Orchestrated by Jonathan Sacks, Ira Hearshen, Joey Newman, and Randy Newman

Conducted by Randy Newman

Produced by Bruno Coon and Randy Newman

Release Date: July 22, 2003

               Decca Records
 

     By not having to deal with Pixar's latest animated film, Finding Nemo, Randy Newman was able to turn his attention to scoring this drama of American horse racing that features Tobey Maguire wearing something that isn't a type of form-fitting spandex (well, maybe). For his score, Newman brings along a style that can be best described as "pastoral Americana", with plenty of slow, string-based moments, coupled with a few rousing orchestrations for the horse race sequences. Though such is not always the case as there are a few Spanish moments sprinkled throughout as well, making Seabiscuit quite an interesting listen.

     Being new to Randy Newman's more dramatic work (outside of the Pixar films), I find that his style, at least for Seabiscuit, is somewhat comparable to his cousin, Thomas Newman (with whom I have more experience), though performed on a more jovial basis without the dark elements that can usually be found in a Thomas Newman score. While there is a full orchestra present at times, there are plenty of solo guitar and piano moments that are balanced nicely with the rest of the cues. Randy Newman himself  performs one of the pieces in Seabiscuit. That's about as close as you're gonna get to a Randy Newman track on this album as he contributed no songs to the project. In fact, the only song on the CD is La Tequilera, performed by Mariachi Reynas de Los Angeles, which comes across like source music more than an actual part of the score. Newman also provides his own Spanish music in Marcela / Agua Caliente which fits in with the rest of the score much better than La Tequilera does.

          There are plenty of themes running around too, but they're never blatant and it takes a few listens to pick up on them. While not anything that will blow you away, they do a fine job nevertheless. Several of Randy Newman's trademark orchestrations are also present, which those familiar with his work should pick up right away. The occasional delve into Western styles is also quite interesting, though it seems to stick out a little from everything else.

     The CD is a "multimedia enhanced" disc, so if you're figuring on playing it from your computer, you'll be treated to one of those infernal Macromedia programs. This particular one contains the film's trailer and photos, with the trailer being interesting in that it uses music from Michael Giacchino's excellent Medal of Honor score, so if you're impressed with the ending fanfare from the trailer, make sure to try to pick up a copy of that one.