Deep Impact

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

Horner is a busy guy, we all know that. Horner is someone who reuses a lot of his own material, or as others will say it "He's the hacker of all hackers", we all know that. But we also know that Horner gets a lot of attention by soundtrack labels, ever since his Titanic fury and that is not something I welcome. I mean, the soundtracks have become this overbearing challenge unto themselves that the music because of it suffers. Deep Impact, easily one of his least favorable works is the prime example that long soundtracks do not always make successful scores onto themselves, as it is the listening experience that counts and not what length it will tackle the listener with. I am very honest with you, as of the moment we purchased this score, it was lying there, simply for the reason that it listens so long. We are now the year 2002 and basically this score has slipped before my notion for 4 years. And even a celibate struggle can not make it any better. It has become better in quotation but the flaws remain the same and that is something I will always remember. "Sony Classical, you should know one thing, long soundtracks do not make good stuff when the material itself repeats the same form". And as always, the trademarks of Horner are returning up to the sleeve of frustration that whatever is new, becomes overused so that listening to it is the struggle onto itself. More, make it quiet, ambient music and you've got a hell of a mission to pull off yourself.

Deep Impact was on itself a movie that I greatly admired, simply because it gave us a realistic glimpse of what might happen if ever ... a meteor struck down upon our planet. Now, Horner's music worked inside the picture, but outside of it, it simply becomes after 15 minutes a drag. The music remains soft, barely shifting a tone in volume and feels as if it repeats the same ideas time after time. Quite frankly, it is one of Horner's least inspiring efforts of all. It holds I think trademarks with almost each written score because any other score holds a trademark with another one, so the circle keeps running. The most common trademarks are those with Apollo 13 when the more rhythmic suspense tones take higher ground, such as in 'Our Best Hope ...', or the ambient, quiet background touch of scores like Field of Dreams, The Spitfire Grill and To Gillian on her 37th Birthday, it's all present in Deep Impact. Basically any track apart from several rehash the same stuff, the main theme which I call the hope theme is used the most, often counted 10 times in each track. There is also the main love theme, best used during one of the better tracks and that is 'The Wedding', a popular compilation piece with piano and strings. Another better track is 'Leo's Decision', when out of nowhere a stronger, more dramatic emotional tone is witnessed, and after all those background cues, it is welcome for every person. Even the soft yet beautiful piano moment at the end of 'Sad News' makes all the difference for this little soul.

The last two mammoth tracks are 'Drawing Straws' and 'Goodbye and Godspeed', the first is special because it uses more powerful music, with choir on occasions and a different building movement besides the Apollo 13 tone. The second because it repeats the same ideas again for a final irritating time but onto itself has powerful fanfares of hope and optimism, and even a well used children's score which lulls you to the end. Deep Impact is all by itself typical Horner doing his stuff, nothing less but again on this terrain nothing more to give it more dominance and magic. The score is at the end a fitting glove but put 50 minutes of background music after each other and you've got people complaining. Then it is the score that makes the music drag. A maximum score of 45 to 50 minutes at least would have made this score better in its listening experience. However, since there are long tracks, you could not split them up. So remember, if you ever see this score as a cheap sale product be aware of its flaws. It has good points but it is overdue in its time and overripe in its Horneresque taste, and just those two flavors can make a non Horner fan vomit. Deep Impact is then also for those who love Horner in his least inspiring days, and patiently absorbing anything that comes their way, even the repeated form and tone. A three star soundtrack with reservations to say the least.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. A Distant Discovery (3.57)

2. Crucial Rendezvous (3.58)

3. Our Best Hope ... (13.24)

4. The Comet's Sunrise (5.05)

5. A National Lottery (8.25)

6. The Wedding (4.00)

7. The Long Return Home (4.43)

8. Sad News (3.46)

9. Leo's Decision (3.08)

10. The President's Speech (4.29)

11. Drawing Straws (10.40)

12. Goodbye And Godspeed (11.34)

Total Length: 77.18

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

=== Link to Composer Site: James Horner ===