Chain Reaction

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

When Goldsmith composes action he tends to let them sound the same. Of course nothing in theme but the way they simply feel and connect to each other. Chain Reaction is one of those prime examples and without its high quality theme or innovation there is nothing that makes the score interesting, right? Wrong, the main public expects true Goldsmith gems with each occasion and when things sound lesser then they ultimately thought they seem to skip the score more then ever. But making comparisons with other scores is not the right thought to summarize Chain Reaction. It is indeed nothing utterly striking but as background music it remains solid and offers just some good things of Goldsmith's musical invention of the day. And that is the right attitude to confront another Goldsmith effort. Yes, the main theme is nothing strikingly entertaining and yes, highlights are missing in general but as musical background it offers the right amount of time accompaniment and melodic improvement. The action is solid and some moments sound rather nice. The string writing heard in 'Open Minds' and 'Out of the Hole' are reminiscent of Small Soldiers and the main action material has slight musical hints towards Congo and Executive Decision, if not the most to U.S. Marshals.

And some moments inside 'Open Door' are quite good. At least if persons check out the main material. I think Goldsmith has too less invention to represent enough style for medium action thrillers and its accompanying score is sufficient for the movie and for the listening interest. And if people simply see Chain Reaction as the background listen and not as something that could have sounded better then they might enjoy it, like I did with the fifth time I heard it. 30 minutes is a good amount of listening material and captures the spirit and effort of Goldsmith more then enough. Sometimes its simply this running length what a score needs and people can see this negatively or positively. Chain Reaction either way is an adequate movie and a solid score, accept this and you will accept its motivation. As for the score's last track, it offers the best part of the CD and somehow becomes the small highlight of the soundtrack. In general, you are looking for more solid action soundtracks of Goldsmith's career, then Chain Reaction will give you a bonus amount of 30 minutes. And if people simply expect that it might become a rather positive investment. Nothing more, nothing less.

\ЕЕЕ/

Tracks

Single Disc

1. Meet Eddie (4.52)

2. Assassins (5.15)

3. Open Minds (2.46)

4. Ice Chase (5.50)

5. No Solution (2.45)

6. System Down (2.30)

7. Open Door (3.15)

8. Out Of The Hole (3.33)

Total Length: 31.00