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CD Reviews: Alias and Gothika
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| Posted By: Luke Goljan, Andrew Granade on June 6, 2004 - 10:00 PM |
CD Reviews: Alias and Gothika
Alias *** 1/2
MICHAEL GIACCHINO
Varèse Sarabande 302 066 521 2
26 tracks - 65:10
Television composers rarely have the luxury of developing themes over a
large canvas, as film composers like Howard Shore and Don Davis have
been able to do over the past few years. Music written for television
is often even more rushed than that for film scores, and cues tend to
be shorter and more disparate as commercials constantly intercede.
Television composers have a different, but equally challenging job.
They must write music that helps the audience live in the moment, no
matter where that moment may be. This is more difficult on certain
shows, where the composer must be able to jump between widely disparate
styles at the drop of a hat.
Michael Giacchino is responsible for almost all of the music in the
first two seasons of the hit show Alias,
a show that offers a lot of scoring challenges. Varèse Sarabande
has wisely released this compilation album, a disc that showcases why
Giacchino has received so much acclaim. In the liner notes, J.J.
Abrams, Alias' creator,
writes that Giacchino's music is pitch perfect, that in "adopting the
style and instrumentation of the various international locales visited
on Alias, Michael performs a
miracle." Abrams touches on what makes this recording so fascinating,
and occasionally frustrating; Giacchino is a master at helping the
audience live in the moment, deftly switching from style to style.
Therefore, the movement from track to track becomes slightly
schizophrenic, and can be dislocating to a casual film score listener.
Consider the move from "Spanish Heist," one of the disc's best tracks,
to "Double Life." "Spanish Heist" conjures a Mexican locale with
castanets and flamenco guitar intertwining over a pulsing beat with a
vocal line occasionally embellishing the top. It is followed by the
lyrical "Double Life," in which Jennifer Garner's Sydney Bristow
contemplates her role in the world as a spy. It's a cue full of
indecision, heartbreak and even resolution, and is stylistically miles
away from "Spanish Heist."
So you should savor this CD for the exquisite moments it contains.
Revel in the effective four-chord ostinato in pseudo-religious
orchestration in "The Prophecy," or in the shifting textures and
rhythms, the "wacka-chicka" electronics, and the blaring trumpets
straight out of a David Arnold Bond score in "Sleeping Beauty." While
there are no overarching themes to hold onto, there is plenty to
enchant, moment to moment, in Michael Giacchino's Alias. --
Andrew Granade
Gothika *
JOHN OTTMAN
Varèse Sarabande 302 066 520 2
15 tracks - 49:51
Years ago, I was upset when John Ottman got kicked off Halloween: H20, but when I finally
heard the rejected score, the pain went away. I began to understand
that John Ottman cannot write horror music. Between the rejected H20, Urban Legend 2 and now Gothika, he has proven that he
simply cannot wrap his mind around what it takes to scare an audience
with music. He can write pretty music and slightly odd music -- even
loud, obnoxious music...but none of it sounds scary. Indeed, much of it
grates on the nerves rather quickly.
Ottman also seems to relish falling into the pitfall of extremely
obvious temp-tracking. As an editor and director, he has become too
reliant on his temp scores, at times behaving a bit like a fledgling
band and creating music that sounds like a lesser version of another
composer. Even though the first few moments of Gothika tease the listen with the
promise of creepiness, it turns into another Snow White: A Tale of Terror,
because here too, the first five seconds are the best part of the
score. Right after that, the Dune
theme is quoted verbatim, followed by the Die Hard theme 1:55 in. "First
Escape" (2:53 in) and "Willow Creek" (3:20 in) hint at the blatant rip
of Aliens that erupts in full
glory 1:15 into "Revelation." And while "I See Dead Kids" sounds
decidedly Elfman-esque, what should we expect after "You're Next" has
already quoted the main theme from The
Frighteners right at the start? Unlike Ottman's work on X-2, where he unabashedly stole the
theme from Lifeforce, then
built an incredible score around it, Gothika
never surpasses its source material.
Other than the first track, the only marginally interesting bit of
music appears in "Recollections" and "The House/Dream," which boast
interesting vocal textures and ethereal glissandos. But none of it
really creates any definitive mood, meandering about aimlessly.
Considering how loud and raucous it can be at times, this score is
surprisingly forgettable. This is especially the case with the main
theme for Miranda, where Ottman phones it in with another wandering
piano melody over soft vocals.
Ottman's music may (or may not) have perfectly matched Halle Berry's
exploits on screen, but it sure as hell isn't worth paying attention to
on CD. For Ottman completists only. -- Luke
Goljan
MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com
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Today in Film Score History:
December 6 |
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| Dave Brubeck born (1920) |
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| Hans Zimmer begins recording his score for Broken Arrow (1995) |
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| Lalo Schifrin begins recording the original soundtrack LP to Bullitt (1968) |
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| Lyn Murray born (1909) |
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| Maury Laws born (1923) |
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| Morgan Lewis died (1968) |
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| Mort Glickman born (1898) |
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| Patrick Williams records his score for The Streets of San Francisco episode “Bitter Wine” (1972) |
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| Piero Piccioni born (1921) |
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| Recording sessions begin for Sol Kaplan’s score for Destination Gobi (1952) |
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| Richard Markowitz died (1994) |
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| Roberto Pregadio born (1928) |
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| Willie Hutch born (1944) |
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