The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Harry Gregson-Williams
" Whatever you expected, don't! "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the regular release
With the revival of The Chronicles of Narnia, we reach another fantasy world created by the minds of old. Around the time Tolkien invented Middle Earth, C.S. Lewis created the world of Narnia, where a Lion was king and a witch went to war to end the reign of Aslan the lion. With the introduction of the four children, Narnia unfroze and the witch and her monsters took upon the task to defeat the mythical creatures of Narnia, to rule the land once and for all. Through the hand of director Andrew Adamson another fantastical telling (beloved by young as old) came to life and it did wonderfully well at the box office, staying always ahead of the other blockbuster about another King, namely Kong.
With Adamson it was evident he would bring Harry Gregson-Williams on board (after he worked with him on Shrek 1 and 2). This wasn't a bad idea whatsoever! The wonderful Sinbad and his creative pairings on Chicken Run and Antz, Gregson-Williams already proved his immense talent to anyone who doubted him of being nothing but a protégé of Hans Zimmer. Naturally one will always compare Narnia with LOTR and naturally this isn't fair, but fantasy just compares easy when it's released so close after one another. Gregson-Williams would always battle against something from that massive Shore weight no matter what.
Still in the end it's all about Narnia itself, about Gregson-Williams solo and then you just don't expect anything normal. Sadly that's what we got in the end. The Chronicles of Narnia is far from being LOTR, and it doesn't come close to the wonderful energy of Chicken Run or the blaze of Sinbad. In the end it even comes down to being a good fantasy listen with not the punch to deliver fantasy in the big capitol letter F. Sad because projects like these demand that, and don't come too often in one's career.
What is missing from the album that appeared in the film and what was Adamson asking of musical accompaniment? But also what were Gregson-Williams' intentions? It's all about what to expect and what is delivered, so for me Narnia is just plain good but not striking.
With "The Blitz, 1940" comes one of the few action pieces on this disc, strange considering the sometimes epic battles we encounter or the adventures the children find themselves in. Anyway, besides its whirling strings and brass we hear nothing earth shattering, apart from the plane's engines as the most noticeable effect. Harry might have written many themes for Narnia, they don't stick in the mind like we wanted them to do."Evacuating London" apparently gives us the family theme, starting soft on piano and leading to a vocal led pop effect (which is strange considering the time of the events). "The Wardrobe" is nothing magical like you would hear in the teaser (powerful and mysterious), but it's just a soft flute and choral underscoring moment.
Mr. Tumnus aka the first creature we encounter receives a noticable moment however, heard during "Lucy meets Mr. Tumnus", but this is noticed more due to the lovely sound of the electronic violin. The track closes with the family theme with light choir.
But in these first four tracks nothing major is happening, and sadly for us it continues that way. "A Narnia Lullaby" opens with duduk and percussion growing to a rumbling finish, "The White Witch" is a long boring dark piece, containing moody choir and tinkling stuff while "From Western Woods to Beaversdam" shows the same light pop effect with a more mysterious underscore. Apparently here the tune for Narnia opens with harp (as Gregson-Williams explained on the DVD).
Luckily one of the better tracks is "Father Christmas". In here the fantasy level is reached just a tad bigger as the choir makes it all sound somewhat more magical. In "To Aslan's Camp" the Narnia main theme is unleashed in full. This is a simple but good heroic theme (very good considering what came before), but sadly it all fades a way too quickly into more soft material (with the family theme for instance).
"Knighting Peter" returns briefly to some dark action music and "The Stone Table" is a mammoth 8 minute piece, capturing barely something that warrants your interest during those 8 minutes (brief choral singing or some percussive moments). Then "The Battle" comes closest of all to the interesting stuff. In here finally we flex our muscles a bit. The theme for Narnia is used in a fanfare manner, while later underscoring the action in a reflective choral hymn. Personally this is the best the album has to offer and it is also worth it. The ending in particular explodes in some feisty action music. "Only the Beginning of the Adventure" is nothing but a teaser bringing soft versions of the Narnia theme.
Together this spells out well disappointment. There isn't another word to describe Narnia differently. I expected and wanted more, much more. It sounds all the same, the themes can't truly satisfy me, the moments can't thrill me enough, the magic can't reach what I was expecting. I guess it has got to do with a bit of everything. The marketing campaign also brought out two versions of the Narnia score, with the special double disc edition containing an extra bonus DVD featuring an interesting twelve minute interview with Harry Gregson-Williams (explaining a thing or two), five documentaries about the effects, story, director, location and make-up, a small vision of the artists who worked on the song release and the trailer of the film. They are interesting but can't bring more hype to what I heard before. Even the booklet contains enough words and photos to satisfy the Narnia fan but from a non-fan's perspective, it's not all too captivating.
The songs which aren't found on the other soundtrack are good but are again quite ordinary. Even the much talked about "Wunderkind" by Alanis Morrisette feels too much like her better "Still" from several years before, even though "Wunderkind" on itself fits the most with the Narnia world and magic.
In the end you enjoy the score for what it is, a nice pleasing listen where magic comes to life softly yet elegantly and where a couple of strikes in the orchestral compartment make all the fuzz happen. Yet sadly that is not enough, Harry Gregson-Williams could have dazzled us with the likes of another Sinbad, Chicken Run and many others. Speaking of the creative spark of the music, it is miles away from reaching the fantasy of Shore's music (which was to be expected) but that it would still limp behind Sinbad and others wasn't to be expected. This makes The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe a failed attempt. It doesn't matter how good it eventually has become, it's about what could have been if our expectations would have been satisfied. Is that my fault? Perhaps, but I assume I'm not the only one who thought this way.
Tracklisting
1. The Blitz, 1940 (2.32)
2. Evacuating London (3.38)
3. The Wardrobe (2.54)
4. Lucy Meets Mr. Tumnus (4.10)
5. A Narnia Lullaby (1.12)
6. The White Witch (5.30)
7. From Western Woods to Beaversdam (3.33)
8. Father Christmas (3.20) Excellent track
9. To Aslan's Camp (3.11)
10. Knighting Peter (3.48)
11. The Stone Table (8.06)
12. The Battle (7.08) Excellent track
13. Only the Beginning of the Adventure (5.32)
14. Can't Take It In: Imogen Heap (4.42)
15. Wunderkind: Alanis Morissette (5.19)
16. Winter Light: Tim Finn (4.13)
17. Where: Lisbeth Scott * (1.55)
18: bonus track with nothing on
* written by Harry Gregson-Williams & Lisbeth Scott
Total Length: 73.16
With Adamson it was evident he would bring Harry Gregson-Williams on board (after he worked with him on Shrek 1 and 2). This wasn't a bad idea whatsoever! The wonderful Sinbad and his creative pairings on Chicken Run and Antz, Gregson-Williams already proved his immense talent to anyone who doubted him of being nothing but a protégé of Hans Zimmer. Naturally one will always compare Narnia with LOTR and naturally this isn't fair, but fantasy just compares easy when it's released so close after one another. Gregson-Williams would always battle against something from that massive Shore weight no matter what.
Still in the end it's all about Narnia itself, about Gregson-Williams solo and then you just don't expect anything normal. Sadly that's what we got in the end. The Chronicles of Narnia is far from being LOTR, and it doesn't come close to the wonderful energy of Chicken Run or the blaze of Sinbad. In the end it even comes down to being a good fantasy listen with not the punch to deliver fantasy in the big capitol letter F. Sad because projects like these demand that, and don't come too often in one's career.
What is missing from the album that appeared in the film and what was Adamson asking of musical accompaniment? But also what were Gregson-Williams' intentions? It's all about what to expect and what is delivered, so for me Narnia is just plain good but not striking.
With "The Blitz, 1940" comes one of the few action pieces on this disc, strange considering the sometimes epic battles we encounter or the adventures the children find themselves in. Anyway, besides its whirling strings and brass we hear nothing earth shattering, apart from the plane's engines as the most noticeable effect. Harry might have written many themes for Narnia, they don't stick in the mind like we wanted them to do."Evacuating London" apparently gives us the family theme, starting soft on piano and leading to a vocal led pop effect (which is strange considering the time of the events). "The Wardrobe" is nothing magical like you would hear in the teaser (powerful and mysterious), but it's just a soft flute and choral underscoring moment.
Mr. Tumnus aka the first creature we encounter receives a noticable moment however, heard during "Lucy meets Mr. Tumnus", but this is noticed more due to the lovely sound of the electronic violin. The track closes with the family theme with light choir.
But in these first four tracks nothing major is happening, and sadly for us it continues that way. "A Narnia Lullaby" opens with duduk and percussion growing to a rumbling finish, "The White Witch" is a long boring dark piece, containing moody choir and tinkling stuff while "From Western Woods to Beaversdam" shows the same light pop effect with a more mysterious underscore. Apparently here the tune for Narnia opens with harp (as Gregson-Williams explained on the DVD).
Luckily one of the better tracks is "Father Christmas". In here the fantasy level is reached just a tad bigger as the choir makes it all sound somewhat more magical. In "To Aslan's Camp" the Narnia main theme is unleashed in full. This is a simple but good heroic theme (very good considering what came before), but sadly it all fades a way too quickly into more soft material (with the family theme for instance).
"Knighting Peter" returns briefly to some dark action music and "The Stone Table" is a mammoth 8 minute piece, capturing barely something that warrants your interest during those 8 minutes (brief choral singing or some percussive moments). Then "The Battle" comes closest of all to the interesting stuff. In here finally we flex our muscles a bit. The theme for Narnia is used in a fanfare manner, while later underscoring the action in a reflective choral hymn. Personally this is the best the album has to offer and it is also worth it. The ending in particular explodes in some feisty action music. "Only the Beginning of the Adventure" is nothing but a teaser bringing soft versions of the Narnia theme.
Together this spells out well disappointment. There isn't another word to describe Narnia differently. I expected and wanted more, much more. It sounds all the same, the themes can't truly satisfy me, the moments can't thrill me enough, the magic can't reach what I was expecting. I guess it has got to do with a bit of everything. The marketing campaign also brought out two versions of the Narnia score, with the special double disc edition containing an extra bonus DVD featuring an interesting twelve minute interview with Harry Gregson-Williams (explaining a thing or two), five documentaries about the effects, story, director, location and make-up, a small vision of the artists who worked on the song release and the trailer of the film. They are interesting but can't bring more hype to what I heard before. Even the booklet contains enough words and photos to satisfy the Narnia fan but from a non-fan's perspective, it's not all too captivating.
The songs which aren't found on the other soundtrack are good but are again quite ordinary. Even the much talked about "Wunderkind" by Alanis Morrisette feels too much like her better "Still" from several years before, even though "Wunderkind" on itself fits the most with the Narnia world and magic.
In the end you enjoy the score for what it is, a nice pleasing listen where magic comes to life softly yet elegantly and where a couple of strikes in the orchestral compartment make all the fuzz happen. Yet sadly that is not enough, Harry Gregson-Williams could have dazzled us with the likes of another Sinbad, Chicken Run and many others. Speaking of the creative spark of the music, it is miles away from reaching the fantasy of Shore's music (which was to be expected) but that it would still limp behind Sinbad and others wasn't to be expected. This makes The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe a failed attempt. It doesn't matter how good it eventually has become, it's about what could have been if our expectations would have been satisfied. Is that my fault? Perhaps, but I assume I'm not the only one who thought this way.
Tracklisting
1. The Blitz, 1940 (2.32)
2. Evacuating London (3.38)
3. The Wardrobe (2.54)
4. Lucy Meets Mr. Tumnus (4.10)
5. A Narnia Lullaby (1.12)
6. The White Witch (5.30)
7. From Western Woods to Beaversdam (3.33)
8. Father Christmas (3.20) Excellent track
9. To Aslan's Camp (3.11)
10. Knighting Peter (3.48)
11. The Stone Table (8.06)
12. The Battle (7.08) Excellent track
13. Only the Beginning of the Adventure (5.32)
14. Can't Take It In: Imogen Heap (4.42)
15. Wunderkind: Alanis Morissette (5.19)
16. Winter Light: Tim Finn (4.13)
17. Where: Lisbeth Scott * (1.55)
18: bonus track with nothing on
* written by Harry Gregson-Williams & Lisbeth Scott
Total Length: 73.16