Known for his robust orchestral scores laced with lush sounds, James Newton Howard's compelling music for King Kong is a treasure destined to become another classic in his rich catalogue. Tracks such as "A Fateful Meeting" and "Defeat Is Always Momentary" take the listener on an urgent voyage to an undiscovered land, while "It's Deserted" and "Beautiful" evoke the lyrical beauty of the landscape created by Jackson and inhabited by the films memorable characters. Howard perfectly compliments the feeling of suspense, love and compassion the film so powerfully conveys.James Newton Howard is one of Hollywood's most versatile and prolific composers, with more than 90 films to his credit. He has received six Oscar nominations, two Golden Globe nominations and one Grammy nomination. In addition, he has won 28 ASCAP Awards for film and television shows scored from 1994 to 2005. His credits include films as diverse as The Sixth Sense, Signs, The Fugitive, Pretty Woman, The Prince of Tides, Grand Canyon, Dave, Primal Fear, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Devil's Advocate, and Dinosaur. Howard's more recent projects include Batman Begins; The Interpreter; The Ring 2; Miss Congeniality 2; Collateral; The Village, for which he received his sixth Oscar nomination for Best Original Score; Hidalgo; and the live-action Peter Pan.James Newton Howard reportedly got the King Kong gig as a last-minute replacement for Howard Shore (who of course had worked on King Kong director Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings series). The good news is that Howard still managed to write an honorable score; the bad news is that it's no more than honorable. For some, the biggest disappointment may be that Howard didn't find more inspiration in the film's 1930s setting. Once in a while he inserts a vaguely jazzy flourish (the brief clarinet passages in "Defeat Is Always Momentary" for instance) but the period detail is kept to a minimum. Having more may have helped give the score a shot of much-needed individuality. Action scenes, for instance, are set to the opulently orchestrated, frantic percussive rumble that is Hollywood short-hand for, well, action scenes. "Head Towards the Animals" and "Beauty Killed the Beast III" are just the most typical examples of that style: Howard gives these bravura numbers the requisite pounding intensity, but can we be blamed for feeling that we've heard them dozens of times before? Similarly, the composer sticks to the expected when he needs to get more contemplative, as on "A Fateful Meeting" (soothing strings, soothing clarinet) or "Beautiful" (flutes to suggest the exotic locale). In short, this album is everything you expect it to be. Which sometimes isn't quite enough. --Elisabeth Vincentelli
