It would seem that Horner's intent in The Devil's Own was to create a score with the same restraint and respect for ethnicity as Thunderheart (a success in minimalism for the composer), but on a larger canvas. Indeed, The Devil's Own is backed by a full orchestral ensemble, but Horner relies upon the power of specialty instruments to once again provide all the flavor. In what could be most accurately described as Horner's best imitation of Riverdance music, he inserts an ambitious percussion section into the mix, as well several of the vocal and synthetic keyboarding techniques to be heard in Titanic. The shakuhachi flute, of course, makes a token blast or two. Drum rhythms previewed in "Main Title" are expanded in "The Mortal Blow" to emotional levels of volume heard in Legends of the Fall and Braveheart, though this cue and a few others seem content to slowly fade away with the monotonous rhythms of the drums. The magical element in the score is the lyrical title theme, "There Are Flowers Growing Upon the Hill," performed in Gaelic and English by Sara Clancy in the opening and closing cues and referenced beautifully in instrumental variations in "The New World" and "Launching the Boat." The Uillean pipes, in their now typical duets with Horner's broad strokes of strings, do become tiresome, however. The wordless performances by female voice in certain tender underscore cues (the Titanic-like "Secrets Untold" is not to be missed), often in tandem with solo flute, are alternatively the highlights. Impressive, too, are the jig-like explosions of positive energy that extend from wild acoustic guitars and an extended, tapping percussive base in "The Pool Hall." Straying too far from the score is the performance of "God Be With You" by Dolores O'Riordan of the Cranberries, the song ruined by a heavily droning bass effect. The score as a whole, however, has an introspective attitude and will either lull you asleep with its extended moments of reflection or irritate every fiber of your body with the continuation of Horner's blatant overuse of Irish influences in his scores at the time. The irony is that the influence is both appropriate and adequate for The Devil's Own, and in its own right, the score succeeds. But, to be absolutely sure, unless you are a sucker for Horner's works of distinct Irish flavor, the score will either bore you with its excessive length (a shorter album would have easily sufficed) or cause you to curse the composer once again.  ***   @Amazon.com: CD or Download