Zimmer and Preskett go overboard with their approach to
the rural Southern location of
Something to Talk About, utilizing
many country music elements in their light-hearted and somewhat shallow
score. A handful of exuberant soloists dominate the soundscape, led by
guitars, banjo, percussion, Hammond organ, piano, dobra, bass, violin,
and piano. Depth in the recording is contributed by Zimmer's usual
keyboarded backing in the form of minimal orchestral samples and
contemporary light rock. The project gave the composer one last
collaboration with his duo of electric guitar favorites, Pete Haycock
and Bob Daspit, in a limited role. The demeanor of
Something to Talk
About rests somewhere in between the upbeat road trip portions of
Thelma & Louise and the overblown, jaunty hoedown material for
Cool Runnings. Nothing quite as hopelessly optimistic in a
Western setting has ever come from Zimmer, despite the fact that the
underlying thematic progressions are recognizable as being from his pen.
For some listeners, the bubbly and bright tone of this music, along with
the stereotypical instrumentation to represent anything having something
to do with horses in current times, will simply be too irritating in its
saturation of that style. There are several slow conversational scenes
that feature piano and light percussion, though these sequences aren't
as consistently soothing as what Zimmer and his assistants would provide
for
Something's Gotta Give. Thematically,
Something to Talk
About features two ideas at the forefront. The first is the outright
wild and occasionally slightly bluesy theme in "Kings of Carolina" and
"Southern Comfort," likely for the locale. Then there's a theme for
Roberts' character, and this is where the score's most attractive
performances result. Heard throughout "Grace" and in portions of "Tall
Horses," this theme very curiously foreshadows the melody of one of
Stephen Flaherty's songs for the forthcoming Fox animation
Anastasia; the similarities are so clear that the theme may be
distracting in a negative way for some. The bulk of the stylish electric
guitar performances come in the "Grace" cue as well. The album for
Something to Talk About, which does
not contain the Raitt
song, is a scant 37 minutes long and actually outstays its welcome. That
said, Zimmer and Preskett took an appropriately conservative, upbeat
route for this film and the album could be condensed to ten to fifteen
minutes of material that will well compliment the collection of any
enthusiast of Zimmer's early work.
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