Search - James Newton Howard :: The Sixth Sense: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Fantastic "despair and sadness" work by Howard

Mr. Stanley M. Schmidt | Rockford, IL | 07/11/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I have to agree with 95% of the reviews already written on this recording. The despair, sadness and torment are front and center in this collection. You have to be in the right frame of mind to really enjoy the message of darkness and gloom. The track that made me buy the CD was "De Profundis". This delicate flow of misery with the sinking cellos and basses during the minor key change took my musical spirit to another place. It was divine.I really appreciate his Howard's use of low volumes to convey his thoughts. He fully understands that pianissimo (pp) can hit just as hard as a full throttled forte (fff).Although the music and concept deserve a five star rating, the record company really [disappointed] the buyers by only including 29 minutes on the disc. This, sadly, makes this THE SHORTEST soundtrack I own and one of the THE SHORTEST soundtracks on the market. :("

Good score on a cheapjack label

Charles H. Levenson | new jersey | 06/03/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Varese Sarabande,the label that issued this soundtrack,has a history of castrating good scores in order to save money..some years ago,in an article in Filmscore Monthly ,this issue was brought up,and the owners of the label,a bunch of good-for-nothings who make money off those who like film music while notoriously short-changing them at every opportunity,defended thier consistent efforts to hold the length of thier soundtrack releases at or about thirty minutes...thier view was and remains,that they would have to pay higher rates to the orchestras involved if they put out FULL SCORE SOUNDTRACKS..overtime is a killer,according to these label executives,and,as far as they are concerned,it is better for thier label to release butchered scores,missing main titles and other assorted cues,than to give the public what it has heard on-screen,and what it EXPECTS to hear when purchasing a soundtrack album.The fact that SOME of newton-Howard's music survives on this disc is the ONLY excuse for buying the album,and,because the album is incomplete,it should be purchased USED and as cheaply as possible(which,by the way,is a good rule of thumb for purchasing ANY varese product)..."

The beginning of a beautiful friendship...

Brian Litton | 10/28/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"James Newton Howard's first score for M. Night Shyamalan is also the hardest for me to sit through, even though it's an extremely effective score. It's easy to hear it and understand why Shyamalan has stuck with him. Even his less memorable scores are effective."