SOUNDTRACK REVIEW: Godzilla by David Arnold

Godzilla

Slow-pounding drums and low brass kick off one of the most unsung scores of the 90s.  I’m not so much of a David Arnold fan but I’m familiar with some of his better known scores like Stargate, Independence Day, and Tomorrow Never Dies.  The film itself failed to live up to the hype and the typical box office success associated with Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin.  I’m a movie critic but I don’t want to open an old subject about a box office bomb so I’ll get into Arnold’s unreleased bombastic score.  I must say that I miss the old David Arnold that used to do masterful orchestral wonders.  Stargate really put him on the map but his Bond scores of late are terrible with the over use of the “Bond” theme and all the electronics associated with the score!  (Casino Royale is an exception.)  He tried returning to his roots with The Musketeer but that wasn’t as spectacular as his grander scores. 

“Gojira” plays over images of nuclear testing during the main titles.  The dark rumblings open the track with militaristic percussion playing slowly and softly leading up to the dark blare of the three-note Godzilla trumpet theme.  The track ends with an eerie leitmotif that reoccurs throughout some tracks on the album. 

The small love theme gets a tease in “Joe Arrives” before the track turns into a dark, grunting prelude to the three-note Godzilla motif.  “Leaving Manhattan” is perhaps my favorite track.  Here a horn theme is the main voice of the cue.  Not sure what the theme is for but it tends to appear when there’s a military presence so let’s call it the military’s theme.  The love theme returns in “Audrey Steals the Tape” and “Nick Gets Fired.”

Action dominates most of the rest of the album.  “Warnings/Fish Bait,” “It’s Alive,” among others, but its “The Babies” that kicks off the non-stop action and tension towards the grand finale giving the listener very little breathing room only with “Final Encounters” interrupting the orchestral bombardment.  The action is typical Arnold with heavy percussion, racing strings and blaring horns.  Much of the action cues here are derived from Stargate and Independence Day.  Trumpets occasionally play the main theme over a layer of lower brass groans and high-pitched, tense strings and scattered, militaristic percussion.  “Brooklyn Bridge” is the best of action tracks as it elevates to the smashing finale complete with chirping flutes and shrilling brass before reaching the climatic death of Godzilla with choir and mournful horns. 

I was fortunate enough to get my hands on this private release of the score.  The score recently got a complete score release with a limited production of 3,000.  I hope you’re one of the few that got one! If not, you're in luck! Buysoundtrax Records just released a 3-disc edition a month ago. You can try their website here to purchase.

My rating: 4 stars.