AT FIRST SIGHT

MARK ISHAM

Rating:

Original Review: The music for At First Sight is soft, reflective, and generally quite attractive, but somehow seems to have a little something missing - something which stops it from developing into the affecting, romantic score it seems to aspire to be. Mark Isham's traditional jazz and blues sensibilities are totally removed from this work, leaving behind nothing more than a familiar, rather bland score which hardly ilicits a response from the listener, even after repeated playings.

Directed by Irwin Winkler and starring Val Kilmer, Mira Sorvino and Nathan Lane, At First Sight tells the story of a man, blind from birth, who has his sight restored by pioneering ocular surgery - but just as he begins to appreciate the beauty of the world around him, he begins to realise that his new vision is slowly becoming worse and worse. This is a score which, in the hands of a different composer, could have been something special. There is real scope for a heart-rending, emotionally shattering theme in this storyline but, rather than stretch his limits, Isham seemed content to simply stick to the old genre clichés in his music.

Sensitive piano solos, lush beds of strings and dancing woodwinds dominate the score's entire 20-minute running time and, although one has to concede that it is all very nice and gentle, the problem lies with the fact that the whole thing is completely unmemorable. This is "emotional wallpaper" scoring at its most blatant, and the sombre, reflective, predominantly sad nature of the music never really does anything for the listener except lull you to sleep. What highlights there are come when a delicate women's choir is introduced into the proceedings, especially during 'A Seeing Celebration'. This technique is used to intensify the emotion even more during 'You Don't See Me', in my opinion the best track on the album. 'To Share A Feeling' and 'A Seeing Journey' are slightly more lively, a huge cymbal ring ushering in two attractive, flighty woodwind scherzos which capture the wide-eyed innocence as Kilmer discovers the sights of the world around him.

The entire second half of Milan's album is dedicated to a series of genre mainstay songs from the likes of Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald, Rodgers and Hammerstein and the Gershwyns. Interestingly, Isham's fine piano main theme has been adapted by the legendary songwriting team Alan and Marilyn Bergman into a new romantic ballad, "Love Is Where You Are", which, after a lingering, sentimental piano opening, develops some welcome lounge jazz characteristics and is performed with smoky vocals by Gigi Worth.

Track Listing: Running Time: 49 minutes 34 seconds

Milan 74321-65510-2 (1999)

Music composed by Mark Isham. Conducted and orchestrated by Ken Kugler. Recorded and mixed by Stephen Krause. Edited by Tom Carlson. Mastered by Ron McMaster. Album produced by Mark Isham.

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