Soundtrack Review: Appaloosa (2008)

Posted by Jorn Tillnes

December 27, 2008

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112508 0809 soundtrackr12 Soundtrack Review: Appaloosa (2008) This is a review of the motion picture score for Appaloosa by Jeff Beal.

“Appaloosa is like Irish breakfast without bacon and eggs, like Spaghetti without the meatballs, it just leaves me hungry”

Appaloosa by Jeff Beal already has starting collecting awards this year. First one for Best Film Score at the Hollywood Music Awards. Naturally that raises a few eyebrows and higher expectations will follow. You know what they say, the bigger they are, the harder they fall so I won’t thread lightly when reviewing this score. Jeff Beal has won a few awards already for his previous (mostly TV) scores like HBO’s Rome. That’s probably where most people know him from. He has also comosed for other TV shows like Monk and Carnivale. This is about Appaloosa which is an old-fashioned western about two friends hired to defend a town from a ruthless murderer in the 1880s. Seems like they like modern western scores at the award panels. Last year if you remember, “3:10 To Yuma” by Marco Beltrami was highly regarded by most. How does Jeff Beal fare in this genre?

Track List

Appaloosa Main Title
New City Marshal
Bragg’s Theme
Allison French
Allie Teases Virgil
Dawn In Appaloosa
Cole And Hitch Stalk Bragg
Bragg Is Captured
Apology Accepted
The Kiss
Readin’ And Writin’
Allie Is Kidnapped
Cole Ponders
Hitch Rides
Finding Allie
The Indian Attack
The Horse Trade
Riding Into Rio Seco
Ballad Of Rio Seco
Shootout At Rio Seco
Allie Goes Upstairs
Hitch Settles A Score
Riding Off, Appaloosa End Credits
You’ll Never Leave My Heart (By Ed Harris)
Ain’t Nothin’ Like A Friend (By Ed Harris)

Not Spaghetti Western

His approach is not like Marco Beltrami for his “3:10 To Yuma” with it’s spaghetti western undertones. Jeff Beal has it’s own approach to it, so much that it doesn’t feel like a western. Is that a good or a bad thing? According to the award panels it’s a good things, but I’m not so sure. It feels a little whimsical at times. The “Appaloosa Main Title” has you smiling as it actually does resemble a western, sort of. With it’s strings, the main theme is born, and if this is the theme, few people will ever remember it I’m afraid. Perhaps that is Beal’s approach, but it feels a little weak and won’t stand out in a busy year, at least not for me. You have to try harder than that Mr. Beal. The main theme continues in the second cue “New City Marshal”, but a more sinister approach this time with darker undertones. I can’t help but feel that this would be a nice time to employ the hero theme, but this score lacks one.

The themes keep on missing with “Bragg’s Theme” which leads me to wonder, where are all the good themes? If the theme is a few drumbeats, then Jeff Beal has pegged it with “Bragg’s Theme”, but it just ends up being weird. With “Allison French” a theme appears which, whimsical in nature, does seem to have to backbone to it, although it doesn’t impress. It’s built on a plucky guitar and strings, but there is no bass, no undertone to it which makes it very dull. Same goes for “Allie Teases Virgil”, which is a celebration to the skewed violin which leaves me wondering what Beal is trying to accomplish.

Has it been negative so far? Don’t worry, it’s not over yet, with negativity I mean. Although let’s talk about something positive which is in the cue “Dawn in Appaloosa” which is a very nice theme using banjo, guitar, violin and nice western horse-shoe like percussion. The best cue on the Appaloosa film score so far. If Jeff Beal had kept working on this and developing cues like this, the landscape would look totally different. It’s hard to tell what he wants to get across with this score. It might just be a case of picture to sound which is fair enough. He saw the movie and selected a soundscape for it that was fitting. Sometimes that doesn’t fit in reality which is the case here. It seems Mr. Beal doesn’t like this Bragg character as the two next cues “Cole and Hitch Stalk Bragg” and “Bragg is Captured” lacks pretty much everything a good cue should have. It feels like mostly noise with no attempt to create a theme that you can actually enjoy listening to.

The Ending Is Good

It goes on like this for a few more cues, but wait, there is gold in those darn hills! Yes, it seems Mr. Jeff Beal had a change of heart midway through and decided that thematic music is the way to go. He starts off with “Hitch Rides” which is a great rendition of the main theme and it does help making the theme more memorable. Then you have “Riding Into Rio Seco” which is a great Mexican-inspired cowboy theme that has you wondering: Why now? Why not sooner Mr. Beal? There is more where that came from, although perhaps not in the way of Mexico, but in the spirit of good. “Shootout at Rio Seco” is an interesting cue which I had to listen to a few times, but it’s quite good in nature. It doesn’t create memories, but it has an aura of anticipation and Eeriness to it which I like. He even uses a jazzy horn to add to the drama. It is not an action cue, but more of an exciting one.

Hitch has gotten all the good stuff from Jeff Beal, which is again signified in “Hitch Settles a Score”, a very nice cue in which Beal is trying to play on emotions and he partly succeeds with his slow, western-inspired approach. Specially the end is very nice as the strings fill soundscape with pizazz. The last bit of actual score is a nice one. It’s “Riding Off, Appaloosa End Credits” which is a rendition of the main theme, but it is definitely more varied with a nice harmonica. Almost reminds me of Lucky Luke riding off in the sunset. It is a joyful theme which ends it on a high note. There are 2 songs from Ed Harris. Yes he sings, but not sure he dances. “You’ll Never Leave My Heart” and “Ain’t Nothin’ Like A Friend” are very nice additions and certainly helps maintaining the spirit. I certainly didn’t know Ed Harris could sing like this. Perhaps he should do this more often.

Conclusion

Despite the great ending, it leaves me with an awkward feeling of emptiness. This should have been so much more. Perhaps it impresses the award panels, but it doesn’t impress me. Appaloosa is like Irish breakfast without bacon and eggs, like Spaghetti without the meatballs, it just leaves me hungry. There are so much better scores released this year and for this to win for Best Film Score is sad, but a fact. It’s hardly interesting and will be forgotten as quickly as the egg and baconless breakfast you had this morning.