X-Men 2 X2 Soundtrack CD

Personnel: Elenore Choate, Katie Kirkpatrick, Gayle Levant (harp); Eun Mee Ahn, David Ewart, Rebecca Bunnell, Gil Romero, Katia Popov, Tamara L. Hatwan, Mark Sazer, Razdan Kutumjain, Alan Grunfeld, Barbara Porter, Pat Johnson , Lily Chen, Michael Ferril, Mari Tsumura, Horia Moroaica, Franklyn d'Antonio, Joel Derouin, Julie Rogers, Mark Robertson , Sid Page, Richard Altenbach, Bruce Dukov, Natalie Leggett, Phillipe Levy, Sara Parkins, Roger Wilkie, Armen Garabedian, Darius Campo, Michael Markman, Josephina Vergara, Berj Garabedian, Mario Diaz de Leon, Haim Shtrum (violin); Larry Corbett (viola, cello); Matt Funes, Shawn Mann, Carole Castillo, Kazi Pitelka, Andrew Picken, Carrie Holzman-Little, Vicki Miskolczy, John Scanlon, Brian Dembow, Roland Kato, Janet Lakatos, Maria Newman, Simon Oswell, Harry Shirinian (viola); Paula Hochhalter, Christina Soule, Timothy Landauer, Dennis Karmazyn, David Mergen, Jodi Burnett, Robert Adcock, Miguel Martinez, Suzie Katayama, Stephen Erdody, Cecilia Tsan (cello); Susan Greenberg, Louise Di Tullio, Geri Rotella (flute); Ralph Williams , Emily Bernstein, Gary Bovyer, Charles Boito (clarinet); Earl Dumler, Leslie Reed, Phil Ayling (oboe); Bob Schmidtke, Rose Corrigan, David Riddles (bassoon); Marissa Benedict, Jon Lewis , Rick Baptist, Warren Luening (trumpet); Paul Klintworth, Joe Meyer , Steve Becknell, Rick Todd, Brad Warnaar, Brian O'Connor (French horn); Robert Sanders, Alan Kaplan, Phil Teele, Bill Reichenbach Jr. , Charles Loper, Stephen Holtman (trombone); Eric Anderson, Randy Kerber (piano, celesta); Peter Limonick (timpani); Dan Greco, M.B. Gordy, Wade Culbreath, Robert Zimmitti (percussion).
Audio Mixer: Casey Stone.
Recording information: The Newman Stage, Twentieth Century Fox.
John Ottman's score for X2 is a fairly traditional piece of film music, with soaring strings and choral vocals, anthemic brass and intense percussion. While pieces such as the serene "Finding Faith" and the tense, slow-burning "Mansion Attack" might be somewhat predictable, they're nevertheless effective and dignified, which is more than can be said of some of the scores from 2003's summer blockbusters. And, despite their somewhat cheesy names, tracks like "Storm's Perfect Storm," "Sneaky Mystique," and "Rogue Earns Her Wings" do manage to convey the X-Men characters through music (although fans might be disappointed by the spoiler in "Death Strikes Deathstryke"'s title). Other highlights include the album's opening suite, the climactic "Goodbye," and the bittersweet finale, "We're Here to Stay." It's not the most inspired score, but Ottman's music more than serves its purpose, and fans who enjoyed the music in the movie will most likely appreciate this album as well. ~ Heather Phares