Soundtrack Review: City of Ember (2008)
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This is a review of the motion picture score for City of Ember by Andrew Lockington.
“Even though it ends on a spectacular note, the bad cues make a huge dent in what should have been a great score”
It’s adventure time again in the form of the film score to City of Ember by Andrew Lockington who previously composed for the Brendan Fraser movie “Journey To The Center Of The Earth”. Adventure scores are great, both for the composer and us because you can always expect some imaginative music from imaginary worlds. The Ember books, of course a huge success has been made into it’s first movie with possibly more to follow. The choice for composer landed on the relatively unknown Andrew Lockington. Don’t hold it against him though, as many exciting scores come from the most unknown of composers. This genre isn’t a Howard Shore only event, not by a long shot. I don’t expect any score to be like Lord Of The Rings, but I expect my fantasy scores to dazzle and entertain me. Let’s find out how City of Ember by Andrew Lockington fares.
Track List
- City Of Ember Main Titles
- Lina Mayfleet
- Assignment Day
- Job Exchange
- Blue Sky
- First Day
- Message For Clary
- Tunnels
- The Mayor
- The Box Of Ember
- Blackout
- Map And Mole
- Room 351
- Proof
- Fugitives
- Loris’ Bike
- Interlocking Keys
- Clockworks
- Control Room
- Water Wheel
- The Mayor Retreats
- Stalagmite Trance
- Escape To Sunrise
- One Last Message
Flexing Muscles
It’s quite a hefty score with 24 tracks and a lot to chew on. As we all know however, quantity can never beat quality so the quality here has to be above average to make me a happy man. We start off in great fashion with “City Of Ember Main Titles” which is a war-like sounding track, and it has power and energy to carry this score if it’s used right. It’s a great beginning to hopefully a great score. It continues in similar vein with the exciting cue “Lina Mayfleet” which reminds of some of the exciting music from Stardust last year and this cue delivers the best theme of the score, even though it’s painstakingly short. Still, Andrew Lockington has flexed his musical muscle from the beginning, showing us that great things are ahead… not quite.
“Assignment Day” is cue 3 and already I feel the excitement from the first two cues has vanished. It doesn’t get much better in “Assignment Day” although it gets bonus point for using the great theme introduced in “Lina Mayfleet”, but it only last for 20% of the cue, then it transforms into a sad little cue with almost no power to carry my musical joy. “Blue Sky” is a filler track with nothing to talk about. Exciting start to “First Day” with a nice and quick violin variation which sadly does not last, although it is enough to carry my interest over to the next cues which are “Message for Clary”, “Tunnels” and “The Mayor”. They are nothing short of below average and neither are the three next cues “The Box of Ember”, “Blackout” and “Map and Mole”.
Save The Best For Last
Luckily we are through the rough patches of this score and now the fun can really begin with “Room 351″, although not quite yet spectacular at least sounds exciting after the previous six cues which led to this point. “Proof” starts off pace with a mysterious theme which tries to evolve into a better cue, but ends up where it starts, in nowhere land. Luckily “Fugitives” come to the rescue with an enjoyable and hurried action cue with choirs, yes choirs! Finally something to shout about. It has an epic feel to it with powerful horns and hurried strings that propels this cue up there with the best of them. “Lori’s Bike” and “Interlocking Keys” are decent cues, especially “Lori’s Bike” which is an exciting cue to use the main theme quite well with a hurried string section in the background almost cheering it on. “Clockworks” and “Control Room” are fun cues which takes you from drama to action with horns, strings and a little choir put in for good measure. The last cue is the best cue on this score. It’s called “One Last Message” which is a wonderful brash musical piece with all the right ingredients like a strong theme represented with the best a musical orchestra can provide, mesmerizing stuff!
Conclusion
Even though it ends on a spectacular note, the bad cues make a huge dent in what should have been a great score. Even though the end result isn’t as great as one would have hoped, Andrew Lockington shows huge promise though some flashes of greatness.
Listen to City of Ember by Andrew Lockington below:
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Soundtrack Seek
One should note that Lockington wrote and recorded this score in only 2-3 weeks after Douglas Pipes’s score was rejected and given the time constraints he did a fairly good job.
Reply
Jorn Tillnes Reply:
January 6th, 2009 at 4:09 am
Composers have much less time now than before, but it’s nice to know that even with harsh time restraints they still deliver. Zimmer wrote and recorded The Lion King in 3 weeks and we all know how that went so it’s certainly possible.
Reply
Jon Reply:
January 6th, 2009 at 5:52 am
Yes but Zimmer’s work on the Lion King was also prepared for about four years before being put into a finished product over the last three weeks. I’m not saying very good scores can’t be produced in the time constraints of two or three weeks (King Kong stands out as a wise example), but I just think it’s wise to point out that a reason such scores may not be all they can be can stem from this kind of schedule. Not being on board until the final two weeks interferes with the creative process as many composers testify to going through ideas for what scores will sound like months before they actually get to work on watching the film and writing the material, therefore a rushed schedule such as the one Lockington faced for this film can likely explain the underwhelming softer moments mentioned above.
Reply
Jorn Tillnes Reply:
January 10th, 2009 at 10:26 am
Interesting. Didn’t know that. Having too much time to prepare and think about a score might ruin it though if you are not too careful. Sometimes, creating something on the spot gives surprising and great results. I think City of Ember had it’s flaws, but overall I liked it. Would it have been better with more preparation and planning? Perhaps. I am excited about 2009 for Andrew and hope he continues on the same track.