Devil's Advocate

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

What have demonic efforts like Devil's Advocate and End of Days in common, except their obvious look? Luckily, nothing. While End of Days as a movie was a fairly enjoyable look, it was the music that was as demonic as they came, yet sadly harder to enjoy with its overuse of sound effects. Devil's Advocate as a movie is the real deal and a pure mastery of story and characters, the score itself was no small part either and is enjoyable in and outside of the context. While also containing sound effects, 2 non score material pieces and three dialogue cuts, it is the riveting demonic display of James Newton Howard that is the really good show on disc. Because the dialogue is separated from the music and it is well chosen stuff, the two additional cuts of music are heard during the movie and of course create their own setting and the score itself once more shows the pure masterful touch of Howard, combining menacing orchestral play with demonic choral might, and together they work to give you both the thrill as the chill on disc. Movie music that can satisfy your needs apart from the apparent movie. Just the way we like it.

It all starts with a short dialogue track but the first real strong track is 6, 'Lovemaking', a very interesting scene in the movie (no, not for that part) and the music itself works to the advantage of the scene, combining a building tension and supported through excellent choral accompaniment of the LA Master Choral. There are of course spooky tracks with their additional wash of harsh tones but in a way this is acceptable because they create in the movie a much more scary mood than in End of Days, were the music became too loud for my liking. 'Geddes / Weaver' is one of the best tracks on this soundtrack. It starts with a vocal, organ and a constant movement of unease, before the choir starts to give it real demonic edges and a strong finale. '57th Street' is just the same, here the sole vocal returns but bringing such a scary mood of music, it actually scares the living hell out of you. This will probably only work when you know what you are witnessing on screen because the scene itself is creepy as hell. 'Fire' is the climax of the score with powerful chants of the choir and a load of orchestral demonic display before a quiet, soft piano movement closes the score in 'Ring'.

Apart from the score we have the piano music by Michael Lang which is not that fitting and the classical music performed on organ heard during the funeral ceremony which works better in the mood. And the three dialogue sequences are short but cool. Especially 'Finale' is excellent with a wonderful Al Pacino in the leading role, oooohhh, the man has got authority. So, for 49 minutes this score brings the best out of the recollection of the movie, making the score as effective as heard during it. It is probably a taste of knowing what you are seeing on screen that makes the score so good because Howard really makes the impression on screen. Devil's Advocate is in my personal opinion way easier than End of Days, way scarier ( in subtlety terms speaking) than End of Days and way better to enjoy than End of Days. So, you don't have to tell me which score I prefer listening to. Devil's Advocate isn't The Omen but surely comes close with its masterful combination of scary music and menacing choral development.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Vanity * (0.13)

2. Main Title (1.03)

3. New York (0.49)

4. Milton (0.56)

5. Rendevous: Michael Lang (3.39)

6. Lovemaking (3.31) Excellent Track

7. Christabella (1.07)

8. Apartment Building (0.46)

9. Barzoon (2.37)

10. Montage (1.01)

11. Geddes / Weaver (4.04) Excellent Track

12. Baby (1.55)

13. Finish The Story (2.00)

14. Time (1.57)

15. Cullen Gets Off (2.50)

16. Suicide (2.07)

17. Can't Have Children (0.56)

18. Baka (1.19)

19. 57th Street (2.02) Excellent Track

20. Air On The G String: Virgil Fox (4.28)

21. Church (2.34)

22. I Rest My Case (2.20)

23. Fire (1.26)

24. Ring (0.57)

25. Surprise * (0.27)

26. Finale * (1.46)

* Dialogue from the motion picture

Total Length: 49.58

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

=== Link to Composer Site: James Newton Howard ===