ALEXANDER (OST)

This is the first composition of Vangelis' in over ten years to not somehow exceed its predecessor, and it thus breaks the great run he had throughout the 90s. At the same time, the music here is still excellent and way above most other offerings. It stands up to Mythodea better than I would have thought. Vangelis goes back to his electronic arsenal here to make himself sound like a real symphony orchestra, and he has hired some notable soloists to enhance the performances, most predominantly violin ex-wunderkind Vanessa Mae, but there are a host of others. This is an excellent soundtrack to an awful movie. The music made me curious to see the film even though I heard it was bad. It was terrible ? the script was bad, the casting all wrong, and the story muddled. Still, I can follow the sequence of tracks better now that I have seen the film. Shouldn't that be the other way around? Shouldn't the soundtrack enhance the movie? I hope Vangelis does not get a bad reputation for soundtracks because he creates such good music, and yet the last two films he scored, this one, Alexander, and 1492 Conquest of Paradise both stunk. This soundtrack is so rhythmic that I almost consider it a world beat album. This style serves two purposes in the film: to convey battle and/or preparation for one, and local peoples entertaining the new emperor. There are also a lot of orchestral style pieces that convey a grand sentimentality commemorating the glory of one of the pivotal figures in human history. Unfortunately, there is only so much of this I can handle. By the end of the album, I am "gloried" out, yet there always seems to be one more piece. There are also a few soft moody pieces that are really the best ones on the whole album. Vangelis' compositions and scoring are vintage, but the music is not as moving as it is meant to be. Perhaps the film itself did not provide ample inspiration, although the subject matter should have. Most Vangelis fans should be satisfied. A worthy addition to one's music library if not one's film library. Let us hope his next soundtrack has a movie worthy of Vangelis' artistry.