King Kong

Artist: James Newton Howard
Label: Decca
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Format: Soundtrack
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 028947652243
EAN: 0028947652243
ASIN: B000BJ7CUQ

Release Date: 2005-12-13

King Kong

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Tracks:

King Kong
A Fateful Meeting
Defeat Is Always Momentary
It's In The Subtext
Two Grand
The Venture Departs
Last Blank Space On The Map
It's Deserted
Something Monsterous... Neither Beast Nor Man
Head Towards The Animals
Beautiful
Tooth And Claw
That's All There Is...
Captured
Central Park
The Empire State Building
Beauty Killed The Beast I
Beauty Killed The Beast II
Beauty Killed The Beast III
Beauty Killed The Beast IV
Beauty Killed The Beast V

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James Newton Howard reportedly got the King Kong gig as a last-minute replacement for Howard Shore (who of course had worked on King Kong director Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings series). The good news is that Howard still managed to write an honorable score; the bad news is that it's no more than honorable. For some, the biggest disappointment may be that Howard didn't find more inspiration in the film's 1930s setting. Once in a while he inserts a vaguely jazzy flourish (the brief clarinet passages in "Defeat Is Always Momentary" for instance) but the period detail is kept to a minimum. Having more may have helped give the score a shot of much-needed individuality. Action scenes, for instance, are set to the opulently orchestrated, frantic percussive rumble that is Hollywood short-hand for, well, action scenes. "Head Towards the Animals" and "Beauty Killed the Beast III" are just the most typical examples of that style: Howard gives these bravura numbers the requisite pounding intensity, but can we be blamed for feeling that we've heard them dozens of times before? Similarly, the composer sticks to the expected when he needs to get more contemplative, as on "A Fateful Meeting" (soothing strings, soothing clarinet) or "Beautiful" (flutes to suggest the exotic locale). In short, this album is everything you expect it to be. Which sometimes isn't quite enough. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Album Description

Known for his robust orchestral scores laced with lush sounds, James Newton Howard's compelling music for King Kong is a treasure destined to become another classic in his rich catalogue. Tracks such as "A Fateful Meeting" and "Defeat Is Always Momentary" take the listener on an urgent voyage to an undiscovered land, while "It's Deserted" and "Beautiful" evoke the lyrical beauty of the landscape created by Jackson and inhabited by the films memorable characters. Howard perfectly compliments the feeling of suspense, love and compassion the film so powerfully conveys.

</p>James Newton Howard is one of Hollywood's most versatile and prolific composers, with more than 90 films to his credit. He has received six Oscar nominations, two Golden Globe nominations and one Grammy nomination. In addition, he has won 28 ASCAP Awards for film and television shows scored from 1994 to 2005. His credits include films as diverse as The Sixth Sense, Signs, The Fugitive, Pretty Woman, The Prince of Tides, Grand Canyon, Dave, Primal Fear, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Devil's Advocate, and Dinosaur. Howard's more recent projects include Batman Begins; The Interpreter; The Ring 2; Miss Congeniality 2; Collateral; The Village, for which he received his sixth Oscar nomination for Best Original Score; Hidalgo; and the live-action Peter Pan.

Customer Reviews:

Beat Your Chest to Get This One.......2007-02-28

After Lord of the Rings collaborator Howard Shore had his fully written score rejected due to the ever popular "creative differences" in Peter Jackson's film, James Newton Howard stepped in and had about a month and a half to write a monumental amount of music. He stepped up to the challenge and wrote a blowout score that awes and amazes at each turn. I can only imagine what kind of score he would have come up with if he had a much longer period of time to write the score, but in any case, he succeeds all the same.
King Kong has an established theme throughout the score, represented by a 7-note motif that is both ominous and bold. It is featured whenever the big ape is on screen, as well as when he is somewhere lurking about on the island. Since the film takes place in the 1930s, Howard wrote some period music in many cues of the first half of the score, which feature appropriate pianos and jazzy woodwinds.
As the crew makes their way to the island, the music shifts into a more ominous and more action-oriented approach, as they try to survive and capture the beast. The music throughout the majority of the second half of the album is awe-inspiring, resilient, and frankly breath-taking. The orchestra is strident, the chorus is bold, and the percussion is propulsive. "Tooth and Claw" is a very impressive action-oriented track with plenty of fast-paced, heavy brass lines, whirling strings, and racing percussion. The "awe-factor" is present in most of the cues, such as "It's Deserted", where you can only imagine viewing the island for the first time as the ship nears its destination.
The grand finale consists of "The Empire State Building" as well as "Beauty Killed the Beast" (not how the Disney film ended as you may recall...). Here the orchestra and chorus give everything they've got, building and building to an emotional and powerful climax as the great beast falls to his demise.
This is one of James Newton Howard's finest works, which proves that he is one of the best composers out there. A highly recommended score with 74 minutes of outstanding music. You would be a fool to pass this one up!!

To be honest..........2006-05-26

Not the best score I've ever heard. Certainly not bad, some tracks were very nice. Unfortunately, a good deal of them are too action-oriented for my liking, or simply boring. The best piece of music from the film, the beautifully haunting female chorus played over the spider pit scene (best part of the movie!), is sadly nowhere to be found on this disc. I don't doubt Howard's talent as a composer, but the music for King Kong, sadly, doesn't have the same bite as the movie.

Individual Songs are Good, but Overall Flow of the CD Soundtrack Seems Slow and Sluggish........2006-04-05

Compared to the milestone, classic soundtrack of the original KING KONG, this CD of Peter Jackson's remake has a lot to live up to. In the new KING KONG movie, the music fits in well, even if it does not take on a life of its own, as did the original Max Steiner soundtrack for the original KING KONG film. But this new music really works best as a complement to the onscreen activities only, and is not so engaging on CD, without the story visuals.

Some Soundtracks are great with just the music, this one really needs the movie visuals for the best enjoyment.

This CD seems to follow the chronological order of the events in the film, but this is one CD Soundtrack where they might have been better off changing the song order for a better flow, on CD only (which is a common practise on other soundtrack CDs, like for the STAR WARS films, for example). The early songs are too slow to get moving into the action, and later songs have slow and fast parts, so it becomes a little frustrating, waiting for action, then getting a little excitement, then crashing into stillness again.

Individually each song seems good, but when I try to listen to the whole CD, I get restless waiting for something interesting. I think I will resequence the songs and burn my own CD in a more appealing song sequence (that's legal since I own the CD, of course).

Instrumental Heaven ~ Mehdi.......2006-04-03

I've always enjoyed great movie scores and this album is no exception, but while reading some of the customer recommendations posted on this site I discovered a group by the name of Mehdi (pronounced meddie). After an online search I found their site (SoothingMusic - Com) and listened to the samples...
I was instantly blown away by the quality of this music and so I gave it a try and now that I have listened to these CDs several times, I really must say that although I'm still a fan of this score I also find Mehdi to be a great addition to this CD. I have them both in my multi-disc CD player and love the way they compliment each other. I highly recommend that you give this artist a try or atleast just go listen to the samples, I have a feeling you'll be glad you did.

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