In due time, I shall wax rhapsodic about the X-Men movie, which I thought was hands-down the best comic book film to come out since the 1978 Superman flick. But for the moment, let’s talk music.
Michael Kamen, who’s done everything from arranging for Jeff Lynne and Guns ‘N’ Roses to scoring such films as Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves and the Die Hard and Lethal Weapon series, provides a very hip soundtrack for a very hip movie. Lush orchestral textures are supplemented and sometimes interrupted by ultra-modern dance beats, as well as some post-production effects that give the movie a sound quite unlike anything else to hit the screens of late.
It’s a really cool sound, and almost certain to be imitated very badly over the next three to five years. Kamen will have a tough time topping it for the upcoming X-Men sequel, in fact. My one question is…what will this stuff sound like in, say, 2030? It’s very hip for 2000, but will all of these drum machine effects age any better than, say, Jerry Goldsmith’s avant-garde synths from the Logan’s Run soundtrack? In many ways, the X-
Men score sounds like the music from a real-time strategy computer game: cinematic scope with a driving beat to keep everyone wide awake.
Still, it’s good listening. For now. I’d like to hear some choral sounds in the sequel – that would add something really interesting to the mix.
- Death Camp (3:05)
- Ambush (3:26)
- Mutant School (3:48)
- Magneto’s Lair (5:01)
- Cerebro (2:13)
- Train (2:35)
- Magneto Stand-Off (3:01)
- The X-Jet (3:47)
- Museum Fight (2:21)
- The Statue of Liberty (2:38)
- Final Showdown (2:31)
- Logan and Rogue (5:57)
Released by: Decca
Release date: 2000
Total running time: 40:23
