Bicentennial Man
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Composer and Conductor: James Horner
Lable (Release Year): Sony Classical (1999) Availability: **** Rating: **** |
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Originally, John Williams was supposed to score this Chris Columbus film. However, probably due to busy schedule, Williams quitted and it ended up in James Horner's hands. I don't know what Williams' score would have sounded like, but I can assure you that James Horner composed a beautiful score. Unfortunately, he is back to his old habit. Old habit meaning reusing materials from his old scores. The album opens with the impressive "The Machine Age." The word "impressive", may not be the right one for a long time James Horner fan. It is another variation on the staccato piano theme from Sneakers and Searching for Bobby Fischer. Although it is the same old theme, this variation is a very good one. Various percussion sounds are added and the machine age is represented very effectively. Tracks 2 to 6 remind me of his scores to Searching for Bobby Fischer and the softer moments of Deep Impact very much. In fact, you may think you are listening to Deep Impact during several spots. It is because the piano love theme from Deep Impact is reused in this score! The one that I am referring is the one that can be heard in "The Wedding" track in Deep Impact. And how ironic! This CD has a track named "The Wedding" also! The theme sounds EXACTLY the same in both scores. (He did make an effort of changing the last note of the theme in a few occasion though.) Believe me, I had a laugh when I heard it. So are there any new themes? Yes, there are two. They don't appear until track 7, "The Wedding". One of them is adapted into the song "Then You Look At Me" sung by Celine Dion (Not a surprise). Both themes are very beautiful and vintage James Horner. The first one has a grand and sweeping feeling which reminds me a bit of Legends of the Fall. The second one (the song one) has a seven notes motif which is often played with piano. "A New Nervous System", the highlight of the score, is a playful strings pizzicato version of the second theme. The rest of the score is more or less built on around the themes. If you like the soft moments of Deep Impact and Searching for Bobby Fischer, this score will not disappoint you. If you don't have them already, I truly recommend this score to you. This score is gorgeous and beautiful. The vintage sound texture of James Horner's soft scores is just plain attractive. The 60 minutes plus score just flies by every time I listen to it. Unfortunately, this score may not satisfy you as much if you are looking for something new from James Horner. | |
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