Search - Danny Elfman :: Standard Operating Procedure [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

Incredible score!

Yuri | 07/18/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"unfortunately I'm not a big fan of Danny Elfman, but this is the only one of his scores I have in my collection. Just beatiful stings, music and themes!"

Surprisingly melodic

Ash Ryan | Salt Lake City, Utah | 05/22/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I haven't seen the movie that this soundtrack accompanies yet--I don't think it's even been shown in my area, since seeing this soundtrack by Danny Elfman is the first I'd ever heard of it--but based on what I knew about the movie, the music is not what I expected it to be. And that's not a bad thing. One might expect (at least I did) that the score for this kind of documentary would be very ambient, and it is that, but it is also much more thematic and even melodic than I would have thought. Elfman mainly employs moody strings to achieve the desired effects, but throws in some low brass for good measure occasionally, and creates some interesting effects with synth and percussion (for example, in the "Dogs" track).



The organization of the album is apparently not in the same order that the music appears in the film ("Main Titles" doesn't appear until track number eight), but it is a good presentation. It lags slightly in the middle (tracks 10 through 12 in particular), but it starts off very strongly, and ends strongly as well. A couple of tracks here ("Main Titles" and "A Bad Feeling") are adapted from Elfman's previously released symphonic work, "Serenada Schizophrena," but otherwise this is all original material, although some moments are remeniscent of themes from some of his earlier scores, and in track 7 he briefly re-uses a motif from "Sleepy Hollow."



On the whole, however, "Standard Operating Procedure" is very fresh and original, occasionally surprising. The overall tone of the album is like a superhero movie score gone very wrong, and the "Photos" track sounds like circus music meets a funeral dirge. Not very happy stuff, but good nevertheless, and very listenable. A must for the film-music lover, and especially for the Danny Elfman fan."