Published on Oct 6, 2000
Michael Kamen seems to want to be the heavy metal conductor.
First, he gets together with Metallica for the hair-brained idea
that became
S & M; now we have all sorts of bands pairing up with
symphonies. Deep Purple, I could understand; the Scorpions I can’t.
(Memo to Kamen: I don’t hold you to blame for Metallica; they
haven’t put out a good album now in a decade.)
Now, Kamen appears as the composer and conductor for
X-Men, the long-awaited film based on the comic book series.
Mixing traditional symphonic structure with the almost industrial
crunch of electric guitar might fit the action in the film, but it
sure wreaks havoc on the eardrums of the casual listener.
First, an admission: Not only have I not seen the movie, but I
have no plans on seeing the movie. (When the kids in the
neighborhood were reading these comic books, I was engrossed in
Uncle Scrooge and Richie Rich.) But I will give Kamen this much
credit: more often than not, the listener can get an idea of what
is happening in the movie based on the energy level and the volume
of the music being played.
This particular soundtrack, even at a comparatively short 40
minutes, sometimes feels like it’s three times as long. It takes
far too long for the excitement to build on this project — and
even there, it’s a concept that’s introduced on “Ambush” and
brought to fruition only on the next track, “Mutant School.” With a
film such as this, you’d almost expect the soundtrack to be
bristling with excitement and energy from the get-go. Instead, the
opening portion is rather dreary.
There are some decent moments on
X-Men, coming in the form of the rhythmically powerful
“Train” and the disc’s closer “Logan And Rogue.” But what is
surprising, and almost unforgivable, is that the pieces which
scream out for an intense performance, such as “Museum Fight” and
“Final Showdown,” only serve to let down the listener.
Maybe sticking to a totally traditional orchestra would have
been disastrous for this soundtrack — but the mixture of
traditional and industrial doesn’t work nearly as well as one would
hope. Quite possibly this would have been a better disc overall had
the soundtrack included works from some of the genre’s top acts. If
I read correctly, the producers simply ran out of time. This is one
project I would have demanded that the calendar be opened up for,
if only to keep something half-baked from hitting the streets.
There are, of course, the diehard fans of both
X-Men and Kamen, and both will swear up and down that this
disc is a masterpiece. For the rest of us, this one is an easy one
to pass up.