XXX
Music composed and conducted by Randy Edelman
Orchestrations by Ralph Ferraro, Stuart Balcombe and Randy Edelman
Running Time: 36:56
Crotchet Amazon UK Amazon US
To be (perhaps a little too) honest, I’ve generally been ambivalent about Edelman’s work. I started paying attention at the time of The Last of the Mohicans, when I didn’t understand what the story was behind the double credit with Trevor Jones. With the album released at the time, I soon worked out the style he’d been brought on board that project for. And of course the argument is that a unique and identifiable style is a positive thing. The style in question is to dress up orchestral writing in synthetic clothing. What’s left me ambivalent is the use of that style across historical biopic (Dragon), historical epic (Gettysberg) and fantasy (Dragonheart) just as prominently as anything contemporary.
XXX on the other hand is a bit of a surprise. The synth crashes and string overdubs are certainly featured, but here the orchestral thematic writing wins out. From the opening "Prague Arrival" there are plenty of grand moments. A brass fanfare here. A sneakily incorporated balalaika there. In fact there are some quite tender moments too (e.g. "Elena") which seem to go completely against the grain of the Vin Diesel hard man image. Or indeed the 2-disc song compilation that preceded this score by FOUR MONTHS!
I’m glad to have had the opportunity to hear this album because it’s encouraged to be a little more optimistic about seeing Edelman’s name attached to future projects. I’m even sort of looking forward to how he follows this up in XXX2!
Paul Tonks
3
Return to Index