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Those who disliked Gregson-Williams' stereotypical electronic scores of the 1990's would probably have deemed this score intolerable because of its sometimes abrasive rhythmic loops, but while there are indeed several cues in Spy Game that will test your endurance, there is enough quantity and quality in the less explosive cues to merit another listen. The soundtrack for Spy Game will undoubtedly require a fair amount of patience. Although there exist sequences in the score that reaffirm many listeners' distaste of relentless synthetic loops, there are also several surprisingly engaging and enjoyable expressions of harmonic beauty to be heard as well. Granted, there is about twenty minutes of eardrum-grinding pounding of electronics in Spy Game, and this material is no more listenable for many people here than it had been in scores past. But beyond those expected cues are a lengthy collection of dramatic recordings of exotic beauty that sets this score apart from others by Gregson-Williams, even when considering the superior work to come from him in successive years. With spectacular results, he employs a host of specialty instruments in his orchestral accompaniment to the synthesizers. Among the most noticeable use is the erhu, which may not be as evocative here as in, say, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but it's an enjoyable touch when combined with the composer's hard-edged rhythms and Western thematic sensibilities. A variety of solo vocal performances is a treat not to be missed on this album; along with an innocent boy soprano (which seems to be applied to Pitt's character), a host of Middle Eastern, Chinese, and Vietnamese female vocals are intertwined with a Celtic harp and ethnic flutes to spice up an otherwise typical array of electronics. With a percussion section rich with Middle Eastern and Chinese instruments, Gregson-Williams produces a sound that is even more convincing in its ethnic authenticity than Beyond Rangoon or The Peacemaker were for Zimmer, his mentor, despite the layering of many of these elements with harsh sound effects and synthetic base droning. The mingling of so many different ethnic areas enhances the element of worldly espionage in the music, creating a tense, foreign, and even enchanting mood in cues like "Beirut, A War Zone."

You have to tip your hat to Gregson-Williams for his extensive experimentation with and implementation of these exotic elements in Spy Game, especially considering that a far less intelligent score would likely have sufficed for the film. His touch for thematic continuity and harmonic simplicity is a starkly effective balance for the adrenaline-pumping requirements of the usual Media Ventures electronic bombast. That said, Spy Game does still contain several tracks of obnoxious and irritating chase music, the kind that takes techno and pop rhythms far too seriously. But even among these portions, "Su-Chou Prison," "Muir Races to Work," "Harker Tracks Muir," and "The Long Night" contain rhythms that lean towards more easily palatable pop rather than grinding electronica, and they are easier to integrate into the flow of the surrounding material. Alone, "The Long Night" offers a very successful blend of hip attitude in deep bass tones and lighter orchestral accompaniment. If you can sift past the harsher deviations (and those that especially perk up in the latter half of the album) to explore the dramatic heart of this score, then you'll find half an hour or more of impressively weighty and sensitive underscore. Gregson-Williams even throws in a few fully symphonic bursts of theme and chorus that will remind you of Zimmer's modern classics, with the openings of "Explosion & Aftermath" and "Operation Dinner Out" both exhibiting a deep male chorus over extremely simplistic but satisfying orchestral harmony. The middle portion of the Decca Records album for Spy Game, from "Berlin" to "Parting Company," is a remarkable collection of ethnic melodies and suspenseful orchestral underscore that ranks highly in Gregson-Williams career and makes the album a solid purchase. The generous length of that album is padded with two concluding tracks that are remixes of Gregson-Williams' motifs for the score, and they seem somewhat unnecessary since they really don't deviate much from the sound of the original recordings. A solid mixing quality does, as usual, cause some of the bass region elements, real and synthetic, to all sound synthetic, but the individual soloists are presented in impressive clarity. Overall, as long as you recognize that Spy Game contains several cues of excessive electronic noise, you may be pleasantly surprised by the harmonious diversity of the remainder of the work.  ****   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Harry Gregson-Williams reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.94 (in 35 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 2.99 (in 51,930 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.

Total Time: 71:34