If you're expecting to hear a score with the sci-fi bombast of David Newman, then you'll be in for a disappointment. Likewise, if you're expecting to hear a truly cohesive score with easily identifiable motifs and continuous character development, you'll be even more disappointed. Newman instead handles WALL·E with considerable restraint, especially compared to Michael Giacchino's music for recent Pixar films. Everything about this music is saturated with Thomas' own "Newmanisms." Slight, jaunty rhythms with sparse, but pinpoint orchestration set an appropriately mechanical mood for WALL·E, with static progressions and sharp instrumental colors that imitate a robot's mentality. Nearly every cue in WALL·E features instruments being plucked, struck, keyboarded, or puffed. The harp is an immediate and interesting highlight of the ensemble. The typical array of plucked and struck strings and novelty percussion instruments carry over from numerous other Newman scores. Keyboarded contributions include a few synthetic sound effects of metallic or electrical character ("Mutiny!"). The woodwinds and brass are often presented in slow, staccato puffs to push this idea even further. A bouncing electric bass in some cues will remind listeners of Danny Elfman's comedy works. An orchestra is present, as is a choir in later fantasy cues, but the ensemble rarely is allowed a fully fluid performance of over 30 seconds in length. Thematically, WALL·E is unfortunately devoid of distinctive character. A clucky motif for the robot in "WALL·E" and a love theme of sorts co-written by Gabriel (in two cues) for the "EVE" robot are never developed with any consistency. Both are clever in their imitation of the robots' style of movement, but Newman emphasizes the textures of the themes throughout the score rather than the actual melodies to be potentially harvested from them. The rhythms themselves begin to form a cohesive bond in their combined efforts, but with so many cues at or under a minute in length, even these bright and affable rhythms suffer from a consistency problem.

There are many parts of the score for WALL·E that are highly entertaining. But there is little to truly hold them together other than Newman's plucking style of instrumental expression and the extremely creative mixing job that was done to bring all of the separately recorded elements together. In a technical sense, WALL·E is quite accomplished. But for all the personality in many of the short bursts of rhythm, there remains surprisingly little enticement after the conclusion of the score. Individual highlights remain, including the outstanding chord shifts and plucking harp of the opening "2815 A.D.," a cue that serves as the only truly convincing fantasy moment in the score (although the "Horizon 12.2" cue returns to the same general idea at the end). The straight comedy is good; the Francis Lai-style of "la-la" vocals in "First Date" and the jingle of "BNL" are both funny. A short burst of Aaron Copland-style adventure exists in "Septuacentennial." Wild plucking and swinging style in some of the cues remind of the atmosphere of Fried Green Tomatoes, especially in "Repair Ward." The rhythms in "Foreign Contaminant" and "M-O" beg for more development. As for the action cues, the introduction of brass in "EVE Retrieve," as well as the fuller ensemble performances in "Rogue Robots" and the five cues that follow, are interesting but not really engaging. The exception might be "Hyperjump," though Newman's not-so-harmonious heroic stature in this cue isn't an easy fix. Overall, the score is likable, but somewhat frustrating given its reliance on texture for its identity. On album, the Gabriel song likely won't interest Newman collectors, and its tone doesn't match the score. The two Michael Crawford performances of Hello Dolly material offer the singer at his highest, most nasal reaches, at which he definitely doesn't appeal. The album also features sound effects at the start or end of several cues, which surprisingly works well with Newman's equally creative music (though in "Repair Ward" they do become excessive). The score has more than a dozen highlights, but their only loose relation to each other and the score's lack of thematic cohesion lowers it to the ranks of average. And this, given the potential here, has to qualify as a minor disappointment.  ***   @Amazon.com: CD or Download