S.W.A.T. (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Album Review

For his first score since winning the Academy Award for his work on Frida, Elliot Goldenthal composed an aggressive, ambitious, and slick set of music for the summer 2003 blockbuster S.W.A.T. The music works best with the visuals, and Goldenthal often uses the contemporary action film device of opening with a theme played with rock instrumentation and following with a full orchestra to beef up the mood. A real surprise arrives immediately with the ten-minute opener, "Bullet Frenzy," which is chock-full of ideas and is almost written tightly enough to execute them all. The most memorable part of the original show, Barry de Vorzon's theme, shows up in a techno version from Danny Saber and minor quotes in Goldenthal's "S.W.A.T. Sticker" and Hot Action Cop's tribute, "Samuel Jackson." Apollo 440's slinky "Time Is Running Out" succeeds in upping the cool factor.