Deep Blue

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

After the success of the Television series The Blue Planet, after an airing on nearly every station in the world, the richness and the beauty of the sea would only expand to the place where it belonged, on the great podium or the big screen. No Imax feature but a documentary for everyone to explore, Deep Blue was called upon as a beauty that words could not describe. The thing is, no special effects nor tricks laid upon us here because the sea is how you get it and the pure wonder that you see before you is something that special effects could not create, because nature always looks better when not touched upon and the movie swept audiences away with its fantastic scenery. Now, good thing also for the documentary was that George Fenton returned to the scoring scene (and reporting so he will do so again in 2005 since he will score Planet Earth) and after the wonderful The Blue Planet comes Deep Blue, a score that is only bigger and better the more times you hear it. George Fenton has always been known as a composer for the romantic genre but with the touch to explode in pure wonder and amazing grand sound when the scene called upon it, Anna and the King and Dangerous Beauty are 2 such examples of how it supposed to be done always. These 2 scores have things in common with Deep Blue and that is good for the fans, because then you know you're in for a treat. The only difference is the ethnic touch that provided Anna and the King its originality and the romantic blushes with the waltzes that preceded the era in Dangerous Beauty, so those are the differences with Deep Blue but for the rest, George Fenton has created a score that not only breathes life into the large and dark ocean, but it puts you in the middle, whether having seen the documentary yes or no. As a composer, that is the largest and best trick to amaze the audience, and Deep Blue is therefore solely a score to have!

Whether you click with everything on this album is not of the essence, its the effect this music must have on screen that is of the only essence, and Deep Blue provides us with music that doesn't need the scenes to make its effect, but when mixed with the visuals it will literally blow water out of your head for sure, if that was possible. I can not praise this score enough for its effect it has on me, starting already with 'Bounty Hunters' that has an orchestral almost heroic start which sounds stronger only due to the orchestral power behind it, and it grows a bit near the end too after a minute of softer material. The lighter material of the second track by then flows into the mammoth score of the following, or 'The Beach in Patagonia' begins to unveil sheer explosive grand fanfares and reminds the listener of parts that Dangerous Beauty contained. Anyway, the grand power must only portray the big beauty on screen. The brief effect of eerie mystery reminds me easily of John Williams Harry Potter 1, but the effect is nonetheless tantalizing in 'Metamorphosis', a cue that speaks for itself. And to present it all a bit differently from time to time, while trying to make it match for the scene is all what 'Surf and Sand' is about, but its fun for a while with the exotic instruments nonetheless. 'Free to Roam' is a short track that moves to a beautiful short romantic tone ala Anna and the King and is only fetching for that one minute. Some tracks of course speak more to some people then others, and I can't help but find 'Kaleidoscope' a beauty of soft scoring, it captures some soft choir but the music that is performed by the wood flute is so gorgeous, it speaks for the scene itself. And then 'Flying Emperors' appears, another groundbreaking cue that doesn't need visuals, but the grand fanfare it covers for the beasts in the film is one that made me almost cry, it doesn't happen often but when it does, I know that music like this doesn't appear that frequently. So treasure that alone.

And the pack just keeps on going, 'Wolf Pack' is the second grand action track here and again the powerful scoring of the orchestra during the first 3 minutes is supreme, it moves to some sadder material almost at the end. And what to think of 'Showtime' with its divvying Spanish mix of style that is so fetching, it doesn't sound weird at all. 'Mounting Pressure' has after one minute a piece of music that translates perfectly everything what is found in the track listing, with a grand fanfare of orchestra and choir that sounds stunning, it moves to what seems like diving bleeps and softer material with light choir at the end. Anyway, music like this is like reading a textbook example of scoring, it creates the pictures for you. And the ending my god, first with 'The Spinning Baitball' which moves to a suspension building and a dramatic large ending, again grand scoring. But its always nice when a great score ends with the biggest finish, and when it presents music that you haven't spotted yet, and 'Deep Blue' does just that. First soft choir and a wonderful finale with that choir, presenting a gorgeous (2nd time it made me cry) string theme for the beauty of the sea, and then it suddenly ends with the grand main theme of The Blue Planet, you know the grand choral one and alone that tops the iceberg. You could spot it already in track 8 briefly, meaning a soft representation of the theme but to hear this one in grand gesture is awesome, like The Blue Planet presented week by week. I kid you not, you don't get better then this. Truth, the first time I listened I heard the brilliant material but I didn't listen deep enough, now after several tries Deep Blue strikes me as music that I haven't heard for a long time. Its music that truly touches your heart, and that with soft and large material. I don't know if documentaries get prices, but George Fenton deserves an Oscar with this score solely. Sadly that is not possible, but Deep Blue is nonetheless music that transforms your knowledge of film music to something that is only found deep beneath the world we know, in the Deep Blue!

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Bounty Hunters (3.35) Excellent Track

2. Airwaves (2.20)

3. The Beach In Patagonia (5.07) Excellent Track

4. Metamorphosis (1.52)

5. Surf And Sand (2.02)

6. Coral Riches (4.13)

7. Free To Roam (1.16)

8. The Kelp Forest (3.12)

9. Kaleidoscope (3.57) Excellent Track

10. Polar Landscape (3.14)

11. Flying Emperors (3.29) Excellent Track

12. Wolf Pack (5.00) Excellent Track

13. The Wanderers (3.36)

14. Showtime (2.15)

15. Mounting Pressure (6.36)

16. The Spinning Baitball (3.36) Excellent Track

17. Deep Blue (5.45) Excellent Track

Total Length: 61.14

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

=== Link to Composer Site: George Fenton ===