What's always been surprising about Gorky Park, however, is the composer's use of largely Western pop sounds such as stereotypical drum pad patterns for a Russian culture that wasn't as up to speed on current American music as the rest of Europe. Hearing the quasi-Caribbean steel drum effect so typical to Horner's career in the 1980's, for instance, simply sounds out of place in the context of Gorky Park, especially by the time the technique has been heavily weighted with dissonant orchestral layers on top. That said, the score still serves its basic purpose and may be an interesting experience at the very least for a veteran Horner listener. If you have little tolerance for Horner's pop-influenced, rhythmic action material, then watch out. Gorky Park isn't as insufferable as the unbelievably heinous 48 Hrs. in these regards, but it does test the listener's patience with its tired and dated handling of the subject matter. Horner struggles at times to force that drum and synthesizer sound into a tone that conveys its contemporary coolness in an especially cold and alienating way. Unfortunately, this twist causes these portions of the score, which occupy upwards of about half of the score, to be even less entertaining than in the later works. There is, however, the other half to the score for Gorky Park, and this portion thankfully saves the work from mediocrity and, for some, gives it a stamp of recommendation. A plucked harp motif, ascending and descending like Jerry Goldsmith's Islands in the Stream, introduces a pretty string theme for the love interest in the film. Cleverly borrowing phrasing from one of the Tchaikovsky pieces and introduced with solemn beauty in "Irina's Theme," this idea, similar to Krull at times, eventually matures in "Airport Farewell" and "Releasing the Sables," the former an extended treatment of the theme that is among Horner's most compelling statements of the era. It is in these portions that the composer utilizes his trademark solo horn for the concept of lament, a technique convincing in its solace and copied by Mark McKenzie, John Debney, and others in the decade to come. In a score that tends to avoid tonally-accessible harmony in its vast majority (Horner applies major and minor chords simultaneously for the thriller element), "Airport Farewell" is a highly redemptive piece that will warrant attention from any Horner collector. A repetitive string theme for the lead detective, teased extensively in the early investigative scenes, remains anonymous, even as it gains muscularity and focus in the end credits.

Unfortunately, the remainder of the Gorky Park score is not as appreciable despite Horner's substantial attempts to intelligently deconstruct the narrative. The generic droning of electronic atmosphere in "Faceless Bodies" is as anonymous as parts of The Name of the Rose and Jade. The "Main Title," as with late scenes of related importance, utilizes Tchaikovsky references liberally because of the choice to incorporate it as a source presence in the picture. In this cue, these statements are placed under the strikingly dissonant pounding of chimes and other nasty sounds that effectively establish the score's unsettling tone for the murder element. But who would want to listen to it? And, of course, there's the pop-infused action rhythms with Blaster Beam coolness in the bass, all of which eventually contain so many previews of the later Commando that there isn't much satisfaction to be heard in these portions. The "End Titles" cue unfortunately returns to this material after further attractive exploration of the love theme. Overall, despite its technical smarts in places, Gorky Park gives a learned Horner collector little new. Perhaps the references to Goldsmith's structures and rhythms at times are a bit more pronounced here. But outside of the pretty and evocative love theme, don't expect Gorky Park to overwhelm you with warmth or enticing suspense material. An early but readily available album from Varèse Sarabande was eventually supplanted in 2011 by a Kritzerland re-issue that provides the same contents in two different arrangements on one limited, quickly sold-out CD. Nearly monaural sound quality (by design) was always something of an issue with this score on album until a comprehensive 2014 expanded release by Intrada Records. This limited product finally replaced the original album arrangement with a more accurate representation of what was included in the film, including the straight Tchaikovsky pulls from "Swan Lake" that intentionally conflict with the abrasive original score. Several variations of the love theme are evidence of Horner's toil as he sought the right sound for the idea, and the Intrada album provides all of that recorded material. In 2023, La-La Land Records provided an even longer presentation that includes an even more faithful film version of the recording, with and without the classical layering. It also offered the two distinct mixes of the album arrangement along with a fuller selection of source material recorded by Horner. Despite all the work to improve the stereo ambience on the 2014 and 2023 albums, no amount of audio engineering can eliminate some of the troublesome nature of Horner's conflicting approach to the instrumentation, leaving all of these albums largely for study only by a devoted Horner collector.  ***   @Amazon.com: CD or Download