The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe (Special Edition)

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

With The Chronicles of Narnia, we reach another fantasy land of the minds of old. Around the time Tolkien invented Middle Earth, C.S. Lewis created the world of Narnia, where a Lion was king and a witch went to war to end the reign of Aslan the lion. With the introduction of the four children, Narnia defroze and the Witch and her monsters took upon the task to defeat the mythical creatures of Narnia, to rule the land once and for all. With director Andrew Adamson another fantastical telling (beloved by young as old) came to life and it did wonderfully well at the box office, staying always ahead of the other blockbuster about another King, namely Kong. Anyway with Adamson it was long decided he would bring Harry Gregson-Williams on board (after he worked with him on Shrek 1 and 2). This wasn't a bad idea whatsoever, after the wonderful Sinbad and his creative pairings on Chicken Run and Antz, Gregson-Williams already proved his immense talent to anyone who doubted him of being nothing but a protégé of Hans Zimmer. Naturally one will always compare Narnia with LOTR and naturally this isn't fair, but fantasy just compares easy when its released so after another. And how much you didn't want to compare, Gregson-Williams would always battle against something of that Shore weight no matter what. Still in the end its all about Narnia itself, about Gregson-Williams solo and then you just don't expect anything normal. Sadly that's what we got in the end. I might exaggerate and frankly I do but The Chronicles of Narnia is far from being LOTR like, but more doesn't come close to the wonderful energy of Chicken Run or the blaze of Sinbad, in the end it even comes down to being a good fantasy listen with not the punch to deliver fantasy in the big capitol letter F. Sad because projects like these demand that, and don't come too often in one's career.

How it comes that far as to disappoint you is all about what you expect. Perhaps you saw the movie first and already could connect with the music one another, it might make it better. Perhaps you wanted a different LOTR fantasy take, you got it with this one. But perhaps you too wanted Gregson-Williams to equal the wondrous scope of fantasy music with a big bang, and apparently I was asking too much. Naturally what is missing from the album that appeared in the film and what was Adamson asking of musical score? But also what was Gregson-Williams mind boggling about and what were his intentions? Its all about what to expect and what is delivered, for me Narnia is just plain good but not striking. With 'The Blitz, 1940' comes one of the few action pieces on this disc, strange considering the sometimes epic battles we encounter or the adventures the children find themselves in. Anyway, its whirling strings and brass but nothing earth shattering, its the plane engines we hear that even take the biggest surprise with them. Harry however wrote many themes for Narnia, however they don't stick in the mind as other theme laden adventures have done, 'Evacuating London' apparently gives us the family theme, soft on piano it begins and leads to a vocal led pop effect, which is in a way strange considering the time of the events. 'The Wardrobe' is nothing magical like you would hear in the teaser (powerful and mysterious), but its just a soft flute and choral underscore piece, never unleashing its magical fantasy effect large enough. Even Mr. Tumnus the first creature we encounter receives a noticed moment and its heard in 'Lucy meets Mr. Tumnus' opening with electronic violin, its reflective until the family theme receives a version with light choir.

But in these first 4 tracks nothing major happens, and sadly so it continues. 'A Narnia Lullaby' opening with duduk and percussion growing to a rumbling finish, 'The White Witch' which is a long boring darker piece, containing some moody choir and tinkling stuff while 'From Western Woods to Beaversdam' which shows the same light pop effect with a more mysterious underscore, and apparently here the tune for Narnia opens with harp (as Gregson-Williams explained on the DVD). One of the best tracks is 'Father Christmas' because here the fantasy level is reached bigger and larger, choir leading to growths of light heroic status (sometimes Peter Pan like). And in 'To Aslan's Camp' the Narnia main theme is first unleashed, a rather simple but good heroic theme (very good considering what came before if you're comparing) but quickly it fades out and turns soft again with the family theme and some light choral growth. 'Knighting Peter' returns briefly with dark action music but as surprising it begun, it ends and shows again a disappointing side of the expectation factor. 'The Stone Table' is a mammoth 8 minutes and it again doesn't bring 8 minutes of interesting music, luckily at times it improves, or its due to the light throat singing that surprises you, or the brief choral rising or the vocal / percussion moments, it however doesn't completely explodes in what you were expecting or wanted to hear. Then 'The Battle' it comes closest of all, with the theme of Narnia used in the fanfare manner, later in a more reflective choral hymn (ala Kingdom of Heaven never action music but a little more softer). However its the best Narnia has to offer with the theme used in more explosive ways and finally at the end bringing brief but rhythmic action tunes. With 'Only the Beginning of the Adventure' we end the score softer and more in light magical gestures, the theme of Narnia heard in choral versions or a final resolving manner but once more not exploding in the grand bombastic ways Sinbad could bring.

This all means, well disappointment. There isn't another word to describe Narnia for. I expected and wanted more, much more. How lovely it sounds all the same, the themes can't truly satisfy me, the moments can't thrill me enough, the magic can't reach what I was expecting. This all has reasons but the question is, which one is responsible for my disappointment? I guess its a bit of everything I'm afraid. I also went for the pricier version, meaning the special 2 disc edition of The Chronicles of Narnia, containing an extra bonus DVD featuring an interesting 12 minute interview with Harry Gregson-Williams (explaining a thing or 2), 5 documentaries about the effects, story, director, location and make-up (those you could download from the internet), a small vision of the artists who worked on the song release and the trailer of the film. They are interesting but can't bring more hype to what I heard before. Even the booklet contains enough words and photos to satisfy the Narnia fan but from a non fan's perspective, its not all too captivating. The songs which are featured here aren't found on the other soundtrack and contain good but again ordinary songs (heard them before entries which don't spark an extra weave of magic around the CD). Even 'Wunderkind' by Alanis Morrisette feels too much like her better "Still" from years before, even though its the song that fits the most to Narnia's magic. Because I can't quite enjoy 'Where', sung by Lisbeth Scott and written by Gregson-Williams the same way. In the end you enjoy the score for what it is, a nice pleasing listen where magic comes to life softly and elegantly and where a couple of strikes in the orchestral compartment make the fuzz happen. Yet sadly that is not enough, Harry Gregson-Williams could have dazzled me more because that's what he did with Sinbad, Chicken Run and many others, the creative spark of the music here is far from reaching the fantasy of Shore's music (which was to be expected) but that it would still limp behind Sinbad and others wasn't to be expected. This makes The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe a failed attempt, because it doesn't matter how good it eventually has become, its about what could have been if our expectations would have been delivered. My fault? Perhaps, but I assume I'm not the only one who thought that way!

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. The Blitz, 1940 (2.32)

2. Evacuating London (3.38)

3. The Wardrobe (2.54)

4. Lucy Meets Mr. Tumnus (4.10)

5. A Narnia Lullaby (1.12)

6. The White Witch (5.30)

7. From Western Woods To Beaversdam (3.33)

8. Father Christmas (3.20) Excellent Track

9. To Aslan's Camp (3.11)

10. Knighting Peter (3.48)

11. The Stone Table (8.06)

12. The Battle (7.08) Excellent Track

13. Only The Beginning Of The Adventure (5.32)

14. Can't Take It In: Imogen Heap (4.42)

15. Wunderkind: Alanis Morissette (5.19)

16. Winter Light: Tim Finn (4.13)

17. Where: Lisbeth Scott * (1.55)

18: bonus track with nothing on

* written by Harry Gregson-Williams & Lisbeth Scott

Total Length: 73.16

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

=== Link to Composer Site: Harry Gregson-Williams ===