Structurally, it's probably not surprising that Howard's score for Waterworld is rather simplistic, relying in tried and tested techniques in the film scoring business to provide what Universal needed on short notice. The resulting score is predictable to some extent, but it has enough solid writing and guilty pleasure moments in its ranks to exceed expectations. It is fascinating to recall that Waterworld was considered one of Howard's top scores at that point in his career. The composer still believes it to be among his best achievements considering the circumstances by which it was made. As diverse and thematically entertaining as the score may be, however, its eclectic moments of exotic mysticism are too few and its action is a tad anonymous and prone to sonic wallpaper mode. But it still works, and the reason it continues to impress despite Howards' more mature fantasy writing in subsequent decades is because of its abundance of individual highlights, some of which resurrecting the swashbuckling sound of a previous generation. When not emulating Hugo Friedhofer in high style, Howard tries to match Jerry Goldsmith in melody and action prowess. The battle and chase sequences in Waterworld tend to favor dense writing and rowdy percussion, relegating electronic elements to a secondary position. Hints of Howard's later-developing talent at choral writing are reflected in the score's secondary motif for the other-worldliness of the setting. Two main themes service the score sparingly, supported by a slew of recurring secondary ideas applied much like the swelling choral one. First, the theme for the "Mariner" debuts during his escape from the atoll and appears again in "Helen Frees the Mariner" before sending us off with the happy ending in the final two cues. Costner was initially hesitant about the brazenly heroic, retro tone of this theme, but Howard eventually impressed upon him that it would serve the film best. Aside from the Friedhofer inspiration, a touch of Michael Kamen's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is heard in the melody as well. The second major theme represents both the little girl containing the map to dry land and the land itself; performed often by solo woodwind, this theme gorgeously emulates Goldsmith character sentimentality before maturing in "Gregor Returns" and "Dry Land" with remarkably satisfying full ensemble treatments.

Among the best secondary motifs in Waterworld is a synthetic rhythm applied several times for the mystery and technology of the story, offering its percussive and flute-blasting force with significant bass power at the very outset of the film and in "Speargun," among a few other cues. An electric xylophone effect is altered for a wet, underwater sound in several of the story's ethereal moments, accompanied by an elegant solo female voice in the soothing "Swimming" cue, where the Porcaro influence is most evident. Perhaps the most impressive moments of the score can be attributed to the accompaniment by the choir. Its sense of wonderment in the underwater exploration scene, "The Bubble," mirrors the majesty of a handful of cues in the later Atlantis: The Lost Empire. The full choral outbursts in Waterworld are few and far between, but when they occur, they pack a punch equivalent in depth to the concurrent Cutthroat Island by John Debney. The straight orchestral action pieces could be either a generic downside to the score for you or a source of noteworthy bursts awaiting rearrangement into a suite. The snare-driven rhythm at the end of "Arriving at the Deez," extending into a rambunctious string variant and brass subtheme for the villains in "Deacon's Speech," is a highlight. Overall, however, Waterworld suffers from lengthy sequences of stewing, vaguely electronic monotony and uninteresting orchestral meanderings awaiting the payoff at the end. The original 1995 album from MCA Records was generous in length and contained all the highlights from the score, though important performances of each of the score's themes and secondary motifs were missing from that product. An additional 30 minutes of the score, along with a few alternate takes, demos, and Isham's mundane music box theme, were finally assembled in 2017 on a limited 2-CD set from La-La Land Records. This fantastic, crisp product reflects well upon Waterworld, better illuminating Howard's development of motifs and takes twenty minutes of suite-worthy material from the previous album and adds another ten minutes of attractive supplementation to that music. An intriguing pair of speeches from Costner and Howard on the final day of session recording closes out that album. The longer set reveals the extent of the composer's triumph in addressing the needs of the film on short notice and contains many of the seeds of his later five-star fantasy works. Despite requiring reprogramming for best enjoyment, Waterworld remains top notch, guilty pleasure fun.  ****   @Amazon.com: CD or Download