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I've got some great Henry Jackman scores and of those some of my favorites include "Big Hero 6", "Captain America - Winter Soldier", and "X-Men First Class". Jackman, who is a part of Hans Zimmer's "Remote Control Productions" has composed some great film scores and his upcoming projects include "Captain America - Civil War", "Uncharted 4" (video game), and "The Birth of a Nation". He has also been involved with the TV series "The Man in the High Castle". Given his experience with action and science fiction films, Jackman appears to be a great logical choice for putting together the score for "The 5th Wave" but after listening to over this score a few times, I would classify it only as an "OK" soundtrack to enjoy outside of the movie itself. I haven't seen the film yet and I am sure it works great within the context of the story, but as a standalone soundtrack I didn't find it all that interesting.
The score begins with "Prologue" (track 1) and sets the tone with it's mysterious and alien like tone. I am guessing that this is the underscore for the narration that explains the first four waves of alien attacks? "Tsunami" (track 2), is one of the many action tracks that just didn't hold my interest. There are a few pieces that I personally liked in the score and they are mostly the slower cues like "Aftermath" (track 3) and "Evan" (track 11). "Aftermath" begins with very somber strings and piano that eventually picks up pace and determination about halfway through with the introduction of guitar work. Going off the track's title, the music gives me a good visual of a scene where destruction, tragedy, and the effort to pick up and try again are all at play here. "Evan" (track 11), is probably my favorite on this score and there really isn't anything fancy about it. It's a simple, slow moving, and sentimental cue that uses piano, light strings, and rhythmic electronics that produces a very nice mellow vibe to it. It's a short piece that I just put on repeat and is great to write to or just play in the background.
Throughout the score, Jackman has inserted strange electronic sounds that come and go. They defiantly contribute to the score's science fiction action movie sound. Cues like "Reznik" (track 7) begin with a very echoey sound as if wind were blowing through hollow icicles. Various electronically crafted sounds follow throughout giving the piece a rather unworldly feel. "Call to Arms" (track 10) is basically a repeat of the rhythmic military theme first introduced through "Wright Patterson" (track 4). While the music does successfully conjure up images of a force preparing for battle...it seems to be missing something to me. Maybe the percussion is too electronic, weak, or generic for me. I find the slower pieces to be much more enjoyable on this score. Pieces like "One Degree of Separation" (track 6), "Reznik" (track 7), "Flashback" (track 15), and "Extinction" (track 16) are part of the slower moments found in the score that I've found myself listening to more. The piano seems to carry a very subtle theme in some of these pieces. If you want a good sampling of what the score is, check out "Vosch" (track 21). At 6 minutes and 10 seconds, it contains a good mix of the entire score in one package. It begins with the same bit that you hear in "Reznik" and continues to weave in and out of various sections throughout the soundtrack. A few new electronic sounds are thrown into the mix and the structure of this one particular track makes everything much more enjoyable to listen to when compared to other nonsensical action tracks found in the score.
The CD version of the score has been released through Amazon's "made on demand" CDR service. The CDR package that Amazon has put together is nicely done. A 12 page insert includes various pictures from the film and production credits. It's looks about official as you can get since Sony Classical will not be releasing a CD version themselves. There are 22 tracks which total out to be about 54 minutes. It's not a bad score by any means, just one that I would sum up by saying, "it's OK".
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S. Simon
Gibt in der zweiten Hälfte richtig Gas
Reviewed in Germany 🇩🇪 on March 22, 2016
