John Powell Harry GregsonWilliams - Chicken Run (20 tracks) +Album Reviews

Great Stuff!

Steve Miller | 07/02/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Who would have thought an animated movie about the barnyard equivilant of "The Great Escape" would have such an excellent score? Lovers of high-quality orchestral film music should definately get this one! It's like a cross between Bernard Hermann and Ennio Morriconne at their best.From the first notes of "Opening Escape" through "Escape to Paradise," there is never a dull musical moment on this disk. While a perfect companion to the film, the music here also stands just fine on its own. It's humourous and epic at the same time... rather like the score for the barnyard equivelent of "The Great Escape" should be. (Heck, "Opening Escape/Main Titles" and "Building the Crate" are almost worth the price of this disk by themselves. I never imagined that kazoos would be effective with a brass section.)Too many soundtrack albums are marred these days by "music inspired by" or "not heard in the film" tracks. It's nice to see that the producers in charge here gave us the treat of John Powell and Harry Gregson-Williams score without second-rate songs from the popular acts of the minute."

Powel and Gregson-Williams do it again, but better

Joshua Kaufman | Cincinnati, OH | 02/13/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For the claymation movie Chicken Run, the team that wonderfully scored Antz returns. Luckily, they not only reached the level of greatness they had in that film, they surpassed it The film is somewhat of a knock off the 1960s movie, The Great Escape, and the score reflects that. The composers came up with a wonderful march that is very reminicant of the classic theme from the above movie. Throughout the score, and indeed in the Main Titles themselves, the theme goes through many transformations, each one great -- there's even a waltz version! This score never gets boring. The style of the score stays mainly in the march, but quite often devaites at times, at times it's like French gondalla-esque music, and then later it's like 50s bebop, Italian 'Godfather'-esque music, and even 50s rock as well. There's tons of great action music, such as in one of my favorite cues, 'Building the Crate'. There's also lots of great more tender moments, but it never gets boring or bogged down. The score is laced with many different instruments. Besides an abundant use of tuba, flute, clarinet, horns, and accoustic bass guitar, there's plenty of other interesting insturments inserted around the score, including a harmonica in 'Cokctails and Final Thoughts', an accoustic guitar in 'Babs's Big Break, and even a choir in 'Into the Pie Machine'. But no talk about the Chicken Run score can be complete without mentioning the kazoos. You might think that there's no way kazoos could fit in with an orchestra, but they do, and it's worlks wonderfully. There are also two songs inserted, 'Flip Flop Fly' and 'The Wanderer'. Both fit into the mood of the music very well, and are great fun. Overall, this is easily one of my favorites. It's highly melodic, with great instrumentation, one of the best main themes ever, and it's just downright pleasant to listen to. If you haven't picked this one up yet, be sure to, as it's hard to top this one for pure musical delight."

"Chicken Run," An Unexpected Pleasure

G M. Stathis | cedar city, utah USA | 07/12/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In a movie summer that has already produced a number of memorable film scores ("Gladiator," "The Perfect Storm," and "The Patriot") comes one of the best of the bunch from an unlikely source, "Chicken Run." This score by John Powell and Harry Gregson-Williams is one of the most entertaining and humorous soundtracks in recent memory and surely deserves consideration as one of the best pieces of film music this year. "Chicken Run," an intentional takeoff on "Stalag 17" and "The Great Escape" (the inside jokes are far too many to mention), clearly pays homage to Elmer Bernstein, with additional influence from English composers such as Ralph Vaughn Williams, Eric Coates and William Walton, but then takes off on its own. Elements of swing, including "Flip, Flop and Fly," are present, along with a rendition of "The Wanderer." Oh yes, and there is the inclusion of a kazoo chorus in several tracks that is a downright delight. The film is a pleasure for young and old, and the soundtrack album is just plain fun. A number of main themes run through the score as introduced in "The Opening Escape," and "Main Titles," which climax wonderfully in "Into the Pie Machine," "Building the Crate," "Lift Off," "The Chickens Are Revolting," and "Escape to Paradise," but there are also quite a few secondary themes which pop up in different motifs to keep this score flying. Released by RCA Victor and Dreamworks, the soundtrack album is cleverly packaged, and a delightful film score by any standard. Use the excuse that you are buying it for the kids and then keep it for yourself."

Probably the most off-the-wall soundtrack ever released

Danielle | Deep in the Heart of Texas | 12/28/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you haven't seen the movie (shame on you if you haven't) then this soundtrack probably isn't for you. But for those who have seen the film, go ahead and buy this soundtrack and laugh at the hilarious moments that happen simultaneously in the movie and score.I got this CD from my mum for Christmas, and haven't stopped listening since. Kudos goes to John Powell and Harry Gregson-Williams, who composed this egg-cellent score. They have created a soundtrack that really soars, unlike those poor flight-impaired chickens. (Sorry about the awful puns.) The score captures every moment of terror, triumph and hilarity in the film. (By the way, even though it's rated "G", this movie is enjoyed by kids and adults.) The "Main Titles" respectfully pay homage to The Great Escape while the whistling throughout the tracks is reminiscent of The Bridge on the River Kwai. "Rats!" gives a sort of enigmatic jazz to the film. "We Need a Miracle" is very touching, and I think could be included in one of those wartime romance films.One of my favorite tracks is "Flight Training" for the sheer combination of styles. Powell and Gregson-Williams deftly combine different genres of music, from 40's big band to 50's cowboy movie scores, to pseudo-Japanese, to circus music and then a dash of Scottish bagpipes. One bar even sounds like "Dixie!" The surprising fact is that it never sounds confined or awkward; on the contrary, they are smoothly blended together. The balalaikas are a really nice touch. And the kazoos. You gotta love the kazoos, sprinkled here and there, used in smallish quantities, so as not to get too annoying."A Really Big Truck Arrives"-the sheer title made me laugh; it was eerily stating the obvious. Out of the two songs on the disc my favorite is "Flip Flop and Fly" by Ellis Hall, which sounds remarkably like "Jump Jive and Wail." However, the Dion song "The Wanderer" annoys me for the sheer jerkiness of the song's main character. As he says, "he's a wanderer, and he moves around, around, around, around..."The beginning of "Into the Pie Machine" captures the aura of amazement that Rocky and Ginger must feel as they witness the giant chopping machine, then gets right down to business as the score swells to one of urgency and danger.But my favorite track of all is "Rocky, a Fake All Along." I liked this point in the film-everything was sort of surreal as Ginger discovers Rocky's secret to circus music. Then you can taste Ginger's grief as the score shifts to sweeping strings. The next part captures something I've only heard in The Secret Garden soundtrack, a sort of cryptic harp music. I like the fact that tracks 15 and 16 start on the same note-high E, don't you think?"Building the Crate" gives the film its determination and spirit-can't you just see those chickens working away on their little vehicle to freedom? Finally, "Lift Off" and "Escape to Paradise" give the soundtrack and the film a satisfying close.If you loved the film (as I did) or are just a rabid collector of soundtracks (as I am), you'll definitely want this CD. It is probably the most original soundtrack you will encounter.Happy listening, Dani Girl(P. S. - Two of the people who did orchestrations were named Bruce Fowler and Elizabeth Finch. Do you think they endured a lot of bird and chicken jokes during this project? ;)"

Run to get this one - don't be a chicken

Brandon Cutro | Tyler, Texas United States | 12/31/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Chicken Run is the best score to come from Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell teaming up. This is also one of the best scores for an animated film as well. There is lots of different kinds of music found in this soundtrack such as jazz, comedy, knockout action, and even country western. The main theme is a knockout heroic full orchestra delight, with plenty of brass and drum machines overpowering. This theme is also played wonderfully with a lighter, more romantic touch in some of the tracks on strings and woodwinds. Many unusual instruments are used throughout, such as the kazoo, which has a unique effect to the music, harmonicas, a bagpipe, and several drum machines. A powerful male choir that Hans Zimmer used to a great effect in Crimson Tide is featured in some of the tracks also, which adds a big testosterone sound to the music. The first 2 tracks simply blow you away with the main theme exploding in your face. "Flight Training" is another good cue with plenty of kazoos and choir with a jazz related combo (how often do you get that combination). "Building the Crate" is another knockout cue with a full blown orchestral performance to close it off. "Chickens Are Not Organized" contains a harmonica played over snare drums which actually sounds cool. "A Really Big Truck Arrives" utilizes the male choir along with big orchestral sounds. I could go on all day on how good this score is. Every score track is phenomenal and always leaves you wanting plenty more. 2 songs are on this album as well. "Flip Flop and Fly" by Ellis Hall sounds almost identical to "Jump Jive an' Wail", which I think was the idea there. "The Wanderer" by Dion is an oldie that along with the other song, should have been left off even though both songs are not bad. This is one of the best scores out there and you would be a fool to pass this one up. Run to get it!!"

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