Customer Reviews

Music From Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy

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

 

 

Silva America presents - "MUSIC FROM STIEG LARSSON'S MIILLENNIUM TRILOGY" (2009) [Soundtrack] --- Scoring was given to veteran Danish composer Jacob Groth, fresh off past original music who gave us "The Eagle" (2004-2005 - TV series) and "The Ugly Duckling and Me!" (2006 - TV series) and the list could go on --- Groth has in the past served up his musical styling all over the "Millennium Trilogy" by scoring all three films in the original Swedish trilogy, and creating the television theme for the show "Millennium."

In the "Millennium Trilogy" check out the themes from all three films "The Girl Who Played With Fire" and "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" along with "on this first soundtrack compilation from the franchise --- Groth's disconcertingly at the earth's core blend of orchestral, mixed with rock to eerie and unsettling electronic effects, is indelibly stamped in Millennium and seeps eerily into everything that follows --- This is not for traditional soundtrack and film score collectors, but does create an atmospheric listening sensation that fills the bill for most fans of the popular cult following series.

This collection gives us a sample of the various themes featuring the Slovak National Orchestra conducted by Allan Wilson, surfacing is the electronic sounds which is which adds another layer weaving the symphonic tapestry --- There is as much action and suspense to be found here as there is emotionality --- Groth has taken a full body of work from three films along with the theme for "Millennium" and given this a new life of its own, totally recommend to all and soon to be fans of original film music.

Total Time: 41:10 mins on 11 Tracks ~ Silva America 1331 ~ (09/14/2010)

Okay, so if anyone is confused about the musical releases here is the deal. The Girl With A Dragon Tattoo did get an individual score release. This album while it does contain themes from the first film is mainly a dedicated album to the other two films in the trilogy. If you're into films at all then you probably already know about the Millennium trilogy. Almost overnight these films adapted from the successful novels became a huge hit. The film follows our heroine in a sort of noir styled world and explores themes of sexual abuse towards women. In fact the author was inspired to write these novels after witnessing a young girl gang raped at the age of 15 and felt guilty because he didn't help. Jacob Groth dedicated this album to all the women who suffer from abuse in the world because these stories made him feel embarrassed on behalf of all men.

The music is not traditional so don't go in expecting a traditional score. The music has a very modern feel and a punk attitude to it. It's definitely not a rock infused score though. Groth uses strings backed with electronic percussion. It's a very dreary score that serves more for creating an atmosphere. The music feels very personal towards the character and I believe Groth did an excellent job of giving us perspective from our main character's point of view. The track "Abuse" for example is a very unsettling and even uncomfortable track. I think it does do a good job of giving us a musical gateway to let the viewer feel that uncomfortableness.

The world that Groth creates is not a pretty one, but the journey is unique and it certainly paints a character portrait through the music. With that portrait sculpted out it allows the viewer to experience what Lisbeth is going through and brings us into her world. The films have become a huge success. So big that David Fincher is already working on the American remake of at least the first film in the trilogy. I doubt that Fincher will bring on Groth to do the remake so I urge people to experience his original work before whoever does the new score takes a crack at it.

UPDATE Jun 5,2011: It took a couple of months but Amazon Digital responded and fixed the files. Thanks Amazon customer service. I can now rate as 5 stars!

Former review(1 star): THE TITLES IMBEDDED in the MP3 files and THUS DISPLAYED ON MANY MP3 PLAYERS ARE COMPLETELY WRONG. I love the Millenium soundtrack and this album is a variation on the music from the 3 films. I commend Jacob Groth for creating such atmospheric music for the excellent films and even for these variations (though I like the soundtrack better). However, whoever was responsible for creating the MP3 version of the album really screwed up. As another viewer has noted the titles are from a movie called 'The Town'. As mentioned, those incorrect titles are imbedded in the MP3 file and will display on many players and the listener will be totally confused. Some players allow editing titles but that is tedious. BOTTOM LINE: I cannot recommend purchasing the MP3 album until Amazon makes sure this egregious error is corrected!!!

This collection covers the music for the second and third films of the Millennium Trilogy. The music, written by Jacob Groth who wrote moody and suspenseful music for the first film, again supplies solid score. However, having purchased the soundtrack for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, I have to say that this sounds more of repeat from the first film. Groth builds upon the material in the first film, but the score does not really come a cohesive whole as the Dragon Tattoo does - this is really a "collection" of music. It sill supplies a great listening - which is in itself an accomplishment, considering how the second and the third films miserably failed to live up to the high standard set by the first film.

Is it just me, or shouldn't all the titles of the tracks on this album be titles for The Town? What does a Swedish movie have to do with the FBI or Fenway Park?? Someone needs to get these things straightened out!