By Erin V.

Music is a powerful tool.  But it can be over, under, or misused.  Blockbuster scores have to be especially careful to walk the fine line of furthering the picture, while still being memorable on their own, and not distracting from the movie.  This year, that score for me, was Hans Zimmer’s work for Inception.

Welcome to a three-part series on some of the memorable scores of the year in my opinion.  For the three remaining Thursdays in August (12th, 19th, 26th), one will be profiled a week.  (Just a note to avoid confusion – last week’s Iron Man 2 write-up was a CD release article, separate from this series.)

An interesting thing about the score for Inception is it’s use of combining electric and classical sounds.  You’ll notice a lot of electric guitar coupled with strings (violins, e.g.).  As well, the use of the human voice as an instrument added to the unique flavour of the music.  All these elements together worked quite well with the film.

The score uses plenty of ostinato, driving themes together into a wonderful counterpoint, which added to the feel of Cobb’s world – tense, on edge, trying to figure out what to do and where to go.  And when the themes would blow themselves up in full, you feel it was worth waiting for.  I honestly love the many themes that make up the world of Inception.  Zimmer effortlessly speeds up, but then almost just as suddenly crashes, or gently drops off into a quiet tone here – and it really works.

Each of the different sequences in the movie have a slightly different sound.  There is one part of the score that goes into a percussion beat/guitar riff, while the horns and strings bring in parts of the themes in the background – which is interesting to say the least.  There are also electronic synth sounds throughout, matching the slightly strange world of inception.

It’s often said that the best music shouldn’t have you always noticing – ah, there goes the score again…  But, I think it’s not how much you notice the score, but whether or not it distracts you from the movie.  Often times, it’s subconscious – afterwards, you realize how much the music was there and worked, but while in the film, it just feels blended with the story so well that you hear it, practically without realizing it’s a score you’re listening to.  For example, at times, the music for Inception was quite noticeable, but not in a bad way.  It kept me glued to the end of my seat as it’s powerful themes seemed to drive the intense feeling of the movie – particularly in the dream world – forward.  It was afterward that I realized just how much the score did.

This is a score that certainly belongs in a blockbuster, but it’s also incredibly cool, well written, and at it’s best,* (when a concert piano takes over the main theme, joined slowly by the rest of the orchestra before tapering back to just the piano again),  it beautifully connects the audience while striking just the right emotional tone.

*See the last track on the CD, ‘Time’.  You can read the full track list here.

___________________________________________________________________________

Tune in next week for part two of this series, where I will profile my second favourite soundtrack of the year.

My picks for the scores of the year so far…

3. Inception – Released on CD Aug. 3rd (Canada), July 13th (USA)

2. Click here for Part 2 ??? – find out Aug. 19th

1. Click here for Part 3 ??? – find out Aug. 26th