Dark City Soundtrack CD

Music From & Inspired By Movie Echo/Bunnymen,Gary Numan &More

Producers include: Trevor Jones.
Engineers include: Simon Rhodes.
Personnel: Glen Keiles, Gareth Cousins (synthesizer); Philip Todd (EWI).
Audio Mixers: Gareth Cousins; Simon Rhodes.
Recording information: Abbey Road Stuidos, London, England.
Unknown Contributor Roles: Paul Broucek; Mark Kaufman; Dana K. Sano; Patricia Joseph ; Toby Emmerich.
Trevor Jones' soundtrack to Dark City is very much what one would expect from a film about evil bald men who control the night. It is not as stark and intriguing as the film, but as a stand alone, it is a mild balance between Batman and The Crow. The grimness is offset by several artist vocal cuts, some inspired by the film and some contained in the film. Anita Kelsey's dark lounge song "Sway" is melodic and trance-like; hearing it gives the feel of a snake slithering through tall grass, as it weaves in and out of tone. As good as it is, it will never be as striking a solo piece as seeing it lip synched in the film by the gorgeous Jennifer Connelly. In fact, the soundtrack never really breaks into its own; it serves as tone for the film, but is not very listenable outside of that. Take the gloomy track "Emma," for example. It is so low key that you wonder why it is even included -- without a picture in front of it is turns up as dead air. "Into the City" and "You Have the Power" are synthetic orchestrations with better energy, not classic themes, but they do make for standout tracks. ~ Peter Fawthrop