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•	1993 Album

•	2015 Album

•	1993 Album

Lyne's films didn't typically feature Barry's kind of soft, hopelessly romantic style, and it could be argued that his score for Indecent Proposal is predictable in its failure to really address any of the highs and lows of the tension and passion on screen. It was also bound to recharge the ongoing debate about Barry's useful purpose in the industry and whether his stubborn refusal to explore any of the instrumental creativity from early in his career should have relegated him to concert albums long before that actually happened later in the 1990's. To say that Barry's trademark romance sound had become redundant by 1993 is a massive understatement. In fact, the bulk of the scores that he wrote for these dramas after Somewhere in Time are largely interchangeable with each other, and Indecent Proposal was unfortunately the recipient of a score that has absolutely no individual characteristic of note. In Chaplin and a few others, Barry would write secondary ideas of some measure of pizzazz that would offer those scores a touch of unique definition. That's not the case here. Not a single moment in Indecent Proposal is memorable when compared to the composer's larger body of work. The ensemble uses piano and strings to convey themes of familiar harmonic resonance. The piano is always the most alluring part of these Barry scores, if only because of the overexposure of his grand string themes for his Oscar-winning triumphs. These scores must be the most uninspiring for a brass section to have to sit through. Subtle horn backing for the strings is once again the duty of these players, an extremely simplistic underemployment. Percussion (outside of the piano and harp) is virtually non-existent. An acoustic guitar is badly underutilized. There has been respectful praise for these ingredients from viewers of the film, and their arguments do have some merit. With the script calling for such excruciating mental anguish from its leads, the strings and piano offer a very comforting representation of the lasting love between the primary couple. Barry's soothing music reminds of this bond even as Harrelson's character panics about the arrangement partway through the story. Even so, however, this score could have used some flair in its ensemble; a fleeting, sorrowful saxophone might have done wonders for the atmosphere of Redford's lifestyle.

The structures in Indecent Proposal, unfortunately, are the stuff of Barry parodies. Gentle sways of shifting, ultra-satisfying harmonic progressions repeat seemingly endlessly, each section of a theme stated twice as per usual. The pacing of the score is even slower than Barry's typically crawling tempi, sometimes to tedious extents. There are three distinct themes that represent the characters in the film, but while they can be technically separated by a closing appreciation, there's little obvious difference between the three for casual listening. The only motif of any interest is that of clock-like, ticking percussion to represent the suspense of waiting. The original 1993 album condensed what it deems five separate cues into one 25-minute suite, an ironic choice that almost accepts the inevitable reception of the score as one redundant piece. That suite is an extremely fluid listening experience, the kind of presentation you'd expect to hear on one of Barry's concert albums. There is no adherence to synchronization points in the film and no abrupt changes in direction. As such, it's a music editor's dream. For listeners seeking even the most minute diversion from Barry's soft themes, there are a few slight changes in tone in the middle of the suite. At the 11-minute mark, Barry finally allows some of the broad ensemble strokes of resonance common to his famous scores. Then, at 12:30 and again at 15:20, he churns through his suspense motif for piano and brass that at least drops the sappy tone for a while. In 2015, Intrada Records provided a proper presentation of the score without any of the surrounding songs, tripling its length on album by including countless short cues and the multitudes of alternate edits and prior album versions. While this arrangement does reveal some of the more intelligent subtleties in Barry's approach to the score, to call anything in the work an "intelligent subtlety" is a bit of a stretch. That said, even on this longer album, while the music still makes for very easy listening, it does not capture the essence of the film's story. It doesn't reflect the seedy side of the plot, nor does it make an attempt to bolster the agony of the couple's decision. Therefore, Barry failed in his task with a lackluster, arguably lazy effort, but it's a fine listening experience that will appeal to anyone sympathetic to the composer's later regurgitation. Casual enthusiasts of the film should continue to seek the original 1993 album to get the best blend of songs and score from the story.   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

• Music as Written for the Film:  **
• Music as Heard on the Albums:  ***
• Overall:  ***

Bias Check:

For John Barry reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.86 (in 28 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.54 (in 28,763 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.