Danny Elfman
Planet of the Apes
(Sony Classical)

By Steve Holtje
CDNOW Senior Editor, Classical

Travel with Danny Elfman to a future Earth dominated by trombones and percussion. It's hard not to sense a strong whiff of pastiche in this effort, yet just like director Tim Burton, Elfman tries to play both sides of the fence -- taking the drama seriously, yet going so far over the top as to slip into camp.

Not since Verdi's Il Trovatore have anvils figured so prominently in a musical score. The constant air of menace on this CD may reflect the movie's plot, but a score consisting largely of episodic gestures and little in the nature of actual themes or melodies can get by on texture for just so long before the effects wear thin. Even Elfman's strings are percussive, with frequent pizzicato outbursts. The occasional quiet moments rarely last long, except for "The Return" at the end, until it heats up into practically a condensed version of Gustav Holst's The Planets.

There's no question Elfman knows his stuff. This score could double as an instructional tool for the construction of action-film soundtrack effects and, if nothing else, the sound -- especially in the bass range -- is quite impressive. But listening all the way through is like being bludgeoned for an hour by a cleverly sadistic torturer. To hear this sort of effort done much better -- with better pacing, more coherent themes, and more convincing atmosphere -- get Hans Zimmer's score for Gladiator.

And after reading this review, you seek out their review for Gladiator, where the same guy fails to mention the even more obvious influence of Holst's The Planets. I also like that not since Verdi have anvils been used so prominently in a film score. Bastard.

Anyway, just thought this was frustrating.

Elfman's score is not so bad as the movie, but plain mediocre and derivative as usual.

The review above is right - except for the GLADIATOR preposterous recomendation.

Not even Elfman deserved that!

Just my opinion.

"This is one of the blandest, most generic instrumental scores attached to a major motion picture in recent memory. It's probably effective in the context of the movie, but it doesn't stand up on its own.
Even sections exhibiting some character immediately recall similar, but better, moments by more distinctive scorers (for instance, the energetic "The End of Our Island" sounds like second-rate John Williams, while the menacing "Raptors/Stand Together" is adulterated Jerry Goldsmith). But in general, perhaps to match the warm-and-fuzzy Disney mood, the style is lush, gentle Romanticism with daubs of Impressionism.

The most egregious hackwork comes in sections where wordless unison vocals augment the orchestra -- an effect which had worn out its welcome by the 1950s. Even the brief ethnic passages which attempt to spice things up had been done to death by the mid-'90s.

Anybody acquainted with 20th century classical music (Elgar, Debussy, Penderecki) and the great soundtrack composers (Steiner, Korngold, Rozsa, Herrmann) could match this after taking Orchestration 101.

Steve Holtje
CD NOW Senior Editor, Classical"

He obviously likes great music by mentioning Herrmann and Rozsa etc but personally I think he's doing the score to "Dinosaur" a great injustice. Anyone agree with me, or do you share the same opinion as Mr. Holtje?

Gae