The Postman

	Composer: James Newton Howard Lable (Release Year): Warner Bros. Records Availability: **** Rating: ***
The Postman, also known as the most unsuccessful movie of 1997. I won't say it is a bad movie since I have not seen it. But this 3 hours long epic movie sure did fail in the box-office. At the same time, James Newton Howard's score is neither very popular among film music fans. Some people hold back because they saw more than half of the tracks are songs. But 49 minutes of James Newton Howard's score did make to the album. I did not know JNH until I heard his music in the previous Kevin Costner's film: Waterworld. You guessed it. Waterworld was my first JNH album. However, this second Kevin Costner/JNH collaboration is not as impressive as the first. The style of this score is very similar to Wyatt Earp and Waterworld: huge orchestral score with a good epic feel. The main theme is not as dominant and powerful as the themes of Wyatt Earp and Waterworld. However, it still delivers the larger than life and heroic feelings. "Main Titles" is a very good opening track. It sounds a little like Hans Zimmer(or other Media Venture composers). "The Belly Of The Beast" and "The Restored United States" are also excellent tracks. Both of them are tongue-in-cheek dramatic cues and they are as powerful as the music you heard in Wyatt Earp and Waterworld. There are few good motifs in them but never got fully developed in the score. The rest of the music is very gentle. They will neither bore you nor catch much of your attention. In general, the score is not thematically strong but good moments do pop up occasionally. You probably would rather listen to Wyatt Earp or Waterworld most of the time if you already have them. Nonetheless, the album is worth picking up if you see it for cheap. For the songs, they are not interesting at all. Yes, you can forget the song that is sung by Amy Grant and Kevin Costner.
Track Listing: Main Titles (2:21) Shelter In The Storm (6:23) The Belly Of The Beast (6:49) General Bethlehem (6:55) Abby Comes Calling (10:50) The Restored United States (6:44) The Postman (9:50) Jono Manson - Almost Home (3:59) Jono Manson - It Will Happen Naturally (2:18) Jono Manson - The Next Big Thing (2:19) John Coinman - This Perfect World (3:38) John Coinman - Once This Was The Promise Land (2:07) Jono Manson & John Coinman - I Miss My Radio (2:42) John Coinman - Come And Get Your Love (3:07) Amy Grant & Kevin Costner - You Didn't Have To Be So Nice (3:39) Total Time: 73:41, Score: 49:52