Meaning after a couple of legendary epic scores for other Edward Zwick movies ( Glory and Legends of the Fall to name the most obvious ones), it was clear James Newton Howard had to tackle it equally loud and exciting. And it was for this movie that Zwick hired James Newton Howard for the first time. Meaning Blood Diamond is definitely one of the better Edward Zwick movies out there. It not only puts the harsh diamond export business under the loop, it also brings forward 2 incredibly charged performances of Djimon Hounsou and Leonardo DiCaprio as well. The examples are endless, and yet Blood Diamond takes it up a notch. It comes highly recommended to both film enthusiasts as well as world music lovers, and can be found at the following links: .uk and Edward Zwick is a known name in the Hollywood business, especially when he combines the heroic actions in a dramatic charged setting. These pieces are non-original music designed to work with specific scenes in the movie, from which “Ankala”, a traditional African song, is definitively the best.Īll in all, Blood Diamond is a profoundly beautiful, evocative, stand-alone, mesmerizing and powerful soundtrack. That being said, every single track on this score has something special about it, that is until we hit “Ankala”, “Baai” and “When da Dawgs Come Out to Play”. It is an incredibly humane and heartbreaking piece of music, similar to other tracks like “Goodbyes” and “Thought I’d Never Call”. The most notable track has to be “Your Mother Loves You”, and can be said (all allusions to the movie aside) to belong at the heart of the soundtrack. “Archer Sells Diamond” even introduces a jazzy acoustic guitar into the score and “Goodbyes” is set to the quiet ballad of a piano, providing another level of musical interpretation and mood to Blood Diamond. Another brilliant aspect of Howard’s soundtrack is its abrasive string sections in tracks “Village Attack” and “Fall of Freetown”: they sway between African folklore and hysterical avant-guard. These tracks never feel forced however, they contain restraint, pain, and understanding of the story that lies behind the music (genocide, torture, rape, and terror), unlike the actual movie. Tracks “Archer and Solomon” and “Maddy and Archer” introduce even warmer colours to the score, with an almost quixotic sense of style. An electric guitar appears from time to time to provide an urban grisliness, used very wisely to express the dehumanisation associated with the armed militia groups killing their own blood via. “Village Attack” is highly original: it blends desperate African laments with high-octane violin cues, held together with intense African drumming. The whole score can be said to operate on this level, with the exception of a few action-orientated tracks. Opener “Blood Diamond Titles” pretty much sets the tone for the entire soundtrack, with a gorgeous and fluid African chant together with an equally poignant series of strings a piece of music that strikes us as not just referential to the movie but also evocative of any emotion your heart desires to attach to it. Without doubt, this score from James Newton Howard is one of the best and most original scores of 2006, alongside Clint Mansell’s The Fountain. You will be able to feel the unique quality of Howard’s score as soon as the first soft and beautiful African voice comes floating in on the opening track. In fact, the only traditional elements can be found in the string-works during the few action sequences, and that’s only covering 3 or 4 tracks out of 24. Blood Diamond is one hell of a score! Even the action cues are drenched in African instrumentation, xylophone keys, drumming, and chanting.
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