PRINTER FRIENDLY VIEW
(inverts site colors)

•	2002 Album

•	2014 Album

•	2002 Album

It's safe to say, in retrospect, that Basil Poledouris' music for The Hunt for Red October was a spectacularly singular event; Horner's two subsequent scores for Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger are not generally regarded as either strong accompaniment for their films or notable entries in the composer's career. Robinson turned to Goldsmith to jack up the environment with a powerful and ethnically charged action and suspense entry. Goldsmith's output in the previous three years, following his magnificent stretch of production in 1998 and 1999, had slowed to a crawl. His scores had been functional at best, lacking in much of the spirit that had distinguished his long career. He had also been the victim of being associated with some very underperforming films during that time, too. In these regards, therefore, his involvement with The Sum of All Fears represented a welcomed return for Goldsmith to the mainstream blockbuster scene, one which seemed to bring out the best in him. In addition to the quality of the score itself, The Sum of All Fears is a project that gained Goldsmith more recognition than his usual efforts because of its song placement. The end credits song, "If We Could Remember," with lyrics written by Paul Williams, is a vocal interpretation of one of the composer's recurring themes for the film, and serves the topic of innocence and remembrance well. In the film, the pop variation of this song is heard at the end, although identical versions of it bracket the original soundtrack album release (likely since the performer, platinum artist Yolanda Adams, was an Elektra artist and the label was pushing her as much as they possibly could). More noteworthy is the operatic translation of the song into Latin for "The Mission" at the opening of the story, with soaring layers of vocals performing the piece in between Goldsmith's instrumental accompaniment to the scene in the film. It's a very decent song, nothing to hear at awards time but certainly no disgrace to the film or album either. Its employment is a bit overwhelming in the film when compared to the remainder of the material. The solemn beauty of "The Mission" also accomplishes two other tasks. First, its rhythmic, snare and brass driven action motif at the end for the American government and military (despite showing Israeli forces) is ballsy Goldsmith action at its best. The cue also, throughout its ranks, introduces the noble theme for the CIA agents, the motif for the nuclear bomb, the instrumentation for the villains' material.

The rhythmic motif for the protagonists is standard Goldsmith issue, though its translation into a state of panic during "Clear the Stadium" is very well handled. Its employment as a sobering, pulsating reminder of the grim circumstances of the world is a bit dispiriting in many cues throughout the score, including its very final moments, but when it suddenly interjects as Morgan Freeman's character realizes that everyone in the stadium is about to die, you can't help but admire the spotting and execution of the music. Far more intriguing is Goldsmith's various identities for the villains. Instead of concentrating on a particular sound on the Neo-Nazis (an eerie theme does exist for them, too), Goldsmith instead provides several "red herring" ideas for surrounding elements, including the jarring one-note theme for the bomb itself. A fair amount of Middle Eastern influence survives in the score as a location descriptor. While a touch of percussion and regional instrumentation from The 13th Warrior therefore carries over into The Sum of All Fears, Goldsmith goes a step further and adapts his Russian-inspired style from Air Force One into the progressions and deep choral performances of a Russian theme to represent the fact that the Russians are supposed to be implicated as villains. The theme becomes one of a faceless international villain, dominating "The Bomb" and "That Went Well" with its ominous though harmonious tones. Some might consider this material too melodramatic, a valid argument given that Goldsmith was obviously attempting to really pull the strings on the symbolism in the dramatic terror of the plot. The score's strongest points in both the film and album occur in the first half, with the presentation becoming more like Goldsmith's stock action material from the 1990's as it plays. The majority of score, with its well balanced combination of symphonic and electronic elements, is similar in style to a light version of The 13th Warrior and the tension of Star Trek: Nemesis, with organic instrumentation from the former and electronics from the latter. This is, at the very least, a compliment towards Goldsmith's achievement in The Sum of All Fears. It contains less brassy, bombastic action than a score such as Executive Decision, but its intensity is not diminished in any way. The final cue, "The Same Air," provides the score's only truly symphonic performance of the song's melody with the composer's usual sensitivity in high strings and solo woodwind, and this tender touch is sadly missing from the relaxed portions of the remainder of the story.

In the years since the score debuted, it was revealed that the song was a continuation of Goldsmith's effort to pay tribute to the victims of the attacks of September 11th, 2001. He accomplished this feat in his score for The Last Castle to a degree, though Goldsmith took an active role in pushing the song for the film as an extension of that tribute. The likewise somewhat restrained and occasionally grim tone of his score also reflects the kind of stirring, but somber environment that many felt in America at the time. As a whole, The Sum of All Fears is a much more varied and experimental effort than anything else that Goldsmith had produced in that late period of his career, and the infusion of a fresh sound stirred his fans just in time for them to behold yet another Star Trek score from the composer later in the year. It's not the most consistent of listening experiences on the original 2002 album for The Sum of All Fears, which includes remarkable sound quality for the orchestral cues but not the same kind of overwhelmingly wet, echoing mix that existed a few years prior in his work. The product was relatively generous in its inclusion of most of the material that was featured prominently in the film. The insertion of an extra copy of the same song at the start of the album was completely unnecessary. Goldsmith, however, as he did in The River Wild, mixed the orchestra right into the beginning and end of the songs which he produced. That flow is superb at the end of the album in particular (with the aid of acoustic guitar), and makes the inclusion of the reprise of the song at the start of the album superfluous. The film generated much hype over its other song placements, and both Giacomo Puccini's operatic "Nessun Dorma from Turandot" and Tabitha Fair's contemporary "If We Get Through This" were included on the product. Absent, however, was the memorable performance of the Star Spangled Banner heard before the big game (a much requested martial rendition). For enthusiasts of both the film and score, an expanded and limited 2014 La-La Land album provided both the anthem recording and a significantly expanded amount of score. Added to the roughly 35 minutes of score on the previous album is a fair amount of suspenseful material that underwhelms, but the addition of some action bombast and Middle Eastern flavor are quite noteworthy. Several subtle performances of the rhythmic American theme are a nice addition as well, especially with such crisp sound quality. On any album, this score will be well worth the price to hear Goldsmith burst forth with one last volley of robust action music in the days before his declining health ended his career.  ****   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Jerry Goldsmith reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.29 (in 113 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.32 (in 145,182 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.