Edward Shearmur has worked on a number of very high-profile films (Charlie's Angels, Cruel Intentions, Miss Congeniality) which didn't really require very high-profile music, and so has not especially burst onto the film music scene in the way one may have though. 2002 will surely prove to be a breakout year, because following on from his popular music for K-Pax towards the end of last year he has written massive orchestral scores for The Count of Monte Cristo and now Reign of Fire.

My most frequently proffered complaint about modern film music is that the younger composers rarely express anything of themselves in their music, they just all converge into one large generic gloop. What a pleasure therefore to hear a pretty original score which, one suspects, represents a composer writing in his preferred style. Many people have compared the music with that of Elliot Goldenthal, but it's similar only in that it features interesting dissonance; there's very little similarity otherwise. A few moments recall Jerry Goldsmith's Alien, but then I can't think of a film like this with a score that doesn't.

The first half of the album is very strong. Exciting (though rarely melodic) action music for brass and percussion abounds in such cues as "Field Attack" and "Marauders"; there's a slight step back to melody in "Meet Van Zan"; and a gloriously dissonant and powerful piece of orchestral mayhem in "Archangels". This is loud, uncompromising stuff - expertly orchestrated by Robert Elhai and performed by the London Metropolitan Orchestra. Steve McLaughlin's recording should also be noted as a fine plus for this complex and demanding music.

Unfortunately, after the superb opening, the middle section of the album is considerably more subdued. Very modern compositions in which an almost imperceptibly-small group of orchestral musicians combine with synthesised elements create an air of tension, but are not really very welcome on a CD. Things spring well and truly back to life in the sensational "The Ruins at Pembury" and don't really let up after that, but not for the first time I'm left wondering how much better this CD would be if two or three tracks had been pruned from it.

I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more from Edward Shearmur in the future, but on the other hand I fear there aren't many directors out there who would allow music like this in their films. Shearmur will probably need to come to a decision over whether to compromise his style and write beneath himself just in order to get more work, or whether he will hold out in the hope of finding receptive directors who will allow him to experiment as he does in Reign of Fire. It's only natural to assume that the latter option is chosen, but I hope as a consequence he won't be swept up on the Hollywood conveyor belt like so many of the other promising composers to have emerged in recent years.

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