| Medal of Honor Frontline |
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Composed by Michael Giacchino |
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Orchestrated by Tim Simonec and Michael Giacchino Conducted by Tim Simonec Performed by The Northwest Sinfonia Produced by Michael Giacchino Release Date: 2002 |
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Michael Giacchino will forever go down in history as being the first to compose an orchestral score for a console game system. That game was The Lost World: Jurassic Park for the original Playstation and a CD release was put out by the Sonic Images label. The Lost World was a fun little score that I still find enjoyable even now, but Giacchino's next project turned out to be something a little more ambitious. The game would be Medal of Honor (again for Sony's Playstation), and the soundtrack CD was actually being marketed through Amazon.com. The album arrived with little fanfare and I actually approached it with a little trepidation, especially as the opening track began to play. Just what kind of score was this? It didn't sound anything like The Lost World. As the running time continued to click forward however, I discovered that this was an incredibly well-done score that offered a lot of enjoyment. Thus, I became a fan of Giacchino's work, anxiously awaiting the next project of his that would come my way. That turned out to be the sequel title, Medal of Honor II: Underground. With that score, Giacchino evolved the strong themes that he had created for the original, added a whole host of new ones, and tossed in a boy's chorus for good measure. The result was incredible, and the music practically blew me away. It was a very moving score that possessed more than it's far share of powerful cues. From the mournful opening theme of an innocence lost, to the tingling refrains of the Battle of Monte Cassino, it is still a CD that I strongly recommend to any fan of orchestral film music. But with every new Giacchino score, I always feel a slight nervousness as to what the future holds. I was this way after hearing about the sequel even after Underground more than exceeded my expectations. The next release was the PC version of the series, entitled Allied Assault. There was no CD for this one since it pretty much utilized music from the previous games, with Giacchino only providing five new cues. The cues are available in MP3 format once the game is installed, and they are quite good both sound quality-wise and in content. It's a shame more wasn't done with this title since the original music utilizes a more exotic tone given the locale of the game (which starts off in Africa). At least the music files are easy to get to, so if you have the game you don't have to go without even these few cues. But the next big one was still around the corner. It was Medal of Honor Frontline for the Playstation 2. For the soundtrack release this time, one couldn't just hop over to Amazon.com like for the previous two scores. Instead, the publisher, EA Games, handled the CD release (and as a side note, if you order the game from them you get the CD free). While this move puzzles me a little (perhaps the previous titles didn't sell as well as expected), fans of the series will be happy to know that the high production values of the album remain intact. While I thought Underground was the ultimate Medal of Honor score, Frontline benefits from some very intelligent decisions. There are numerous differences that set it apart from the previous scores, and every one of them go towards making the music even better. First, while still using the excellent Northwest Sinfonia Orchestra, the recording was made at the Bastyr University St. Thomas Chapel outside of Seattle. In addition, the score was recorded completely digital in DTS 5.1 surround. If you're familiar with any of those locations or terms at all, you're mouth should be watering even now. If not, rest assured, this is an excellent sounding CD. The recording itself would be enough to propel the score to great heights. But Giacchino doesn't stop there. Instead he replaces the boy's choir with an adult group. While it only consists of 20 individuals, it sounds much, much larger (thanks to the acoustics of the St. Thomas Chapel). Finally, the producers of Frontline wanted to experiment with a more interactive music track for the game. This caused Giacchino to score the game with easily transitioned themes and motifs. The result on CD is five different sections which work as suites. In the end, the experience is quite different than the previous two scores, but the whole Medal of Honor feel is never lost, thus successfully bridging the gap between the previous two scores and this decidedly new direction. But the best recording techniques known to man can't make up for a score that is simply lousy to begin with. Thankfully, that's not an issue here. The maturity which Giacchino has demonstrated over the years comes to a head with this score and the music puts forth an energy and passion that is tempered with an emotional quality that rivals the likes of On the Beach and Road to Perdition. As the game's plotline concerns the events of Operation Market Garden (not exactly one of the Allies' most successful endeavors), the music is imbued with a mournful feel which at times is even more sorrowful than what was found in Underground. Cues such as After the Drop and Arnhem expertly demonstrate this, along with showing the raw emotional power that Giacchino provides for the adult chorus. Along with those powerful moments, Giacchino never strays from providing plenty of action. Those brand of cues start off strongly with U-4902 and only continue to get better. Every time I thought he couldn't top a particular cue, another one would come along that would get even better, culminating in the penultimate Giacchino cue, Escaping Gotha. By the time this cue is over, you'll be left breathless. With Frontline, Giacchino shows more restraint with the themes from the previous two games, though he more than makes up for it with all the new themes that he provides (including a cool one for the Gestapo). That's not to say that you'll be hard pressed to find any of the original themes, as he has a lot of fun with motifs that have wound their way their all the scores so far (like the Nazi menace theme and the Panzer motif). This is simply a way of keeping the music fresh while still providing the bridge to the previous scores, and it works very well. As I mentioned before, even though the marketing strategy of the CD was altered, the high production value of the album itself continues. The liner notes are very informative and contain a variety of information (some of which has been regurgitated here). The tradition of track-by-track analysis continues, and it is very well done and informative while not giving away too much information. This score rivals a majority of major film score releases out there and Giacchino has completely topped all previous Medal of Honor scores by at least a factor of ten. That is not to say the sequels aren't worth anything anymore as they are still very good scores to have. If you've liked the Medal of Honor series, you really need to purchase this CD. If you haven't yet experienced the wonderful listening experience that Giacchino provides, there is no better way to start off than with this score. ***** |
| Track Listing - Total Running Time: 74:41 | |
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