Red Planet

For some reason, Graeme Revell has passed me by in the soundtrack stakes. In fact, at the time of writing this is the only Revell score I own. He certainly doesn't lend himself to being collectible simply because so many of his scores aren't released or are the kind of films that don't appeal to me in any way. On the other hand, soundtrack collecting shouldn't always be influenced by the quality of the film to suggest the quality of the score - most people would have an extremely modest Jerry Goldsmith or John Barry collection if this was the case.

In Hollywood's ongoing two of a kind releases, 2000 saw the much criticised Mission to Mars with a marvelous score by Ennio Morricone as well as Red Planet which has been only slightly better received. For my money, the scores are perhaps the most interesting parts about both films. Morricone's slightly off the wall and occasionally operatic score was either loved or loathed and not to be out done, Graeme Revell has created a very non traditional score for Red Planet. The album listing is somewhat confusing, but I've done my best below to sort out what exactly Revell wrote - the credits list the performer rather than the composer, so although Emma Shapplin performs (beautifully) in several of the tracks they are in fact proper score cues composed by Revell.

Trying to think of a good comparison for Red Planet's score is extremely difficult - it's something of a rock opera, but without any songs as such. Emma Shapplin has a striking soprano voice that is used in a manner similar to Enya or Sissel, but she has a more operatic, piercing and less ethereal intonation. It is the rock backing track that makes the whole endeavor that much more up to date, but the vocals and choir give it a much more timeless quality. The tracks where she isn't featured are no less impressive, most notably the stirring nobility of Alone, although tracks such as Crash Landing do sometimes tend toward cacophony.

The remaining non-Revell efforts are variable. The two mixes of The Tower That Ate People by Peter Gabriel are both awful, but A Thousand Years by Sting and MontockPoint by William Orbit both fit in well with the rest of the score. The album appears to be aimed at the more casual listener, Revell's music would likely be well received in amongst the pop. I like to try and keep an open mind about integrating something else into the traditional orchestral score, but so many of these efforts are simply terrible and lack much musical merit. Red Planet has many extremely high spots from both Revell and the other artists, but unfortunately the bad songs are awful and a couple of Revell's score cues are a little mediocre. Not an unqualified success, but good to hear someone with musical talent who can use electronics and combine them with acoustic performers rather than just relying on them to do all the work.