Where Price lacks in nuance during Heart of Stone, he compensates with an abundance of noise, the respites from slashing and pounding often generating little interest. The mere presence of such robust tones will suffice for some listeners, but others will be disappointed by Price's inability to infuse any distinctive sense of style into the ambience. Considering Gadot's involvement in both projects, it is hard not to ponder how engaging 2020's Red Notice by Steve Jablonsky continues to be in comparison to Price's approach. He tries to emulate that stylish sense of pizazz in a cue like "A Winning Hand," but he is undone by its cheesy vocals and alarm-like elephant wails from brass. (The latter technique pierces a few cues in the score.) Character-centric moments like "It's Good to Hear From You" are devoid of any convincing warmth, even with attempts by singular strings to afford such caring. Ultimately, it's the pounding action music that defines Heart of Stone, overwhelming the work's two primary themes. The main identity is for the concept as a whole, and it's a frustratingly simplistic series of two descending four-note phrases with no secondary section until some marginally dramatic extension from strings during "The Heart and The Charter." This main theme repeats endlessly in the score, resolving to key at the end of its eight notes in immature fashion despite no real resolution happening in every instance. The idea definitely wears out its welcome after the first half hour of the work. A second theme emerges prominently as the score progresses, however, a series of vaguely rising two-note figures for Stone and, to a lesser extent, the technology of the tale. This motif does receive more intriguing treatment late in the score, establishing that the hero's music ascends in structure while the concept's brash attitude confidently descends back down. It's during the final 20 minutes of the score that Price finally allows the orchestra to assert itself, starting in "When the Moment Comes," where the group develops out of acoustic guitar on the second theme. Still, don't expect these final cues to really solve the simplicity or provide meaning to the thematic structures. Price's strategy for the narrative is basically adequate but poorly executed, too much of each facet of the score sounding identical and the action cues diminishing in effectiveness as they repeat themselves. The 88-minute length of the score's presentation on album doesn't do it any favors, and the numbing experience is followed by an obnoxious song that stylistically would fit better in American Assassin. Reduce your expectations and reduce the volume for this brainlessly adequate journey.  **   @Amazon.com: CD or Download