"Failure is not an option"

With James Horner, failure never seems to be an option now, does it?

This is probably one of the most well compiled and produced soundtracks I have seen in a long time. The album tracks the progress of the film not only through Horner's score, but through songs of the times and also dialogue from the film- with the end result of making you relive the film every time you listen to the album. Starting with a short title and the legendary Neil Armstrong/Walter Cronkite exchange of "One small step.." and ending with Tom Hanks' Jim Lowell saying "Gentlemen, it's been a privilege flying with you." before the end credits- this album takes you the emotional ride that is Apollo 13.

The score is your typical pre-"Titanic" James Horner deal; much similar to his previous works such as "Braveheart", "The Legends of the Fall" and subsequent works like "Deep Impact". As always, James Horner sticks to what he does best with the "Titanic"-like music in terms of choice of instruments and female vocals. Most of the tracks work much the same way that most action film scores do- brief interludes of slow music usually building up to an orgasmic release which coincides with some event of the film. eg. take-off of the Apollo 13.

The main strength of this album, though, is not the pieces of James Horners score- however well they have been composed. The strength lies in the flow of the album from one track of Horner's music, to the next with a dialogue from the film, to Hank Williams' Honky Tonkin'; as I said before, making you relive the film.

The songs featured are the same ones you hear in the film; the ones they play on their little music player in the shuttle. The songs are a nice sample of the songs of the time- Jefferson Airplane's Somebody to Love, The Who with I Can See for Miles (how appropriate), Hendrix with Purply Haze, Norman Greenbaum's Spirit in the Sky (another appropriately lyric-ed), the aforementioned Hank Williams track and finally The Mavericks with Blue Moon.

If you are not familiar with these songs, they are all perfect examples of the music of the era they represent- the 1960s-1970s. Each of these names represent legends of a fetal rock n' roll.

These songs do not run at a stretch on the album though. They are interspersed with tracks from Horner and dialogue.

The dialogue from the film fits in perfectly. There are some great moments in Hollywood history in this film- Ed Harris' "Failure is not an option", Hanks' "Houston, we have a problem", and as mentioned before, the actual exchange between Walter Cronkite and Neil Armstrong during the Apollo 11 landing opens the album.

In all it is a great album for those who enjoyed the film. If you did not enjoy the film- all I can do is wonder why! And if you have not seen it; watch it and then get this album!



Recommended: Yes