Customer Reviews

Dark City: Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I loved the movie, but the music may even be better. My friends think so too, everybody who heard it. Look, if you liked the movie's music, and are reading the reviews to figure out if it is worth buying or not, then take my word for it, IT IS! It has all kinds of tracks: mostly chilly and dark, but also some narcotic-sounding slow ones (good for dancing) and a few brutal ones. I really recommend it, it is one of the best CDs I have. If you are feeling sad, depressed, angry or if you just had enough, this is the music to listen to. Buy this, it is essential for your collection.

Trevor Jones' score for "Dark City" is a dark, violent nightmare trip to another universe. Even the quieter, subtler moments don't get spared from a general feeling of unease. Even though the music is rich with synthesizer effects, the music still manages to sound authentic and exceedingly creepy.

The main theme is a musical piece like steam-powered locomotive: a driving baseline over a synthesized Gregorian choir, with slowly culminating percussion and exploding into a mushroom cloud of brass and string -- which by all means compares best with a pitch-black, nightmarish, "underwater" version of Alan Silvestri's music for "Predator."

The action cues in "Dark City" are amongst Jones' best - arguably THE best he ever did. When the main theme isn't ripping your adrenaline glands apart, the music for the many fights and chases in the film will. "You Have The Power" (which underscores the final - Neo versus Smith-like - battle between the protagonist and the leader of the Strangers) is amongst the darkest, most driven action music written for film in the 90s. It's enormous and will leave you behind sweating and gasping for air.

Yes, the music settles down every now and then as well, but the easier piano or string cues are - almost - always accompanied by unsettling synthesizer effects, the slow baseline from the main theme, or a creepy choir-effect. And even when it's not unsettling, it's always melancholic, nostalgic and unspeakably sad.

I suppose, to counter all this violence, the album's producers decided to put some regular songs on the album, which I think are unremarkable and superfluous. The exceptions are the two nightclub songs performed by Anita Kelsey, who dubbed Jennifer Connelly's singing in the movie. These are very nice and really fit in with the rest of the album.

All in all, I think this is Trevor Jones' crowning achievement of the 90s. And for a score that's so dark, violent and nostalgic, that's saying a lot.

This one gets four stars.

Bram Janssen,
The Netherlands

All too often, the score to a movie is uninspired and lame. The themes are trite and predictable, and the music just lies there limply. Bleh. But if you disdain wimpy background pastorals and like your instrumentals to be bold, unashamed, and thundering, this is the soundtrack for you.

Trevor Jones has succeeded wildly in creating a score that is, by turns, ominous and mysterious, threatening, and energetic, one that is packed with action and movement. The final piece, "You Have The Power", reprises the recurring themes and brings them all together for a glorious finish. It's really, really good. As a side note, these instrumental numbers make excellent accompaniment for chase or battle scenes for Dungeons & Dragons players and other RPGers.

The musical numbers by other artists in the first half of the soundtrack are also quite good. Anita Kelsey provides a sultry version of the old standard "Sway" (which was lip-synched in the movie by Jennifer Connelly). Hughes Hall also bangs out a great and driving instrumental piece that neatly fits the approach of Trevor Jones. (Hall has a small section on MP3.com, but sadly, his tunes there are disposable New Age fluff.)

If you're in the mood to pick up a soundtrack for mood music for these dark and turbulent nights, this should be your choice. Heck, I bought it about four years before I even saw the movie, and I loved it! Give it a try.

Trevor Jones became my favorite composer after I heard this album 4 years ago. His score is outstanding. The amazing thing with Jones is that he is capable to compose both brutal (like the main theme) and romantic (like #11, or the theme from "Sea of Love") cues that hook every listener. And I am not talking about just good music. I am talking about excellent melodies of rare beauty. The Dark City soundtrack is magnificent and worths 10 Oscars! Brutal, heavy, dramatic fully thematic and with the (virtual) orchestra at the last track giving a unique performance!! Buy it without hesitations. Jones score THE score of 1998!!

I bought this CD immediately after I saw the movie. I really enjoy the orchestration and the dark variety of the songs. I must say though that Hughes Hall's contribution is my favorite part of the collection. Does anyone know if he has done anything else or has a CD of his own? Also, track 4 was excellent, as was the track by Course of Empire. I recommend this CD to anyone who loved the movie, or who just loves darker music.

When I saw the movie one of the things I noticed was how good the music was + how well the music fitted with what was going.The score by Trevor Jones sounds a bit like Danny Elfman with an industrial thouch and his soft tracks are better than the elfman ones. The songs are also very good with a special favorite of mine being Dark by Gary Newman. Tthe song Jennifer Connelly sings in the film(sway) is also on the soundtrack although it is greatly interpreted by Anita Kelsey. If you like dark scores or the movie you'll love this soundtrack!

This soundtrack, while good does disappoint me in the fact that it is half songs and half score. The songs I could much less do without, even though they are not that bad, while the score is pretty good. Trevor Jones' score is very dark, hence the title of the film and mixes synthesizers with orchestra. The orchestrations in the score are very thick and heavy and the result is a wall to wall sound. As Danny Elfman used a male choir in his dark score to Batman, Jones uses one in this score to convey the darkness and oppression. Cues such as "Into the City" and "The Wall" feature some awesome action music that Jones is good at. "Emma" is a soft and gentle cue with guitars and "Memories of Shell Beach" is a delicate string theme. Another track to mention is "The Strangers Are Tuning" which contains lots of drums and tons of brass. However, the best track of them all is the last one "You Have the Power" which is an awesome 12 minute finale that utilizes all of the themes heard in the previous tracks, with a barnstorming action cue to open the track and a full orchestral tour de force to finish it off. I suggest getting this soundtrack and unless you enjoy the songs that appear first, skip them and go to the score because that is where the music is at. Lots of orchestral power make this a great score and a bright future for Trevor Jones.

This is the best soundtrack ever. The first seven songs (especially # 5) are very good but it is the score (the rest of the tracks) that shines. It is absolutely astonishing: dark, chilling, and truly beautiful. Even if you didn't like the movie you must admit that this music is amazing.

I already heard almost every soundtrack this guy composed. And this is one of my favorites!!! The reason is that Jones accomplished to compose the most appropriate music for this film. The tracks (from 7 to 14) are dark, moody, rich and very very "powerfull". The main motive, but not theme, is something you never heard before and of course the last track, of the final conflict and battle, is a twelve-minute prelude of brooding music!!! The kind of music that makes you turn the volume up to the end! My opinion is that there are no words to describe this music. Additionally I notice that the main motive reminded me a bit of the "Merlin" Soundtrack. But who cares. This album is one of the BEST I'VE EVER HEARD. Buy it, you'll enjoy it,too!!!

This is one of the greatest CD's released. I picked this one up two days after I saw the movie in the theater opening night. And I'm still listening to it. While it is a very different style from Danny Elfman, it's just as dark, and a good deal more eerie. The best part of this is the end. Where a minor shift into major key changes the whole theme from dark to bright. Track #4, "Dark" has got to be one of the best "goth/techno/rock" songs written within the last five years! This CD is wonderul, and I suggest it for anyone with taste or an education in music.