A.I. [ENHANCED] [SOUNDTRACK]

John [Film Composer] Williams (Composer), John Williams (Conductor), Barbara Bonney (Performer), Josh Groban (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Barbara Bonney, Josh Groban
• Conductor: John Williams
• Composer: John [Film Composer] Williams
• DVD Audio (August 7, 2001)
• Please Note: This is a DVD-Audio disc which is playable on most DVD players as well as all DVD-Audio players. Click here for additional information regarding compatibility.
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced, Soundtrack
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B00005M986
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #306,978 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Mecha World

2. Abandoned in the Woods

3. Replicas

4. Hide and Seek

5. For Always - Lara Fabian, John Williams

6. Cybertronics

7. Moon Rising

8. Stored Memories and Monica's Theme - Barbara Bonney, John Williams

9. Where Dreams Are Born - Barbara Bonney, John Williams

10. Rouge City

11. Search for the Blue Fairy - Barbara Bonney, John Williams

12. Reunion

13. For Always (Duet) - Lara Fabian, Josh Groban, John Williams

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Packed with Big Ideas about the future of mankind and dispatched with a distant, often icy veneer, Steven Spielberg's Artificial Intelligence can scarcely camouflage its roots. It was begun by the late Stanley Kubrick in the mid-'80s; Spielberg collaborated briefly a decade later, bowed out, then inherited it upon Kubrick's death in '99. And while the late auteur's cold vision seems largely intact (if now infused with Spielberg's enduring Pinocchio fetish), it's safe to say that Kubrick's often challenging musical tastes would probably not have led him to composer John Williams's doorstep. Nonetheless, the acclaimed veteran again rises to the occasion, ably demonstrating that he's hardly been indifferent to 20-odd-years of minimalism and postmodernism and that, as always, the best film music is often a subtly crafted pastiche of sensibilities and styles. Setting the tone of the film's robotically enhanced not-so-distant future, "The Mecha World" crackles and glistens with Steve Reich's rhythmic urgency and John Adams's dense coloration, while "Abandoned in the Woods," "Hide and Seek," and "Rouge City" succeed by setting Williams's more traditional sense of melody against Phillip Glass's hypnotic arpeggios. There's also a sense that the composer has craftily evoked the ghost of Kubrick music past and 2001 in particular; "Replicas" and "Stored Memories" bring to mind Ligeti, while the mournful strings of "Cybertronics" seem a ghostly echo of Khachaturian's "Gayane Ballet Suite." David Foster's ballad "For Always" (in a solo rendition by Lara Fabian and a duet between Fabian and Josh Groban) seems twice-included strictly to enhance the album's radio allure. Completists should also note that Ministry's dark contribution to the film's Flesh Fair sequence, "What About Us?" is not included on this soundtrack, but is available on their Greatest Fits compilation. Arguably Williams's most musically adventurous score since his landmark Close Encounters, A.I. should take its place among the most distinctive of the composer's long and bounteous collaboration with Spielberg. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Correct order of tracks, July 16, 2001

By	James Luckard (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: A.I. - Artificial Intelligence: Original Motion Picture Score (Audio CD)

I've seen A.I. four times now, and am still astounded by its haunting brilliance. I was also blown away by John Williams' gorgeous, minimalist-influenced score. However, the CD is confusingly ordered as well as including tracks not in the film, and others that were misleadingly named.

Here is the correct order for a chronological A.I. album.

6, 4, 2, 7, 10, 1, 3, 11, 8, 12, 9

Track 10, is a bit confusing. The first portion of the track is actually the film version of "Abandoned in the Woods." If you want, you can chop it off and put it in its correct place. Track 2 is actually a concert arrangement of "Abandoned in The Woods." It can be put at the end of the album.

Tracks 5 and 13 are vocal versions of Monica's theme. They are never played in the film.

Also, a couple of track names don't reflect the scenes in the film where that music appears, so I came up with these replacements-

1) Where The Lions Weep/I'm David

3) Replicas/The Plunge -- "Replicas" only describes the first half.

6) Pending -- "Cybertronics" is a misleading title, this music is actually from the scene at the CRYOGENICS facility where Martin is frozen.

8) Ice Planet/Back Home/The Blue Fairy -- I found the original title vague, and it didn't describe the final two thirds of the music.

Hope this helps other music-lovers out there who were confused by the organization of the album, and didn't want to be blindly skipping around tracks.

If you want all the original A.I. music commercially available, get "What About Us?" written by Ministry for the Flesh Fair scene. It's on the album "Greatest Fits" and goes between tracks 7 & 10.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Score Where Dreams Are Born, December 12, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: A.I. - Artificial Intelligence: Original Motion Picture Score (Audio CD)

As a great fan of the music of John Williams, I was eager to get my hands on this CD. The movie was an incredible effort by Steven Spielberg, and I was very nervous about the John Williams score. After all the man has composed music to over 75 films. But after buying this CD, I quickly realized that it not only matched Spielberg's film, but actually rose above it. There are echoes of E.T., Schindler's List, and Star Wars, but it manages to step out of the shadow of Williams' previous scores to stand on its own.

Almost every track on this score is excellent. "The Mecha World" is a powerful opening, with brassy fanfares and scherzo-esque rhythms--a truly wonderful piece. "Abandoned in the Woods" is a fast-paced, but tragic and foreboding piece that echoes the sad scene in which it takes place. "Replicas" is a quiet, dissonant track that is far different than much of the composer's work. "Hide and Seek" is another wonderful little tune--playful, with a fairy tale quality. "The Moon Rising" is a rousing action piece that is both fast and incredibly exciting, while "The Search for the Blue Fairy" is another hauntingly beautiful, magical piece. "The Reunion" is a sweeping conclusion to the tale, pulling together the major themes into one bittersweet track. The end title track, "Where Dreams Are Born" is one of John Williams' greatest recent acheivements that uses the film's main heart-breaking, haunting melody to its fullest. This is music that almost makes you want to cry.

The theme used in "The Reunion" and "Where Dreams Are Born" is also utilized in the beautiful love ballad "For Always", two versions of which are included here.

Overall, this score is wonderful--haunting, tragic, subdued, and very beautiful. It's amazing that John Williams can keep coming up with these fantastic themes and creating a "visual" musical world. Definitely buy this soundtrack, it will become one of your favorites--especially if you're a John Williams/Steven Spielberg fan or if you just love film music. This is music that stretches beyond the framework of music, and becomes a stepping stone to the world of dreams itself.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A. I. - Absolutely Incredible, June 1, 2003

By	Bruce Aguilar (Hollywood, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: A.I. - Artificial Intelligence: Original Motion Picture Score (Audio CD)

An incredible effort by Mr. Williams. Haunting, touching, enegmatic, exhilirating and heartfelt.

I really enjoyed the score while watching the film, but now that I've heard it on it's own, it's full power has been revealed to me. I especially like the Abandoned In The Woods and Stored Memories cues. Also impressive is the original song 'For Always' which appers twice on the soundtrack (first sung by Lara Fabian and then later on as a duet with Lara Fabian and Josh Gorban), but nowhere in the film. I was a bit nervous about hearing this song, but it captures a feeling of the movie terrificaly and I find myself listening to it more than the score itself at times.

It seems that most of the score has been included, but I thnk there is a bit that didn't make it onto the disc which is a shame. Also the tracks aren't in chronological order.