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“Homages and nods included, the soundtrack for
LAIR plays like a wondrous amusement park ride for the musical soul.”
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John Debney in Full
Flight
Review by Christopher
Coleman
Some weeks ago I was
privileged enough to
get a musical glimpse
into the world of
LAIR. I reviewed the
5-track promo in as
glowingly a manner as
I ever have for any
promo - significant
considering it's
brevity. Still it was
well deserved as the
quality of composer
JOHN DEBNEY's work was
very clear in just
those 5 selections.
Fast forward to early
October 2007, a few
weeks after the game's
exclusive release for
the Sony Playstation
3, the full soundtrack
release of LAIR is
released on iTunes. I
was among the many who
scurried to download
it despite my overall
dissatisfaction with
the fidelity of iTunes
tracks. It didn't
matter...I wanted to
hear the rest of
Debney's work bad
enough to set aside my
own private boycott.
Now, I must make it
plain that I have not
played LAIR yet...and
believe me the
tempation was great
with the release of
both LAIR and HEAVENLY
SWORD. After the
somewhat disappointing
buzz about the
controller issues in
LAIR, I finally
decided that HEAVENLY
SWORD alone was not
tempting enough to
invest in the whole
shabang. So this
review is centered on
the merits of Debney's
music alone.
Being both thoroughly
entertained and
impressed by the
5-track promo, the
question that ate at
me for weeks was "what layeth in wait" in the
full soundtrack
release? Ah. If I
thought that all the
best bits were
released on the promo,
that notion was
quickly erased with my
first listen of the
iTunes soundtrack. For
those of you who have
also not yet played
the game, I'll just
tell you that LAIR
offers track after
track of cinematically
epic stuff! The score
is one of the rarities
that the listener can
really sink their ears
into!
As I mentioned in the
promo review, JOHN DEBNEY, while
endeavoring to enhance
the gaming experience,
evokes memories of
some of the film
industry's great
composers. It was not
hard to find the
influence of the great
Miklos Rosza and John
Williams coursing
through LAIR's veins
and now with the full
release in hand, their
influence goes beyond
just the circulatory
system but help to
form a large part of
the score's skeletal
foundation. While the
biggest influence
sounds as if it is
John Williams (both of
the classic and
present-day Williams
varieties), there are
moments when my ears
dance around with a
bit of Jerry Goldsmith
and James Horner and
fellowship with
a moment of Howard
Shore as well.
Homages and nods
included, the
soundtrack for LAIR
plays like a wondrous
amusement park ride
for the musical soul.
Triumphant fanfares
and clashing battle
sequences are
counterbalanced by
peaceful,
retrospective and
sometimes solemn
compositions. LAIR
ends up being one of
the most stimulating
and satisfying listens
of 2007.
There are some 12
tracks that I'd
classify as action
pieces. That's
quite a few if one is
thinking in terms of a
feature film...but
this "playable cinema"
allows for,
no...demands, a lot
more action. One
of Debney's best
action pieces is
frothing with John
Williams. "Diviners
Battle" (3) is a
fantastic piece who's
backbone is likened to
Williams' "Battle of
the Heroes" from Star
Wars: Revenge of the
Sith. Now, what one
calls a "homage"
another calls a "rip."
From my view, I see
this as a flattering
homage to the great
Williams of old and
well-seasoned Williams
of today. In the
track you can pick up
sections that seem to
fall right out of the
world of Indiana Jones
and the original Star
Wars trilogy. Truth be
told, its a more
satisfying blend than
Williams, himself,
pulled off for his
second trilogy of Star
Wars scores. (yes...go
ahead and step aside
if you don't want to
be hit by the bolt
heading the author's
way.)
Other action sequences
of note include:
"Blood River" (6), the
belligerent "Serpent
Strait" (8) the
determined "Firestorm"
and the tension-filled
"Deadman's Basin"
(16). There's
enough action music
here for even the
heartiest orchestral
thrill-seeker, but
there is more to LAIR.
Counterbalancing all
of this action are
reflective tracks like
"Funeral Pyre" (4) and
"Civilization Theme"
(5), where I have
visions of Ben Hur's
main squeeze, Esther.
The music he wrote for
her remains one of
Rosza's most
romantically
captivating themes.
Finding a contemporary
means of employing
such a theme is quite
a feat. One of
the other central
themes used frequently
throughout is
established most
beautifully in "Rohn's
Theme" (7) where the
vocal talents of TANYA
TSAROUSKA and THE
LONDON VOICES help to
elevate the piece to
rapturous levels.
Their vocal brilliance
continues in track 9,
"Darkness Theme" and
also "Mokai's Theme"
(17). Debney's
moments of reflection
are just as intricate
and satisfying as the
high-flying, battle
pieces.
Honestly, there are
only two complaints I
have with this release
- both minor.
First, this release
does end a little
awkwardly in that
after "Epilogue" (24),
a pretty solemn piece,
things are ramped back
up to a fever-pitch
with two big action
sequences: "Bridge
Battle" (25) and
"Bridge Attack" (26).
While I'm certainly
thankful that both of
these pieces were
included, the final
track (26) leaves my
ears on a
musical-cliffhanger. I
suppose the ancient
marketing technique of
including the words
"BONUS TRACK" would
have solved this minor
discomfort. On
the other hand,
perhaps its marketing
genius...as few want
to be left in the
lurch, the natural
cure would be in
starting the
soundtrack over again.
This is my personal
solution and
recommendation to any
listener who finds
themselves with a
similar feeling.
Second, an iTunes-only
release is doing John
Debney's work an
extreme injustice.
Few scores are more
deserving of a proper
CD release this year,
so let us hope
together for any legal
roadblocks to be
crossed and a sensible
arrangement worked out
with some record label
in near future.
With only two months
remaining in the year,
2007 is certainly not
the strongest years
for film scores, but
without a doubt it
is one of the
strongest for video
game scores. LAIR is
certainly a big part
of the reason why.
Year to date, there
simply hasn't been a
single feature film
score that has evoked
from me the emotional
response that LAIR
has. So it is
with no hesitation
that I give LAIR the
highest Tracksounds
rating possible and
likewise there is no
2007-release that I
recommend more highly.
 Rating: 10/10
|
Track |
Track Title |
Track Time |
Rating |
|
1 |
Lair Main Titles |
2:15 |
***** |
|
2 |
Lair Main
Menu |
2:23 |
***** |
|
3 |
Diviner
Battle |
4:17 |
***** |
|
4 |
Funeral
Pyre |
0:53 |
**** |
|
5 |
Civilization
Theme |
4:00 |
***** |
|
6 |
Blood
River |
3:34 |
***** |
|
7 |
Rohn's
Theme |
2:06 |
***** |
|
8 |
Serpent
Strait |
2:24 |
**** |
|
9 |
Darkness
Theme |
4:03 |
**** |
|
10 |
Firestorm |
3:56 |
***** |
|
11 |
Elegy |
3:27 |
***** |
|
12 |
Diviner's
Theme |
2:08 |
***** |
|
13 |
The
Last
Straw |
2:40 |
*** |
|
14 |
Lost |
2:12 |
***** |
|
15 |
Breaking
the
Ice |
1:32 |
***** |
|
16 |
Deadman's
Basin |
2:58 |
***** |
|
17 |
Mokai
Theme |
2:17 |
**** |
|
18 |
Return
to
Mokai
City,
Pt.
1 |
1:51 |
***** |
|
19 |
Return
to
Mokai
City,
Pt.
2 |
3:36 |
**** |
|
20 |
Runs
of
Mokai |
1:04 |
**** |
|
21 |
Bridge
of
the
Ancients |
1:32 |
***** |
|
22 |
Loden |
1:52 |
***** |
|
23 |
Battle
for
Asylia |
4:10 |
***** |
|
24 |
Epilogue |
3:21 |
***** |
|
25 |
Bridge
Battle |
3:34 |
***** |
|
26 |
Bridge
Attack |
2:06 |
***** |
| |
Total Running Time (approx) |
70 minutes |
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