Demolition Man

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

We score fans have never questioned Elliot Goldenthal's talent, but accepting his typical style is something that takes time, that asks for perseverance and for a doses of immense patience. And this certain attitude starts to build with a lot of his scores, and no exception in this is Demolition Man. This scores takes the laws of musical stability and acceptance to the highest order but offers nonetheless some outstanding moments. One thing is more then sure, with Goldenthal you have the musical score that sticks in the head for more then its durability, and maybe is that the main reason why people buy his scores but do not accept them. I feel the same with Demolition Man, I bought it and listened to it but I didn't accept his score as the musical development solely on album. The score offers the main Goldenthal recipe and others that didn't like his previous efforts will experience the same mood all over again. It simply feels like Alien 3, Sphere and the Batman projects. 'Defrosting' sounds like Alien 3 meets Sphere and represents one of the more acceptable musical developments.

On the other hand there is total chaos in 'Museum Dis Duel', 'Subterranean Slugfest', 'Obligatory Car Chase' and the best example of all 'Code 187'. Simply describe this as music that kills the sound cells inside your body. But Goldenthal has always a surprise ready for you and this is found at the end with probably the best melodic ending of his entire career so far. This shows that Goldenthal can compose some pieces of music if some were wondering about that fact. But what hurts me the most is definitely the talent and moments that Goldenthal puts in this score, showing that he can deliver some excellent musical ideas if he would just stick with the protocol way of scoring, I love bits of 'Dies Irae' and 'Machine Waltz' but it wasn't to be. So at the end you receive the main material you were bound to expect in some way or another, and Demolition Man has this in pure Goldenthal's method. It is acceptable but nothing to worship for its several moments of impressive music. No, score fans will once again see this as the unorthodox way of film music. And in a way there is structure to be found, but accepting it is something purely for the real fans of Goldenthal. See Demolition Man as offering the best possible ending of a Goldenthal score to date but between it you will find your hard boiled egg again and again, and this makes the recommendation always a bit harder.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Dies Irae (1.52)

2. Fire Fight (1.35)

3. Guilty As Charged (3.57)

4. Action. Guns. Fun (1.26)

5. Machine Waltz (1.56)

6. Defrosting (1.43)

7. Confronting The Chief (0.31)

8. Museum Dis Duel (1.56)

9. Subterranean Slugfest (1.44)

10. Meeting Cocteau (1.42)

11. Tracking Simon Phoenix (3.02)

12. Obligatory Car Chase (3.06)

13. Flawless Pearl (1.15)

14. Final Confrontation (1.55)

15. Code 187 (0.41)

16. Silver Screen Kiss (1.30) Excellent Track

Total Length: 30.03

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

=== Link to Composer Site: Elliot Goldenthal ===