REVIEW: All The King's Men

Okay, so, this is a rereview. I honestly have no idea what planet I was living on when I wrote the initial review for this score back in September. I won’t make any bones about the fact that my first year of college was crummy, and I got this score first semester. I had just broken up with my boyfriend and was dealing with my then roommate, who was manic (quite seriously--he’d stay up for 72 hours on end), and I was probably trying to avoid him just long enough to listen to the score and review it objectively. Well, I have since had the opportunity to rediscover this score, and I’d like it to be known my “objective” review was way off base.

I started my previous review with this paragraph: “Right off the bat, it is evident that All The King’s Men is a dark score. It is absolutely oozing with Horner's style and orchestrations (he orchestrated it himself, a pleasant shift from the 8 orchestrators of Legend of Zorro).” I still stand by that statement, moreso as I’ve really begun to rediscover Horner’s more intimate scores. All the King’s Men, for all its power and might, really is one of those. The scores that Horner orchestrates himself really get into the nitty-gritty of the characters of a film, and I just feel like Horner is filling in the open crevasses the film had with a blanket of truly evocative music, something he does best when he is in complete control of his scores. With that being said, I’d like to modify the last sentence of my review’s original paragraph. It should read, “Horner's darker scores are hit and miss, and I'm pleased to report that this one is a roaring success.”

The first thing one will notice when the score starts is the crescendoing, intensifying snare drums that build, peppering the score with a sense of fear and dread, assumedly representing the corruption present within the setting. This is a technique based on his rapid cymbal-tapping technique (think Bicenennial Man, Beautiful Mind, Flightplan, or his other lighter, character based string scores in more urgent moments). The drums then yield toward a true “main title,” something which is beginning to become increasingly rare in Hollywood (a damn shame and a rant for another time). All of the themes get a workout here. There appear to be three of them, one of which is varied based on the mood.

The first one is what has been described as the “power theme” a more often than not four note theme that is used to show a dark side to the music--one that expresses dread and, when played by higher pitched (muted?) brass, can really cause one to quiver. Its simple construct and innate simplicity gives it a, well, power that an overly complex theme would have ruined. This theme shows up quite often, sometimes in the aforementioned brass, but also mixed into other sections of the orchestra in the low strings, almost as a counterpoint for what is going on in the music. This sends the message of, “Oh, hey, this isn’t what it seems!” The versatility of the theme is amazing, and is everywhere in the score providing many subtle references, creating an atmosphere of out of control power. For interest’s sake, and I’m shocked no one review has mentioned this, I knew the theme came from somewhere else, and in my original review, I said, “... really is just a fragment of the "waves" music from House of Sand and Fog.” Well, this is somewhat true, but I since have come to realize it is the schizophrenic music from A Beautiful Mind, plus one note. And frankly, I listened to A Beautiful Mind in May (this is when I realized), tried to add that fourth note in my mind in anticipation, and wasn’t able to. The point? It works just a little better in All the King’s Men (not saying it doesn’t work in A Beautiful Mind, which it does amazingly well. I just prefer the theme with the extra note!).

The second theme in the score is the most dynamic. It is a two sided theme, also introduced in the main title and heard throughout the score. It is the one varied based on mood. This is a quintessential Horner character theme, I assume meant for the main one. By two sided, I mean you get three varieties- piano and/or low strings being the first. The piano and strings versions of this theme convey a sense of innocence, yet the theme is constructed with a slightly dark twinge to it. It is tender, and it is beautiful, yet still has just enough twists in the notation that its not an entirely pure theme. The second way this theme is played is by the southern fiddle (namely at the start of the 9th track) throughout the score, again, giving it the southern fighter tone that the music is trying to convey, without making it seem as though any good is going on. The third side to this theme is the brass side, played on lower level brass (trombones and horns), which shows the corrupt, evil side to the character. There are times when these styles appear right next to each other, and are used together to add a great conflict in the music, assumedly for the character for which it was written. The conflict, when listening to the music, is almost tangible and extremely evocative, a sign Horner did what so few modern composers do now and got to the nitty-gritty of the characterization.

The third theme is by and far one of the most beautiful Horner has penned, and is most prominent at the beginning of track 8. As I said in my previous review and I think still stands true here this theme, which I often hear referred to as the childhood theme, “...is a piano driven (once taken by the strings and once by the woodwinds, however) noir theme that belongs in a smoky room in a bar late at night. It is sentimental and thoughtful; provoking and jazzy.” In my original review, I identified it as a gem of the score, and it really is. It appears sparingly, but it is used to color an otherwise bleak musical landscape, and is used to show that in a dark world, not all hope is lost. The restraint in its usage is perfect for the tone of the score, for it is a breath of fresh air, but never lets us forget not all is well in the world.

In my original review, I took significant issue with the orchestration, and it is here that I really wonder what planet I was on. The orchestration is probably one of the most influential bits of this score. I totally missed how layered it was. The references to the power theme, in the melody and countermelodies, are subtle and yet powerful, and I completely missed them my first time around. How I did this I do not know, but I just realized how amazingly layered the score was as I rediscovered it, and noticed that there is always some sort of musical message in the orchestra if one is willing to look for it.

Aside from that, the orchestration is fluid and dark, yet unforgiving and unrelenting, warming up only when the characters are willing to expose their week and vulnerable side. Same for the music. For most of the score the music is strong, but it opens up and becomes warm when it exposes its inner depths (piano based character theme/childhood theme as perfect examples). The usage of brass is far more intense than in Horner’s usual intimate scores, but here the brass is kept in the low range (as are most of the instruments playing, including synths, except the strings and piano during the warm moments). In this way, the score is similar to Enemy at the Gates and House of Sand and Fog, but digs far more into musical messaging (of corruption and love) than in either of those two scores. The weight of the musical movement is left to the strings. As I said in my original review that the music contains, “the low strings upon low strings meandering away with occasional low brass accompaniment from Enemy at the Gates and the strings on deep reverberating bells/wave like long lined strings from House of Sand and Fog.” I said then that this killed the score, but on rediscovering Horner’s intimate side, I can say it is these techniques that make the score as fluid and as deep as it is. Apart they don’t work so well (I make no bones about my dislike for Enemy at the Gates), but together they create a dark, twisted, twirling atmosphere where the music starts on top and works its way down. Wooden these orchestrations are not. Fluid and dynamic they are.

This is not to say all is perfect. I do still find that the score slows down considerably toward the middle, with lots of drawn out string notes and missing accompaniments that sort of lead a go nowhere wander atmosphere to the score. Sometimes the score is stripped to the bare bones and just a few instruments are playing sparsely constructed notations, but its never allowed to become excruciatingly boring as these sections don’t last long. They may seem to if you aren’t listening to the layers of the score, because sometimes the top layer is doing nothing and noodling around. But the joy here is to search lower layers, and by doing that, one might just find the occasional nod to the power theme or an amazing countermelody of strong construct that is sending the musical message of, “hey, watch out!”

Three tracks that I find interesting are track 3, 5, and 9. Tracks 5 and 9 are based around pizzicato strings around brooding statements of the power theme, augmented by the plucked steel drum synths (for lack of a better description) from The Forgotten/Chumscrubber. These tracks provide an awesome, subtle, yet entirely foreboding musical warning that there is significant conniving, and one should beware. These tracks are most chilling and evocative, and serve to create some of the most dynamic tension Horner has written in years.

Track 3 is an anomaly in the score. It sticks out like a sore thumb, but it fits the atmosphere of the score none the less. As I said in my original review, and this still holds true, with this track, “one is listening to bright Americana from the pages of Searching for Bobby Fischer (with an Americana theme that is a variation on Bobby Fischer's main theme). It is alive with style and vigor and is quite a pleasant listen.” It ends with a quotation out of Braveheart of the Sons of Scotland theme, but works just as well here as a theme of triumph and victory, when played forcefully as it is here. It works well enough in Braveheart, but it really gets the blood flowing here. I have had a chance to see just this scene in the movie (and friend owns it and let me watch just this scene). The replacement cue is not nearly as good, as it is a more subdued interpretation of the same material (that americana theme is still present, just stripped of its countermelody). I found it funny that most reviewers let Horner off the hook for the Braveheart reference since the cue was replaced in the film. Clearly no one had bothered to see it--the Braveheart reference is still very much in the final film.

“All the King's Men is highly original, which should please many people. Yes, its Horner. As I said, its oozing with his style.” I indicated that in my review, and indeed, that is very true. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. Horner’s style is what keeps me coming back to his scores, as I always feel at home and in a welcome presence with his music on. Rather than walking into a generic department store for a meal, its like going to grandma’s and being pampered with all the fixins’ (okay, so I’m being melodramatic, but you get the idea). As a miscellaneous note, I mentioned before that, aside from the Beautiful Mind and Braveheart references, “in the track Adam's World at about 2:27 in, there is a loudly mixed harp playing the action theme from Commando. It makes for a heartbreaking top to the sad strings in the background. It only appears once and here for about 15 seconds or so, thus it honestly shouldn't matter to anyone but those with a keen ear listening for the tips of the hat.”
I concluded my previous review by saying, “Alas, there is nothing more to say about All the King's Men. Some are going to love it and some are going to hate it.” But I hope like me, if you hate it, you can go from hating it to loving it. It has been worth the trip.

**** out of 5.