The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)
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Composer: Bill Conti
Lable (Release Year): PANGÆA (1999) Availability: **** Rating: ***1/2 |
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Some of Bill Conti's scores have been my all time favorites: The Right Stuff, Rocky, Masters of the Universe. Unfortunately, he has not been active in scoring movies in recent years. However, you could still hear his name at least once a year on TV because he is usually the music director for the Academy Awards Ceremony. The Thomas Crown Affair, a remake of the 1968 movie of the same name, marks his revisit to big screen in many years. One way that one can review this score is to compare it with the score of the original movie, that is composed by Michel Legrand. (The score is recently released on CD by Ryko Records.) However, I have not heard of Legrand's score and I could not do so. When I first looked at the track list, seeing that there are only 4 songs, I thought Conti's score must take up a substantial amount of time. But NO! His score is less than 15 minutes! The album opens with a new recording of the 1968 Academy Award winning song "Windmills Of Your mind" (written by Michel Legrand) performed by Sting. If you like Sting, then you will like the song. It's simple as that. The three other songs are also enjoyable and relaxing. It's not likely you will skip them the next time you play the CD. For the score, if you don't tell me it is composed by Bill Conti before hand, I probably would have thought that it is by Dave Grusin (The Firm, The Fabulous Baker Boys, On Golden Pond). If you are similar with Grusin's scores, I have already summed up the score for you. It is a little modern jazz score that contains many vivid piano motifs. It is very up beat and relaxing through out. I guarantee that the 15 minutes of score is very enjoyable, especially if you like Dave Grusin's music. The name of the last track "Quick Exit" turns out to be very appropriate for this CD. It does not give you the feeling that it is the end of the CD. It ends too quickly and makes you desiring more of the score. The shortness of the score is the only down side of this release. The album is very relaxing, up beat, and enjoyable as a whole. I would recommend you to pick it up, but not at full price. | |
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