A review by JAMES SOUTHALL

Winning worldwide acclaim for his excellent score for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Tan Dun also netted an Oscar and various other awards, though the composer (far better known for his non-film compositions anyway) has not done very much in the world of film since, with Hero (generally considered to be a pale Crouching Tiger imitation) easily the most high-profile.  It's another Chinese martial arts movie which is visually spectacular, this time directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Jet Li.

Perhaps it would be a little cruel to tar the music with the same brush as the film by repeating my "pale Crouching Tiger imitation" assertion, but essentially that's what it is.  Of course, it would be difficult to follow-up something of the quality of Dun's previous effort with something remotely as good, so it's not fair to expect that, but there is none of the richness that perhaps listeners may have expected here.  Certainly, there is some attractive music to be found, particularly in the beautiful "Longing" and "Love in Distance", but if truth be told then this may be down to the exquisite solo violin performances of Itzhak Perlman and Dun himself rather than to anything particularly outstanding about the music itself.

At times, the music raises itself to a higher level, and "Spirit Fight" is classy indeed, but at these times it is so similar to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon that you may just wonder whether you've put the wrong CD in.  Having said that, it's impossible to deny the quality and power of the music.  The previous score's strangely enticing, beautiful percussion gets a kind of equivalent here from Japanese Kodo drummers, though it never reaches quite the same frenzied heights, and actually starts to become a little tiresome before long.  There are occasional moments of more striking action music (the highlight is the excellent "At Emperor's Palace"), but these are a little too few and far between to truly keep the album moving.

So all in all, this is something of a mixed bag.  It would undoubtedly sound a lot better if the listener had never heard Dun's Crouching Tiger music, but so often comes off as a bit of a rehash of that score that it's more than a little redundant.  The best moments are approaching the sublime which makes it impossible not to recommend the score, but somehow it just seems less than the sum of its parts.  The album was originally only available as a somewhat expensive import, though has now been released domestically and should be freely available.  The packaging is somewhat amateurish (very surprising from Sony Classical) and, strangely, despite mentioning the theme song "Hero" performed by Faye Wong at various points in the credits, the song isn't actually on the album at all.

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Tracks

1. Overture (4:22)
2. For the World (4:19)
3. Warriors (3:44)
4. Gone with Leaves (3:28)
5. Longing (4:20)
6. At Emperor's Palace (3:58)
7. In the Chess Court (4:02)
8. Love in Distance (4:54)
9. Spirit Fight (4:32)
10. Swift Sword (3:36)
11. Farewell, Hero (3:00)
12. Sorrow in Desert (2:33)
13. Take me Home (1:16)
14. Above Water (1:45)
15. Snow (1:06)
16. Yearning for the Peace (3:29)