24

Composed by Sean Callery

01 - "24" Theme (4:41)

02 - Up and Down Stairs (2:44)

03 - L.A. At 9:00 A.M. (1:57)

04 - Jack on the Move (2:19)

05 - Jack's Revenge at the Docks (4:02)

06 - Kim and Terry's Escape from

       the Safe House (2:03)

07 - Jack in the Limo (2:41)

08 - In Pursuit of Kyle (2:39)

09 - Salazar's Theme (1:54)

10 - 'Copter Chase Over L.A. (2:32)

11 - Jack Tells Kim He's Not

       Coming Back (2:12)

12 - The Bomb Detonates (2:38)

13 - Palmer's Theme (1:50)

14 - Alexis (2:04)

15 - Coliseum Finale (1:56)

16 - Amnesia (2:14)

17 - Jack and Kim Trying to Reconnect (3:05)

18 - Season One Finale / Terry's Death (5:33)

19 - Season Three Finale /

       Jack's Humanity (2:14)

Produced by Sean Callery

Released by Varèse Sarabande Records on December 7th, 2004

Total Running Time: 51:25

     Wow, what a fourth season 24 has had! I’ve always heard that this show was good, but it wasn’t until this year that I checked it out. I was instantly hooked, and even got my parents into watching it. It’s usually hard for me to keep up with a TV show, but this year I’ve done well in keeping up with both 24 and Battlestar: Galactica. Both have been excellent shows so far, so much so that I haven’t even bothered to watch any of the new season of Alias! Of course, since I have already reviewed the albums to Alias and Battlestar: Galactica (of which there is another album from this series on the way soon), it would only seem fitting to add this album to the mix.

     24 works when it shouldn’t. Sean Callery’s music is completely synth, and as those who have read many of my television soundtrack reviews have probably noticed by now, I’m usually all against the practice. You have to admit that I have good reasoning behind it though. Most TV synth scores are unremarkable when divorced from the visuals and rarely spark anything in album form. Nothing is more deflating than hearing a bunch of fake sounding brass and strings do their best to match the power of their acoustical counterparts. And for the most part, these fail miserably in the process.

     On the surface, 24 would seem to have to suffer from this same problem, but the fact is that it doesn’t. It’s almost hard to pin down exactly why I find the Callery’s synth soundscape so appealing. Could it be that because I’m familiar with the show and its concepts that I appreciate it more? While that certainly has a part in it, I also believe that Callery’s composition is one that, in a display of rarity for the genre, actually uses synth to its natural advantage. His compositions do have an element of orchestral mimicking to them, but he doesn’t try to hide the electronic nature of his synth music. Instead of fighting the limitation of the technology, he bends it to his advantage.

     Even so, the level of atmospheric composing does fluctuate on this album. Callery is not immune to throwing in the synth “wind blowing” effect (as I call it) that seems to be a staple, and while his action music generally succeeds in being suspenseful and exciting without becoming overwhelming, his fragile balance does occasionally fail. Still, this soundtrack’s strong points far outweigh its weaker ones, and it contains some of the most enjoyable synth music that you can pick up.

See Also