1 |
Back Where You Belong (Theme from The Water Horse) |
2 |
The
Water Horse Main Title |
3 |
Angus Feeds Crusoe |
4 |
You
Didn't Even Get Wet |
5 |
The
Workshop |
6 |
Ann |
| 7 |
Bathtub |
8 |
Driving
to the Loch |
9 |
Run
Angus |
10 |
The
Fishermen |
11 |
Angus
in Training |
12 |
Swimming |
13 |
The
Children Laugh |
14 |
The
Dinner Party |
15 |
There's
No Monster |
16 |
Saving
Crusoe |
17 |
The
Net |
18 |
The
Jump |
19 |
End
of the Story |
20 |
The
Water Horse Suite |
ALBUM REVIEW:
For a wholesome family movie like this, listeners can either
fall into a yawn fest or enjoy an imaginatively wondrous score.
Thankfully, we have the talented James Newton Howard composing
the music, and the result is a beautifully orchestrated score
with a nice touch of Celtic flavour that will enchant and
fascinate the most cynical listener. From the Oscar-nominated
composer’s credits (“The Village” was a
lyrical hit, “Lady in the Water” was almost perfect,
“King Kong” was an unforgettable experience),
you can almost say that nothing can go too wrong.
The
58-minute album contains a generous amount of material ranging
from the mystifyingly exciting “Angus Feeds Crusoe”
to the somewhat forlorn but warm “Ann”. Cues like
“Bathtub” evoke feelings of playfulness, while
“The Children Laugh” is touchingly heartwarming.
“The Fishermen” is a cheery and upbeat track,
while “The Dinner Party” is a cheeky composition
that evokes images of running and chasing. It definitely takes
a versatile composer to compose cues of such variety.
The
highlight of the album is “Swimming”, a six-odd
minute track which starts off gently with soft woodwinds before
launching into an exhilarating and stirring adventure you’ll
certainly enjoy. With a soaring vocal, a thumping percussion
bear, a buoyant tempo, grand brasses and magnificent strings,
this is a striking example of how a composer painstakingly
puts different elements together to create music magic. And
how aptly so, considering the fantastical theme of this winning
movie. There are also action cues like “Saving Crusoe”
and “The Net” which will keep your pulses running.
The album may not be as memorable as the composer’s
previous works in terms of thematic content, but the impressive
moments in the album already makes it recommendable.
Also
included on the soundtrack is Irish Grammy Award winner Sinead
O’Connor’s performance of “Back Where You
Belong (Theme from the Water Horse)” a gorgeous tune
that will appeal to listeners young and old. It complements
and adds that magical touch to an album that is already delightfully
thrilling to listen to.
ALBUM RATING:
Recommended Track: (12) Swimming
Review
by John Li
|
