How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Promo)

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

James Horner's score How the Grinch Stole Christmas was the talk for certain weeks on the internet. With the album producers favoring more songs than score, it was obviously that Horner fanatics started to lose their calm. But what they discovered when listening to Horner's score was even more then just a bad thing, the score featured dialogue more then there was music. So, a bootleg or promo was the only answer and it arrived pretty quickly, just months after the original release. It featured just over 70 minutes of score and Horner fans were relieved to find an expanded adventure and fantasy score. Still, I think Horner missed a winner here because the magic as sheer fun is missing in many parts. The score features the usual Horner style but mainly it sounds a bit chaotic at times, especially in the begin and middle of the score. Horner forgot to demonstrate what he can do with such a concept and concentrated his music more on how to support the movie, because there isn't much to enjoy from the middle portion of score, except some good but short moments. These better moments are witnessed in the tracks 'The Grinch's Story', 'Memories of a Childhood' and 'Cheermeister Vote' that has some string passages in the way of Bicentennial Man. The begin of 'The Cheermeister Games' is hideous but luckily we receive a fine version of the main theme of Vangelis' Chariots of Fire, being especially a welcome inclusion.

The sad part of this score is Horner's lack of a fun moment. In these cases you should expect a fun cue, a powerful and exciting twist but it fails to bring it, like 'Take Off' that promises much in the begin but then becomes more wacky. Or 'Tree Burn / It's Gonna Blow!' that has the building mood of Clear and Present Danger. I feel that the score listens too much like wacky stuff and at some parts its even disturbing. That adventurous and comedic twist like in Casper and in lesser ways We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story isn't found in this score and that disappoints me a lot. The problem is also for my part the immense length of the score. As I felt with The Perfect Storm, this score simply lasts too long and it loses my interest when hearing all those chaotic sequences at once. But the end offers better moments of Horner. The last 4 tracks are actually quite impressive, nothing utterly sensational but beautiful and the best part of Horner's score. They offer the main theme more then often and close the album with a positive note but the thing is, those tracks were actually already released. It might have given the fan a wrong idea and in the end the promo isn't really that exciting. I feel like Horner didn't do everything in his power to compose a better score. There are not many parts that really entertain me and I come to the conclusion that Horner composed some better soundtracks in his career, even if there was much resemblance with other works of him. How the Grinch Stole Christmas will be loved by many Horner fans, simply because it presents 70 minutes of Horner's score. Though it offers some good moments I feel that more could have been brought to us by Horner.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Main Title (4.25)

2. Intruders / The Grinch Descends (2.12)

3. Did Somebody Say "The Grinch"? (1.25)

4. Mailroom Dilemma (4.23)

5. Back To Crumpit (1.08)

6. Christmas, Why Can't I Find You? (2.10)

7. Home Sweet Lair (2.01)

8. The Grinch's Story (2.02)

9. Building The Angel (1.47)

10. Memories Of A Green Childhood (3.31)

11. Cheermeister Vote (1.54)

12.Cindy Lou Invites The Grinch (2.51)

13. Cindy Lou's Slide (1.26)

14. The Cheermeister Games * (2.17)

15. Bad Award! (0.50)

16. Tree Burn / It's Gonna Blow! (4.25)

17. Grinch's Plot / You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch (3.13)

18. Santa Surveillance (0.37)

19. Take Off (3.00)

20. Our First Stop (3.53)

21. The Grinch Breaks And Enters (4.08)

22. Does Cindy Lou Really Ruin Christmas? (4.36)

23. A Change Of Heart (3.44)

24. The Sleigh Of Presents (6.07)

25. He Carves A Roast Beast (3.12)

* Contains theme from Chariots of Fire by Vangelis

Total Length: 71.33

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

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