POWDER
Rating: 
Original Review: It's very rare that I fall in love with a piece of music as soon as I hear it in the cinema, especially when I'm not expecting to like the music. However, I was completely blown away by Jerry Goldsmith's score for Powder, a little film which hardly got a release in the UK. I had to get the score shipped in from the States, as I've never seen it in any shop here in the UK, but it was worth every extra penny, because I think this is one of the best Goldsmith scores I own in terms of the pure enjoyment of the music. By far the best thing about Powder is its amazing, glorious, soaring main title - 'Theme from Powder' - which is played mainly on high strings, and has such a wonderfully emotional, clear, precise, beautiful melody that the first time I heard it I simply melted. This theme dominates the score throughout, which is no bad thing because I truly believe this to be one of Goldsmith's greatest creations, but there are some other things worth mentioning. There is a great, atmospheric, spooky track called 'Nightmare In The Forest' which is quite jarring when heard after the main titles, a gentle love theme in 'First Kiss' and an absolutely incredible, spirit lifting, emotionally-laden ending called 'Everywhere' which brings a lump to the throat and a tear to the eye. The only quibble I have is the fact that there is only 35 minutes of music on the CD - a real travesty considering its beauty. I remember reading somewhere that one person's opinion of this score was that it was made up of 'slushy' music. Well, I say, if all slushy music sounds like this, long live slush!
Track Listing:
- Theme from Powder (4:32)
- Spoon Trick and the Trestle (2:17)
- Nightmare in the Forest (5:10)
- First Kiss (2:25)
- Steven and the Snow (8:26)
- Freakshow (4:42)
- Wanna See A Trick? (4:01)
- Everywhere (3:54)
Running Time: 35 minutes 27 seconds
Hollywood Records HR-62038-2 (1995)
Music composed and conducted by Jerry Goldsmith. Performed by The National Philharmonic Orchestra. Orchestrations by Alexander Courage. Recorded, mixed and mastered by Bruce Botnick. Edited by Ken Hall. Album produced by Jerry Goldsmith.
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These web pages were designed and maintained by Jonathan Broxton copyright 1997. All opinions and views expressed on these pages are my own and are in no way intended to reflect those of my employer, the Trent Institute for Health Services Research, or those of the University of Sheffield.