Well, since I've got this blog up and running, I better post something to keep the masses entertained. I guess I'll do an OST review. How quaint. Anyway, I've decided to do the Fountain soundtrack, as I just watched it a few days ago leaving it fresh in my mind. I'm listening to it as I type this, and I can definitely hear the resemblance between this and Chris Mansell's earlier work, which is definitely not a con.
I'm pretty familiar with soundtrack work done by Mr. Mansell, and I've been impressed over and over again to say the least. He first caught my attention with his soundtrack on Requiem for a Dream, which was a powerful movie by itself, but his textured and crisp soundscapes that chilled me to the core were the factors that ingrained that experience in my mind to this day. He's switched it up with this movie, however, by doing a collaboration with Post-rock band Mogwai, which is a pretty big step in a different direction from his traditional solo work. I can't complain, because the fusion of those two outlets of musical genius coming together for a surreal and mind-blowing movie like the Fountain only makes me more excited for possible collab work in the future between Clint Mansell and other various artists.
Now before you start rushing to the store (torrents) to "buy" this soundtrack, I'd like to point out the flaws that have plagued Clint Mansell's work from the start of his career. He is a very talented modern classical artist, but his creativity is running dry as he dilutes his work to simple and overused chords that try too hard to sound "epic" or "awesome". I mean it's fun the first time, but movie after movie he has resorted to entry-level crescendo-core in order to get a rise out of his audience, when the people who actually appreciate his music are left in the dust with the worn out scraps of monotony that his music has become.
Nevertheless, it's a great example of neo-classical, and his collaboration with Mogwai still gave this OST enough freshness to wow me once more, but he needs to work on subtlety and reducing repetition. Maybe some improv work could get the creative juices flowing again.
8.7/10
Tracklist:
- "The Last Man" – 6:09
- "Holy Dread!" – 3:52
- "Tree of Life" – 3:45
- "Stay with Me" – 3:36
- "Death Is a Disease" – 2:34
- "Xibalba" – 5:23
- "First Snow" – 3:09
- "Finish It" – 4:25
- "Death Is the Road to Awe" – 8:26
- "Together We Will Live Forever" – 5:02
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