The general demeanor of the music in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire matches that of its predecessor, with much of the instrumentation and style of applications reprised. There has always been a slight bluegrass element to the lead character's representations, a nod to her rural upbringing. Howard explores that sound to a greater degree here, with the help of an instrumentatal adaptation of "Atlas" in "We're a Team." The classical style for the decadence of the capital city is reprised as well (confined here mostly to source applications of non-original music), along with the "Horn of Plenty" fanfare that is arguably over-utilized in similar renditions in the picture. String solos persist for the concept of persistence, yielding inevitably to the full-fledged orchestral outbursts for sequences of awe and action. That latter element is really emphasized well in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. There is stunningly well-rendered action music in "The Fog" and "Monkey Mutts" that rivals the best such material ever conjured by Howard, at times churning in methods resembling John Debney's better efforts. Both of these cues evolve into gloriously tonal fantasy statements of grandeur that stir memories of The Last Airbender, and they, in concert with "Arena Crumbles" and a few other choice fantasy ensemble cues, make the album presentation of this score worth your interest. On the other side of the equation are continued issues with anonymity. There are several underachieving cues of plainly dull ambience, including "Fireworks" and "Peacekeepers," that fail to maintain attention and beg to be dropped from the album. The handling of themes in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is a mixed bag. The many uses of "Horn of Plenty" in the film are not reflected on the album, which only supplies one new, short performance without much variation on the idea. The theme for Rue from the previous film, which figured prominently in the advertising campaign for the sequel, is heard in several cues but only outright, though abbreviated, in "The Tour," raising continued questions about the purpose of the theme (is it for Rue? That district? Or the concept of sacrifice?). The churning games motif returns in "Let's Start" and makes a few other less notable appearances under other action. The prior train motif is heard again in "A Quarter Quell," its performance here still lightly compelling without gaining much traction.

Howard does develop a few new themes in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire to replace motifs that were dropped from the equation. A longing solo female vocalist is employed to convey an idea more specifically for Katniss, and this identity intersects well with the rural elements in "Katniss is Chosen." The dulcimer in this material is a nicely foreign but resolute touch. The theme eventually culminates in the victorious "Arena Crumbles," in which a major ensemble performance overtakes the soloist with choir and shades of the Rue theme in tow. Equally interesting is Howard's insertion of a love theme into this score, necessitated by the continuing closeness between Katniss and Peeta. Heard in smoothly pleasant string tones in "Just Friends," this theme nicely utilizes slightly folksy progressions to further the rural element. Its reappearance on acoustic guitar in "I Need You" serves as a nice break from the overwhelming brutality of the action sequences heard late on the album. That score-only album is an arduous listening experience, at 75 minutes simply too long to support some of the lesser material in the score. Its concluding cue is a disturbing one, a sensible move given the narrative but not the best of ways to close an album. A four-star 35-minute album could be condensed out of this music, and enthusiasts of the concept are encouraged to add the Coldplay song to that presentation to round out an optimum The Hunger Games: Catching Fire album. A handful of other songs featured in the film are only available on the song compilation for the soundtrack, which conversely offers none of Howard's score. On the whole, Howard improves upon his work in the franchise with this sequel, finally having the time to adequately develop his many themes into better representations of concepts in the film. The issue with this music continues to be muddy attributions of those themes and the composer's seeming inability to really shine with any of them. None of Howard's themes enunciates itself with enough consistency and clarity to truly serve as the franchise's musical identity. If anything, "Horn of Plenty" is strangely still the most memorable sonic element thus far. Some of Howard's own themes, especially the love theme, could still evolve into that dominant identity, but he may never get the opportunity if the productions insist upon having outside influences define the songs or source cues. In this case, Howard could have adapted the "Atlas" melody into a driving force in this score but did not. At some point, he needs to step up and give the franchise the overarching identity it deserves.  ***   @Amazon.com: CD or Download