I have collected most of Thomas Newman's film scores over the years. There are certain recurring aspects of his music that I particularly like:
Here are my brief reviews of the film scores I have in my collection in alphabetical order.
- The combination of piano and soft strings to create a strong soothing but sometimes foreboding sense of atmosphere. This is a recurring theme of his film scores - even the ones that are somewhat below his best usually feature at least a couple of tracks like this.
- Major-minor dissonances - he likes to put major and minor 3rds in the same chord, for example. This crops up frequently in his most expressive film scores such as The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, Road to Perdition, and his foray into James Bond with Skyfall and Spectre. He also quite often uses the harmonic major and Phrygian dominant scales.
- Some of the more trance-like atmospheric tunes he composes with unconventional instruments. This aspect of his music is somewhat hit and miss for me - sometimes he goes too far down the minimalist and/or percussive route for my liking, but I think it works really well in American Beauty (probably the score that Thomas Newman is most famous for) and in his scores for various animated features such as Finding NEMO, Lemony Snicket and WALL-E.
Here are my brief reviews of the film scores I have in my collection in alphabetical order.
The Adjustment Bureau |
American Beauty |
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
This is one of my favourites, full of strong orchestral writing with the major-minor dissonances that characterise many of Thomas Newman's better scores (e.g. the Stoic Theme and Shawshank Redemption). There are some ambient/piano tracks as well - Brooks Was Here is perhaps the most famous, which has been sampled by Seal, and I also really like the one in New Fish. This score was nominated for an Oscar but lost to Hans Zimmer's score for The Lion King.
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Little Women (1994)
One of his more conventional scores as far as harmony and orchestration go, with a rather Christmassy feel. My biggest criticism is that there isn't much of the score on the album (around 34 minutes). My favourite theme is the Spring theme (one that Newman himself has said he particularly liked), variations on which also appear in Harvest Time and Amy Abroad. This score was also nominated for an Oscar and lost.
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Angels in America (2003): It's a close call between this and Meet Joe Black, but overall I regard this as Thomas Newman's finest score, mainly because it combines pretty much every facet of his compositions and does all of them very well. Yes, there's quirky American Beauty style tracks in here, string/piano driven tracks, some good action tracks as well, and even some strong choral writing, which he hasn't done much of, other than in Oscar and Luscinda in 1997. I could try to pick out some standout tracks, but if I did, I'd end up listing at least half of the album - that's how good it is. As this score was for a TV series rather than a film, it didn't get nominated for an Oscar.
Rating: 4.9
Meet Joe Black (1998): There's a lot of rich orchestral writing in here - Whisper of a Thrill has long been one of my favourite pieces of film music, which I remember first hearing on an advert, which is reprised in two other tracks. It starts off quite dissonant with a vague tonal centre around G-sharp minor, then the latter part of the piece is happier and settles on A-flat major. There is also a very good orchestral rendition of What a Wonderful World, with jazzy influences. The last track, That Next Place, is a very triumphant, emotional piece of music. I also like the jazzy Fifth Ave. There are also scattered tracks with the usual ambience, strings and piano which make good use of a Phrygian dominant feel. Surprisingly, this score didn't get an Oscar nomination.
Rating: 4.8
Rating: 4.9
Meet Joe Black (1998): There's a lot of rich orchestral writing in here - Whisper of a Thrill has long been one of my favourite pieces of film music, which I remember first hearing on an advert, which is reprised in two other tracks. It starts off quite dissonant with a vague tonal centre around G-sharp minor, then the latter part of the piece is happier and settles on A-flat major. There is also a very good orchestral rendition of What a Wonderful World, with jazzy influences. The last track, That Next Place, is a very triumphant, emotional piece of music. I also like the jazzy Fifth Ave. There are also scattered tracks with the usual ambience, strings and piano which make good use of a Phrygian dominant feel. Surprisingly, this score didn't get an Oscar nomination.
Rating: 4.8
Road to Perdition (2002): Road to Chicago is one of my favourite pieces of film music, combining piano, strings and well-placed dissonance (especially via major-minor 3rd conflicts) to create a strong emotional impact, which is reprised to some extent in Virgin Mary and Cathedral. The Farm has a very pleasant piano led melody in a major key. The foreboding Lexington Hotel, Room 1432, which builds up to a strong conclusion, reminds me a bit of Shawshank Redemption from, well, The Shawshank Redemption. This score was Oscar nominated but didn't win.
Rating: 4.7
The Shawshank Redemption (1994): This soundtrack feels in many ways similar to the Road to Perdition one and is similarly crammed with highlights. Some strong orchestral writing in Shawshank Prison: Stoic Theme, and the foreboding Shawshank Redemption, which builds up to a strong conclusion with heavy use of major/minor 3rd dissonance. Some good ambient/piano tracks too - Brooks Was Here is a particularly famous example, and I also really like New Fish. This score was Oscar nominated, but lost out to Hans Zimmer's score for The Lion King.
Rating: 4.6
Skyfall (2012): This review and rating may be a bit controversial, as many fans of John Barry's James Bond sound thought that Thomas Newman's approach to scoring Bond was generic and didn't really capture the "Bond sound". I remember I first thought the same thing when I listened to samples from the Skyfall soundtrack. But over time, it has really grown on me, to the point where it has established as one of my top five favourite Bond scores, and certainly my favourite not written by John Barry (and, considering the quality of David Arnold's Bond scores, that's saying a lot). The action music is unconventional, distinctive and works well. As is often the case with Newman, the strongest tracks are generally the more ambient and atmospheric ones. I really like Mother (the theme for "M"), Severine, New Digs, and the subtle references to the James Bond Theme in Brave New World and Day Wasted. This score got Oscar nominated but didn't win, and often fares well in Classic FM's Hall of Fame.
Rating: 4.6
WALL-E (2008): On album, WALL-E contains many disconnected ideas, but for me it doesn't suffer particularly from this, as there are several good themes and the tracks blend in well together. I particularly like 2815 A.D and the final track, Horizon 12.2. Several of the tracks emphasise the harmonic major scale, which helps to create a sentimental feel, especially in relation to the relationship between Eve and WALL-E in the film. Even the deliberately cheesy-sounding diversions such as First Date fit in well with the rest of the soundtrack and work well. Yet another Thomas Newman score that got Oscar nominated but didn't win.
Rating: 4.5
American Beauty (1999): American Beauty's score is perhaps the one that Thomas Newman is most famous for, particularly the tracks Any Other Name (aka the "plastic bag theme") and Dead Already. It's one of his quirky scores, and still stands as the best example of one that he's written, with plenty of wacky instruments combined with some ambient tunes with strings and piano. Here it works particularly well. As well as the two famous tracks, I also particularly like Mr. Smarty Man and Angela Undress. Harmonies mostly emphasise the Dorian mode, with some major/minor 3rd conflicts in places. Newman fancied his chances of picking up the Oscar with American Beauty in 1999, but he unexpectedly lost out to John Corigliano's score for The Red Violin.
Rating: 4.5
Little Children (2006): This is one of those Thomas Newman scores that has a good mix of his American Beauty style ambience, piano and string driven music, and occasional tracks where we hear the orchestra in full flow and an emphasis on melody, especially in End Title, which is probably the main highlight of the soundtrack album. I love the foreboding ambience of tracks like It's Wrong and It's Weird, and the theme in Bandshell. The Phrygian dominant scale features on several of the tracks. However, the orchestral rendition of Fly Me To The Moon doesn't work/fit as well as the rendition of What a Wonderful World does in Meet Joe Black. Despite one or two missteps, though, this is great stuff.
Rating: 4.4
Revolutionary Road (2008): I remember hearing the main Revolutionary Road theme for the first time when watching a Top Gear episode on the rise and fall of TVR, and exclaiming, "Where is this music from? Can I have it?". Thus, naturally, I just had to snap up this soundtrack when I realised it was from this. The main theme, which is mostly in E harmonic major and sometimes goes towards the Phrygian dominant scale, has much in common with White Oleander's main theme, but the Revolutionary Road score has far more substance beyond its main theme than that of White Oleander. One of my favourite tracks is April, which is a somewhat ambient and subtle take on the main theme.
Rating: 4.4
Little Women (1994): A strongly orchestra-led score which has a rather Christmassy feel. It's more conventional (in terms of harmony, melody and orchestration) than most of Thomas Newman's other film scores, with few moments of dissonance or pushing boundaries, which I think is why for me it falls towards the low end of the "excellent" category, but it has plenty of highlights. My favourite theme is the one in Spring, which also appears in Harvest Time and Amy Abroad. A really nice flute solo in the theme in Meg's Hair also sticks out. As a result of writing the score for Little Women and The Shawshank Redemption, Thomas Newman received two Oscar nominations in 1994, but his scores both lost out to Hans Zimmer's iconic score for The Lion King.
Rating: 4.3
Tolkien (2019):
Rating: 4.3
Bridge of Spies (2015):
Rating: 4.3
Oscar and Lucinda (1997): This one is hard to get a hold of, but
Rating: 4.3
Rating: 4.7
The Shawshank Redemption (1994): This soundtrack feels in many ways similar to the Road to Perdition one and is similarly crammed with highlights. Some strong orchestral writing in Shawshank Prison: Stoic Theme, and the foreboding Shawshank Redemption, which builds up to a strong conclusion with heavy use of major/minor 3rd dissonance. Some good ambient/piano tracks too - Brooks Was Here is a particularly famous example, and I also really like New Fish. This score was Oscar nominated, but lost out to Hans Zimmer's score for The Lion King.
Rating: 4.6
Skyfall (2012): This review and rating may be a bit controversial, as many fans of John Barry's James Bond sound thought that Thomas Newman's approach to scoring Bond was generic and didn't really capture the "Bond sound". I remember I first thought the same thing when I listened to samples from the Skyfall soundtrack. But over time, it has really grown on me, to the point where it has established as one of my top five favourite Bond scores, and certainly my favourite not written by John Barry (and, considering the quality of David Arnold's Bond scores, that's saying a lot). The action music is unconventional, distinctive and works well. As is often the case with Newman, the strongest tracks are generally the more ambient and atmospheric ones. I really like Mother (the theme for "M"), Severine, New Digs, and the subtle references to the James Bond Theme in Brave New World and Day Wasted. This score got Oscar nominated but didn't win, and often fares well in Classic FM's Hall of Fame.
Rating: 4.6
WALL-E (2008): On album, WALL-E contains many disconnected ideas, but for me it doesn't suffer particularly from this, as there are several good themes and the tracks blend in well together. I particularly like 2815 A.D and the final track, Horizon 12.2. Several of the tracks emphasise the harmonic major scale, which helps to create a sentimental feel, especially in relation to the relationship between Eve and WALL-E in the film. Even the deliberately cheesy-sounding diversions such as First Date fit in well with the rest of the soundtrack and work well. Yet another Thomas Newman score that got Oscar nominated but didn't win.
Rating: 4.5
American Beauty (1999): American Beauty's score is perhaps the one that Thomas Newman is most famous for, particularly the tracks Any Other Name (aka the "plastic bag theme") and Dead Already. It's one of his quirky scores, and still stands as the best example of one that he's written, with plenty of wacky instruments combined with some ambient tunes with strings and piano. Here it works particularly well. As well as the two famous tracks, I also particularly like Mr. Smarty Man and Angela Undress. Harmonies mostly emphasise the Dorian mode, with some major/minor 3rd conflicts in places. Newman fancied his chances of picking up the Oscar with American Beauty in 1999, but he unexpectedly lost out to John Corigliano's score for The Red Violin.
Rating: 4.5
Little Children (2006): This is one of those Thomas Newman scores that has a good mix of his American Beauty style ambience, piano and string driven music, and occasional tracks where we hear the orchestra in full flow and an emphasis on melody, especially in End Title, which is probably the main highlight of the soundtrack album. I love the foreboding ambience of tracks like It's Wrong and It's Weird, and the theme in Bandshell. The Phrygian dominant scale features on several of the tracks. However, the orchestral rendition of Fly Me To The Moon doesn't work/fit as well as the rendition of What a Wonderful World does in Meet Joe Black. Despite one or two missteps, though, this is great stuff.
Rating: 4.4
Revolutionary Road (2008): I remember hearing the main Revolutionary Road theme for the first time when watching a Top Gear episode on the rise and fall of TVR, and exclaiming, "Where is this music from? Can I have it?". Thus, naturally, I just had to snap up this soundtrack when I realised it was from this. The main theme, which is mostly in E harmonic major and sometimes goes towards the Phrygian dominant scale, has much in common with White Oleander's main theme, but the Revolutionary Road score has far more substance beyond its main theme than that of White Oleander. One of my favourite tracks is April, which is a somewhat ambient and subtle take on the main theme.
Rating: 4.4
Little Women (1994): A strongly orchestra-led score which has a rather Christmassy feel. It's more conventional (in terms of harmony, melody and orchestration) than most of Thomas Newman's other film scores, with few moments of dissonance or pushing boundaries, which I think is why for me it falls towards the low end of the "excellent" category, but it has plenty of highlights. My favourite theme is the one in Spring, which also appears in Harvest Time and Amy Abroad. A really nice flute solo in the theme in Meg's Hair also sticks out. As a result of writing the score for Little Women and The Shawshank Redemption, Thomas Newman received two Oscar nominations in 1994, but his scores both lost out to Hans Zimmer's iconic score for The Lion King.
Rating: 4.3
Tolkien (2019):
Rating: 4.3
Bridge of Spies (2015):
Rating: 4.3
Oscar and Lucinda (1997): This one is hard to get a hold of, but
Rating: 4.3
1917 (2019):
This score heavily emphasises ambience and pads, which works very well in the film, but can lead to an underwhelming listening experience outside of the film. However, the high points are very high: The Night Window is an excellent track, very expressive, with lush strings and the major/minor 3rd dissonance that characterises a lot of Thomas Newman's more expressive pieces. Sixteen Hundred Men comes across as a stylistic mix of Thomas Newman and Hans Zimmer, especially Zimmer's action music for The Thin Red Line. I also like some, but not all, of the ambient stuff, especially the brooding theme featured in Mentions in Dispatches. I left this score short of the "Excellent" category mainly because I couldn't really get into it until after I had seen the film (which is superb: I'm not normally into war films, but I really enjoyed 1917, so much so that I went to see it twice).
Rating: 4.2
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012): A relatively experimental and offbeat score/album that, in this case, works very well. It combines the American Beauty style with Indian style instrumentation, and, at times, vocals which create a pleasant atmosphere and mood. One marked, if brief, standout is What Happens Instead, which has a beautiful piano melody reminiscent of the one from The Farm from Road to Perdition. The shortage of real standout tracks means that I can't quite give this an "Excellent" rating, but especially for those who like American Beauty and influences from Indian music, this is well worth checking out.
Rating: 4.2
He Named Me Malala (2015):
Rating: 4.2
Whispers In The Dark (1992):
Rating: 4.2
The Horse Whisperer (1998): Thomas Newman was brought in to replace John Barry for this one, and he did a very good job. Some of the tracks are a bit too "horsey" for my liking, but there are many strong tracks here. I'm particularly partial to The Vast Continent, which is one of the most played tracks in my playlists. As with many of my favourite Thomas Newman tracks, it makes heavy use of minor-major 3rd dissonances and the harmonic major scale. There's some nice soft ambient piano pieces such as There Was Snow, and strong orchestral themes such as in Grace.
Rating: 4.2
The Green Mile (1999): The Green Mile is a rather sad film, which is reflected by some of the music. A scattering of the tracks emphasise the sadness to such an extent that it compromises the listening experience, but I find most of it enjoyable. Night Journey and Coffey On the Mile are probably my two favourite tracks, combining ambience, strings and piano with some woodwind solos. Mostly written in minor keys, reflecting the sad tone of the film, but with some minor/major 3rd dissonances.
Rating: 4.1
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015):
Rating: 4.1
Saving Mr. Banks (2013):
Rating: 4.1
Spectre (2015):
As was common with Thomas Newman's releases around this time, this one starts off superbly (the quality of the first six tracks or so even surpasses Skyfall in my opinion) but then loses its way and becomes more bland in the second half. I really like the very Bond-like music in Vauxhall Bridge, the emotional theme in Donna Lucia with its rather John Barry-esque harmonies but with a Thomas Newman twist, and the theme that builds up in Crows Klinik. The Spectre (End Title) is great and has stuck with me. In between, though, later in the album there's a lot of emphasis on drones that don't really provide that much of interest. The film also suffered a little from the frequent recycling of music from Skyfall.
Rating: 4.1
The Iron Lady (2011): It took me a while to get into this one, probably because I was prejudiced against it due to the subject matter, but these days I think this is very good, and a welcome return to form for Thomas Newman after a few indifferent releases. I particularly like the twinkling piano theme in The Twins, and the foreboding Phrygian dominant-led ambience in Crisis of Confidence. Some nods to patriotic British-style music in here, as well as some atmospheric string/piano-led pieces. Perhaps not as strong an example of this type of music as Bridge of Spies though.
Rating: 4.0
Passengers (2016):
Rating: 4.0
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004): This album has the same issue as the Finding Nemo one to some extent, but I find it not quite as disjointed. There are some themes that I particularly like in this one - the twinkly piano in The Baudelaire Orphans, and the rather ominous theme in Cold as Ike, part of which I remember vividly as it reminds me a bit of Humpty Dumpty. I also love the piano and string writing in One Last Look, which reprises the Baudelaire theme, and in The Letter That Never Came.
Rating: 3.9
This score heavily emphasises ambience and pads, which works very well in the film, but can lead to an underwhelming listening experience outside of the film. However, the high points are very high: The Night Window is an excellent track, very expressive, with lush strings and the major/minor 3rd dissonance that characterises a lot of Thomas Newman's more expressive pieces. Sixteen Hundred Men comes across as a stylistic mix of Thomas Newman and Hans Zimmer, especially Zimmer's action music for The Thin Red Line. I also like some, but not all, of the ambient stuff, especially the brooding theme featured in Mentions in Dispatches. I left this score short of the "Excellent" category mainly because I couldn't really get into it until after I had seen the film (which is superb: I'm not normally into war films, but I really enjoyed 1917, so much so that I went to see it twice).
Rating: 4.2
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012): A relatively experimental and offbeat score/album that, in this case, works very well. It combines the American Beauty style with Indian style instrumentation, and, at times, vocals which create a pleasant atmosphere and mood. One marked, if brief, standout is What Happens Instead, which has a beautiful piano melody reminiscent of the one from The Farm from Road to Perdition. The shortage of real standout tracks means that I can't quite give this an "Excellent" rating, but especially for those who like American Beauty and influences from Indian music, this is well worth checking out.
Rating: 4.2
He Named Me Malala (2015):
Rating: 4.2
Whispers In The Dark (1992):
Rating: 4.2
The Horse Whisperer (1998): Thomas Newman was brought in to replace John Barry for this one, and he did a very good job. Some of the tracks are a bit too "horsey" for my liking, but there are many strong tracks here. I'm particularly partial to The Vast Continent, which is one of the most played tracks in my playlists. As with many of my favourite Thomas Newman tracks, it makes heavy use of minor-major 3rd dissonances and the harmonic major scale. There's some nice soft ambient piano pieces such as There Was Snow, and strong orchestral themes such as in Grace.
Rating: 4.2
The Green Mile (1999): The Green Mile is a rather sad film, which is reflected by some of the music. A scattering of the tracks emphasise the sadness to such an extent that it compromises the listening experience, but I find most of it enjoyable. Night Journey and Coffey On the Mile are probably my two favourite tracks, combining ambience, strings and piano with some woodwind solos. Mostly written in minor keys, reflecting the sad tone of the film, but with some minor/major 3rd dissonances.
Rating: 4.1
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015):
Rating: 4.1
Saving Mr. Banks (2013):
Rating: 4.1
Spectre (2015):
As was common with Thomas Newman's releases around this time, this one starts off superbly (the quality of the first six tracks or so even surpasses Skyfall in my opinion) but then loses its way and becomes more bland in the second half. I really like the very Bond-like music in Vauxhall Bridge, the emotional theme in Donna Lucia with its rather John Barry-esque harmonies but with a Thomas Newman twist, and the theme that builds up in Crows Klinik. The Spectre (End Title) is great and has stuck with me. In between, though, later in the album there's a lot of emphasis on drones that don't really provide that much of interest. The film also suffered a little from the frequent recycling of music from Skyfall.
Rating: 4.1
The Iron Lady (2011): It took me a while to get into this one, probably because I was prejudiced against it due to the subject matter, but these days I think this is very good, and a welcome return to form for Thomas Newman after a few indifferent releases. I particularly like the twinkling piano theme in The Twins, and the foreboding Phrygian dominant-led ambience in Crisis of Confidence. Some nods to patriotic British-style music in here, as well as some atmospheric string/piano-led pieces. Perhaps not as strong an example of this type of music as Bridge of Spies though.
Rating: 4.0
Passengers (2016):
Rating: 4.0
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004): This album has the same issue as the Finding Nemo one to some extent, but I find it not quite as disjointed. There are some themes that I particularly like in this one - the twinkly piano in The Baudelaire Orphans, and the rather ominous theme in Cold as Ike, part of which I remember vividly as it reminds me a bit of Humpty Dumpty. I also love the piano and string writing in One Last Look, which reprises the Baudelaire theme, and in The Letter That Never Came.
Rating: 3.9
Oscar and Luscinda (1997) |
The Horse Whisperer (1998)Thomas Newman was brought in to replace John Barry for this one, and he did a very good job. Some of the tracks are a bit too "horsey" for my liking, but there are many strong tracks here. I'm particularly partial to The Vast Continent, which is one of the most played tracks in my playlists. There's some nice soft ambient piano pieces such as There Was Snow, and strong orchestral themes such as in Grace.
Rating: 4.2 |
Meet Joe Black (1998) |
American Beauty (1999) |
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This currently stands as my second favourite Thomas Newman score (after Angels in America). There's a lot of rich orchestral writing in here - Whisper of a Thrill has long been one of my favourite pieces of film music, which I remember first hearing on an advert, which is reprised in two other tracks - and there is also a very good orchestral rendition of What a Wonderful World. The last track, That Next Place, is a very triumphant, emotional piece of music. I also like the jazzy Fifth Ave. There are also scattered tracks with the usual ambience, strings and piano.
Rating: 4.8 |
American Beauty's score is perhaps the one that Thomas Newman is most famous for, particularly the tracks Any Other Name (aka the "plastic bag theme") and Dead Already. It's one of his quirky scores, with plenty of wacky instruments combined with some ambient tunes with strings and piano. Here it works particularly well. As well as the two famous tracks, I also particularly like Mr. Smarty Man and Angela Undress. Perhaps not enough standout tracks to get the full five star rating, but it's generally very pleasant to listen to.
Rating: 4.5 |
The Green Mile (1999) |
Erin Brockovich (2000) |
The Green Mile is a rather sad film, which is reflected by some of the music. A scattering of the tracks emphasise the sadness to such an extent that it compromises the listening experience, but I find most of it enjoyable. Night Journey and Coffey On the Mile are probably my two favourite tracks, combining ambience, strings and piano with some woodwind solos.
Rating: 4.1 Pay it Forward (2000) |
It's in the same kind of style as American Beauty, but, in my opinion, nowhere near as good. There are a couple of themes that I like, particularly the one in Pro Bono, but generally this is a bit too oddball for my taste in places and I don't think it has enough substance or atmosphere.
Rating: 2.6 In the Bedroom (2001) |
This one has the same criticisms as Erin Brockovich - it's a somewhat inferior relative of the score for American Beauty - but it has rather more of the ambience/strings/soft piano pieces which I tend to enjoy, so it gets half a mark more. Fixture Vodka and Gasoline contain good examples of his atmospheric piano/string writing. I can't say I'm a fan of the main theme in Possibility though, which appears in a few tracks.
Rating: 2.9 The Salton Sea (2002)
A somewhat percussive and electronic soundtrack with elements of pop, which for me makes for a rather unpleasant listening experience. I often like music that experiments with dissonance, but this soundtrack is often dissonant in a way that I find unpleasant. At least In the Bedroom's music wasn't generally tough to listen to, it mainly lacked substance. Avoid unless you're really into this side of Thomas Newman.
Rating: 1.6 |
As reviewers James Southall and Jonathan Broxton noted in their reviews around this time, Thomas Newman dug himself deeper down a percussive rut during this post-American Beauty period. Todd Field's In the Bedroom was a critically acclaimed film, and the music probably works alright in the film, but as a listening experience there is very little substance to it. The writing for choir sounds rather odd and does not impress.
Rating: 2.0 Road to Perdition (2002)
Road to Perdition has one of my favourite Thomas Newman soundtracks. Road to Chicago is one of my favourite pieces of film music, combining piano, strings and well-placed dissonance to create a strong emotional impact, which is reprised to some extent in Virgin Mary and Cathedral. The Farm has a very pleasant piano led melody. The foreboding Lexington Hotel, Room 1432, which builds up to a strong conclusion, reminds me a bit of some tracks from The Shawshank Redemption.
Rating: 4.7 |
White Oleander (2002)
White Oleander, like In the Bedroom, lacks substance, and many of the tracks border on listening to ambient sounds, but I find it a more pleasant listening experience. The score starts and ends with an atmospheric piano theme in the Phrygian dominant mode, which is one of my favourites, and this piano theme is sufficient to raise the score overall to a three star rating. Most readers will do best to just get the main theme (Oleander Time) rather than the whole soundtrack.
Rating: 3.0 Angels in America (2003)
It's a close call between this and Meet Joe Black, but overall I regard this as Thomas Newman's finest score, mainly because it combines pretty much every facet of his compositions and does all of them very well. Yes, there's quirky American Beauty style tracks in here, string/piano driven tracks, some good action tracks as well, and even some strong choral writing, which he hadn't really done since Oscar and Luscinda in 1997. I could try to pick out some standout tracks, but if I did, I'd end up listing at least half of the album - that's how good it is.
Rating: 4.9 |
Finding Nemo (2003)
Thomas Newman wrote a fine score for Finding Nemo, which works very well in the film, but on album it feels rather disjointed, with a large number of unconnected ideas with not much consistent material from one track to the next. The rating reflects the experience on album: as heard in the film, it could well be pushing four and a half stars. My favourite tracks are the ambient/atmospheric Lost in Fog, which has a nice clarinet solo, and the more powerful Swim Down.
Rating: 3.6 Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
This album has the same issue as the Finding Nemo one to some extent, but I find it not quite as disjointed. There are some themes that I particularly like in this one - the twinkly piano in The Baudelaire Orphans, and the rather ominous theme in Cold as Ike, part of which I remember vividly as it reminds me a bit of Humpty Dumpty. I also love the piano and string writing in One Last Look, which reprises the Baudelaire theme, and in The Letter That Never Came.
Rating: 3.9 |
Cinderella Man (2005) |
Jarhead (2005) |
This score is primarily piano/string driven, and in my opinion it generally gets stronger as it goes on - the early tracks are mostly okay but nothing special, but I like the piano theme in All Prayed Out. The action music in Big Right and Cinderella Man works very well, as does the piano/woodwind theme later in Cinderella Man. It's good, but there are better overall examples of this type of Thomas Newman score in my opinion.
Rating: 3.7 |
This is one of Thomas Newman's more experimental scores, with a strong emphasis on percussion and harsh sounding instruments, which makes for a more challenging listening experience. However, it's one of his better experimental scores. I like the theme in Raining Oil (which is reprised in Desert Storm) and the similar theme in Listen Up.
Rating: 2.9 |
Little Children (2006) |
The Good German (2006) |
This is one of those Thomas Newman scores that has a good mix of his American Beauty style ambience, piano and string driven music, and occasional tracks where we hear the orchestra in full flow and an emphasis on melody, especially in End Title, which is probably the main highlight of the soundtrack album. I love the foreboding ambience of tracks like It's Wrong and It's Weird, and the theme in the Phrygian dominant in Bandshell. The orchestral rendition of Fly Me To The Moon doesn't work/fit as well as the rendition of What a Wonderful World does in Meet Joe Black. Despite one or two missteps, though, this is great stuff.
Rating: 4.4 |
This is a strongly orchestral score, with plenty of dissonance to generate tension, but, unusually for a Thomas Newman score of this type, I find it "heavy" and not that enjoyable a listening experience. Maybe it's a taste thing, maybe I just haven't been able to get into it. Some very good writing for strings and woodwind in here though, so if you can get into it, you might well love it. Hence, overall, I've gone somewhere in the middle and rated it as "good".
Rating: 3.4 |
Towelhead (2007) |
WALL-E (2008) |
This is one of the more experimental, oddball ones that doesn't quite work for me. It's also rather short, at just 15 minutes running time.
Rating: 1.9 |
I criticised the Finding Nemo soundtrack for having a large number of disconnected ideas and sounding disjoined on album. One could level the same criticism at WALL-E, but I think the WALL-E soundtrack gets away with it, as there are a few strong recurring themes here. I particularly like 2815 A.D and the final track, Horizon 12.2. Even the deliberately cheesy-sounding diversions such as First Date fit in well with the rest of the soundtrack and work well.
Rating: 4.5 |
Revolutionary Road (2008)
I remember hearing the main Revolutionary Road theme for the first time when watching a Top Gear episode on the rise and fall of TVR, and exclaiming, "Where is this music from? Can I have it?". Thus, naturally, I just had to snap up this soundtrack when I realised it was from this. The main theme has much in common with that of White Oleander, but the Revolutionary Road soundtrack has a lot more substance besides the theme than White Oleander. One of my favourite tracks is April, which is a somewhat ambient and subtle take on the main theme. Perhaps held back a little overall by its lack of strong secondary themes, but overall I really like this soundtrack and it is one of my most frequently replayed.
Rating: 4.4 |
Brothers (2009)
Brothers is another of those experimental soundtracks that doesn't quite work for me outside of the film. There is a strong, at times harsh, pop/metal influence, and in some cases, ambient sounds.
Rating: 2.1 |
The Adjustment Bureau (2011)
This soundtrack has a lot of the right ingredients but, for me, it lacks the emotional depth and impact of a lot of Thomas Newman's other music. I tend to agree with James Southall that this is "Newman by the numbers". There's quite a large emphasis on electronics which, for me, doesn't work particularly well.
Rating: 2.8 |
The Help (2011)
I can't think of much to say about this score, it's generally pleasant to listen to but without much of an identity. Probably my favourite theme in this is the guitar-led melody in Jim Crow, which is repeated in My Son.
Rating: 3.3 |
The Debt (2011) |
The Iron Lady (2011) |
A relatively experimental score which relies on electronics, pads and piano. It's alright, but has very few standout tracks, and I tend to agree with James Southall's assessment that with this release Thomas Newman was "treading water".
Rating: 3.1 |
It took me a while to get into this one, probably because I was prejudiced against it due to the subject matter, but these days I think this is very good, and a welcome return to form for Thomas Newman after a few indifferent releases. I particularly like the twinkling piano theme in The Twins, and the foreboding Phrygian dominant-led ambience in Crisis of Confidence. Some nods to patriotic British-style music in here, as well as some atmospheric string/piano-led pieces. Perhaps not as strong an example of this type of music as Bridge of Spies though.
Rating: 4.0 |
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012)
A relatively experimental and offbeat score/album that, in this case, works very well. It combines the American Beauty style with Indian style instrumentation, and, at times, vocals which create a pleasant atmosphere and mood. One marked, if brief, standout is What Happens Instead, which has a beautiful piano melody reminiscent of the one from The Farm from Road to Perdition. The shortage of real standout tracks means that I can't give this a five star rating, but especially for those who like American Beauty and influences from Indian music, this is well worth checking out.
Rating: 4.2 |
Skyfall (2012)
This review and rating may be a bit controversial, as many fans of John Barry's James Bond sound thought that Thomas Newman's approach to scoring Bond was generic and didn't really capture the "Bond sound". I remember I first thought the same thing when I listened to samples from the Skyfall soundtrack. But over time, it has really grown on me, to the point where it has established as one of my top five favourite Bond scores, and certainly my favourite not written by John Barry (and, considering the quality of David Arnold's Bond scores, that's saying a lot). The action music is a bit unconventional and works well, but, as is often the case with Newman, the strongest tracks are generally the more ambient and atmospheric ones. I really like Mother (the theme for "M"), Severine, New Digs, and the subtle references to the James Bond Theme in Brave New World and Day Wasted.
Rating: 4.6 |