Customer Reviews

Troy: Music From The Motion Picture (Score)

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(31)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(35)

 

 

I didn't buy the CD because in the film, the music sounded so dull and unexciting. I watched the trailers with "Music By Gabriel Yared" for 6 months and was excited to hear how he would compose the music for an epic. Then in the last trailer I saw "Music by James Horner". Although I love Horner's work a lot more than Yared, I was like "What the h___?" A month before the opening, they change the composer? I never understood why this happened until I've read it in Gabriel Yared's website. In the test screening the music was found too powerful and too classical and it has been rejected. He even says that Peterson loved the music and sang the main themes in the corridors of Abbey Road during the recording sessions. Over 2 hours of music was recorded and Yared gave a year to this score which he claims to be his best. Yesterday when I watched the film I paid much attention to the music and it was as predicted, the mix of previous Horner motives and themes and nothing, absolutely nothing, new.

Then this morning I listened to Yared's collection of cues in the website and I must say that although the sound quality is poor, the music seems interesting and emotional, much more emotional and bigger than Horner's so called "score". And the worst thing is, we can all buy Horner's score but probably we'll never get to listen to Yared's score because as always, it's the property of the studio, not Yared. And they won't make a commercial release 99%. This kind of stuff happens every now and then but it's the first time I am angry this much.

When Warner Brothers decided to jettison the score Gabriel Yared wrote for the Wolfgang Petersen film "Troy" because of a supposedly bad test screening, composer James Horner was thrown into the breach a given a month to put together a new score. Horner kept Macedonian singer Tanja Tzarovska for the new score and worked in a song by Josh Groban for the end credits. All things considered, "Troy" is a pretty good as a score written in a month's time, but it really does not match the epic scope of the film and its revision of Homer's "Iliad" and the story of the Trojan War. Keeping Tzarovska was a good move in that she provides a sense of the flavor for the time and place, but for the most part Horner fails to take advantage of that and goes for something more conventional to American ear (to be fair, that appears to be what Warner Bros. demanded).

"Troy" is an epic story of love and war, and Horner's score does more justice to the latter than the former, which is clearly its biggest problem. Long before there was Kate and Leo, er, I mean Rose and Jack, there was Paris and Helen of Troy. But until you get to Groban's "Remember Me" at the end the only romantic theme on the album is the "Breisis and Achilles" track. Then again, they end up being the tragic couple in this telling of the tale because Paris and Helen actually end up living happily ever after on a slow boat to Rome with Aeneas at the end of the film. No wonder Horner was not inspired to turn their fabled love affair into a memorable piece of romantic music for this film; the characters really did not deserve to be immortalized that way.

Almost all of the tracks on the album focus on the war part of the film, with "Troy" and "Achilles Leads the Myrmidons" showing Horner's best efforts in that regard. There is also a nice little Horner fanfare for "The Temple of Poseidon" and "The Trojans Attack" starts off with a nice use of the Bulgarian choir. But the tolling bells become a bit much by the time we get to "The Greek Army and Its Defeat." The most memorable song on the album is the last one, although the idea of having Tzarovska's voice work in counterpoint to Groban's comes under the too little too late in terms of trying to give the score an exotic touch. It almost works, but that would have probably required more time than everybody had on this one.

In a nutshell the problem with Horner's score is that you do not have the fusion of music themes and characters or key scenes that is what usually compels us to pick up a soundtrack after seeing a film. Add to this the fact that you can check out excerpts from Yared's Easter European sounding score at his website, include a piano driven theme for Paris and Helen along with themes for several key characters, and you have to second guess Warner's decision and wonder what Horner could have done with a second month to get the job done.

James Horner's score for Troy has many merits and for the most part can stand along the greats of the Epic genre of the past. The only thing I object to in the score is the inclusion of what I refer to as "The Wailing Woman of The Ancient World" motif. She first appeared in "Gladiator" by Zimmer and was fresh and effective there. But then she popped up in the dreadful T.V. miniseries "Cleopatra", from there this sound has appeared in almost anything post "Gladiator" that has a remotely ancient theme.
But wailing woman aside, there is some truly wonderful work done here by Mr. Horner. A particular standout is track two, "Troy". Here we get the full lush sound of the orchestra proclaiming all the pomp and glory of the magnificent city. The music soars and carries us up over the walls of Troy and into a splendid place where dwells the sprit of Miklos Rozsa, Alex North, and other famed gods of Hollywood's epic past.
In cut 3 "Achilles Leads The Myrmidons" and cut 9 "Hector's Death" Mr. Horner also excels to Olympian heights putting to use his talents so adroitly in these savage scenes of tragic folly.
The last cut is "Remember" the obligatory song that is usually tacked on for the end credits of any film of the slightest importance. The song is nice enough and Mr. Groban sings it with all his might along with our poor wailing woman (Tanja Tzarovska). Every February we are presented with most of these songs being sung from the massive stage at the Kodak Theater. One of them always gets a little gold statuette for it efforts despite the fact that for the most part the song in question has very little to do with the film. It is included in the hopes of getting to meet Mr. Oscar. This song has a good chance of getting dressed up for the event.
"Troy" is for the most part an impressive effort and I recommend the C.D. for any fan of the epic score.

Originally, the soundtrack was written by Gabriel Yared. His music was also used in the trailers. But one month before public screening this music was thrown out of the window on the negative comments of a couple of people from a non-professional sample audience on unmixed music being used against the composer's will and without giving him the chance to modify the music on specific requests. Instead there came James Horner and wrote this soundtrack in one month... Apart from the fact that I don't believe it was but that Horner simply negotiated behind Yared's back to get to a blockbuster after being missing from it for a number of years, this soundtrack is without heart and strongly based on Yared's original ideas, copying even the melody for Remember.

My suggestion is to wait for Varese to negotiate with Sony on the release of Gabriel's soundtrack and get the real musical heart of this movie.

At first I wasn't that excited about the fact that Gabriel Yared was going to write the score for "Troy" because I thought he was not the kind of composer who could create a colossal score. Then there came the controversy regarding the rejection of his composition in favor of one written by James Horner. I must say that I was not surprised about that decision.
Then my concerns were confirmed: James Horner went back to his usual tricks. The "danger motif" -as heard before on "Star Trek II-The Wrath Of Khan", "Krull", "Brainstorm", "Willow" and, in a very infamous and repetitive way, "Enemy At The Gates" -is once again here. But unlike "Enemy At The Gates", there are three different themes that are really quite catchy. The most impressive one is the theme for Achilles and his Myrmidorns, very epic and triumphant. Then there is an exhultant motif for the city of Troy. And I don't want to forget the love theme, which is later turned into a song sung by Josh Groban. The action music is quite enjoyable, but they would be great if the "danger" music didn't interfere. Another thing that bothers me about this work is the use of a wailing woman; you know, I'm getting tired of the endless use of that technique.
After the release of the movie and the soundtrack CD, I got the chance to listen to Gabriel Yared's sample music, and I must ask myself "Is the studio crazy...or deaf?" Because what I heard blew me away. Yared's music is more lyrical and impressive than Horner's. Unfortunately, we have to stick with this CD until somebody at the studio opens his/her eyes and ears to see and hear the real music for "Troy".

I was expecting to hate this score, but it turned out to work fairly well. I admit to being a fan of James Horner, but I felt what had been done to Gabriel Yared was wrong, especially considering how amazing the music I've heard from his score is.

However, Horner manages to pull together a decent score in the amount of 13 days. It won't win him another Oscar and it isn't all that great to listen to without the movie, but it's far better than what I was expecting.

There are lowly choirs, sorrowful violin themes, and plenty of brass (though not as much as feared.) There is also a good amount of drum usage for certain battles, which certainly elevates the scenes. While the trailer music and its theme are missing, what is given works for the film. The song "Remember Me" is probably the best track on the CD, well composed, well sung, and its lyrics ring true to the theme of the movie.

This soundtrack is primarily for Horner fans alone. It's good enough for the movie, but not good enough to listen to on its own. And I still feel that Yared's score should be made an optional audio track on the DVD when it comes out months from now, or at the least, have that released on CD as well. Horner's CD does the job, but one can only wonder how it would have been otherwise.

The measure of a movie composer's greatness and effectiveness lies in his/her ability to craft music that can stand apart from the film that it accompanies. Although each score that a composer does has that composer's trademark elements, the gifted composer is able to craft new constructions that separate the composition from its predecessors. Bernard Herrmann, Miklos Rozsa, Alfred Newman, Elmer Bernstein, and Jerry Goldsmith knew that.

John Williams understands that.

I thought James Horner did, too.

The Oscar winner from "Titanic" has fashioned a work that is so derivative of his scores to the aforementioned disaster epic, as well as "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan", "Aliens," "Glory," and numerous other Horner works, that it fails to impress. With the exception of the haunting "Remember," featuring Josh Groban with Tania Tzarovska, the soundtrack could be interchangeable with every other piece with the composer's name on it.

The music sounds great within the confines of the theater, but just doesn't cut it when played at home.

But, if you're a fan, as I am, then this might suit your fancy. It just won't bring others into the fold...as will, I hope, his next try at greatness.

Normally when watching a movie, there are two types of music that accompany the film. The first is the film score that contributes to the story on screen in some way emotionally, helping you invest into the characters. The second are scores that really adds nothing to the story, and it's just there, barely noticed, but inoffensive in it's own way (Teminator 3 is a good example of this.) The rarest type of film score, especially for a big budget summer popcorn movie is the score that actually makes the movie WORSE. This is one of those soundtracks. I didn't know anything about the whole behind the scenes controversy with Gabriel Yared when watching the film. All I knew was that sitting through that movie was extremely painful to my ears--it's loud, overbearing, and often out of place. I have to admit that I'm not a big fan of James Horner to begin with, but when I saw Troy, I didn't know who composed the music. After my friends and I left the theater, none of us could stop commenting on how out of place the music seemed. It's too bad, really...because Troy could have been a good movie, had the music been less distracting.

Not only is TROY a pheonomenal film, but also a truly moving, and beautiful soundtrack. It is filled with drama, romance, action, sadness, and pain. I HIGHLY reccomend this great soundtrack, as well as the movie, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Definitely not of the quality you expect from James Horner. He is my favorite composer and I defend him on almost every criticism, but a C-grade pro could have written this. Maybe not in the short time Horner had, but nevertheless the music just isn't very good. More intricate drums and french horns, even some lyre, would have given it more of a Greek feel. It just sounds a little bombastic or overproduced, which is perfect for the movie but doesn't stand alone well. If Hans Zimmer had not already set the standard for mediterranean/african themed music, this might not be so unbearable.

I do think that the song "Remeber me" actually adds to the CD, though it isn't necessary and it's not great. Honestly, "Hector's Death" is the only track that's enjoyable, and there isn't much to it. Years go by between good Horner works these days, but I'd say put your Braveheart, Glory, Titanic, Willow, Apollo 13, Beautiful Mind into the CD player again rather than buy this.