| The Others |
| Composed by Alejandro Amenábar |
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Orchestrated by Xavier Capellas, Claudio Ianni, Lucio Godoy, and Alejandro Amenábar Conducted by Claudio Ianni Performed by The London Session Orchestra Produced by Lucio Godoy Release Date: 2001 |
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| This CD held two surprises for me. First, I didn't know that Nicole Kidman was in this film even though her picture adorns the cover. She just looks totally different in the utilized shot, and I didn't realize it was her until I saw the trailer for this film. Second, I noticed that the composer, Alejandro Amenábar, was also the film's director. Now it is not often that the director is also the composer, but it does have it's advantages. It's not like the director is going to want to butcher his own music either, and at least this gives him a bigger say! Still, this is a rare practice, and most of the time, these scores are not all that impressive. Thankfully, this is fully orchestrated music, a nice change in direction from John Carpenter's electronic scores (the only other director/composer combo I have listened to). Amenábar takes a direction that sounds like a melding of James Newton Howard's The Sixth Sense and Danny Elfman's Edward Scissorhands. As some may already gather, this blending is quite delightful, although, sadly, it only reaches this level in the first and last tracks (which, since the last track merely reprises the first, is not all that grand). The main theme crops up almost immediately with this track, and it is a beautiful, haunting piece. It floats in and out of the score like a ghostly melody. Amenábar plays around with it a little bit, but its presence is not strong enough to overcome the predictable "supernatural thriller" sound that permeates the score. That is not to say that this score is not without its moments. It is quite well done, but rather average from the standpoint of what has gone on before. This is especially disheartening since the opening track is just so excellent. Plus, I always find myself losing interest after the tenth track. The final two tracks before the End Credits are just bland and never really seem to go anywhere that hasn't been tread a dozen times before in countless films. Overall, this is not a bad effort, but it leaves a lot to be desired. I would almost venture to say that the opening track is worth the cost alone. If the rest of the score had matched the quality of the first track, this would have undoubtedly been a must-buy score. As it stands, however, you should really only make the purchase after intensive sampling. *** |
| Track Listing - Total Running Time: 41:01 | |
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