Deep Blue

Track Listing

01 - Bounty Hunters (3:35)
02 - Airwaves (2:20)
03 - The Beach In Patagonia (5:07)
04 - Metamorphosis (1:52)
05 - Surf And Sand (2:02)
06 - Coral Riches (4:13)
07 - Free To Roam (1:16)
08 - The Kelp Forest (3:12)

09 - Kaleidoscope (3:57)

10 - Polar Landscape (3:14)
11 - Flying Emperors (3:29)
12 - Wolf Pack (5:01)
13 - The Wanderers (3:36)
14 - Showtime (2:15)
15 - Mounting Pressure (6:36)
16 - The Spinning Baitball (3:36)
17 - Deep Blue (5:45)

Orchestrated by Geoffrey Alexander

Conducted by George Fenton

Performed by the Berliner Philharmoniker and

The Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford

Produced by George Fenton

Released by Sony Classical Records on June 14th, 2005

Total Running Time: 61:06

Documentary scores are always a mixed bag. While they try to tell a story just like their fictional counterparts, they are inherently different from fictional works in the way that their structure flows and this difference provides a context in which a score for a documentary will tend to jump around musically. Ideas expressed in documentaries are not as rigidly stringent in moving along as they are in film. To rephrase in a way that might be more easily understood, movies are moved along a structure that benefits the story and is more rigid than an idea or subject which is the focus of a documentary. In a documentary, exploring all the venues of an idea or subject can cause a lot of jumping around in tone, context, and feeling. Such is the case with Deep Blue. George Fenton is a wonderful composer and Deep Blue is filled with some great moments, but in the end, the album is too disjointed in order to be fully appreciated.

It also doesn’t help that there are some “where have I heard this before?” moments within this score. The biggest culprit would be in track six, “Coral Riches”. This whole cue sounds like the finale to Elfman’s Spider-Man and that’s all I can think of every time I hear it. There are several other smaller moments, mostly consisting of only slight touchings upon other material that starts me thinking of other scores. Outside of the “Coral Riches” cue, I think that most of the rest are unintentional, but still disappointing. The death knell for my enjoyment of any score is if it reminds me of some other work and is not strong enough to keep my mind from wandering off.

Any ocean is a deep, majestic, alien environment that moves at its own speed, a speed different from what is experienced out on land. Fenton acutely reflects this with this score and you can tell that it accompanies primarily underwater visuals given its meandering quality. There is also the majestic and alien qualities that Fenton touches on (for the majestic aspect, definitely check out “The Beach in Patagonia”). Yet, it never truly unfolds into any breathtaking moments for me. I had expected more given the subject matter and Fenton at the helm. Yet, Deep Blue fails to deliver. With the disjointed flow of the album, the lack of a primary theme or style, and a knack for reminding me of other scores, Deep Blue has a lot of trouble keeping my attention, especially in the latter half.

Fenton has delivered a wonderful score, I’m sure, but on album it’s just disappointing enough to warrant less than full accolades. If you’re a big fan of Fenton’s work or you loved Deep Blue, then you’ll get the most out of this album.