Dark City

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

The year '98 was a successful one for Trevor Jones. He scored two highly acclaimed movies, one highly acclaimed Television movie and all three received a soundtrack to prove it to the fans of film music. And not uninteresting to know, all three are connected to each other in a way. Dark City, Merlin and The Mighty all deliver ideas that would flourish one way or another in any movie and the more you listen to them, they show remarkable resemblances in style and tone. Dark City leans close to the dark style of Merlin and the same goes for The Mighty when that score reaches the darker sides of the story. Also, portions of underscore of G.I. Jane make a brief appearance and Jones all makes it interesting like if you have never heard it before. Now, speaking of the movie, Dark City is a pearl of storytelling and intelligence, more it is science fiction of the highest level and any person wanting a story with a deep feeling will surely enjoy Alex Proyas' movie. And Trevor Jones was once again behind a movie that took high ground, bravo to him.

First of all, the score has 6 songs and a wide dash of score material. The songs are in a way for once acceptable and I usually don't skip when I listen to this soundtrack. Anita Kelsey's two songs are in the movie sung by actress Jennifer Connelly and 'Just a Touch Away' is the most easy to listen to number. But no matter how dark or loud 2 and 4 are, I accept them and get a certain kind of satisfaction out of them. And anyone wondering about 'Sleep Now', this was used with great effect in the trailer of the movie itself and the last seconds were even used in the begin part of the trailer of Final Fantasy, if any was complaining about its effectiveness as music. The score itself of Trevor Jones rocks equal, sometimes so fierce you are fighting to breath. With this I am referring to the immense 3 minutes in track 14 'You Have the Power' which was at its return used in the trailer of X-Men. The part after those 3 minutes are also not forgettable with powerful fanfares to underscore the brilliant ending of the movie, and further into the track, it captures the most optimistic music of the side. Still, this doesn't mean that the rest is forgettable because the end track wouldn't have worked without the short hints of material and indications of the previous tracks. For starters, 'Into the City' gives us already a glimpse of the fierce action theme, to underscore the Strangers tuning and altering the world, with occasional dark choir.

The two most subdued dark pieces are 'Emma' (which hints strokes of G.I. Jane) and 'Memories of Shell Beach' which equally covers some dashes of optimistic music (which then resembles Merlin's style). One of the good tracks also is 'The Strangers are Tuning', again we are hearing the action music but also this track contains some strong fanfares, covering the dark intentions of the Strangers. So, I have no problem with this soundtrack whatsoever. The good thing about this score is, when you have seen the movie you accept almost any thing coming your way in this release, the slow dance songs of Anita Kelsey make acceptable sense, the louder parts give you a piece of dark interest and the trailer music is equally interesting, just because it lets you remember the movie vividly. The score of Jones (which some people didn't seem to love) is equally interesting, it is a strong piece of music (which I consider) holds the best possible example of Jones' electrifying style. The fierce action music is perhaps one of the best sides a composer can have, track 14 gives you for 3 minutes music that rocks, pumps, thrusts and all the time remains so goddamn enjoyable, it is a piece of music which holds a fine line between control and force. Dark City overall is a dark score but a pleasant listen, because it easily distinguishes itself from dark music to fierce action music. No Trevor Jones fan can be without its possession.

Score: ***
Songs: ***

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Sway: Anita Kelsey (3.42)

2. The Information: Course of Empire * (4.27)

3. Just A Touch Away: Echo & The Bunnymen * (5.03)

4. Dark: Gary Numan * (4.27)

5. Sleep Now: Hughes Hall (1.59)

6. The Night Has A Thousand Eyes: Anita Kelsey (3.28)

7. Into The City (4.46)

8. No More Mr. Quick (3.25)

9. Emma (3.39)

10. The Strangers Are Tuning (3.54)

11. Memories Of Shell Beach (4.38)

12. The Wall (1.17)

13. Living An Illusion (2.54)

14. You Have The Power (12.14) Excellent Track

* Bonus track not in motion picture

Total Length: 60.20

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

=== Link to Composer Site: Trevor Jones ===