Coma
Jerry Goldsmith
" Cold and Atonal experience "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the regular release
Coma of director Michael Crichton was a startling suspenseful film, aided most tremendously through a score by Jerry Goldsmith. That's evident when you hear the effort in the film and the effect on disc. This release (the CD release of 1992) is the exact same presentation as the LP version of 1978, but Coma received an expanded remastered update through Film Score Monthly in 2005. Of course, the 2005 version shows significant progress in sound clarity, but for me personally all the most important material in still on the CD release of Bay Cities.
The score opens with the love theme, a soft lovely and string led melody that puts everything in perspective if we hear what follows after it. Because "Study in Anatomy" surely cuts away everything melodic and pleasant about the love theme. What's left over is eerie, creepy and dissonant material that's aided by a 2 note noise, delayed constantly courtesy of a machine called the echoplex. The eerie "Jefferson Institute", the disco sounds of a love theme (it even works) in "Love Theme from Coma (Disco Version)" and the unnerving moods and twists of tracks such as "A Chance Encounter", "O.R. 8", "The Long View" and "A Lucky Patient" show Goldsmith not in melodic mode, but in an unsettling one. And the more it heightens the album experience, the more the film gains by it.
Coma is definitely one for the fans of the film and of the genre. The similarities between Alien and Coma can be made, but Coma is far less engaging due to its cold atonal sound. The love theme is a rarity and in fact also a distraction if one hears nothing but cold eerie mystery after it. No Coma must be applauded for its tantalizing cold tone, and not for its beauty or melody. So people who want to experience cold atonality and eerie uneasiness will think very highly of Coma, one of the rarities I didn't enjoy a Jerry Goldsmith score up close. But I did feel its presence on screen and now for the first time on disc.
Favorite Moment - Love Theme from Coma (1.16 - )
The only melodic aspect of the score, the love theme. This is the moment the strings take over.
Track Listing
1. Love Theme from "Coma" (2.34)
2. Study in Anatomy (3.10)
3. Jefferson Institute (1.56)
4. Disco Strut * (2.32)
5. A Chance Encounter (5.00)
6. Love Theme from "Coma" (Disco Version) (4.30)
7. A Free Ride (2.56)
8. O.R. 8 (4.49)
9. The Long View (3.40)
10. A Lucky Patient (5.03)
* Composed by Don Peake
Total Length: 36.29
The score opens with the love theme, a soft lovely and string led melody that puts everything in perspective if we hear what follows after it. Because "Study in Anatomy" surely cuts away everything melodic and pleasant about the love theme. What's left over is eerie, creepy and dissonant material that's aided by a 2 note noise, delayed constantly courtesy of a machine called the echoplex. The eerie "Jefferson Institute", the disco sounds of a love theme (it even works) in "Love Theme from Coma (Disco Version)" and the unnerving moods and twists of tracks such as "A Chance Encounter", "O.R. 8", "The Long View" and "A Lucky Patient" show Goldsmith not in melodic mode, but in an unsettling one. And the more it heightens the album experience, the more the film gains by it.
Coma is definitely one for the fans of the film and of the genre. The similarities between Alien and Coma can be made, but Coma is far less engaging due to its cold atonal sound. The love theme is a rarity and in fact also a distraction if one hears nothing but cold eerie mystery after it. No Coma must be applauded for its tantalizing cold tone, and not for its beauty or melody. So people who want to experience cold atonality and eerie uneasiness will think very highly of Coma, one of the rarities I didn't enjoy a Jerry Goldsmith score up close. But I did feel its presence on screen and now for the first time on disc.
Favorite Moment - Love Theme from Coma (1.16 - )
The only melodic aspect of the score, the love theme. This is the moment the strings take over.
Track Listing
1. Love Theme from "Coma" (2.34)
2. Study in Anatomy (3.10)
3. Jefferson Institute (1.56)
4. Disco Strut * (2.32)
5. A Chance Encounter (5.00)
6. Love Theme from "Coma" (Disco Version) (4.30)
7. A Free Ride (2.56)
8. O.R. 8 (4.49)
9. The Long View (3.40)
10. A Lucky Patient (5.03)
* Composed by Don Peake
Total Length: 36.29