SOUNDTRACK REVIEW: The Phantom by David Newman (Original Release and Expanded Release)

The Phantom

I love being surprised.  Most scores I purchase are based on word-of-mouth and composer reputation.  As a fan of superhero scores – thanks to Danny Elfman – I searched around for other hero scores I might have overlooked.  Sure enough I ran into The Phantom.  I’ve seen a piece of the movie.  Nothing special.  It’s a terrible film about a superhero without super powers.  Through my score collecting experience I realized much great music is yet to be discovered.  An example of great undiscovered music is CutThroat Island one of the greatest scores in film music history gone widely unnoticed. 

To me and others, David Newman’s skills are criminally misused.  David “The King of Comedy” Newman scores films that don’t demand his skills.  I strongly believe he can score as beautiful a dramatic score as his brother Thomas if given the chance.  David’s emotional string work strikes a chord with a listener’s heart like “Checking Out the Cave” from Ice Age or “Your Friend is Pardoned” from Brokedown Palace.  Unfortunately, much of David’s music is either poorly represented on album (Anastasia), in promotional release (Galaxy Quest), or not released at all (The War of the Roses – finally released late 2006 from Varese Sarabande). 

Enter David Newman’s The Phantom a swashbuckling adventure score much in the fashion of Elfman’s Batman but not as thematic.  The fun score performed by the London Metropolitan Orchestra mixed with synthesized percussion gets a healthy 40+ minutes of running time on the Milan release. 

“For Those Who Came in Late” starts off with droning electronic bass with distant male vocals and some racy tribal percussion building up to a leitmotif of The Phantom.  The short track is followed by the dark song “The Tomb.”  It opens with a small motif of The Phantom’s theme with wind sound effects and some percussion.  Dark male choir gives the track a morbid feel to it making the listener feel as if one is actually in a burial site.  After some dark, mystical male choir we hear violent, low blares from the brass with heavy percussion announcing impending doom.

“The Phantom” is the first great track of the album and my favorite.  This is where the heroic main theme first appears in its entirety.  Horns softly play a longer Phantom motif before being interrupted by male chants then exploding into the fun, swashbuckling main fanfare.  The theme is comprised of low brass grunts later carried over by high trumpet blasts.  After the fanfare appears, the rest of the track is action scoring with the main theme reoccurring at different octaves. 

The next great song and probably the most fun track is “The Escape.”  Much like “The Phantom,” this piece is a powerhouse of action scoring.  Staring off with percussion and tense strings, the main theme makes its heroic appearance ever increasing in excitement and accelerating to a grandiose finale.  This track also introduces the listener to the romantic theme popping out in between the main theme during all the action of the track. 

“Must Be the Humidity” is another great track for it contains the most beautiful performance of the romantic theme.  Sweeping strings and trumpets play the lovely theme then the track closes with a soft piano variation of that same theme.

“Escaping the Island” is the longest track of the album. It opens with tense strings and blaring and shrilling brass followed by tribal percussion.  The music gets tense again with the strings carrying some of the underscore with occasional brass entries.  Newman’s signature trumpet motif appears towards the middle of the song before pan pipes softly play the main theme with string backdrops.  The track closes with a sweeping rendition of the romantic theme.

The Phantom is my favorite Newman score and truly is one of his finest.  From dark music with choral chants to heroic fanfares, from sweeping romance themes to comedic moments, this album covers much of every genre there is in music.  I highly recommend this score to Newman fans and superhero score fans alike.  No, this score is no Batman, but it is one of the better attempts at writing superhero scores. A few months ago, La La Land Records released a limited edition of The Phantom that contains at least 20 more minutes of unreleased music. Its a must-have for any David Newman fan!

My rating: 4 stars.