CD Reviews: Love Actually and Tomb Raider 2
By Nick Joy
Love Actually **
CRAIG ARMSTRONG, SUGABABES, DIDO, ET AL
Island XCD8138/981403-2
20 tracks - 72:20
It's been a frustrating 12 months for Craig Armstrong fans. The Quiet American soundtrack was
due for release, got cancelled, and finally appeared months later. The Magdalene Sisters got no score
release at all, and just when things were looking up, the composer was
pushed off Tomb Raider 2. The
fact that Craig appears at all on this Love Actually soundtrack is great
news, but be careful which version you buy.
I've reviewed the Island Records UK release, which contains three of
Armstrong's pieces, totaling a measly 7 1/2 minutes. However, if you
buy the J-Records U.S. disc you'll only get one track, clocking in at
just over two minutes. And there's yet another version for sale (label
unknown) that has no Armstrong at all, but includes further tracks by
George Michael and Mary J Blige. This really is a case of "buyer
beware" and making sure that you get the version you really want.
This is, of course, another case of
Bridget Jones's Diary or Notting
Hill, where the record has been released to sell multiple units
to the non-soundtrack fan. And as with those two former releases, the
score gets a minor inclusion, but at least it's there in a truncated
form. Elsewhere, there are festive or timely tracks by Dido, Kelly
Clarkson, Otis Redding, Eva Cassidy and more. Bill (Underworld) Nighy
performs on "Christmas is All Around," a cheeky re-working of "Love is
All Around," which was of course in Richard Curtis' first hit, Four Weddings and a Funeral.
The short score cue lengths mean that Armstrong pieces never truly get
a chance to take off; they cut out just as they really get going.
"Glasgow Love Theme" is a (s)light rom-com staple, while "PM's Theme"
is a delightful, regal Christmas anthem. The longest, "Portuguese Love
Theme" (3:10), is closest to the rising strings and infectious base
lines that we associate with Armstrong, but it's really no more than a
flavor.
Buy it for your loved one to show that you're not adverse to feel-good
Christmas song compilations, but covet it yourself for the final
Armstrong tracks. Now that the movie has failed to light up the box
office tills, a score release is unlikely. Let's hope that 2004 sees
more assignments and products for this under-used composer.
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of
Life ****
ALAN SILVESTRI
Varèse Sarabande VSD-6502
15 tracks - 60:00
I really wanted to hate this score, but Alan Silvestri's symphony for a
sequel has ended up being the greatest surprise of the summer season. I
was thrilled at the prospect of Craig Armstrong tackling a high-octane
summer flick. But then he was unceremoniously dropped from this film by
Paramount, who allegedly felt his writing lacked enough emotional depth
(for a Tomb Raider film?). In
stepped Alan Silvestri, who was himself without a project after Disney
made him walk the plank away from their Pirates of the Caribbean. So, what
should we have expected? A generic replacement score seemed inevitable,
but then the "Songs from and inspired by" album from Hollywood Records
offered a single Silvestri track in the form of "Pandora's Box" and it
was...good. In fact, it was better than good, it was great. It was the
best thing from Silvestri since The
Mummy Returns.
Boasting the swelling strings that brought Judge Dredd alive (both scores
were performed by the Sinfonia of London Orchestra and Chorus) it's a
rich mix of grand heroics and unashamedly dramatic cues. At times it
harks back to the composer's Volcano
and The Long Kiss Goodnight,
but Silvestri throws something new into the mix courtesy of pounding
techno beats. Some detractors have highlighted similarities between
this score and the composer's rejected music for Mission: Impossible. This might be
true, but as it was never commercially released, a good melody is a
good melody is a good melody and deserves to see the light of day.
Silvestri's work is not hostage to Graeme Revell's score from the first
movie (itself a last-minute Michael Kamen replacement) and the only
real connection with the first Raider
is the use of electronic beats and chorus. Indeed, greater similarities
can be found within Silvestri's own body of work or elsewhere into he
action-adventure genre. The jungle drumbeats of Silvestri's Romancing the Stone are echoed in
"Journey to the cradle of Life" and even John Williams' "Well of Souls"
is referenced. More evident influences are the Bond movies; Barry's
brassy horn flourishes are here, and there's even nods to Arnold's
techno-Bond tracks. Not counting the main theme, the score it's least
similar to is The Mummy Returns
and at least this time round most of the major action sequences are
included on the album. The best cue is the previously mentioned
"Pandora's Box," a gorgeous string movement that fuses a romantic
pastoral melody and a lament.
One minor quibble is the cover art. I know that the movie poster was
used to front the "songs from" album, but couldn't they have chosen a
more representative shot? It's a poor show when the horse gets more
exposure than Angelina. This would be more suited to Black Beauty and the Stable of Life.
It's a shame that one of the best scores of the year has been released
after the film it supports has performed so unspectacularly at the box
office. As such, sales will surely suffer, though one imagines that the
soundtrack fans will be snapping this up for their collections.
Conversely, Pirates of the Caribbean
has brought in the dollars, but is saddled with one of the most
uninspiring scores in Media Ventures history. Disney might have
conquered Paramount in the battle of the box office, but artistically
Silvestri wipes the floor with Badelt and his posse of shipmates. This
cradle really rocks!
MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com
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