Music Composed by Robert Rodriguez, John Debney, Graeme Revell
Rating: ***

While I applaud the idea and have deep admiration for Frank Miller, I must confess that I have not, as of yet, had the opportunity to Robert Rodriguez’s painstakingly faithful of Miller’s graphic novel, Sin City. I find the concept intriguing, however, especially with Rodriguez quickly emerging as one of the most unique maverick filmmakers working in Hollywood. In recent years, Rodriguez has slowly expanded his filmmaking duties into film scoring (alongside writing, directing, editing, key gripping, gophering, and anything else you see in a film’s end credits sequence), though he rarely manages to complete the score by himself. Such was the case with Sin City, where Rodriguez initially attempted to write the score itself, realized he had way too much on his plate to finish the score in time, and enlisted the help of his friends, composers Graeme Revell and John Debney. In this situation, episodic structure of the film gave the three-composer collaboration a little more justification then the typical Media Ventures committee-score – rather than work in a true collaboration, Rodriguez had each composer independently score one episode of the film, giving each of the film’s antiheroes their own distinct musical identity. While the end result is a trifle uneven for obvious reasons, it’s a fascinating approach to film music, and a handful of inspiring ideas were generated in the process.

To create some sense of continuity to the episodes, Rodriguez reportedly had them both incorporate the theme he had already written (though both composers seem determined to use this theme as seldom as possible in practice) and had both include extensive writing for sleazy noir saxophone. I have a hard time believing he also didn’t tell both composers to echo the work of Elliot Goldenthal as closely as possible, because all three segments sound as though they were modeled faithfully after Goldenthal’s macabre dementia. Rodriguez establishes the tie from the very beginning, with his massive orchestral descent and aggressive saxophone in the titular “Sin City,” screaming of Goldenthal’s macabre theatrics. Nevertheless, it’s a great opening piece that shows enormous potential in Rodriguez as a composer, and effectively establishes a morbidly entertaining sound-world for the other composers to inhabit.

Graeme Revell, a composer I want to like far more often then I actually do, opens the first section, reportedly with the mandate not to use an orchestra. Hardly a promising scenario, but he manages to keep his material reasonably interesting throughout his segment’s entirety. Yes, synthesizers are used, but as a means to distort and pervert the soundscape, rather than to create aimless ambient wallpaper. He also makes extensive use of short garbled grunts from a distorted saxophone, a quirky and unsetting technique that, again, screams of Elliot Goldenthal (this time in bizarro Drugstore Cowboy/In Dreams form), but never mind. Goldenthal has been away from the cinema for so long that I’m willing to temporarily accept Revell’s Goldenthal-light if it keeps me entertained, which it does. The music never evolves into anything that would stand independently on its own two feet, but Revell keeps things in constant motion so that the music never wears out its welcome - rather impressive given the obstacles Rodriguez threw at Revell.

John Debney follows with the second episode, and surprisingly it’s this segment that really steals this show. Surprising for me, anyway – while I realize the man has a growing legion of fans, I can rarely stand the generic, orchestral mush he constantly pours over his films (and yes, that includes the overproduced temp-track others refer to as The Passion of the Christ). How strange then, that here in this seedy dark underworld, Debney actually seems to have found his muse (I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that this time that muse probably wasn’t The Virgin Mary). His segment isn’t entirely devoid of aimless filler or the Goldenthal influence, but when it shines it reaches out to the great sultry noir classics of Hollywood’s Golden Age. His gives his episode a great theme that distinctly recalls Franz Waxman’s luscious Rebecca, and the melody sets the score smoldering each time it appears (perhaps most memorably in the knockout conclusion, “The Big Fat Kill”). It’s only a pity the musical episode runs so short - given more time to expand on his best ideas, Debney might have been able to craft a contemporary noir classic.

Unfortunately, Rodriguez doesn’t manage to conjure up anything anywhere near as interesting with his score for the final episode, which is disappointing considering the powerful overture he gives the album. His ability to write for an orchestra is impressive given that he’s more of a director than a composer, but the music isn’t impressive enough to really enjoy on its own terms. His lack of experience leaves his writing extremely simplistic, which is fine when the genre allows for a more extroverted and surfacy approach, (as with Spy Kids or Once Upon a Time in Mexico), but it just doesn’t hold up as subtle psychological probing. Rodriguez is clearly trying to pay homage to the psychological masterpieces of Bernard Herrmann, but without Herrmann’s complexity and innovation, the music just comes across and anonymous churning. That’s not to say that Revell or Debney’s segments are models of depth or complexity, but they at least have the good sense to mask the simplicity behind interesting instrumental textures or silver-screen nostalgia. Rodriguez refuses to entertain, and lacks the substance to justify the stark approach. It would draw the album to a severely disappointing anticlimax if Rodriguez weren’t wise enough to conclude the CD with a far-more interesting piece of modernistic concert music by 1920’s composer, Silvestre Revueltas (“Sensemaya”), followed by a flashier and satisfying end credits sequence.

Unsurprisingly, the score as a whole is something of a mixed bag – we ultimately wind up with roughly a two-star score from Rodriguez, a three-star score from Revell, and a three-and-a-half-star score from Debney. Everything blends together into a remarkably cohesive listening experience, but the nature of the film’s structure also doesn’t allow any of these mini-scores to develop into anything more substantial. Nevertheless, if you’re in the mood for a black, edgy, and generally entertaining film score album that won’t ask you to think too much, you’ll likely find yourself in the right neighborhood with Sin City. (Originally posted May 4, 2005).

Music by Robert Rodriguez, John Debney and Graeme Revell; Conducted by John Debney and Bruce Babcock; Orchestrated by Brad Dechter, George Oldziey, Mike Watts, Frank Bennett, and Bruce Babcock; Recorded and Mixed by Alan Meyerson; Availability: In print; Label (Catalogue): Varèse Sarabande, (302 066 644 2); Release Date: March 29, 2005

01. Sin City - R. Rodriguez (1′55)
02. One Hour To Go - R. Rodriguez (2′12)
03. Goldie’s Dead- G. Revell(2′15)
04. Marv - G. Revell & R. Rodriguez (2′10)
05. Bury The Hatchet- G. Revell(2′40)
06. Old Town Girls- G. Revell & R. Rodriguez(0′44)
07. The Hard Goodbye- G. Revell(4′32)
08. Cardinal Sin- G. Revell & R. Rodriguez(2′14)
09. Her Name Is Goldie- G. Revell(1′00)
10. Dwight - J. Debney (2′11)
11. Old Town-J. Debney & R. Rodriguez(3′16)
12. Deadly Little Miho-J. Debney & R. Rodriguez(2′58)
13. Warrior Woman - J. Debney (2′19)
14. Tar Pit - J. Debney (2′11)
15. Jackie Boy’s Head - J. Debney (0′36)
16. The Big Fat Kill - J. Debney (3′16)
17. Nancy - R. Rodriguez (1′34)
18. Prison Cell - R. Rodriguez (1′48)
19. Absurd - Written & Performed by Fluke (3′40)
20. Kiss Of Death - R. Rodriguez (1′58)
21. That Yellow Bastard - R. Rodriguez (1′36)
22. Hartigan - R. Rodriguez (1′43)
23. Sensemaya - Composed by Silvestre Revueltas (5′59)
24. Sin City End Titles - R. Rodriguez (3′16)

Total Playing Time: 58′03