Evolution

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

I always wondered who was the biggest influence behind the thrilling orchestrations, the mere fun and creative touch of the masterpieces of Dreamworks. Now I know for sure that John Powell deserves a point more for what he did with such scores as Antz and Chicken Run. Evolution can best be described as John Powell's look upon Alien contact on earth and it wouldn't be a surprise if Danny Elfman's Men in Black was temp tracked with Ivan Reitman's returning flick. But taking both projects together, it is Powell's own voice that leads the tempo of Evolution and Elfman's own trademark is kept to a minimum level. And since Evolution is a solo project, with the exception of Gavin Greenaway and James McKee Smith's additional music, you can get a look at Powell solely experimenting on the creative voice. And good to know where half of the brilliance of Chicken Run comes from, Evolution has things equal to that rhythm ready for you in several moments. This at least elevates John Powell as a mastermind in composing the greatest themes with a pace, upon evolution standards.

First of all, nowhere until the sixth track do we witness the main heroic theme of Evolution, this is The Road to El Dorado's thematic brilliance meets Chicken Run's pace and energy. Trust me, a theme to look forward at. The first 10 to 14 tracks offer their part of the exploration. It isn't until the 15th track that everything becomes a pace higher, and as listener you are being swept in Powell's imaginative world of music translations. Worth remembering of the first 14 tracks are 'The Army Arrives', 'Fruit Basket for Russell Woodman' (the first sign of the main theme), 'Burgled' but also these are connected to the more Mickey Mouse, wacky fast paced humor of the movie; the heroic and more adventurous side awaits you at the second part of the score, and here Evolution starts to elevate into pure musical bliss. 'The Mall Chase' offers tempo a la Chicken Run and be ready for the glorifying version of the main theme quickly in 3.00. From here you start to love that heroic ditty. This gets another moment of brilliance in 'The Fire Truck'. 'The Amoeba Emerges' is full on dissonance while 'To go Where no Man has Gone Before' and 'Our Heroes' offer their side of Powell's most talented vision upon film music.

There is no denying, when Powell sets the standards of pace and energy to an absolute maximum, you'd better be ready for what to come. Evolution offers a side of pure film music fun and it seems that this suits Powell the best. The album does temper to destroy the volume level because recording and standards really reach giant proportions, but this is no way a bad thing, always fun when the energy is more alive then damp and muffled. This score is one of the first to use the Hollywood Studio Symphony, making the fees more acceptable so that Varese Sarabande can produce albums more then thirty minutes long, bringing the total to 40 minutes, just right. The performance is amazing and the effect reaches the standards of Chicken Run. Evolution has its lesser points but equal to remember are the strong ones and those make it an experience worth remembering. Powell is surely to become recognized for his outstanding creative touch, it makes scores like these the more fun and film music in general the outlet for pleasure and enjoyment. People will never see the likes of Media Ventures as the salvation for movie music, but some of them have raised the standard to new levels and the evolution is taking movie music to new boundaries, those that have never been touched before, creating a smile on me as large as promised on the cover.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. The Meteor (0.53)

2. Cells Divide (1.23)

3. In The Hall By The Pool (1.42)

4. The Army Arrives (1.08)

5. The Ira Kane? (1.12)

6. Fruit Basket For Russell Woodman (0.44)

7. The Water Hazard (0.46)

8. Burgled (1.14)

9. The Forest (2.11)

10. The Cave Waltz (1.02)

11. Blue Fly (1.27)

12. Cutie Pie (2.18)

13. Animal Attack (1.10)

14. Dino Valley (2.04)

15. The Mall Chase (4.31) Excellent Track

16. Monitors Out (2.40)

17. Room For One More (1.28)

18. Fire (0.42)

19. Selenium (1.08)

20. The Fire Truck (2.29) Excellent Track

21. The Amoeba Emerges (2.14)

22. To Go Where No Man Has Gone Before (3.28)

23. Our Heroes (2.22)

Total Length: 40.29

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=== Link to Composer Site: John Powell ===