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Review of Home (Lorne Balfe/Various)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if you have any attraction to affably riotous children's adventure scores, for Home stands among the best achievements not only for Lorne Balfe but in the genre as a whole.

Avoid it... if you expect the commercial album options to satisfy, some of the most memorable songs and passages in the score not included on the song or score-only products.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Home: (Lorne Balfe/Various) The totally innocuous and silly DreamWorks animation flick Home remains one of the studio's most original concepts but never truly caught on with the mainstream. Based the children's book, "The True Meaning of Smekday," the animated Tim Johnson film follows the plight of a technologically advanced but ridiculously dumb and cute alien race of "Boov" that attempt to find a new planet to inhabit after each of their previous worlds is attacked by their mortal enemy, the Gorg. The Boov find earth and use their effortless technology to move all humans to "Happy Human Town" in Australia while the Boov occupy the rest of the planet, eliminating bicycles, toilets, and everything else they deem pointless. One human girl, Gratuity, begrudgingly becomes a travelling partner of a hopelessly clumsy "fugitive" Boov, Oh, and as they learn more about each other while evading equally helpless Boov leadership, they eventually come to understand each other's culture. At the end of the worldwide journey, Gratuity and Oh reunite the former with her relocated mom and finally determine why the Gorg are pursuing the Boov. Needless to say, all these misfits end up dancing together in the end. With the humor of Jim Parsons and Steve Martin in lead roles, Home is a highly amusing diversion, but it's perhaps best known for the involvement of pop singers Robyn Rihanna Fenty as the voice of Gratuity and Jennifer Lopez in the role of the mother. Not surprisingly, with Rihanna's association with Home came a concept album for the film that eventually caused the movie to have a significant presence of her songs, among those featuring a few others. The resulting song album enjoyed success on Billboard charts and has come to define the film's legacy. From the perspective of the original score for Home, the songs are an absolutely integral partner in the whole equation. The Norwegian songwriting duo Tor Erik Hermansen and Mikkel Storleer Eriksen, otherwise known as Stargate, wrote most of the songs for the movie, whether performed by Rihanna or Lopez, and by the time composer Lorne Balfe joined the party, Hermansen and Eriksen's songs were already spotted into the film and applied themselves as themes of sorts for various characters and concepts of the story.

Lorne Balfe was still on the ascent in early 2015, mostly associated with Hans Zimmer but well on his way to notable solo assignments. In the animation realm, he had co-written Megamind and the Madagascar sequels with Zimmer and branched off to Penguins of Madagascar on his own. When he joined Home, he knew that his job was to adapt portions of the Hermansen and Eriksen songs, along with a song by one other, into his score. The "Red Balloon" song accompanied the Boov takeover of Earth and opening title, while "Run to Me" is a notable non-Hermansen/Eriksen (but still original) song for the escape of Gratuity and Oh from hapless Boov security; the latter emphasizes its instrumental passages in the movie and becomes the chase theme in Balfe's score. Appearing twice in the narrative is Rihanna's hip "Dancing in the Dark," first for Oh's uncontrolled body movements in their flying car and then in the party scene at the end. The lovely "Cannonball" song becomes prominent as Gratuity and Oh bond and represents their shared loneliness, and this melody plays a substantial role in Balfe's score to the same end. More marginalized is Rihanna's "Drop That" as the accompaniment for the arrival of the Gorg and the Boov mass panic that ensues. The Boov evacuation is set to one of the soundtrack's two major singles, Rihanna's "Towards the Sun," while the other, Lopez's "Feel the Light," follows Gratuity's search and reunion with her mom. The latter's theme also figures prominently in Balfe's score, with Lopez's humming of the melody appearing several times as the girl misses her mother. Rihanna's somber "As Real As You and Me" accompanies Oh's sacrifice at the end. The song-only soundtrack album for Home presents these songs but is missing perhaps the most insanely catchy of all of those in the film: "Slushious," the song for the flying car itself. This rowdy song uses brazenly memorably saxophone performances called "Attackish Sax" by Balkan Beat Box (Ori Kaplan) that probably precluded the song's inclusion on the Home soundtrack due to licensing issues. The "Slushious" sax does receive a cameo in Balfe's score as well. Also not featured on the album is Parsons' ad-libbed "Boov Death Song," though that's probably a good thing. (Incidentally, those enamored with the "Boov Death Song" can hear Steve Martin perform it as Captain Smek in the short prequel film, Almost Home, as well.)

With the songs receiving major placements in Home, Balfe's score serves to bridge them and provide another set of melodies on top of those adapted from the songs. Perhaps more importantly, however, is Balfe's instrumentation and general attitude in his recordings. Few children's scores are this totally exuberant and fun, the spread of the orchestrations wildly dynamic and joined by a perfect blend of specialty touches to represent the alien nature of the Boov. This music is a clinic for how to incorporate woodwinds for sensitivity and humor in this genre, the clarinet in particular prominent to great effect. Brass is applied with force during the chase scenes, the lower players offering substantial power and trumpets constantly playing on the cool technology and associated espionage implications. Percussion strays to the pop-inspired tendencies of the songs and works brilliantly. Straight snare rhythms join the chases as well. Electric and bass guitars blend in contemporary stylings without ever becoming distracting. The choral presence is usually in the higher ranges for the fantasy element of the Boov, though deeper shades are applied for the Gorg. Aside from the glorious woodwind solos in Home, though, it's Balfe's funky little touches for Oh and the Boov that give the score its unique personality. Tingling synthetic effects, swooshes, and a cimbalom lend an electric touch to these characters, and an affable drum rhythm descending in pitch offers a sense of silly failure to their antics. Even better is the sampling of a little synthetic voice saying "Oh" that is applied in rhythmic formation at times. A few parody outbursts exist here and there, some aimed at film music. The chugging strings from Danny Elfman's Men in Black makes a splash at 2:01 into "Saying the Sorry," for instance. The introduction of Captain Smek enjoys a rock homage in the middle of "Moving Day." Ultimately, though, the score matures to a surprisingly dramatic posture by its conclusion, Balfe leaving the song melodies behind to convey a pair of monumentally gorgeous fantasy cues that stand among the best of his career. There has never been a satisfactory album presentation for Home, the score-only product of less than 40 minutes badly out of order and missing some key cues, including those that make the clearest references to the songs. This review will primarily reference the score album but also mix in some asides regarding both unreleased and film versions of cues.

Aside from the interpolations of the song melodies in the score for Home, Balfe provides three major themes, along with a slew of secondary ideas that receive less airtime. The two most prominent themes are lovingly conveyed with clarity in the end credits suite, "Symphony in Oh," which opens the score album. This arrangement is among the most infectiously upbeat thematic treatments in the modern history of the animation genre and perhaps the single most attractive cue of Balfe's career. In it, he conveys the themes of Oh and adventure, the former developing out of a playful string ostinato that occurs in this cue, "Moving Day," "Come Into the Out Now," and "Meat or Milk." The Oh theme is extremely long-lined and playful in major key, a quintessential ass-mover of an identity so unique in its melody that it's hard to forget. The theme debuts at 0:23 into "Symphony in Oh," fills out at 1:32, resorts to cuteness at on solo cimbalom at 2:33, and is offered its biggest moment at 2:49. The theme is everywhere in the score as heard in the film, adapted brilliantly by Balfe for a wide array of emotions. Sheepish solo woodwinds carry it at 0:12 into "Saying the Sorry" and bassoon takes it at 0:26 into "Two Fugitives" before that cue launches into big, ensemble lines from the theme at 1:28 and 2:43. It returns at 0:07 into "Come Into the Out Now," pushed to action mode at 1:28 and 2:06. A heroic, choral rendition bursts forth at 1:07 into "Smek Down," though the theme is reduced to solo cello thereafter and informs a comedy rhythm at 3:17. That cue shifts at 3:45 from strings to a full, rocking version of victory for Oh as he reluctantly takes command of the Boov collective. The idea serves as noble trumpet salvation at 1:51 into "Patched-In" and opens the film on clarinet at 0:23 into "Moving Day," building to an enthusiastic, albeit stuttering performance as the character is introduced. During the action of "Frolicking in Paris," Oh's theme is embedded in the rowdiness at 1:41. In the cues not featured on the album, the Oh theme is very tentative on oboe and flute (both unusual for this theme) at 0:19 into "After Party" and defines all of "Face to Face" with fragments that build to a suspenseful crescendo. A seemingly synthetic low woodwind carries the theme at 0:15 into "Meat or Milk" while pieces shine through with humor at 0:25 into "Bathroom Humor," yielding a fun, rousing rendition at 0:38. The Oh theme lightly prances at 0:58 in the excellent "Stealing the Superchip" as well.

The second major score-only theme in Home is Balfe's identity for Oh's sense of adventure, mischief, and heroism, its melody often intertwined with Oh's primary theme and sometimes conveyed like an interlude within it. In the "Symphony in Oh" credits suite, the adventure theme starts softly at 0:55 but shifts into full gear at 1:12 and becomes even bigger and faster at 2:02 with brass. Its application at 3:04 on trumpets makes for a fantastic finale to the cue. It recurs at 1:10 into "Saying the Sorry," toned back at 1:46, but is back in big style to close out the cue. Playful on brass at 0:14 into "Two Fugitives," the theme enjoys another major performance at 1:21 and in the heroic brass at 0:43 into "Come Into the Out Now," where it informs the brass lines thereafter, with two better consolidated fragments at 2:18. The theme extends on trumpets at 0:50 into "Patched-In" and is again fuller at 2:20, with nice, new secondary lines. An ultra-happy rendition awaits at 0:54 into "Moving Day," but the idea extends to a briefly soft and pretty performance on strings at 0:47 in the unreleased "Into the Out Now." Also not on the album is a brief reference to the theme at 0:33 into "Bathroom Humor" and an amusingly snazzy rendition over cimbalom at 1:17 into "Stealing the Superchip." The third major theme in Home is Balfe's cutely pompous identity for Captain Smek, the idiotic leader of the Boov, slight on strings at 0:40 into "Saying the Sorry" but making a rousing entrance in the film at 1:31 into "Moving Day," its nobility for the character introduction following a fake rock entrance. At 1:59 in that cue, the Smek theme continues on solo horn with distinction. At 1:50 into "Knock-Knock," the theme follows Smek's antics in its humorous fanfare with slurred interruption and massive choral ending. In the unreleased cues, the Smek theme figures as fragments at 0:54 into "Meat or Milk" and 0:16 into "Smek at Central Command," but the latter cue builds at 0:27 to the theme's overall largest performance with a sweeping entrance. A quick string reference to the theme occurs at 0:31 into "Ripoff." In Balfe's score for the Almost Home prequel, the Smek theme is the only idea from the eventual score for Home that is teased. That short film opens with the theme in grand but mostly synthetic majesty before turning cool and celebratory as the Boov believe, mistakenly of course, that they had found their new home. (That short score shifts to generic comedy and suspense music before concluding with a few statements of Handel's "Hallelujah" from "Messiah" for comedic effect.)

Aside from these three memorable original themes by Balfe, the score for Home contains important melodic references to the songs that carry much of the work's sensitive half for Gratuity and her mom. The loneliness theme in the score derives from the beautiful melody of Cannonball (performed in song form by Kiesza), and this theme faithfully follows the mom and daughter search element. It's pretty on solo clarinet at 2:22 into "Smek Down" and is extended to full ensemble excitement at 3:21 into "Patched-In." Its native personality exists with compelling sincerity at 1:15 into "Sad-Mad" on solo clarinet and strings, where the full song melody is provided by Balfe. The idea opens "Knock-Knock," developing into a lovely full-ensemble performance, and it mingles well with the adventure theme from 1:33 to the end of "Stealing the Superchip" in truly intelligent interplay. More intriguing, though, is the adaptation of the instrumental riff of the "Run to Me" song as the chase theme for Balfe's score. It's another extremely long-lined theme, but it's put to extensive use. Foreshadowed at 0:44 into "Gratuity's Apartment," the chase theme continues at 1:36 into "Saying the Sorry" (2:05 as counterpoint) and behind the action a few times at 1:22 into "Come Into the Out Now" and in a fragment at 2:23. The theme is hinted at the start of "Smek Down" but explodes into full spy/action mode with choral majesty at 0:16 into "Patched-In." A solo clarinet carries it at 1:07 into "Knock-Knock," and it makes a few cameos in "Frolicking in Paris" (0:15 with some suspense, 1:24 in full, rocking fun, and a comedic disintegration at 2:56). In the unreleased cues, the chase theme is heard from clarinet and flute at 0:20 into the cue "Into the Out Now," at 0:21 into "Oh's Promise" as fragments under rushed chasing rhythms with a big crescendo, at the outset of "Ripoff" on clarinet and bass flute over quirky string rhythms, and in its underlying rhythms only to start "Fear Storming." Meanwhile, the Lopez "Feel the Light" song melody supplies the mom's spirit in Home, heard on the album only in instrumental hints at 0:38 and 1:02 into "Gratuity's Apartment." The film version of the cue offers piano solo and humming from the song at 0:34, and this usage is repeated at 0:43 into the film version of "Sad-Mad" and at 3:15 into the film version of "Patched In," though in the latter, one verse of the song's vocal performance by Lopez is included as well. It opens the film version of "Running Towards the Danger" in the piano and humming mode, too. Clearly, these pretty references had to be excised from the score album for licensing reasons, but they are critical to the narrative.

A few other song themes make cameos in Balfe's music for Home, though they are unreleased on album. He recorded "Red Balloon Sweetener" as orchestral backing to the "Red Balloon" song to augment the opening title, and it's a magnificent brass rendition even if its placement in the film behind the song is too muted. The underlying chords of that song inform the quirky fun in "Warming of House Party" at the end. The wild sax from the "Slushious" song opens "Smek at Central Command" in its native, insane form. A handful of original little motifs also litter Balfe's score, to its benefit. An Oh cuteness motif of five quick notes on what sounds like a cimbalom and sometimes with the descending tapped drum accompaniment is a prelude to his main theme, repeating three times at 0:09 into "Symphony in Oh" and returning at 2:18 with the "Oh" sound effect. This likable touch opens "Bathroom Humor" on cimbalom and is abbreviated early in "Stealing the Superchip," though the "Oh" sound effect does prevail. Balfe teases a descending, seven-note phrase at 0:09 and 0:26 into "Gratuity's Apartment" for perhaps her cat. The Gorg receive low choir and broad chords that are stereotypical, though they develop to ominous and almost exotic levels early in "Stealing the Superchip." A keen "sad-mad" theme previewed at 0:44 into "Sad-Mad" on strings is revealed as a precursor to a Gorg family theme that opens "Returning the Shusher" and blossoms into a grand, majestic, and sentimental performance to denote the common emotion between the Gorg and humans. A sacrifice motif, almost like a slowed version of Oh theme, is applied at 1:27 into "Running Towards the Danger." That cue and "Returning the Shusher" offer truly outstanding passages of singular development in the score. Similarly unique is a spritely but less accessible march heard only in the intentionally rock-laced "Frolicking in Paris." Overall, few could have expected such an intelligent and entertaining score to result from Balfe for Home. It's among the more brilliantly conceived and executed children's scores of its generation, utilizing the songs and its own themes with extraordinary appeal. The recording sounds fantastic as well, begging for a lossless appreciation that is truly required in this case given the scope and ambience of the work. Several critical cues were left off of the 40-minute score-only album, as were the important hummed references to the "Feel the Light" song, and what you do get is badly out of chronological order. Balfe released an additional 15 minutes or so from the score on his website, and this material desperately needs combined with the commercial album in proper sequence and lossless form. Home remains a surprisingly enduring and unheralded career triumph for the composer.

• Music as Written for the Film: *****
• Music as Heard on Album: ****
• Overall: *****

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 39:42

• 1. Symphony in Oh (3:29) • 2. Gratuity's Apartment (1:58) • 3. Saying the Sorry (2:45) • 4. Two Fugitives (3:04) • 5. Come Into the Out Now (2:47) • 6. Smek Down (4:18) • 7. Patched-In (4:08) • 8. Moving Day (2:47) • 9. Sad-Mad (2:22) • 10. Running Towards Danger (2:16) • 11. Knock-Knock (2:39) • 12. Returning the Shusher (3:41) • 13. Frolicking in Paris (3:30)

NOTES & QUOTES:

There exists no official packaging for the digital album.

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Which one of the fugitive Boov's pods is its penis?