ROB ROY
Rating: 
Original Review: I bought this soundtrack on the strength of remembering that it seemed to have a great theme when I saw it at the cinema. That and the fact that is was on offer in the store, so... And I was right, it does have a great theme, a stirring, epic dirge played on pipes, strings and whistles that crops up time and again throughout the album, especially in the cues 'A Standing Stone, A Silk Purse', where the full-blown romanticism really shines through, and 'Robert and Mary', which is effectively the End Title cue. The problem is that a good Main Theme is all the album has going for it. The rest of the music is bland and unconvincing, mainly pipe, fiddle and drum tunes with the occasional splash of Gaelic lyrics courtesy of the ethnic group Capercaillie and their vocalist Karen Matheson, although the Rannoch Moor Retreat section of the 'Rannoch Moor Suite' has a decent action music sequence with a psychotic fiddle and pounding drums. Overall, rather disappointing. But what do you expect for £6.99?
Track Listing:
- Overture (Rob Roy/The Rieving Party) (4:40)
- Home From The Hills (2:45)
- Hard Earth (performed by Karen Matheson) (2:08)
- Procession for the Ill-used (1:38)
- Blood Sport (1:15)
- The Gaelic Reels (written and performed by Capercaillie) (1:06)
- Ailein Duinn (performed by Karen Matheson) (2:36)
- The Last Peaceful Night (1:50)
- Troops in the Mist (1:14)
- Honour Inflamed (3:19)
- The Dispossessed (The Cave/Hard Home on the Moor) (2:02)
- The Blunt Reels (written and performed by Capercaillie) (2:10)
- Highland Justice (Call of the Claymore/Assize of the Gregorach) (2:57)
- A Standing Stone, A Silk Purse (3:34)
- Theid mi Dhachaigh (I'll Go Home) (performed by Angus Grant and Karen Matheson) (1:19)
- Rannoch Moor Suite (Scorched Earth/Rannoch Moor Retreat/The Mists/Rob Come To Hand) (6:04)
- Morag's Lament (performed by Karen Matheson) (0:50)
- Born By Rapids (2:24)
- Love and Death Suite (My Beloved/A Matter of Honour/Cunningham's End) (4:06)
- Robert and Mary (3:14)
Running Time: 51 minutes 56 seconds
Virgin Movie Music 7243-8-40481-2-9 (1995)
Music composed by Carter Burwell. Conducted by Carter Burwell and Sonny Kompaneck. Orchestrations by Sonny Kompaneck. Additional music composed by Capercaillie. Featured musical soloists Davy Spillane, Máire Breatnach, Tommy Hayes, Ronan Brown and Miriam Stockley. Capercaillie Karen Matheson, Charlie McKerron, Angus Grant, Marc Duff and Fred Morrison. Recorded and mixed by Michael Farrow. Edited by Adam Smalley. Album produced by Carter Burwell.
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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.