Playwright Tony Kushner adapted his sprawling meditation on the AIDS epidemic of the 80's into an equally epic, Mike Nichols-directed HBO miniseries. But while Thomas Newman's score spans that dramatic landscape with rich stylistic diversity, the young champion of the daunting Newman family musical tradition (his father was Fox legend Alfred; his brother fellow film scorer David; his cousin songwriter/composer Randy) never lets musical bombast get in the way of compelling emotional introspection. Anchored by a delicate wind and string-driven main theme that's as mature as it is bittersweet, Newman proceeds to explore some of the same adventurous, rhythmically restless soundscapes that characterized his work on Erin Brockovich and American Beauty. But that typically moody experimentalism is leavened elsewhere by moments of neo-baroque choral exultation, smokey 30's jazz (courtesy of George Lewis and his Ragtime Band and Duke Ellington) and even flashes of gospel and orchestral post-modernism, all of it served up with a masterful sense of irony-free restraint that's become one of the composer's most refreshing hallmarks. It's easily one of Newman's -- and 2003's -- most accomplished and satisfying film scores. --Jerry McCulley
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Angels in America:
This is Thomas Newman at his very best with lush orchestration and sublime chords that are his trademark. The eerie vocals add a somewhat mysterious flavour to the album and embellish it enormously. Can't wait to now see the film .
Some of his best work:
Most of us know Thomas Newman for his work on his more famous films like American Beauty, Shawshank Redemption, Scent of a Woman and Meet Joe Black, but this soundtrack to the HBO film is right up there with his best pieces of work. The whole album goes through various feelings, shades and emotions, the best tracks for me being Mauve Antarctica and Tropopause. If you're a Thomas Newman fan then you need this in your collection.
Angels in America - Always Great!:
Love the film, the play and the soundtrack. If you find the topics of Angels in America interesting, thought-provoking and warm to your heart, you will LOVE this. As a man battling HIV, I find it outstanding. Thanks Amazon, for offering all the Angels in America products.
GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:
There are not enough stars on the selection for me to say how good this CD is! It is so beautiful and like classical music. I listen to it all the time!
