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Soundtrack Review: Marco W. - 247 Tage im TŸrkischen Gefangnis (2011)

Reviewer: JØrn Tillnes

Marco W. Soundtrack Review: This is a review of the Television score Marco W. by Mark Anthony Yaeger.

"Marco W. is an incredibly powerful score to a very powerful and moving story"

This is a TV dramatization of a story where 17-year-old Marco Weiss goes on holiday to Turkey with his parents. On the last day of his vacation Marco is accused of raping an underage British girl Carolina and is arrested by the Turkish authorities. He has to spend 247 days in the inhumane conditions of a Turkish prison. To further the pain, a translation error lands him into a cell with 30 adult criminals. He was there for 8 months before finally getting sent back to Germany. The score is produced by Klaus Badelt and written by Mark Anthony Yaeger.

Track List

1. Opening	*****
2. Media Frenzy	*****
3. Photo	*****
4. Prison Yard	***
5. Taken to Doctor	***
6. You Were Busy	*****
7. Newspaper	****
8. First Visit	****
9. New Representative	*****
10. Through the Glass	****
11. First Verdict	*****
12. Front Page	*****
13. Packing	*****
14. Nice to Meet you	*****
15. Letter Home	*****
16. Father's Plea	*****
17. Media	****
18. Overdose	****
19. Beaten	*****
20. Abdullah	****
21. We Have Eachother	****
22. Free	*****
23. Van Ride	****
24. Together Again	*****

Mark Anthony Yaeger is a new name for most of you. I checked out Klaus Badelt store the other day and saw this score. I listened to it and decided to buy it so I can review it for you all. He works in Santa Monica, California with Klaus Badelt who is credited for producing this score.

The story is incredibly powerful. Imagine going to a country like Turkey and ending up in Turkish jail for something you didn't do. The inhumane conditions of the Turkish prisons are something even the worst of the US prisons can only imagine. In Norway, the prisons are like 5 star hotels in comparison.

Going into this score, I had no idea what to expect, but I had a good feeling this would be something I would enjoy, specially with such a powerful story.

I wasn't disappointed.

With 'Opening' and 'Media Frenzy' we get a good introduction to Mark. The melodies are simple, but effective. In 'Photo' we get a beautiful theme. It's all very emotional and you can slightly hear the Turkish influence, something we get to hear more of later in the score.

It's naturally quite a dark score with everything that happens. There's few bright moments here, but it was expected. Mark does a great job telling the story in his won way, either by beautiful melodies like in 'Newspaper' or by mood and Turkish sounding music like in 'First Visit'. Then there's cues like 'Media Frenzy' and 'New Representative' that has a more pacy, explosive style showing a more action-based side of the composer. It bodes well for future projects, specially since we all know Klaus can be a master at action scores.

Turkish Influence

The best cues are the ones with most emotional impact for me. 'First Verdict' is such a cue that stars with some Turkish instrumentation to build up the mood. The first verdict is not a good one for Marco and the seriousness of this powerful cue represents it perfectly. From 2:25 onwards, the cue gathers more pace as the verdict is a hard blow for Marco. The Turkish influence is very powerful in the whole cue. The silence from 5:12 is deafening. You can only hear the heartbeat of Marco and his family before they are dealt another blow.

'Beaten' is another powerful cue that's as dark as the subject in question. We all know what happens here and Mark tells it like it is. Finally 'Free' and 'Together Again' are no doubt tear jerkers. The cues are meant to be very emotional and again plays the main theme of Marco W. I can't help to get a few teary moments myself as I think of the relief to get out of that hell-hole. It must be indescribable and I can only imagine how Mark must have struggled putting it into music, but he succeeds with remarkable fashion.

Conclusion

Welcome Mark Anthony Yaeger! You can be very proud of what you have accomplished here. Marco W. is an incredibly powerful score to a very powerful and moving story. There's nothing more to say except that you should definitely check out this score as soon as possible, either through Klaus Badelt's online store or any other digital store.

->Buy the Album on iTunes<-

->Buy the Album on Klaus Badelt Store<-

Listen to the Marco W. soundtrack by Mark Anthony Yaeger below:

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