The thriller genre is notorious for producing scores that consist of little
more than electronic backbeats and hair-raising synth riffs. It is rare that
a composer breaks out of the mold to deliver something really interesting or
unique. While Graeme Revell's music has more to offer than the average
thriller score, it's still not very groundbreaking.
The score has its similarities with Revell's previous work on The
Saint, but it's not as fulfilled and occasionally bogs down in the
synth work. The orchestra is never fully displaced, but all the standard
tension-building electronic noises are here as well. Revell does pull in
some nice little tricks, such as utilizing a bagpipe in Elegy and a
really interesting guitar performance (which sounds like it has at least
been electronically altered if not generated) in Bluff and Double Bluff.
Sometimes the mixture of the two sounds works really well, most notably in
the opening title track (which is reminiscent of the electronic work of
James Newton Howard). The main theme appears in nice variety of locations
and it helps to bring a cohesion to the music. The chorus work is what really sets this score
apart from others in the genre. In addition to the boy chorus that Revell
used so effectively in The Saint, there is
a bass male chorus as well. The chorus is used quite effectively amongst the
orchestral and electronic performances.
The Negotiator is good for being quite synthy and remaining squarely
in thriller territory, but it's not as listenable as The
Saint. Fans of Graeme Revell might want to check this out, but
unless you are interested in tense electronically driven scores (with
some cool variations), you might want to skip on this one. ***
