The Beyondness of Things (Compilation)

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

John Barry is a "theme" master, a composer that can create a theme from the heart and make the film with it. He did it with the James Bond movies and he did it with several very classic films (Out of Africa and Dances with Wolves among others). The idea to give Barry free space to compose something from the mind and the heart, something completely free was then of course no bad idea. But I seem to have a certain problem with Barry over the years, something that has got to do with overall his music. Over the last years, the music has sounded somewhat the same with a theme that didn't really diverse from another one and even though it always sounded so attractive, to me I kept returning to the same problem that it always sounded like typical Barry. Scores like Bond, The Lion in Winter, The Last Valley and especially the last Bond score The Living Daylights proved that Barry could write something different. This compilation however entitled The Beyondness of Things proves exactly what I mean, this is Barry alright and it basically listens the same as the last 5 years of his career. Recently I listened to Enigma, a score which is fine but so like everything I heard from Barry of the last 10 years that I basically was bored when listening to it, something that wouldn't have happened years before. With this compilation of ideas it is the same, overall an attractive and fine listen, the simple thought that Barry could compose anything since there were no boundaries was interesting. The point that he basically remained composing the same is the problem I have with it, it is just as all the others with just different melodies.

It seems I'm just no Barry fan. Actually I never really was but when you hear one to five of his scores, they are so good. When you hear twenty of all this style, you start to get the picture alright. From head to toe, The Beyondness of Things is typically relaxing Barry with a disappointing fact that Barry doesn't take chances. Some tracks could change cues from either Indecent Proposal, My Life or Dances with Wolves. That is the sad thing, not the point that it all listens good and pleasing. There are of course some better tracks then the others namely 'The Beyondness of Things', the opening track which listens Barry like but with a pleasing theme and could replace something out of My Life or Indecent Proposal, 'The Heartlands' which uses a harmonica and a lovely theme and 'A Childhood Melody' which uses both the childlike tone of My Life as a somewhat more scene setting melody which could fit into Dances with Wolves like that, how good it may sound. The one and only track which brings a little pace into the proceedings is 'Meadow of Delight and Shadows' where just as in Dances with Wolves a more rhythm like theme is employed along with some lovely horns, but after 2 minutes changes to the same slow sounding undertone. The basic fact that Barry doesn't compose anything different in the light of The Lion in Winter frustrates me the most.

Because there are other tracks which lose my focus because they sound so alike each other, 'Nocturnal New York' which uses samples of harmonica and piano but the idea behind everything is the same, and at that point you heard too much which listened like that before. 'The Fictionist' which is my pure sign where typically everything happens the way I planned it, soft but slow. At that point I was expecting much of 'Dawn Chorus' but there is only a light underused choral part in begin and end, and since he made such good use of the choir in The Last Valley and The Lion in Winter, this is another pure sign of Barry taking no chances. This is sad, Barry gets the freedom to compose anything he wanted but stayed so close to the boundaries he set up with his own style. True, he composed settings of either landscapes, cities or his own experiences in life, but still it all is just Barry like we heard him in many of his scores. I definitely feel that simply the fact that 90% of this score could replace other tracks in albums and never realizing the change is simply wrong. Each score should have something different, because otherwise what's the point in buying more or less two times the same thing. Overall, The Beyondness of Things would have been a score I enjoyed far more if I didn't heard my fair share of Barry albums before. But now, I just don't get the pleasure anymore, let alone the feeling when hearing a Barry moment. For the enthusiasts of Barry's lovely emotional warm style, this compilation of ideas is a recommendation. For persons who believe just like me that we have heard it all before from Barry one way or another, this CD is definitely not the one to buy, since you practically have it in your collection.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. The Beyondness Of Things (4.15)

2. Kissably Close (4.00)

3. The Heartlands (5.05)

4. Give Me A Smile (4.48)

5. A Childhood Melody (5.13)

6. Nocturnal New York (4.32)

7. Meadow Of Delight And Shadows (3.52)

8. Gifts Of Nature (4.29)

9. The Fictionist (3.46)

10. Dawn Chorus (4.57)

11. The Day The Earth Fell Silent (5.05)

12. Dance With Reality (4.47)

Total Length: 55.27

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=== Link to Composer Site: John Barry ===