Those who liked the Propellerheads work on the TND should definitely check out their work on The Matrix! Spybreak is a great techno track. All the rest (on the song album) kind of sucks.

Opinion anyone? Or... we could all complain about the score being on Varese!

NP - Akira by the Geinoh Yamashirogumi Orchestra/choir - ***** - the most bizzare soundtrack I've ever heard.

I saw the movie last week while I saw in New York, I enjoyed it, think the music perhaps has more presence in there, but it was indeed a cool flick. Ending was a bit lame to me though....

Dan (UK)

Obviously, the choices reflected here are my own, and the decisions I made have more to do with what I want to listen to than anything else, but I feel that these selections represent the film's music pretty well.

The album was recorded onto a MiniDisc. I started by recording the score album (the sound quality was fantastic), then recording the tracks included from the song CD. I then recorded the additional tracks off the DVD. Cues were all arranged into chronological order. Although there are a few short cues here, I generally placed them close together, sort of allowing them to blend into one another. I found the album plays quite well this way.

What follows is an annotated track listing.

The Matrix Original Soundtrack Recording

The Score:
Music Composed, Orchestrated and Conducted by Don Davis
Members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Theo Lebow, boy soprano

Produced by Don Davis
Engineered by Armin Steiner

27 Tracks (78:02)

1. The Matrix Main Title (1:30)
   
2. Trinity Infinity (2:21)
   These two tracks are actually the single opening track on the Varese CD. I merely placed a track mark at the seque point.
   
3. Unable To Speak (1:13)
   
4. Under the Bridge (3:12)
   This is the first of the tracks recorded from the DVD. It starts off pretty low-key, then begins to reprise the "bug" material from "Unable to Speak."
   
5. Red Pill, Blue Pill (3:19)
   Again, the music starts off quietly (although with a bit of tension) and gradually mounts into a crescendo.
   
6. The Power Plant (2:40)
   
7. Welcome to the Real World (2:25)
   
8. Combat Training (1:18)
   This exciting track features quite a bit of synthesizer work.
   
9. Bow Whisk Orchestra (1:09)
   Actually a continuation of the previous cue, this track, with its exotic percussion is one of the Varese album's most glaring omissions.
   
10. Lunatic Calm: Leave you Far Behind (1:18)
    This is the film mix of this track from the DVD; the track on the Maverick album doesn't have the same verve.
    
11. Switch or Break Show (1:01)
    Exotic percussion similar to "Bo Whisk Orchestra," but with a crescendo at the end.
    
12. Jump Program (1:24)
    Another one of the score's signature cues that never made it to Varese's album. Davis points out this cue in his DVD commentary, mentioning that it was one of the most interesting he found to write.
    
13. Rob D: Clubbed to Death (Kurayamino Mix) (7:26)
    This is one of the better selections on the Maverick album; it appears in the film for about thirty seconds, under layers of orchestral sweetening. I used the original album track.
    
14. Sentinels (2:05)
    An tense track that allows the listener to hear how the bug material from "Unable to Speak" is adapted to apply to the "squiddies."
    
15. Meat Beat Manifesto: Prime Audio Soup (0:39)
    I used the shorter film edit of this track.
    
16. There Is No Spoon (1:02)
    This is a short, yet compelling cue. The electronics are prevalant in the mix.
    
17. Threat Mix (5:22)
    This is the album track "The Hotel Ambush." I restored Davis' original cue title (it is an anagram of "The Matrix").
    
18. Exit, Mr. Hat (1:20)
    
19. Matters of Belief (6:02)
    This is a large chunk of score that starts with some bold brassy acrobatics, then quiets down to material similar to the opening of the following track "A Virus," which is on the Varese album. Somber tones follow (in the film, the decision is made to terminate Morpheus' life before the agents could learn anything from him) which is interupted by material reprised from "Combat Training." An enobling trumpet figure then emerges as Trinity decides to join Neo on his quest. This is a standout moment for the score.
    
20. A Virus
    
21. Propellorheads: Spybreak (Short One) (4:00)
    The mix appearing in the film and on the Maverick album are the same.
    
22. Bullet-Time (1:09)
    
23. Ontological Shock (3:31)
    
24. Subway Showdown (5:15)
    Another clear contender for the "Why the hell isn't this on the Varese album" award, this track is another outstanding moment in the score. The action figures heard in "Exit, Mr. Hat" are developed to their fullest here.
    
25. Anything is Possible (6;48)
    The rousing choral finish appears in the film in two spots... first at the close of the film, as Neo makes his phone call to the "others," and at the very end of the credits. When synched up with the film, one finds that the cue plays quite well over the end of the film (where the Rage Against the Machine song takes over). I left it here, rather than trying to "tag" my album with it.
    
26. Rage Against the Machine: Wake Up (6:01)
    
27. Marilyn Manson: Rock is Dead (3:10)
    

Well, that's my "Ultimate Matrix" album. I found it to be one of last year's best scores, with its orchestral complexity and layering, and a nice breath of fresh air from all the rock-anthem scores. As Davis points out in his commentary track on the DVD, the songs and the score complement each other rather nicely. It's nice when a little thought goes into the production of a blockbuster.

[Message edited by Swashbuckler on 10-01-2000]

this reminded me to bust out my 2CD set of the score.

it's only got a couple of the song album cuts, but that's all I needed.

Fart in the UK

("Brooke Shields" non sequitur in the SOUTH PARK movie: "I farted once on the set of THE BLUE LAGOON!")

("you wouldn't BELIEVE what Winona Ryder's doing!")

quote:

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I think it's "BOW Whisk Orchestra". Being anal again, sorry.

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