Reactions to Beltrami's approach to 2006's The Omen were expectedly divergent, some listeners praising him for balancing a tightrope artistically while others dissatisfied with the need to abandon the specific ideas that worked in 1976. It's hard not to sympathize with the latter thinking, because comparisons to Goldsmith's music will be inevitable. What remains from the classic score? The family theme, hints of the "Ave Satani" lyrics and progressions, and tributes to Goldsmith's mannerisms in several places. What's new from Beltrami? A primary, descending, 4-motif motif, a less cohesive narrative arc, and a whole lot of 2000's conventions. The abandonment of the full "Ave Satani" theme is truly disappointing, as is the removal of the overbearing liturgical feeling of the action and death sequences. Beltrami's replacement theme, introduced in the middle of "Ambassador Gets Fired," is extremely generic and made frightening not by its power, but by tired dissonant layers on top of it. Conversely, Goldsmith's family theme does return, gracing the latter half of "Adoption," "New House," and in solemn fragments in "Kate Doubts" and "The Funeral," but Beltrami makes the key mistake of failing to allow the idea to dissolve from bliss early in the movie to dread later on, instead making it somber from the start. Goldsmith's manipulation of the theme's tone was brilliant, while Beltrami only barely re-develops the idea. There's nothing in the 2006 score that competes with the gravity or sense of importance of Goldsmith's work. Take the competing altar cues at the climax. Whereas Goldsmith's "Ave Satani" and associated bass rhythms were resoundingly impactful on a biblical scale, Beltrami's cue contains generic pounding of stock horror motions that one might expect from John Debney on auto-pilot. Suspense sequences use the manipulation of the release of a piano pedal (which has always been an interesting sound to any pianist), several standard stinger techniques, and groaning ambient sound design to inelegantly serve the purpose of fright. The wailing female vocals in "Drive to Bugenhagen" and backwards edits in "More Tantrums" induce eye-rolling. Beltrami's use of the common three-note motif that connects both of Goldsmith's themes during several of these blasting cues is nice, but not enough to truly satisfy. The overall flow of Beltrami's The Omen is not as cleanly expressed, the slow realization of trouble in Goldsmith's score an asset that Beltrami did not emulate. A suite of three Goldsmith cues rearranged for "Omen 76/06" is too little, too late. In the end, Beltrami would have been better off tackling this remake like John Ottman did for Superman Returns the year before. By attempting to re-invent the sound of the franchise and only skirt the edges of Goldsmith's classic, he was destined to dismay listeners and diminish his own impact on the film.  **   @Amazon.com: CD or Download