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Soundtrack Review: The Adjustment Bureau (2011)

Reviewer: JØrn Tillnes

The Adjustment Bureau Soundtrack Review: This is a review of the motion picture score The Adjustment Bureau by Thomas Newman.

"The score, if nothing else, will please Thomas Newman fans"

The Adjustment Bureau is an interesting sci-fi thriller about an affair between a politician and a ballerina who are kept apart by mysterious people and forces. Yep, it's another Philip K. Dick short story and that usually (for me) means quality. It is George Nolfi's first stab as a director and rumors has it James Horner was tied to this movie. What we ended up with is Thomas Newman writing the score and one can only imagine that the scores would sound very different.

Track List

1. Fate	****
2. Inflection Points	****
3. Elise	****
4. Four Elections	****
6. The Girl on the Bus	*****
7. Square-One Reset	*****
8. Richardson	****
9. None of them are You	****
10. New Leaf	****
11. Pier 17	****
12. Recalibration	***
13. The Substrate	*****
14. Real Kiss	****
16. The Illusion of Free Will	****
17. Escher Loop	*****
18. The Ripples Must Be Endless (End Title)	****

Distinct Style

Thomas Newman is probably THE composer you can immediately tell scored this or that when listening to a score. He has a very distinct style that is only his. The problem is that he really does sound like himself most of the time. For some that is very unfortunate and some can't get into Thomas Newman just because of that. Others love the Thomas Newman style and will, on impulse, get everything he does.

Thomas Newman haters, there's nothing for you here, no surprises, so you will keep on hating. Thomas Newman lovers, there are certainly no surprises, but you will love it, at least like it, even though it is far from his top form.

The Adjustment Bureau consists of 16 Thomas Newman tracks that sounds like a mix of "Angels in America", "Road to Perdition" and "Shawshank Redemption. Luckily those are some of Thomas Newman's best scores and so if you enjoyed those, you are obligated to get this and love it.

There are some fantastic tracks here like 'Escher Loop' that sounds like a dark trance track at time with a quick electronic beat in the background with some percussion and bass layers that make most of the track. It then changes mood and goes into a string and piano ending. Perhaps the best track of all is called 'The Ripples Must Be Endless (End Title)' that starts of very similar to what you have heard from "Angels in America" and continues in that style to conclude what is undoubtedly another winner for Thomas Newman.

Conclusion

The score, if nothing else, will please Thomas Newman fans for a long time to come. It has all the ingredients of a great Thomas Newman score and personally I have not gone tired yet. It could definitely be better, it lacks a cohesiveness throughout, but somewhere in there it is all tied together. It also lacks a definable theme by the way, but when has that ever been a prerequisite? Thomas Newman fans should and will get this as soon as possible, and rightly so.

->Buy the MP3 Album on Amazon<-

Listen to The Adjustment Bureau soundtrack by Thomas Newman below:

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