True Lies

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

The last blockbuster of Brad Fiedel, which almost means the last James Cameron movie he scored seems to be forever True Lies (Jonathan Mostow will direct Terminator 3 and Marco Beltrami will score it). Brad Fiedel isn't the biggest mastermind of film composition, but I feel he deserves a bit more credit. He at least scored Cameron movies, not a lot of people can say that. Anyway there were people that saw Terminator 2: Judgment Day as an insult to film music, while his theme is one of the easiest remembered in the B-list of successful movie themes. True, the music wasn't a mash of beauty but more of a perfect fitting design and I could stand every minute of it. Figures when you saw the movie 10 to 15 times, it makes the score easier to appreciate. In a way, True Lies is the same but it does have the advantage that there is more cohesion, a lot more thematic quality, and in a way you can appreciate it for its moments outside the context, and this makes it more then a recommendable action score for fans. The album starts with the 5 songs, 3 of them (2 exact same songs) are straight out the movie and are ok. The other two aren't noticed during the course of the movie and sort of feel lost. While they all aren't the ugliest songs in history, only the third and the fifth (the remix version is much more acceptable) can capture my interest. The score of Fiedel, while no thematic milestone is more acceptable on its own terms then Terminator 2, and has more moments to remember. The begin fanfare, the main theme of True Lies 'Main Title / Harry Makes his entrance' is one I whistled for days to come.

This main theme receives enough attention through the soundtrack and gets its moments in 'Escape from the Chateau' and 'Harry Rides Again', existing both of some memorable action moments, for the fans of course. Its most charming appearance is found in 'Nuclear Kiss', a 50 second track. 'Causeway / Helicopter Rescue' is the most exhilarating cue on the entire soundtrack and supports one amazing scene, while 'Island Suite' has an excellent moment during the middle and will stick more in the minds then the entire track alone. 'Harry Saves the Day' is a bit lesser but has its moments, but all in all True Lies creates the pace of the movie once it gets going, meaning the action moments really fly. Brad Fiedel is a composer to appreciate for its style, and while I find him acceptable for what he does, it is the movie that benefits the most from his musical voice. The album, consisting of an impressive 70 minutes of music, has the moments action fanatics will love and others will create excuses simply to ignore the musical package. Its perhaps more acceptable then Terminator 2, but people will still find its weak points. Tell you what, listen to it for several times and if you're not even satisfied then try to see what it does in the movie's context, and by the way the movie is not something to miss (its no mastermind and Cameron's best but it still beats and makes loads of money at the box office). Really true, this is not a lie.

Score: ***1/2
Songs: **1/2

\ЕЕЕ1/2/

Tracks

Single Disc

1. Sunshine Of Your Love: Living Colour (5.14)

2. Darkness Darkness: Screaming Trees (4.06)

3. Alone In The Dark: John Hiatt (4.44)

4. Entity: Mother Tongue (4.19)

5. Sunshine Of Your Love (Remix): Living Colour (5.46)

6. Main Title / Harry Makes His Entrance (2.39)

7. Escape From The Chateau (2.40) Excellent Track

8. Harry's Sweet Home (1.04)

9. Harry Rides Again (7.02) Excellent Track

10. Spying On Helen (4.14)

11. Juno's Place (1.28)

12. Caught In The Act (1.27)

13. Shadow Lover (1.18)

14. Island Suite (6.55)

15. Causeway / Helicopter Rescue (7.54) Excellent Track

16. Nuclear Kiss (0.49)

17. Harry Saves The Day (8.26)

Total Length: 70.44

The use of artwork or photos is posted for non profitable reasons