James Newton Howard - The Postman Music From The Motion Picture 1997 Film (15 tracks) +Album Reviews

Superb Film Music: A 'The Postman' Symphony!.

Pablo Iglesias Alvarez | Mexico City, D.F. Mexico | 11/13/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"James Newton Howard has composed an incredible piece for this movie. The present CD includes 7 long tracks, quite rare for film-score CD's which usually are broken up in many shorter time tracks. The result is that we get a kind of symphonic arrangement, a device with which the musical content fits perfectly as it has a highly developmental character. Newton Howard develops beautifully his themes that range from the sublime to the heroic, from tenderness to strong action. I should also note the effective and richly varied instrumentation that blends and supports the constant change of moods and pace. Independent of the film quality (which I am not addressing here), the original score stands on its own as a magnificent achievement.

Note: This Soundtrack contains 2 main features: a 50 minutes orchestral score by James Newton Howard and 8 Additional Tracks with vocal songs from various composers. My review refers exclusively to the Orchestral Score."

Costner Sings!

Mr. | USA | 08/16/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Being a fan of the film I bought this CD soon after, not mainly for James Newton Howards score, which by the way is breathtakingly brilliant and very powerful, but to listen to Kevin Costner sing the duet, You Didn't Have To Be So Nice, with Amy Grant. He never ceases to amaze me. Sadly, at the time of the films release, Kevin was criticized for being a control freak (acting, directing.....singing) and so I think, had that not been the case, this song might've found its way onto an easy listening radio station. The other vocal songs are nice but this is the best one, so buy it for this song as well as the score and sit back and listen to Mr. Costner flex his vocal chords. Enjoy!"

Good Post-Nuke Music!

Jason N. Mical | Bellevue, WA, USA | 08/28/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you're reading this, then you probably fall into one of two categories of people: those who liked The Postman and its music, or those who are fans of James Newton Howard and are looking to buy a great soundtrack you might have missed. Fortunately, neither group will be disappointed by this CD. As typical of Howard's movie scores, The Postman offers some varied pieces with the main three themes interwoven throughout. Fortunately, those themes aren't repeated ad nauseum, and the music is varied enough that you can play it for days and not annoy your roommates or family an unusual quality for a movie score. The quiet, subtle layers of the main titles (played as the post-apocalyptic world is introduced) lead into the variations in Shelter in the Storm, and the first echoes of the postman's theme. The villain's theme occurs in, of course, General Bethlehem, and then again in the combination track The Belly of the Beast. The love theme and the postman's theme build in Abby Comes Calling and culminate - with the others - in The Restored United States and The Postman. The rest of the "songs" on this disc are basically throwaways, unless you really have an urge to hear some silly country-rockabilly tunes that played minor roles at best in the film. Fans of Howard will no doubt be impressed by the range of this wonderful composer, and fans of the film can listen to some truly excellent music on the early morning commute. A note: some of the music seems to be mixed poorly, and the entire CD is quieter than most others. To really hear the nuances of some of the tracks, you have to turn your stereo WAY up and then turn it down again as the song gets louder. It's annoying, and it does detract from the overall enjoyment of the disc (in the film, the differences between volumes were no where near as great). Still, I would recommend the first seven songs on the CD to anyone interested in good orchestral music."

A haunting and beautiful score

Johannes | 03/31/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of my favorite James Newton Howard scores along with Wyatt Earp and Waterworld.The seven tracks of score on this CD are really terrific,from slow and relaxing to bold and triumphant.The main theme is superb and all the other tracks are haunting,beautiful and inspiring. The eight songs on the CD are enjoyable but the best of these is "You didn't have to be so nice".If you are a fan of the movie or of James Newton Howard,I strongly recommend this CD."

Good score,but could be better

Johannes | Stockholm, Sweden | 06/08/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I had not heard of mr Howard before I listened to Dinosaur. But I found that fantastic,so I got this one a little bit later. I found it sounding wonderfull. Howard`s style of scoring is almost like a combination between the classical John Williams and the futuristic Hans Zimmer. It begins with the main titles,that contains many drums and light chorus. The following track is "Shelter in the Storm". It offers some six mins. of very beautifull music that makes you feel some kind of loneliness. In "The Belly of the Beast",the action music begins. It is very powerfull,with a large orchestra and chorus,and it can easily be mistaken for a Zimmer track,as it has the heroic cues of that guy`s "The Peacemaker". The main theme also disappears here,and it sounds some patriotic,like hope in a hard time. General Betlehem is like a combination of the two first ones,with both hopefull and some heavy action music as well as some lonely music. I like the light chorus in this seven-minute track. Track five,"Abby Comes Calling",is an eleven-minute track with some flutes,piano and horns. It features the love version of the main theme as The Postman and Abby falls in love. At the beginning,it is very beautifull,but after five mins. it becomes a little boring - you are just waiting and thinks:"When will there happen anything". It is simply too long. The sixth track,"Restored United States",is my personal favourite and it features some really good and hopefull choral action music in the final battle and is the main action cue. There are many drums,which gives this score a patriotic feel. The final track,"The Postman",begins a little boring,but after about five minutes,it becomes a true symphony with brave repeatitions of the main theme. Over all,I can say this score is something special. It sounds like a score for a biblic film,not for a film about the future,although it fits very good into the film. It is almost like a combination between William`s the Patriot and Howard`s new score for Dinosaur. But the problem is that the tracks are too long. Except track 3,the best music is buried three to five minutes into the tracks. That does give you a perfect listening experience but they could have mixed into shorter,but more tracks instead. But if you want something different,it is recommended to get it,but not without reading my warning."

Search - James Newton Howard :: The Postman: Music From The Motion Picture (1997 Film)

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