Co-Composed by Ben Watkins

Additional Music by Rob Dougan

Produced by Don Davis and Ben Watkins

Release Date: May 6, 2003

  Maverick / Warner Sunset

     Don Davis burst onto the A-list film scene with his score to the first Matrix film which raked in over 160 million dollars at the box office. Since then, Davis hasn't scored too many big name movies, though his excellent score to Jurassic Park III is one that immediately springs to mind. Instead, four years later Davis teams up yet again with the Wachowski brothers for the final two installments in the Matrix trilogy. Pleasingly enough, where the storyline for The Matrix Reloaded takes off fresh after the events in the first film, Davis' score is also not strikingly different, but does contain more interesting material than what was on the first score release.

     With The Matrix, Davis fully embraced the postmodern style that would imbue the music with a slightly otherworldly, futuristic feel that melded perfectly with the visualization with the world of the story. Along with postmodernism construction comes an absence of themes, but there are many motifs that Davis employed in the first score that reappear here, often to greater effect than in the first film. Where The Matrix included Propellerheads' Spybreak cue as a departure from Davis' own music, The Matrix Reloaded fuses the talents of Davis and Juno Reactor (Ben Watkins). While Rob Dougan is credited solely for Chateau, it still blends easily with the rest of the score so that its appearance isn't distracting whatsoever.

     While Davis' postmodern style from the first film is intact, The Matrix Reloaded's wild set pieces continue the tradition of the Spybreak cue with some nice action music consisting of intense electronic backbeats, insane usage of strings, and a heavy dose of orchestral noise. For those who enjoy this style, those tracks (Château, Mona Lisa Overdrive, and especially Burly Brawl), are major standouts and never fail to please. On the other hand, if you prefer more of the subtler, post-modern orchestration of pure Don Davis, the suite (almost twenty minutes in length), as well as the first three cues on the score CD should be more than enough to fulfill that desire.

     In an interesting move, the soundtrack is bundled as a two CD set. The song album takes up the first disc while the score is handled through the second. Thankfully, this album can be found at most retail outlets for the same price as single CD albums, thus saving consumers the headache of having to buy two albums (though to be fair, it's usually the case that those who buy the song album aren't interested in the score and vice versa).

     With all the hype and anticipation surrounding The Matrix Reloaded, this album will sell especially since the score and the songs are bundled together. Thus, regardless of which CD interests you the most, there is enough material for either side of the fence to be satisfied.

Disc 1

1 - Session (Linkin Park) (2:23)
2 - This is the New Shit (Marilyn Manson) (4:20)
3 - Reload (Rob Zombie) (4:25)
4 - Furious Angels (Rob Dougan) (Instrumental) (5:29)
5 - Lucky You (Deftones) (4:08)
6 - The Passportal (Team Sleep) (2:55)
7 - Sleeping Awake (POD) (3:23)
8 - Bruises (Unloco) (2:36)
9 - Calm Like a Bomb (Rage Against the Machine) (4:58)
10 - Dread Rock (Oakenfold) (4:40)
11 - Zion (Fluke) (4:33)
12 - When the World Ends (Dave Matthews) (Oakenfold remix) (5:26)

Disc 2
1 - Main Title (1:30)
2 - Trinity Dream (1:56)
3 - Teahouse (1:04)
4 - Chateau (3:23)
5 - Mona Lisa Overdrive (10:08)
6 - Burly Brawl (5:52)
7 - "Matrix Reloaded" Suite (17:35)