The Good Shepherd (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Album Review

Relative newcomers Marcelo Zarvos and Bruce Fowler team for The Good Shepherd, an uncommonly intelligent and atmospheric thriller score notable for its refusal to conform to familiar ideals of tension and suspense. Rather than browbeating listeners with melodramatic melodies and frenetic rhythms, Zavros and Fowler favor melancholy strings, foreboding piano melodies, and dissonant effects that combine to create a palpable sense of danger. Period material including George and Ira Gershwin's "Embraceable You," Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies," and Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer's "Come Rain or Come Shine" fleshes out Varese Sarabande's official soundtrack release.