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Wash the Spider Out
Review by Christopher Coleman

Along Came a Spider
4/10

Jerry Goldsmith makes his entry into the new millennium with the suspense-thriller Along Came a Spider.  Although its a new century...a new millennium ...one of Hollywood's most talented and prolific composers seems intent on sticking to his established style of the late Nineties.  Jerry Goldsmith's score for Along Came a Spider is unfortunately, one of the most uninspired and uninspiring scores to come across my CD player in some time.  Even the heartiest Goldsmith fan would have to confess that there is absolutely nothing new here.  In the end, the score leaves one dry and further disappointed with the trend this legendary composer seems to be continuing in.

The CD begins in a rather promising way; however.  Echoing the style of a Graeme Revell or even the dark synthetic approach employed by Craig Armstrong (Plunkett & MacLeane), track 1, Night Talk, is forebodingly built on reversed samples, menacing strings and occasional percussive accents.  The opening atonal piece isn't the most fun to listen to but it's promise lay in the fact that it doesn't immediately remind one of any other Jerry Goldsmith composition.  Such hope is quickly washed away as track one flows into track 2, Testing.  This second track opens with the familiar burst of percussion plus brass fanfare used, in what seems like, countless Goldsmith scores of the last ten years.   In pieces such as The Ransom (7), Goldsmith reverts to elements he made famous in scores such as Rambo and Total Recall.  Simple piano and brass motifs accented by electronics immediately recall memories of both of these earlier Goldsmith gems.  

Of course most suspense-thrillers don't provide a platform for any composer to deliver their most innovative work, but the transgression of Along Came a Spider is its refusal to be original in any way at all.  It is simply the pinnacle of Goldsmith's "sleepwalk composing".   This score is the next, natural, downward step from works such as The Haunting and Hollow Man.  These two previous efforts at least had one track that help salvage the score from total mediocrity.  Along Came a Spider eliminates even that saving grace, accept for the final few moments of the final track, Not My Partner.

It is highly unlikely anyone will be complaining about Varese Sarabande's treatment of this score.  With just under 35 minutes of score, this is as complete a release as anyone will need.  If someone desires more of this sort of music then popping in any one of the scores mentioned in this review will do the trick.  Most of the tracks have been rated below average because they lack any emotional content whatsoever- no true suspense, no fear, no anything.  As Jerry Goldsmith reaches the twilight of his composing career, fans continue to earnestly await his next project with the hopes that he will deliver the score that will put a crown on his epic career.  The sad truth is with his most recent efforts, Along Came a Spider topping the list, there seems to be increasing evidence to be so hopeful.

*The Experience-O-Meter displays the track to track listening experience of this soundtrack based on the 5-Star rating given to each track.  It provides a visual depiction of the ebbs and flows of the CD's presentation of the soundtrack.

Referenced Reviews
Hollow Man

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