BIRDY (OST)

Usually soundtracks don't work so well as their own. (If they do, they often differ a lot from the actual score heard on the film; Vangelis is a good example.) Gabriel's first film contribution shows Gabriel's talents in creating atmospheres. In film the music is used too sparingly, but as an album it's not for repeated listening. The decision to recycle material from Peter Gabriel albums 3 and 4 is not a bad idea at all; the songs really had this potential. In many cases it's just a fragment, e.g. piano intro of 'Family Snapshot' or outro of 'San Jacinto'. The most powerful track is 'Birdy's Flight' based on ending of 'Not One of Us' - the drumming is deliciously multiplied and the original song really pales in comparison. But as an album per se Birdy has quite little to offer in its shortness and such a cold, lonely, sad atmosphere. The film has a wider palette of emotions. And as a literature lover I must add that Alan Parker's film is not even closely as great as the novel by William Wharton.