L.A. CONFIDENTIAL
Rating: 
Original Review: All the hoopla surrounding Jerry Goldsmith's score for L.A. Confidential has stemmed from two things: firstly, it gave him his first Academy Award nomination since Basic Instinct back in 1992, and secondly it marked a definite return to the style of Goldsmith's golden era of the 1970s, when he wrote such classic scores as Chinatown and The Wind and the Lion. Personally, though, I much prefer 90s Goldsmith - the Goldsmith that brought us First Knight, Star Trek, Powder and The Edge. The Goldsmith that writes strong, powerful, memorable themes and injects his scores with classical orchestral beauty. The Goldsmith that is not present in L.A. Confidential.
If I were to try to describe L.A. Confidential as a whole, I would say it was highly structured noise. Although it has a prominent recurring trumpet motif - which reminds me of the one in James Horner's Wolfen no end - as a binding element throughout the score, and features heavy percussion, pounding pianos and growling synthesiser effects, to me it never really goes anywhere musically. The vast majority of the middle-album cues are nothing more than dissonant mood-setters and simply meander along for half an hour, occasionally reaching a crescendo and throwing in an action sequence or a trumpet solo now and again.
There are a few highlights, though, like the opener, 'Bloody Christmas', which is by far the best track on the album: a three-part cue which opens with a rhythmic synthesised beat, explodes into a tumultuous section of spiky strings, deep brasses and absolutely enormous, powerful percussion before finally settling into a slow, seductive trumpet solo courtesy of Malcolm McNab. 'Susan Lefferts' again features McNab's sultry brass performance of the minor theme for Kim Basinger's character, 'Rollo Tomasi' is also quite good, with its Total Recall style synthesiser beat underneath all the orchestral mayhem, and the finale - 'The Victor' - is much more upbeat and gentle, presenting a full rendition of the score's main theme, again performed by McNab's trumpet, snippets of which had been heard in earlier cues, and attractive string section bridge.
I'm sorry to say it, but L.A. Confidential just didn't grab me at all. I realise that the score fitted the movie itself perfectly, especially in the way the score and period songs complemented each other, but knowing that doesn't make me like the music any more. Kudos to Varèse Sarabande, though, for the excellent liner notes and the fact that they only included 30 minutes of music on the CD. I know that many people have been crying out for longer releases from Varèse but, to be truthful, if L.A. Confidential had gone on much longer I don't think I would have been able to stand it. Oh boy, this one's gonna cause a stir...
Track Listing:
- Bloody Christmas (2:50)
- The Cafe (2:20)
- Questions (2:20)
- Susan Lefferts (2:54)
- Out of the Rain (2:47)
- Rollo Tomasi (3:08)
- The Photos (2:28)
- The Keys (1:52)
- Shootout (4:09)
- Good Lad (2:19)
- The Victor (2:32)
Running Time: 30 minutes 03 seconds
Varèse Sarabande VSD-5885 (1997)
Music composed and conducted by Jerry Goldsmith. Orchestrations by Arthur Morton and Alexander Courage. Trumpet and flugelhorn solos performed by Malcolm McNab. Recorded and mixed by Bruce Botnick. Edited by Ken Hall. Album produced by Jerry Goldsmith.
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