Hard Rain

Without wanting to resort to over generalisation, I don't think it would be unreasonable to suggest that Hard Rain is probably the best Zimmerworks score the Media Ventures group never wrote. In fact, it's a whole lot better composed than many other similar style Media Ventures scores, but for comparison that is about the closest style I could compare it to. Christopher Young isn't exactly famous for his straight action scores, but despite the trepidation he expresses in the liner notes, he has acquitted himself very well indeed. Of course a score like this is unlikely to be groundbreaking, but it is at least tuneful and extremely well written.

There are two main thematic ideas, one is what Young describes as a don't mess with Mother Nature theme which is an ominous horn motif introduced straight away in the main title. While it brought to mind something of David Newman's Phantom theme, it is none the less a perfect motif for what Young was trying to achieve. In fact Young's superlative horror scores gave him the perfect grounding for providing the this score with a more ominous, almost apocolyptic feel that say Jerry Goldsmith or Zimmerworks might have done so. I suppose Young has not been burnt out by doing one action film after another and thus could at least write something a little more inspired. The secondary thematic idea is a harmonica theme (performed by Toots Theilemans and Adam Glasser) which comes as a bit of a surprise when it first crops up later during the main title, but is none the less an appealing extension to the orchestral pallette. It also gives the score a feeling of place, being as it is, set in a trashy small town America.

In between the expected exciting orchestral action, typically dominated by brass and good use of synths and percussion, there are some quieter moments, Kenny Dies and Karen both being quite lovely interludes from the mayhem. However, you don't buy a score like this for the quieter moments and Young has delivered a superlative action-thriller score that is well worth picking up. He could certainly teach some of the newer Media Ventures composers how to enhance the styles developed by Zimmer (and Goldsmith as well come to that) into something that may not be groundbreaking, but is at least written by a hugely skilled composer. The song by Jars of Clay is actually pretty decent. For my money, a kind of Brit Pop thing, although I doubt that is what it's supposed to be. The performance by the London Metropolitan Orchestra is first rate and the recording dynamic and crisp. A highly recommended dose of action scoring at its finest.