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The large Los Angeles orchestral ensemble, featuring an enormous brass section, is deceiving, however. Despite the potential amount of robust orchestral sound that could have been delivered through that ensemble, Edelman falls back on the synthesized keyboarding and electronic pounding that Media Ventures score fans will instantly recognize from half a dozen generic works. The same irony that often plagues Hans Zimmer's own scores of the 2000's is heard here; the bold performances by an abundance of horn players is mixed so that even the largely organic recordings sound synthetic, defeating the purpose of such an expensive music budget. The synthetic percussion alone is a driving force in the music, and in cues such as "Anarchy 99," the harsh, abrasive spirit of the electronics is overbearing and irritating. Much of the action music follows a similar avenue, sometimes with an electric guitar and sometimes with Edelman's catchy spy theme. Almost as though it was lifted from a 1960's television spy drama, the nifty tune establishes itself strongly in the second half of the score (and especially the enjoyable finale cue), performed with vigor and a hip, electronic rhythm. Other than a few impressive brass performances of this title theme, though, it begs for more development and attention. If anything, a super human dork running through explosions and getting the girl at the end should at least have better-established thematic accompaniment for his endeavors. The secondary themes and motifs in XXX are even less developed, with the character cue for "Elena" lacking any elegance or appeal. Edelman's suspense motif, heard near the outset of "El Jefe in the Colombian Drug Fields" (among other places), is reminiscent of a generic Alan Silvestri idea. Other cues attempt to infuse an ethnic or otherwise unique instrumental spirit to the mix, such as the use of a duet of violin and electric guitar in "Prague Arrival." But these cues are often stifled by the synthetic pounding which surrounds them. With all of these parts joined, the score as whole has a simple element of cohesiveness that ironically holds it together as a decent listening experience despite being devoid of thought. If your tolerance for harsh electronic sampling is considerable, then you may very well find XXX to be a thrilling effort (and in that case, be sure to seek out the score-only album rather than the song compilation released earlier). If you value any level of intelligence or creativity in your scores, however, then Edelman's music will slap you in the face at every turn.  **   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Randy Edelman reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.05 (in 20 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.15 (in 29,224 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.

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