Isn't She Great

Composer: Burt Bacharach
Lable (Release Year): Decca Records (1999)
Availability: ****
Rating: ***

Burt Bacharach is no doubt one of the best song writers in the past decades. Although he is best known for his song writing, he is no stranger to film scoring. His scores for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Casino Royale are well known among film music fans. Isn't She Great, a film about the life of Valley of the Dolls author Jacqueline Susann in New York City during the 1960's, marks Bacharach's return in film scoring after many years. Bacharach has written two new songs for this movie: "On My Way" and "Open Your Heart". The both are quite enjoyable. The lyrics of both songs are written by his longtime collaborator Hal David. "On My Way" is sung by Dionne Warwick, who has sung many of Bacharach's songs.

Burt Bacharach's score for Isn't She Great is light and jazzy. The score has three somewhat dominant themes. The first is the Love Theme which is derived from the song "Open Your Heart" sung by Vanessa Williams. It features a simple eight notes motif. The theme appears the most frequently in the score. Since it is derived from a song, so you can expect it to be quite lyrical. Therefore, track 2 "Love Theme" is just a short instrumental version of the song "Open Your Heart". In fact, "Guy's Theme" is just another version of the Love Theme. "About Expectation" features an array of different instruments soloing on the theme. The second theme is a whistling tune can be first heard at "Lunch At Lindy's". It is quite catchy and can be heard again in "The Late Lunch". The last theme ("Mass Love") features a soft female chorus chanting `Mass Love' over a moody and soft rhythm. I are surprised that the melody of "On My Way" is not used at all in the score. It's melody can only be heard in the last score track "Victory At a Price". The other tracks are jazz tunes that remind me a bit of Dave Grusin's jazz. "For Minsy" features a long saxophone solo.

Bacharach's small scale modern urban score is not too bad but it just falls short on many things. Each tracks are very short and there is no chance for a memorable theme to get developed. I can image it is hard to compose a long music passage for a film like this. The score is relaxing but is just mediocre as a listening experience.



    Track Listing:
  1. Dionne Warwick - On My Way (3:17)
  2. Love Theme (The Falling in Love) (1:38)
  3. Lunch At Lindy's (1:09)
  4. Guy's Theme (Wordless) (1:44)
  5. Mass Love (1:30)
  6. Sexual Me, Sexual You (3:15)
  7. Yes, They Said Yes! (1:28)
  8. The Big Pitch (1:56)
  9. Are You My Friend? (1:18)
  10. Hello Connecticut (1:00)
  11. For Mimsy (2:05)
  12. Heartache Revisited (1:23)
  13. The Book Tour/Dionne Warwick - On My Way - Reprised) (5:39)
  14. About Expectations (2:55)
  15. The Late Lunch (1:01)
  16. Victory At A Price (4:08)
  17. Vanessa Williams - Open Your Heart (3:47)
    Total Time: 39:13
Review Date: 1/20/2000

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