The Italian Job

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

Composer John Powell is constantly poking around in the movie music business. And its either a comedy run of every genre (Evolution, Rat Race, Pluto Nash) to more serious action movies like The Bourne Identity. And while the movie The Bourne Identity itself was fun, the score was practically a zero operation with no redeeming quality to interest you to its sources. Powell's continuing score in the genre The Italian Job is somewhat the same in style and tone but just several things are better then the previous. First of all, an album length is very important if the music isn't either diverse enough or interesting. And here its not a problem but especially the quality is that The Bourne Identity's ideas return but in better form, in musical pleasure as development. You can basically say that where Identity failed, Job prevailed. Its rhythm as the use of strings is the same but more then interesting as it ever got before. And even though I'm not a total sucker for the score itself, The Italian Job is much better The Bourne Identity. There are of course several tracks which prove the theory here and they follow the first track of The Bourne Identity in style, and coincidence or not but that first track was the only true good one on the score. 'Boat Chase' is a rhythmic display of orchestration and instrumentation, using the same techniques but in better form, especially the string rhythm at the end is good. 'The New Plan' is for me the best track, again here the string movements are so much fun that it collides with the rhythm and beat in the best possible circumstances, the fanfares in the second part are also put to good use.

The few action tracks are not special but fun on their own, with 'Chopper Chase / Face-Off' using good action statements while electronics are used for the pump and drums for the pound. A main theme is hard to find but a reoccurring motif appears from the first track and appears most prominently in track 2, 4 and 15. Also watch out for the sorrowful use of piano in 'Mourning John', the bass beat reminding people easily of Shaft's tone in 'Planning the Heist' and the ferocious sound and speed of the kinetic 'Tunnel Run', representing the electric guitar in full force with the bass of the orchestra. Its actually from track 12 that this score starts pumping up with more interesting material, and its always good when a score ends better then starting good and ending poorly. The first part is rather subdued but the second part is a lot more pleasing, with of course the pounding, rhythmic action pieces taking us along for the ride. In every respect, The Italian Job is so much more then The Bourne Identity, its has more interesting features, a hell of a pace and rhythm when the action calls for it and while absent of a theme to speak off, the material overall is presented in quality time constraints, never pushing the music to the limits. The Italian Job is then also a score which proves more Powell's merit then The Bourne Identity and is therefore a better choice for fans. The first half is non sparkling, but its the second part which does more. Its no biggie in the career of Powell, and I still consider that Pluto Nash survived because of its ever fun main theme, but without a theme of all standards, The Italian Job still holds its ground because of its rhythm, beat and pump on the various moments in time.

\ЕЕЕ/

Tracks

Single Disc

1. Opening Titles (2.05)

2. The Italian Job (1.48)

3. Venice Gold Heist (4.40)

4. Boat Chase (4.47)

5. Mourning John (1.04)

6. Planning The Heist (2.50)

7. Pawning The Gold (1.57)

8. Cable Chick (2.37)

9. Getting The Axe (2.16)

10. The Devil Inside (1.52)

11. Bitter Suite (1.59)

12. The New Plan (5.08)

13. Tunnel Run (2.13)

14. Chopper Chase / Face-Off (2.58)

15. Golden (4.05)

Total Length: 42.28

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

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