Ice Age

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

Lately, David Newman is on a role and I couldn't be more happy for him. He is the kind of composer that can spice up a movie any way he can but also delivers this beautiful emotional core to the basis, with simply a touch of the piano or through choral accompaniment. Ice Age, the latest blockbuster of computer wizardry isn't any different in proving me right. Overall, it is a crazy score with just the right touch on occasion. But at times I couldn't handle it like I thought I would do and the emotional softer spots simply were necessary for me. On the other hand, it is a long road from a score such as The Affair of the Necklace and if someone missed the raw energetic form from the periodic music, they will be thrilling with enthusiasm if they hear Ice Age ripping from the word "GO". Let me first say that Ice Age is the mix of Galaxy Quest and Coneheads, mixing the energetic touch with a comedic feel and making so humorous action music. Together they can start to irritate when they want to but just then, David Newman throws in a pleasant and enjoyable idea so that everything stays remotely jumpy from start to finish.

I do have to warn you, the opening track is fun. It starts loudly (just as the score is mixed to the maximum) but 'Opening Travel Music' is indeed a bouncy tune which especially arouses through the guitar rollicking as it goes. The energetic music we all so accustom with David Newman then takes center stage and appears vividly strong in 'Angered Rhinos', 'Tigers going for Baby', 'Fighting over the Melons', 'Baby's Wild Ride', 'Running from the Lava' and 'Tigers Try to Get Baby'. The first is memorable for its short heroic statement of the main theme at the end and the third because it offers for 1 minute fanfare after fanfare, making it the most fun track of the whole. The others mix in energized music on the tone of Coneheads and Galaxy Quest which at times becomes a bit too much, but just then the short but perfect idea comes racing in, giving you at least the moment of pleasant brilliance. Like it happens in 'Baby's Wild Ride'. The other part is the more soft piano based / choral supported touch of David Newman and as always, it works to please me. 'Humans / Diego' is a very beautiful if typical piece with choir and 'Checking out the Cave' is the best in portraying the mystical qualities and the choral wash of tone, all sounding well after the bombast of the previous or following cue.

However, one of the weak points of Ice Age is the theme. David Newman has always been a theme writer and even if the theme is good, it doesn't receive the treatment during the 34 minute running score. Sometimes soft but beautiful, other times energetic but heroic, it doesn't always make the impression like a grand theme should do. And another brief remark might be that overall highlights are missing. A minute of raining fanfares like in track 6 would have been most welcome on a daily basis but it isn't to be. 'Giving back the Baby' is perhaps missing the most of the attention, no choir which I thought it would be crawling with and a very unusual ending, like it stops for no apparent reason. Overall, Ice Age is the yearly comedic wash of energy and fun, sometimes irritating you more than it has to but David Newman remains David Newman and I believe people will know the sound by now. It isn't the best, I probably expected more to be more positively inclined of it but the short idea on occasion and an overall bouncy nature will surely light the film with pleasant memories. And if Ice Age isn't an example of that exuberant nature, then I don't know what is.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Opening Travel Music (1.15)

2. Angered Rhinos (2.14)

3. Humans / Diego (1.43)

4. Tigers Going For Baby (3.12)

5. Dodos (0.42)

6. Fighting Over The Melons (2.01) Excellent Track

7. Walking Through * (1.25)

8. Baby's Wild Ride (1.56)

9. Checking Out The Cave (3.43)

10. Running From The Lava (2.27)

11. Baby Walks (1.33)

12. Tigers Try To Get Baby (5.41)

13. Giving Back The Baby (6.26)

* "The Comedians" composed by Dmitri Kabalevsky

Total Length: 34.30

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

=== Link to Composer Site: David Newman ===