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A string quartet joins various electronic soloists, from keyboards to electric guitar, to produce a sound that is cool in the most chilly sense of the word. Outbursts of rhythm for the action scenes use what sounds like a mix of muscular live percussion and sampled loops. Most impressive is Goldenthal's ability to produce a sense of unease by offering his ideas in dominant harmonic structures while also throwing in just enough of his trademark dissonant touch. The pitch of both his bass and treble tones often wavers just slightly in the background, satisfying Mann's need for a troubled aural soundscape. And yet, the majority of electric guitar and keyboard performances are harmonic enough to produce a satisfying listening experience on album. There is no central theme in Heat, though with an atmosphere as finely tuned as this, a theme is really unnecessary. Goldenthal does introduce a few motifs for various sequences of the film, but they seldom repeat, and their duration is so deliberate in pacing that they don't form a concise memory. The lonely guitar progressions in "Condensers," a really stunning piece, are reprised in "Run Uphill." But softer keyboarded ideas in "Of Helplessness" and "Coffee Shop" are largely untethered to any central concept. The contributions by the Kronos Quartet, three of which appear on the album, are somewhat swallowed up in the expansive electronic environment, especially in the turbulent "Heat" and the grooving "Refinery Surveillance." Their performances in both "Refinery Surveillance" and "Predator Diorama" are joined by an orchestral ensemble for the kind of pitch-wavering, dissonant crescendos of massive sound that Alien 3 fans yearn for. The solitary guitar performances steal the show, however, with "Condensers," "Run Uphill," and the lesser shades of "Steel Cello Lament" defining the true heart of the score. The action sequences that approach S.W.A.T. territory, such as "Entrada & Shootout," are interesting but not as fascinating as the more emotionally gripping cues of lesser volume.

The album for Heat has never been a really satisfying one, despite featuring a very crisp recording quality, because with the film clocking in at almost three hours in length, there's a significant amount of material not heard on the product. Even though the album is filled to near the capacity of a CD, it offers only 29 minutes of Goldenthal's score. In most cases, having so much song material on the album is an automatic detriment, though the songs in this case share the same personality as Goldenthal's intermingled score and therefore function as a decent listening experience together. The two existing vocal selections by Lisa Gerrard (another collaborator with Mann) are perhaps a little too pleasant compared to the surrounding music, but at least the performances come from the point in her career when her sound was less contemporary. These tracks could have been left off the product, along with Armenia by Einsturzende Neubauten, which offers a second half that is too disturbing for even this soundtrack. It could be argued that Terje Rypdal's "Mystery Man" is entirely too soothing for the compilation. Otherwise, despite the fact that the version of Moby's "God Moving Over the Face of the Waters" closing out the album isn't the same one heard over the end credits of the film, the album for Heat is generally well constructed. Most scores don't really benefit from expanded releases, but Heat is among those that does deserve consideration for better treatment on its own. Goldenthal fans recognize this uniformly, for the score is often among the favorites of his collectors. As you might imagine, it's not an easy listening experience. But unlike Goldenthal's insanely wacky side (Titus) and tired post-modern ramblings (Sphere), there exist a few scores that really provoke the kind of emotional response that attract so many listeners to the composer. Heat is such a score, a refreshingly intelligent alternative to the plethora of average cops and robbers thriller music that continues to saturate the industry.  ****   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Elliot Goldenthal reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.13 (in 16 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.2 (in 17,814 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.

Total Time: 74:30