&B in the tone of the work. The theme extends out
of the secondary light drama material for suaveness in "Chillin' in a
Penthouse" and shifts towards electronica manipulation in "TV in the
Mini Bar" for a dose of humor. Again taking some quick inspiration on
synths from
The Wild Robot's Roz in "That's Gonna Be Me," the
main theme is reduced to a moment of keyboarded contemplation in "The
Cage" and later a touch playful in "Will's Got Next" with hints of the
score's competition motif alongside. Retro synths and sound effects join
brass in "Glue Factory" for a wilder rendition, but Bowers builds to a
tonally attractive moment of triumph for the idea late in "Two-Horned
Unicorn." It transitions to accordion humor in "Not Bad, Right?" and a
major orchestral climax before the electronic influence drives the
identity with force in "Just Study the Playbook." Gaining more
orchestral depth as it ascends throughout "That's a Technical" and more
accordion humor interjects at the end, the theme rediscovers ultra-cool
emphasis in the latter half of "Eagle 24," and that same tone moves to
electric guitars in "Commercial Break." Bowers tones it back in the
light drama of "She Said to Dream Big" for nice reflection and allows it
to transition to brass humor in "Jett's Got Bars" with the players well
layered. Provided some almost Western-informed string presence with
accordion in "Coach Dennis," the main theme is clearly enunciated in
full by trumpets early in "Welcome to Dennis' World of Pain," this cue
exposing the secondary phrases of the idea and related motifs really
well. It becomes dramatic on brass with optimistic support throughout
"Birds of a Feather Look Fly Together" and brings some muted synth
inspiration to "Halftime" over organ and eventually the full orchestra.
The composer then combines the brass with the score's electronic half
for large-scale sports drama in "All Tied Up."
In the final scenes of
GOAT, Bowers adds full
choral chants to the synthetic and organic blend for the main theme in
"Fate of the Universe on the Line," consolidating it to driving
keyboarded coolness before a thumping brass sendoff. The full
progressions are provided a friendly keyboarded goodbye in "Roots Run
Deep" with strings, but there is no natural resolution to this closing
cue, the idea left hanging on an anticipatory note as a likely segue to
a song. Meanwhile, the score's other major theme is one of competition
that tends to represent Jett, the star black panther of the team. Built
from four-note phrases ominously descending at their end, this motif is
sometimes truncated to three notes. There is perhaps an intentional,
humorous homage by Bowers to Europa's famed "The Final Countdown" riff
here, though the theme is often distorted in unpleasant ways for
menacing effect. The idea explodes with rampant percussive abrasion in
"Jett Fuel," taunts around the edges in the otherwise bass-heavy loops
of "Mane Season," and is twisted into a somewhat flimsy,
television-promo fanfare in "Roarball." It stomps past the main theme
looped on synths for bravado in "The Whole Planet's Watching" and helps
offset that theme in the middle of "Welcome to Dennis' World of Pain."
Continuing at the start of "Just Give Me the Ball" with resolve and
power from synths and orchestra, the competition motif is adapted with
sirens and wails in "Ready, Set, GOAT," offers overblown fright to
"Maniacs," and is softened for a moment on strings in "I've Got a Game
to Win." The score's warmer dramatic material is less memorable; it gets
to Bowers' core sensitivity, though not with overwhelming emotion. The
soft R&B character development in "First One in the Gym" is pleasant and
orchestrally somber for a moment in "Gonna Need That Rent." This
material dabbles in the funnier side for plucked elements in "It's a
Double Goat Meaning" and "The Locals" and is pleasantly hopeful from
both sides of the ensemble in "No Love" and "Did You Mean It?" before
persisting on minimally redeeming synths in "What Really Matters" and
similar atmospherics in "Dream Big." Overall, Bowers easily accomplishes
what this film needed in a score, but the experience struggles a bit on
album. That's not a comment about the style but rather the frantic
changes in pace on a fragmented album that contains 45 short cues
amounting to just over an hour in length. The narrative is intact, but
the lack of the songs does hinder it overall. The score alone is an
affable souvenir experience for those enamored with the movie.
@Amazon.com: CD or
Download
- Music as Written for the Film: ****
- Music as Heard on Album: ***
- Overall: ***
