The War

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

Counting as one of the many orchestral based scores of the '90 of Newman, The War is actually consisting of both the orchestral and the experimental side which symbolizes him today. Its not a soundtrack that has been talked about much, it is perhaps a bit too non commercially at hand for the regular buyer because not every score has the album in their stock market. But The War is nonetheless Newman's side of both in a good representation of 29 minutes. At first I seemed to get only songs or perhaps in the worst case 12 tracks but all so short it wouldn't have made any difference. Luckily, there is a lot more score available and the mix has been divided of what made the era of the movie (the songs) and what spiced the movie (meaning the score), so you both get something to sooth about. Unlike other Thomas Newman efforts, the style is less eclectic, has longer tracks and in fact a very good main theme. Making perhaps the soundtrack to The War not the greatest of them all, but in fact a recommendation worthy for the fans of both his orchestral and somewhat experimental side, it seems to pack both these in a good doses, covered in an acceptable time of just not 30 minutes.

First of all the soundtrack starts with the songs, all in a way representing the era well and classics as 'Think' by Aretha Franklin or 'Spirit in the Sky' by Norman Greenbaum are most welcome inclusions indeed. The rest is basically acceptable and at times non boring but the true shit is however found in one, 'Summertime from "Porgy and Bess"' is true crap and actually is one of the few pieces that actually hurt my ears so much, I couldn't have called it anything else but shit in advance. Hint, the woman singing (or in fact something like that) reminds me of the female version of Axl Rose in a very bad hair day. Now, on to the score. For once, Newman gives us another small bonus point, a female vocal is introduced, heard and noticed in several tracks, like in the begin and end track. She doesn't do much except bring a little of the dramatic mood into the score, but in the final track her voice and the main theme are excellently combined to give it best ever magic. 'Trolley' is just like 'Hornets', 'Junkyard Billy' and 'Dare' the more experimental side of the score. Mostly covering guitar, piano and occasionally drums, the side and actually musical development is rather intriguing that it perfectly represents the movie's character, emotion or feeling. In other words, Newman sketched the mood perfectly with a thematic yet experimental voice. Some are even playful and occasionally entertaining.

However it is more the orchestral color that leans me to the satisfaction of the listen, 'Juliette' covers both the more piano based tones of How to make an American Quilt and the voice of Yvonne Williams in a pleasing order, 'The War (Main Title)' shortly wraps up the main theme which is equally a somewhat close cousin to the Quilt theme of How to make an American Quilt while the longest track '2nd Vietnam' (6 minutes) is a fine mix of the moody low brooding tones of The Shawshank Redemption with a bit of color of the main theme through it. Still, the closing track is the finest because for somewhat 3 minutes the main theme is reprised along with the fitting emotional background voice of Ms. Williams to give this extra dash of color and (dare it say it) Newman brilliance. Actually it is nice to see that Thomas Newman can get both styles into one fitting design but of course the time could play a role in this, since it is not the length of something like Road to Perdition. In a way I easily recommend The War over Road to Perdition because the time and glorious main theme performance at the end of the disc easily makes me forget the somewhat blank forgettable moments in Road to Perdition. See this score as a mix of An American Quilt and Shawshank Redemption and you easily discover that The War is a solid fine listen. Accept the overall average 3 star rating for the songs with it and you might have an album for a pleasing hour of listening.

Score: ***
Songs: ***

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Peace Train: Cat Stevens (4.09)

2. Think: Aretha Franklin (2.15)

3. Summertime From "Porgy And Bess": Janis Joplin (3.57)

4. Daydream: Lovin 'Spoonful (2.19)

5. Sunny: Bobby Hebb (2.40)

6. Spirit In The Sky: Norman Greenbaum (3.59)

7. Follow: Richie Havens (6.20)

8. Up On Cripple Creek: The Band (4.29)

9. Someday We'll Be Together: Diana Ross & The Supremes (3.28)

10. Juliette (3.10)

11. Trolley (2.01)

12. The War (Main Title) (1.13)

13. Hornets (0.52)

14. Resuscitation (1.33)

15. Gone Again (2.39)

16. Life Be A Bowlful (1.26)

17. 2nd Vietnam (6.12)

18. Junkyard Billy (1.08)

19. Dare (2.31)

20. Hospital (2.33)

21. Angel Pen (3.35) Excellent Track

Total Length: 63.14

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=== Link to Composer Site: Thomas Newman ===