Signs

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Customer Reviews:

Signs - Brilliant score by JNH [Posted on 2003-12-21]
James Newton Howard's score for Signs has topped my collection. The sounds are simple and classic, yet very stimulating and adrenaline-pumping--akin to the famous strings in Psycho. The depth of the music is in its layers of instruments. The music complements the movie (the DVD of which I own) so well, reviving that Hitchcockian-style thriller I enjoy so much. In addition, I think the music captures so well the emotional plot within the story. I typically listen to movie music while driving. On many occasions, I drive with my two young sons to and from school. I watched Signs with them (editing out certain parts). Afterwards, we listened to the music in the car. The three sudden, loud, and scary parts (end of Brazilian Footage [Track 4], beginning of Asthma attack [Track 11] and Hand of Fate [Track 12]) made us all jump. And at every listen, at the climactic part, my younger son says "Swing away Merrill. Merrill, swing away." and then yells "WATER!" (sorry if you haven't seen the movie yet). You can't get a better response from a 3-yr-old. The music tells the story.

Scary, Isn't It.... [Posted on 2004-10-18]
One of the best suspense soundtracks ever made in my opinion. Howard is a very good composer and has gotten even better with Signs. The three note motif that is played thoughout the movie is so simple yet suspenseful. Signs is one of my favorite movie. One of the reasons is because of the music. The music shows us the situation that these people are living in a much scarier way.

Impressive! [Posted on 2006-04-14]
In a world clouded by John Williams, it has been difficult for other film composers to get themselves "heard." Along with Hans Zimmer, James Horner, and Howard Shore, James Newton Howard has begun to edge his name into popular cinematic circles. His new release "Signs" is actually what drew me to the theater to see the film. The enticing three-note pattern which is the foundation for the entire score was enchanting and invoked enough curiosity in me that I saw the film on opening day (even though the plot seemed bizzare). While the overture is impressive, I was a bit underwhelmed by the interior tracks on the album. While the music is great for "background" effects the typical moving chordal structure is altogether boring in comparison with every other suspense movie score out there. The album elevated itself to "impressive" status with the final two tracks (The Hand of Fate parts 1 and 2). These two tracks are stand alone music. Opening with an "in your face" recapitulation of the motive in the overture, evolving into a sweet, reflective lyrical section, and beginning to build again with an interesting staccato violin duet the finale is quite unique. The Hand of Fate part One concludes with a soaring horn line above the main theme and evolves into a pensive pseudo-choral in the Hand of Fate part Two. The CD is worth it just for the overture and the Hand of Fate Duo!

Tubular Bells grows up and becomes a daddy [Posted on 2007-07-17]
James Newton Howard's preternaturally spooky sound track to the Mel Gibson move SIGNS is worth its weight in the corn carved out and wasted by those damned aliens. Having grown up in Pennsylvania corn country, I can tell you that corn is *heavy*.

Howard crafts his soundtrack using ingenious variants on a three-note theme that is even eerier when listened to sans video than during the movie itself. It is astonishing how powerfully a soundtrack like this evokes the fear and anticipation of the movie's plot line.

The bulk of these tracks set your teeth on edge, making the occasional harmonic resolution akin to a warm bath or jumping off a bridge and discovering that they remembered to attach the bungie chord after all.

The composer's weapon of choice for this gloriously conceived assassination of good feeling is the humble flute. Howard takes a page from 'Tubular Bells' to pull it off, triumphantly chipping away at security with this simple wind pipe.

SIGNS is one amazing anthology of tightly themed and emotive music. It's a brilliant listen even without reference to its fun parent, the movie.

Jauntingly Terrifying while Soothingly Peaceful [Posted on 2008-02-08]
While the film's music is not diverse or changing much, like some of JNH's other works (eg. King Kong, Batman Begins), it does leave many great moments of intense songs and other peaceful heartfelt progressions. This is one of my favorite albums just for the songs Asthma Attack and Hand of Fate. Those two songs alone show how amazingly Howard can take one three note motif and transform it into entire album. While the album in a whole can seem to drag and never end if you listen to it from start to finish to start to finish (obviously because of this never-ending three note motif and the unchanging key), it is a great album to have in, playing in a mixture of other albums. My overall thought is, though it doesn't have the quality to make you feel alive or even in tears like Batman Begins can (or even Zimmer's Pirate's 3), it is a masterpiece just to listen to how many different progressions Howard can make off of one motif. I would recommend it to a musician highly. Otherwise, 3 1/2 stars seems sufficient.

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