Soundtrack Review: Smallville (2011)

Reviewer: JØrn Tillnes
Smallville Soundtrack Review

Smallville Soundtrack Review: This is a review of the television score Smallville by Mark Snow & Louis Febre.

"I know for a fact that this show has a lot of music that's better than on this album, and that's a damn shame"

Smallville Soundtrack Review: This is a review of the television score Smallville by Mark Snow and Louis Febre. I have been watching Smallville, all 10 seasons of it in fact and it's not because I'm a big fan of the show, but I love everything Superman. I have to find out what happens in the end and now that I do, I feel somewhat cheated. Did I really watch over 200 episodes of this? Well it had it's moment, but as years passed only various artist soundtracks was released. I really wanted to hear Mark Snow's music in particular on album so I could have something good coming out of it. It's finally here and it's composed by Mark Snow (seasons 1 to 6) and Louis Febre (seasons 7 to 10).

Track List

1. Grow Up Superboy*****
2. Webmaster**
3. The Setup***
4. Where Am I**
5. Burn Baby Burn***
6. Freaks***
7. The Final Stone**
8. Their Only Poison***
9. Demon Dad****
10. Crash Landing***
11. Rigged to Blow***
12. Green Arrow****
13. Defeating Bizarro****
14. The Fortress Walls***
15. Lois' Waltz***
16. Zatanna***
17. In The Rain****
18. Pandora's Kiss****
19. A Hall of Heroes*****
20. Supergirl Arrives****
21. Clark Tells Lois*****
22. The Proposal****
23. To Fly****
24. Disguise Needed***
25. A Lemur in the Room***
26. Booster Gold***
27. Zod's Demise****
28. Trials****

10 seasons of music is a lot of music. How they managed to just make one CD out of this is quite astounding. The selection process must have been brutal but somehow they decided on 11 Mark Snow tracks (1 to 11) and 17 Louis Febre tracks (12 to 28). Shame they couldn't use John Williams material in here as it would have improved this collection a lot.

Cheap

I've enjoyed Mark Snow's television music on Millennium and X-Files in particular so naturally I was buzzed when this one appeared. Unfortunately the music presented here is not even close to what he accomplished on this and other shows. The one track I really liked of his was 'Grow Up Superboy' which is a nice melodic bittersweet ballad. The rest seems like it was hurried along and the instruments sounds not good at all. It feels very much like when I tried to make music 15 years ago with sampled instruments and midi. It wasn't good then, it isn't good now. Besides, a lot of the tracks feels like a big mess with instruments flying all over the place seemingly without plan. It might have been, actually it would have been a lot better with a proper orchestra, but I guess Snow is a victim of a low budget. It sounds cheap. Furthermore, I know for a fact that a lot of the music Mark Snow produced for this show is and sounds a lot better than this, so I don't know what happened.

From disappointment to something a lot better with Louis Febre who impresses me with some great melodies like 'A Hall of Heroes' and 'Clark Tells Lois' that includes proper superhero heroic stuff. Almost a bit cheesy perhaps, but I feel it's more than appropriate.

Most of his tracks are a welcome addition to this collection because they are actual easy-to-listen melodies that represents the more super in superhero.

Conclusion

Febre's material is certainly a class or two above Snow's material and saves this score from utter embarrassment. It is not enough to save this score however, but Febre's material puts this just in the average section overall. Again, I know for a fact that this show has a lot of music that's better than on this album, and that's a damn shame. If you are a fan of the show, you might think about getting this but I won't blame you if you don't.

CUE RATING: 70

->Buy the MP3 Album on Amazon<-

->Buy the Album on iTunes<-

Listen to the Smallville soundtrack by Mark Snow & Louis Febre below:

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