Dutch
Alan Silvestri
" far more emotional than comical "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the limited release
Lately, La-La Land Records have been giving fans some of the most sought after scores. Think about it, it was either Godzilla, Innerspace or ID4 Complete that got you excited you were still a film music fan in the first place. But for Alan Silvestri fans, a holy grail was something like Eraser 2 CD or even Dutch. Yes for Silvestri fans, Dutch seemed to matter a lot more, and strangely it ain't that bad at all. Not bad if you consider it's far more emotional than comical, and not bad if you accept all the temp track that's heading your way the moment you start listening.
You see Dutch is a movie starring Ed O' Neil (Al from Married with Children) and even though he's a great actor, the last thing you expect when listening to the music is touching dramatic music. And yet that's exactly what you receive. Of course Alan Silvestri is far from an ordinary composer and getting crap from him is the last thing you'd expect. But getting so much temp track is something different, and apart from the surprising element it's also rather irritating.
The album opens nonetheless with the typical swinging Silvestri charm, delivering a bunch of lounge jazz cues that work well as background material. In "Main Title" the main theme is heard, and you'll notice soon enough that this sounds an awful lot like the charming main theme of Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Another reminiscent idea that comes floating through is delicately heard in "Trouble on the Home Front", but it will be in "For the Record" that you'll notice that the eerie use of strings shares a whole lot with something Alan used in Back to the Future III, namely when Doc tells Clara the truth.
In the beginning, this doesn't bother you that much. But it's when we continue to listen that more and more similarities pop up. For instance the main theme is now totally Who Framed Roger Rabbit in "Be Pathetic", yet totally unbelievable is the fact out of nowhere Carol Anne's lullaby pops up in "The Shelter", not even trying to hide it once a soft choir sings happily alongside of it. The lovely moment though is that the same choir enlightens the main theme at the end of the track (The Abyss in sound or not).
That aside, it is still nice to discover that Dutch is far more serious than expected, at least if we see who's starring and what they go through. In "Doyle Abandoned" and "For the Record" we receive the kid's theme, often showing a misunderstood fragile sound at the center. The conclusion nonetheless comes in "The Home / Foyer / I'm Staying" when the dramatic themes and variations all meet one another, delivering a rather touching end, especially once the main theme gets a lot of color through a triumphant statement.
In "Doyle Steals / Doyle's Alive" and "I Could Sue you for This" don't be surprised to hear more of Back to the Future III (but that's just because both were composed close to one another, at least I think that's why). What's important also is that Dutch houses a couple of diverse cues, such as the choral singing in "Campus Choir", the zany circus music in "Fireworks" as the classical etiquette in "Elegant Dining".
So Dutch is many things. It's far more serious than expected, a lot more similar than needed and totally Silvestri in sound. That the score shares so much with other Silvestri scores is a sign that the composer has a very personal distinct voice to begin with, even though at times it's too easy to spot where he gets the mustard from. Dutch is far from earth shattering, but it will be an interesting addition nonetheless for those die hard Alan Silvestri fans, considering they cried out the most for this album.
Tracklisting
1. Main Title (1.53)
2. Party (5.40)
3. Brandenburg Concerto (2.08)
4. Trouble on the Home Front (1.08)
5. Campus Choir (Alt.) (1.16)
6. Dad (0.18)
7. Fireworks (Unused) (3.05)
8. Doyle Abandoned (2.14)
9. Doyle Steals / Doyle's Alive (2.02)
10. Knockout Punch (2.04)
11. Be Pathetic (1.38)
12. For the Record (3.20)
13. I Could Sue you for This (2.44)
14. Elegant Dining (1.40)
15. The Shelter (4.39)
16. Home / Foyer / I'm Staying (3.34)
Bonus Tracks
17: Campur Choir (2 Alt) (1.18)
18. Fireworks (Alt) (0.47)
19. Foyer (Alt) (1.23)
Total Length: 42.58
You see Dutch is a movie starring Ed O' Neil (Al from Married with Children) and even though he's a great actor, the last thing you expect when listening to the music is touching dramatic music. And yet that's exactly what you receive. Of course Alan Silvestri is far from an ordinary composer and getting crap from him is the last thing you'd expect. But getting so much temp track is something different, and apart from the surprising element it's also rather irritating.
The album opens nonetheless with the typical swinging Silvestri charm, delivering a bunch of lounge jazz cues that work well as background material. In "Main Title" the main theme is heard, and you'll notice soon enough that this sounds an awful lot like the charming main theme of Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Another reminiscent idea that comes floating through is delicately heard in "Trouble on the Home Front", but it will be in "For the Record" that you'll notice that the eerie use of strings shares a whole lot with something Alan used in Back to the Future III, namely when Doc tells Clara the truth.
In the beginning, this doesn't bother you that much. But it's when we continue to listen that more and more similarities pop up. For instance the main theme is now totally Who Framed Roger Rabbit in "Be Pathetic", yet totally unbelievable is the fact out of nowhere Carol Anne's lullaby pops up in "The Shelter", not even trying to hide it once a soft choir sings happily alongside of it. The lovely moment though is that the same choir enlightens the main theme at the end of the track (The Abyss in sound or not).
That aside, it is still nice to discover that Dutch is far more serious than expected, at least if we see who's starring and what they go through. In "Doyle Abandoned" and "For the Record" we receive the kid's theme, often showing a misunderstood fragile sound at the center. The conclusion nonetheless comes in "The Home / Foyer / I'm Staying" when the dramatic themes and variations all meet one another, delivering a rather touching end, especially once the main theme gets a lot of color through a triumphant statement.
In "Doyle Steals / Doyle's Alive" and "I Could Sue you for This" don't be surprised to hear more of Back to the Future III (but that's just because both were composed close to one another, at least I think that's why). What's important also is that Dutch houses a couple of diverse cues, such as the choral singing in "Campus Choir", the zany circus music in "Fireworks" as the classical etiquette in "Elegant Dining".
So Dutch is many things. It's far more serious than expected, a lot more similar than needed and totally Silvestri in sound. That the score shares so much with other Silvestri scores is a sign that the composer has a very personal distinct voice to begin with, even though at times it's too easy to spot where he gets the mustard from. Dutch is far from earth shattering, but it will be an interesting addition nonetheless for those die hard Alan Silvestri fans, considering they cried out the most for this album.
Tracklisting
1. Main Title (1.53)
2. Party (5.40)
3. Brandenburg Concerto (2.08)
4. Trouble on the Home Front (1.08)
5. Campus Choir (Alt.) (1.16)
6. Dad (0.18)
7. Fireworks (Unused) (3.05)
8. Doyle Abandoned (2.14)
9. Doyle Steals / Doyle's Alive (2.02)
10. Knockout Punch (2.04)
11. Be Pathetic (1.38)
12. For the Record (3.20)
13. I Could Sue you for This (2.44)
14. Elegant Dining (1.40)
15. The Shelter (4.39)
16. Home / Foyer / I'm Staying (3.34)
Bonus Tracks
17: Campur Choir (2 Alt) (1.18)
18. Fireworks (Alt) (0.47)
19. Foyer (Alt) (1.23)
Total Length: 42.58