Twister

Twister marks not only the return of the disaster film genre since the 70's but also the return of the action packed composer Mark Mancina (Speed, Con Air). To say the least, this is one of his best scores to date. He manages to fully capture the ferocity of a twister using a very orchestral score, something you wouldn't fully expect from a film like this.

One notable thing about the disk is the fact that it is grouped into seven parts, each one based off of a section of the film. The first one is Oklahoma. The beginning of the album is "Wheatfield", which introduces Mancina's main theme for the film. One curious thing I noticed was the dialogue at the beginning of the track. It is very faint and leads me to wonder if something went wrong with the recording or if it was intentional. The following track ("Where's My Truck?") is the shortest track on the entire album. Running at only 19 seconds, this one still manages to pack a punch and introduces the storm. Mancina toys around with his main theme once more in "Futility" and "Downdraft" both of which are complete opposites of each other. One is slow and melodic while the other is fast and dramatic.

Following Oklahoma is It's Coming. The first track, "Drive in" is a good example of how Mancina is able to create an ominous feeling for the storm. "The Big Suck" follows as a more calming track, as opposed to an intense one. After It's Coming is The Hunt. The first track, "Going Green" is a thrilling track that has a rousing guitar solo in the beginning. Mancina picks up the pace with the following three tracks; "Sculptures", "Cow", and "Ditch", each of which use variations on the main theme while adding to the action driven feel Mancina is well known for. In the next section, The Damage, Mark creates a somber tone to illustrate the feeling of seeing the aftermath your hometown after a storm. The fourth section, Hailstorm Hill, brings back the ominous feeling of a twister created in "The Drive In". The two tracks "Bob's Road" and "We're Almost There" fuses the main theme in while picking up the intensity of a major Twister. The final section of Mancina's score is F5. F5 adds on to the score with some more action cues such as "Dorothy IV" and "Mobile Home". The final track is "God's Finger" which has a feel of calmness after the storm and is the final variation of the main theme.

After Mancina's great score is done the album continues on with two additional tracks. The first, "William Tell Overture/Oklahoma Medley" is a humourus track that has absolutely no point of being on the album. It features a small snippet of the William Tell Overture and continues on with added vocals of the "Oklahoma song". (provided by some of the actors). The next track is "End Title/Respect The Wind" track. It is a fairly nice way to end off the album considering it is the end credits. The track opens with a bit of Mancina's finale score and continues on with a guitar sound provided by Eddie and Alex Van Halen. While it doesn't really add anything to the album (aside from being the longest track as it runs at 9 minutes) it is a nice little bonus.

Overall, I was fairly impressed with the album. The score really fits with the film and never feels out of place. The pros of the album really work well together. First, there is alot of variation throughout so the listener is sure to never get bored with the selection. Second, it has a nice re-listen value to it. Third, it really proves how well Mark mancina can put an action score together while avoiding any cliches. The cons of the album are mostly the voices. The opening track features some vocals which, unintentional or not, are incredibly hard to hear. I found myself very startled when I turned up the volume to listen and had the score suddenly blast out of nowhere. Same with Oklahoma. The music was far louder than the singers and it led me to wonder, why bother even adding it on. The whole score itself is still a great listen and it makes me excited to visit some more of Mancina's work. Definitely a must listen.