The Wolfman | ||
 | Composer: Danny Elfman Label: Varese Sarabande Release Date: 2010-02-23 Producer: Danny Elfman Conductor: Pete Anthony Performer: The Hollywood Studio Symphony Buy this soundtrack:   | 6 Ratings |
 Track Listing | |||||||||||||||||||
| 01 Wolf Suite - Part 1 (4:12) 02 Wolf Suite - Part 2 (5:54) 03 Prologue (2:57) 04 Dear Mr. Talbot (1:45) 05 Bad Moon Rising (0:59) 06 Gypsy Massacre (2:24) 07 Wake Up Lawrence (5:17) 08 The Funeral (4:13) 09 The Healing Montage (2:49) 10 First Transformation (3:30) 11 You Must Go (3:46) 12 The Antique Shop (3:32) 13 Country Carnage (2:31) 14 Be Strong (2:31) 15 The Madhouse (5:32) 16 Reflection/2nd Transformation (4:11) 17 The Traveling Montage (4:27) 18 The Finale (4:11) 19 Wolf Wild #2 (1:27) Total Length: 1:06:08 | |||||||||||||||||||
More Soundtracks by Danny Elfman
Reviewed by James - Grade: C A little too similar to Dracula, but the score has its charms If there was ever a film that should have been tailor-made for Danny Elfman, it was Joe Johnston's remake of "The Wolfman." This kind of dark and gothic atmosphere has always inspired some of Elfman's more entertaining works, which is probably why this score is a bit of disappointment for me. One problem is that the score is just too similar to another gothic thriller, Wojciech Kilar's "Bram Stoker's Dracula." From the second the strings strike up in the first track, I found myself constantly thinking of that earlier, better score. Some people were not bothered by this, preferring instead to focus on the admittedly effective aura of oppressive doom that Elfman is always so good at writing. But I found the similarities to be way too distracting. There are a few reasons why this could have happened. 1) Elfman was ordered to follow the temp track too closely, or 2) Elfman was just ripping off Kilar, or 3) Elfman is just riffing on Kilar's work and trying to have a little fun with it. I think Elfman is way too creative and inventive a composer to just steal somebody else's work, so let's rule that possibility out right now. I prefer to think he's having some fun. Elfman has always been very open about his love of Kilar's "Dracula" music. So I think "The Wolf Man" might actually be his love letter to one of his idols. And some of tinkering is entertaining, especially in opening two tracks, Wolf Suite I and Wolf Suite II. Elfman sounds like he is having a ball, especially with some denser orchestrations that sound terrific when the speakers are turned all the way up. When I listened to this music, while imagining Elfman trying to think of new ways tinker with a master, the "Dracula" comparisons actually start to become kind of fun in a way. He's riffing like its gothic horror jazz. Another, and probably more damning problem, is that the CD so darn repetitive. This might not be Elfman's fault. He wrote the music first in 2008, which was then replaced when the film was re-edited by a score by Paul Haslinger. But then they dumped that score and tried to go back to Elfman's music, which no longer fit the final edited film. So the end result included Elfman, re-arranged Elfman by a composer named Conrad Pope, and additional cues by Edward Shearmur and Thomas Lingren (oddly enough not as standalone cues, but as sections incorporated into Elfman's tracks). It is all very odd, so I don't quite know who to blame (the studio, I guess). The problem is that the main theme just appears time and time and time again. What was fun in the first two tracks really begins to grow weary, especially considering it wasn't very original to begin with. So all in all, it is definitely a disappointment. But I would encourage everyone to go on iTunes and buy those first two tracks, which contain all the major elements of the score. They really are fun. The rest of the CD is just wash, rinse, repeat, repeat, repeat. More Movie Soundtracks
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