Coma
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Composer: Jerry Goldsmith
Lable (Release Year): Bay Cities (1990) Availability: ** Rating: **** |
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Before I got this score, I have heard a wide range of comments about it. Since the soundtrack is relatively rare, I have not had a chance to get a hand on the CD for a long time. So the best way for me to check out the score is to watch the movie. To my surprise, I didn't hear a note of Goldsmith's music until it was halfway over (when the secrets start to reveal). May be because of the speaker of my TV or the movie is too gripping, Goldsmith's music did not really get my attention. So I was not so eager on getting the soundtrack. Recently, I was able to get the CD at a cheap price (less than $10). While I thought I probably would not like the score very much before I play it, I found myself totally wrong after my first listen. This eerie, dark, and extremely unsettling score for the Michael Crichton's thriller becomes my favorite Goldsmith scores quickly. To be honest, the score requires a required taste. I can see one would not like this score at all. One way to describe the score is it is a "vocal less" version of Omen. That is not very surprising because it is scored just 2 years after his Oscar winning score. If you like his scores to Planet of the Apes, Alien, and Omen, I guarantee that you will love the score. In fact, Coma shares a lot of similarities between those scores. The score is eerie and unsettling but it is not your typical or generic horror music. It is so unique and has a lot of characters. Although it is not lyrical at all, I can actually "hum" along with it. The dissonant piano and sharp strings sounds (like Bernard Herrmann's music for the murder scene of Psycho) just capture my mind completely every time I listening to the score. The Love Theme is the only non eerie track. It has a quite lovely melody. Coma is eerie score at its best and is definitely a masterpiece from Goldsmith. | |
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