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A review by JAMES SOUTHALL

Despite it being one of the most popular shows on television at the moment, I have somehow managed to avoid ever watching Alias, meaning that so far I haven't jumped on the bandwagon of people praising it, and indeed Michael Giacchino's score.  Both television and television music seem to be going through something of a renaissance at the moment; sure, there is more trash than ever before, but at the absolute highest end of the spectrum, some fine programmes are being made, with The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, The West Wing and 24 in particular being very good.  In terms of music, certainly The West Wing has some very fine Snuffy Walden underscore every week, and elsewhere you can find some great music in weekly shows, particularly Star Trek: Enterprise, which is ironic given how wishy-washy and bland most of the music for the other modern Star Trek tv shows has been.

So how does Giacchino's Alias music fit into all this?  Actually, it reminds me a bit of Sean Callery's work on 24, though there is considerably more variety and at the top end, the music is probably a lot more interesting to listen to away from the show.  This album is actually a decidedly mixed bag of different styles, though punctuating everything is a very modern sound, whether through the addition of synthesised drums or otherwise.  A few tracks are purely orchestral though most are synthesised in whole or in part.  My favourite is undoubtedly the flamenco "Spanish Heist", a thrilling piece of modern scoring.  Elsewhere, "Anna Shows Up" is a really thrilling piece of action music, "Sleeping Beauty" reminds me a big of modern-day Henry Mancini spy music, and there are plenty of more tender moments as well, such as in "Double Life" in particular.

If I have a complaint then it's that the music doesn't seem to have a whole lot of identity.  The album is surprisingly consistent, considering how many different episodes these pieces are presumably culled from, but I'd be hard-pressed to pick much of it out in a line-up.  At its best, the album has some genuinely strong moments, but it has to be said that there are also a lot of tracks which will probably be quite dull to those not keen on the modern scoring approach of lots of interlinking electronic percussion.  For tv music, this is good stuff, and the album is probably a little overlong but nonetheless is impressive.  I'm sure that in the coming years we will be hearing an awful lot more from Mr Giacchino.

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Tracks

1. Main Title (:27)
2. Dissolved (2:07)
3. Red Hair is Better (2:31)
4. Spanish Heist (4:30)
5. Double Life (1:43)
6. Tunisia (4:12)
7. In the Garden (2:29)
8. Looking for a Man (3:53)
9. Anna Shows Up (3:30)
10. Home Movies (:40)
11. On to Paris (1:49)
12. Page 47 (1:54)
13. The Prophecy (2:10)
14. Badenweiler (5:11)
15. Arvin at the Poles (1:36)
16. Sleeping Beauty (3:08)
17. Blow'd Up (2:28)
18. It's Not the CIA (1:38)
19. Oh My God! (3:18)
20. The Tooth Doctor (2:00)
21. It Was Anna (54)
22. Wet Suits (2:39)
23. Ball Buster (1:39)
24. The End? (:57)
25. Bristow and Bristow (3:26)
26. SD-6 Dance Party (3:18)