Enemy of the State (Soundtrack) by Trevor Rabin and Harry Gregon-Williams


Tracksounds Rating = 5/10			Composed by Trevor Rabin and Harry Gregson Williams Released by Hollywood Records on November 1998

Track	Title	Time	Rating	Enemy of the Ear by Christopher Coleman After Rabin and Gregson-Williams' triumph, Armageddon, their score for Enemy of the State is a huge disappointment. Most of the score is a concoction of electronic whirrs, clicks and explosions that doesn’t really fit any mood I am ever in. There are only a couple discernable themes throughout the whole CD. This keeps the score from being hard to remember at all. The Enemy of the State Main theme (track 2) is woven into a couple of other tracks and whenever this was done, I tended to like the cut more and hence rated a little higher. However, most tracks on this CD received low ratings because of their lack of cohesion. It may be that the action/suspense pieces produced from the Media Venture composers are made endurable by the usually wonderful thematic work they do. Enemy of the State has its fair share of action/suspense but is not balanced by strong themes that tie the score together. Brill's theme (track 3) is one of the decent ones. Once again, this is not a strong theme and is difficult to detect anywhere else in the score. Elements of it can be heard hear and there, but that is all. The vast majority of the tracks are such a hodge podge of pulsating electronica that I get dizzy just from listening. Many times there is some nice music tucked within the layers of techno-collisions, but they are hard to pick out due to a distorted guitar or musical explosion. I found it difficult to tell when one track ended and the next began. Occasionally, one will hear elements of The Rock and Armageddon, but only the individual elements, not the distinct character and depth these two scores featured. As much as I dislike short tracks, in this case, the shortest, Free Ferry, is my favorite. No, not because it is short, but because it contains the best music of the whole CD. While, other tracks contain this theme, it is usually attached to pieces that I don't like. Obviously, this score is not going to get a high recommendation from me. If I was the all action/type-no-themes-needed-type of film score fan, I might really dig this score. Well, I'm not and I feel horrible for paying the $17.00 price for this one. For the most part, this score is but an Enemy to the Ear.
1	Main titles	1:59	**
2	Enemy of the State Main Theme	2:55	***
3	Brill's Theme	3:28	***
4	The Ferry	1:16	*
5	Hotel Chase Part 2	3:45	**
6	Hotel Chase Part 1	2:01	**
7	NSA Research	2:35	**
8	Brill and Dean Meet	4:13	*
9	Free Ferry	0:37	***
10	Nanny Drive	1:32	*
11	Final Confrontation	8:43	*
12	Coal Yard Part 1	3:42	**
13	Face to Face	3:09	*
14	The Tunnel Part 1	1:57	*
15	Coal Yard Part 2	4:53	**
16	Rachel's Found Dead	5:18	*
17	Wish You We're Here	1:59	*
	Total Running Time	54:04

Category		Score
Film Continuity		7
Originality		3
CD Length		5
Track Order		3
Performance		5
Final Score		5


Other reviews:
"This is a cookie-cutter score. Sure it’s the obvious choice, a techno sound for a movie that has the constant presence of technological devices, but do all action scores have to sound cloned? " Martin Provost - Cinemusic					Composers Harry Gregson-Williams & Trevor Rabin
All artwork from Enemy of the State is exclusive property of Hollywood Records (c) 1998. Its appearance is for imformational purposes only.