To those people who say John Barry always sounds the same - well, listen to The White Buffalo.  You couldn't get further from the sweet sounds of Somewhere in Time and Out of Africa if you tried.  The movie is kind of a latter-day Moby Dick with a mythical buffalo instead of a whale, starring Charles Bronson as Wild Bill Hikock / Captain Ahab.  The movie is often ridiculed, possibly because of its laughable effects, but if you take those away you can find a half-decent story featuring a typically strong and enigmatic performance by Bronson.

An aspect of Barry's approach to films that seems for some reason ignored is his tendency to stoke up the psychological journey being undertaken by the characters.  In this respect he is really very similar to Bernard Herrmann - of course, compositionally their music could barely be further apart, but in terms of the dramatic effect there are certain similarities.  And never has he written such a bleak and desperate psychological portrayal of a character than in The White Buffalo.  The entire score is associated with the dreadful emotional journey Bronson takes over the course of the film.  There are two main themes, neither of which has ever been heard on an album before - and neither of which is particularly melodic or memorable.  They are both really deep-seated, deliberately uncomfortable pieces, each of which goes on a fascinating journey towards the film's climax.

Some of the music, with the percussion effects, sounds like a precursor to Barry's "Pawnee Attack" music in Dances with Wolves many years later; some of the rest has echoes of the somewhat turgid music in The Deep and King Kong.  But by and large this is a Barry score that exists by itself in his long filmography.

This release from Prometheus Records is probably for Barry fans only - well-documented problems meant that the best masters available were not up to much, so sound quality is not what you might expect from a score as comparatively recent as this one.  On the other hand, the liner notes are in a league of their own.  I would put this down as a "fascinating" rather than "enjoyable" entry in Barry's career, but certainly one that fans of the composer will not want to miss.

Tracks