Customer Reviews

House of Sand and Fog [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

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

 

 

Even a diehard James Horner fan (like me) has to admit that, for the past few years, Horner has been skating by. With the scores for "Enemy at the Gates", "Radio", and "A Beautiful Mind", among others, Horner borrows heavily from himself and regurgitates old themes and progressions. Even the score for which he's perhaps best-known -- the Oscar-winning "Titanic" -- is heavily derivative of his own previous work.

Finally, with "House of Sand and Fog," Horner has given us something to treasure again: an original, moving score for a great film.

Listening to this music, I am reminded why I started following Horner's work so long ago. His subtle touch and avoidance of a "catchy" theme is evident in every track. Among my favorite pieces are "Two People," "The Dreams of Kings," and "Old Photos, New Memories"... but really, every song is a good one, and the album as a whole can be numbered as one of Horner's true masterpieces.

What I admired most about it was that Horner was able to abandon the style he has adopted for most of his recent work and just let the spirit of the film take over. Good film music is all about making music which evokes the right emotion for the film it accompanies, and the music for "House of Sand and Fog" does that perfectly, not only going along with but enhancing the feeling of each scene. The fact that the music is a joy to listen to on its own just makes it that much better.

Listening to James Horner's score for "House of Sand and Fog" reminds me of when I first listened to "Glory" and "Field of Dreams" and "Sneakers"... not because these scores are similar, but because they are all unique. They all bear the mark of James Horner, but it is Horner at his original and emotional best, and James Horner at the top of his game makes for some wonderful music.

This soundtrack is deep in emotion, but extremely subtle and "underplayed"- a beautiful and very relaxing work.
Listen to it in the dark! It is come of the most calming music!
And for all you Horner fans out there - he does not borrow any real theme or even transitions (until the 15 minute track - "the Shooting, and Payment for our sins" where there is actually one statement from the missing score).
Other than that his style is pretty much the same even though a lot less melodic and more like Lisa Gerrard's WHALERIDER, or DRAGONFLY by Debney.
The instruments used are piano (there is wonderful piano solo in "TWO PEOPLE", string orchestra with synths and a tiny bit of oboe and flute. Also a neat touch for the tension motif is the plucking of strings along w/ timpani!
If you like darker, ambient and personal scores get this today!!!!

I agree with the previous reviewer. I used to be a huge Horner fan and picked up most of his new albums until about five years ago, when I felt he lost his magic. Most of his recent scores have sounded like they were on autopilot, and I still remember my horror at seeing Enemy at the Gates and hearing his main theme, also known as the main theme from Schindler's List.

Now, I know, there are a thousand arguments about why film music is not always meant to sound totally original, and that Williams may have even borrowed some of his Schindler's melodies from elsewhere. It's all a matter of personal taste and I just haven't been moved by a Horner score for a while.

When I saw this beautifully crafted film, however, I was struck by the simplicity and emotional depth of Horner's work. It reminds me a great deal of his beautiful score for Deep Impact. I was also glad to not hear tunes he'd used previously elsewhere.

Although this doesn't have any of the driving, epic, thematic music Horner became a star for, like Titanic, it's a hauntingly beautiful work and is certainly worth picking up, especially for the wrenching final half-hour of the film, which is almost entirely scored.

James Horner has never been my favorite composer. I think he borrows heavily from himself without ever stating anything new. This isn't always a problem if the composer takes his "internal themes" and transfers in an invigorating way to new material. But for me, Horner doesn't do that. With this score for THOSF, Horner really hits one home. I actually had to look at the cd just to make sure it really said "music composed by James Horner", this is so beautiful and different for him. As others have said, all of the tracks really are beautiful. This isn't the type of score you put on as background music nor something you listen to to Not think. This score is emotive and heavily melancholic. It reminds me of Gorecki's Symphony No.2, and if you know that piece of music, you know there's no a higher compliment I can pay this score.

(BTW, if you're interested in a composer doing new and exciting things check out Danny Elfman's score for The Hulk, his score that should've been nominated over his mediocre one for Big Fish.)

Yes this is a beautiful, worthy listen but, sorry fans if you're looking for an original musical statement from Horner - this ain't it! On the plus side, if you loved "A Beautiful Mind" (sans the Charlotte Church motif), you'll love this too. It's the same score.

As most of us who collect and enjoy scores and soundtracks know, sometimes we stumble across one that is in a class of it's own.

This is one of those!

Listen to the samples provided by Amazon and KNOW that this is a wonderful listen, beautifully constructed, and DEFINITELY one of Horner's finest!

I agree with many here who say that much of James Horner's music has sounded the same of late, but that this soundtrack is exceptional. Quiet, elegant, melancholy, moving: not words you'd use to describe a movie soundtrack, especially a wide-release flick like this, these days. I even agree that some of the pieces remind me of Gorecki. "The Waves of the Caspian Sea," for example, sounds remarkably like the Polish composer (one of my favorites, too), to the point that I almost expect to see his name in the credits. Overall, truly haunting and beautiful.