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Outside of children's films, the Danna duo is known for their fascination with unusual, worldly instrumentation, writing outstanding dramas with blends of orchestral majesty and diverse, exotic coloration. The fantasy element in Onward allowed for them to infuse some of those elements, like lutes, psaltery, folk guitars, and even a crumhorn, with a 92-piece orchestra and 30-voice choir to represent the otherworldliness of the setting. More obvious, however, is the 1970's rock influence, with the Danna brothers equally comfortable letting rip with the electric guitars and drum kits of their early pop band years. Together, these elements forge an eclectic personality for the soundtrack, one that functions fine but never really comes together in the end. As is often the case, when composers attempt too diverse a collection of sounds for a film score, each disparate element is diminished as a result. For Onward, the Danna brothers produced a competent series of extremely short cues for the wide range of genre needs in the story, attempting to connect them with a concrete set of themes. Ultimately, the themes are sufficient but not spectacular, eliciting the right emotions even if they don't really impact you outside of the moment. The main idea exists for the nerdier of the two brothers, Ian, and his quirky identity comes to represent the personality of this fantasy suburbia as well. Spirited performances of his theme flourish in "A Little Magic," "New Ian," and "Boom Bastia!" while taking on contemplative moments in "My Birthday is Cancelled," with a sad woodwind solo, and with a fuller ensemble in "Share My Life With Him." The idea eventually wraps the action in "Voltar Thunderseer!" and is afforded a happier rendition to close out the score in "Magic Returns," the highlight of the entire work. Meanwhile, a fantasy theme for the lore and magic of the whole story opens the score immediately in "Quests of Yore" and extends the same mode to "The Spell." It turns suspenseful in "Find Another Phoenix Gem," supplies Danny Elfman-like low woodwinds in the lighter "Laurel in Pursuit," shifts to mystery in "The Cave," and takes an adventuresome stance early in "Led Us to Our Victory."

The second brother in Onward, Barley, is more associated with the rock interludes, some of which laced awkwardly with choir, in "My Mighty Steed," "Going on a Quest," and "Dance Fight." The motif in the middle cue expands to become a fighting identity in "Led Us to Our Victory." The dead father has a theme that tries to establish a depth of drama in James Horner fashion in "Wish I Could Spend the Day With You" and "Dad," the latter exploring the idea fully with redemptive weight. This idea's performance remains too shallow to really carry the moment. A few other motifs for characters seem tied to individual cues only, like the bold sidebar for Colt Bronco in "Tracking Guinevere." The van itself receives a death song of sorts in "Sacrifice," a humorous but distracting parody tribute to Ennio Morricone. While all these themes are fine, with the main identity carrying the best spirit of the score in early and late setting-reinforcing scenes, their applications are often too tepid. Even in the best cue, the ending "Magic Returns," the affable nature of the cue lacks an engrossing vibe in the mix. Perhaps the biggest surprises of Onward are its sparse orchestrations and shallow soundscape for the fantasy genre. With Nicholas Dodd orchestrating, one would expect the score to flourish with a beefier presence. Between the absence of resounding bass and brass presence, as well as an excruciatingly flat, dry mix that sucks the life out of the recording, the orchestral and choral passages of the score are remarkably limp. The action cues in particular are presented with underwhelming force of will. As a result, the whole endeavor sounds like a wimpy lightweight even though the Danna brothers certainly know how to generate some dramatic scope. Yes, this is a silly children's animation flick, but that doesn't automatically mean that the score should lack any gravitas whatsoever. It's because of this shallow sound that a cue like "Dad" fails to really grip like it should. The score is followed by the harmless but unrelated Brandi Carlile song, "Carried Me With You," placed at the beginning of the album. That product contains 44 score cues totaling under an hour of running time, so be prepared for a disjointed experience. Overall, the Danna brothers once again provide adequate and thoughtful music for the genre, but their execution begs for its own touch of magic.  ***   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Mychael Danna reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.25 (in 16 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.06 (in 5,347 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.

Total Time: 62:31