The Clan of the Cave Bear
Alan Silvestri
" A little sister of The Abyss and Flight of the Navigator "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the limited release
Composed in the same year as the classic adventure score Back to the Future, The Clan of the Cave Bear couldn't be further apart from its bombastic counterpart. While Back is completely orchestral, Clan instead goes for an entire synthesized sound. Not that this hurts the experience, because it doesn't. But some things don't always mesh well.
No problem though with the main theme, opening "Main Title" with lots of mystery and coolness. The theme returns often enough, giving the mystery enough time to capture your imagination. A sound that doesn't work is the strange combination of vocal effects and native ethnic (synthesized) music, often giving a weird effect during "The Glacier Trek" and "End Credits". It's one of those weirder sounding combinations of the 80's that sounds rather dated today.
Fortunately there's enough 80's to go around that. The sounds of the mighty depths of The Abyss return from time to time, while Flight of the Navigator (one of those other cool looking films of the 80's) gives enough sense of adventure and fantasy in several cues. All in all, I can appreciate The Clan of the Cave Bear for what it is, but it will not be a score for everyone. Perhaps that's why it was released several years ago as a limited edition in the Varèse Club releases in the first place.
Track Listing
1. Main Title (3.16)
2. The Bear Skull (1.33)
3. Ayla Finds the Cave (1.37)
4. Ayla Alone (2.13)
5. The Glacier Trek (2.29)
6. The Clan Finds Ayla (3.27)
7. Creb On The Mountain (1.44)
8. The Counting (2.41)
9. Creb Gives Ayla Totem (3.22)
10. Wolf Attack (1.27)
11. The Vision (3.38)
12. Iza's Death (2.08)
13. Caught (4.08)
14. The Clan (1.57)
15. Ayla Hugs Creb (2.11)
16. The Rape (1.37)
17. End Title (6.34)
Total Length: 46.02
No problem though with the main theme, opening "Main Title" with lots of mystery and coolness. The theme returns often enough, giving the mystery enough time to capture your imagination. A sound that doesn't work is the strange combination of vocal effects and native ethnic (synthesized) music, often giving a weird effect during "The Glacier Trek" and "End Credits". It's one of those weirder sounding combinations of the 80's that sounds rather dated today.
Fortunately there's enough 80's to go around that. The sounds of the mighty depths of The Abyss return from time to time, while Flight of the Navigator (one of those other cool looking films of the 80's) gives enough sense of adventure and fantasy in several cues. All in all, I can appreciate The Clan of the Cave Bear for what it is, but it will not be a score for everyone. Perhaps that's why it was released several years ago as a limited edition in the Varèse Club releases in the first place.
Track Listing
1. Main Title (3.16)
2. The Bear Skull (1.33)
3. Ayla Finds the Cave (1.37)
4. Ayla Alone (2.13)
5. The Glacier Trek (2.29)
6. The Clan Finds Ayla (3.27)
7. Creb On The Mountain (1.44)
8. The Counting (2.41)
9. Creb Gives Ayla Totem (3.22)
10. Wolf Attack (1.27)
11. The Vision (3.38)
12. Iza's Death (2.08)
13. Caught (4.08)
14. The Clan (1.57)
15. Ayla Hugs Creb (2.11)
16. The Rape (1.37)
17. End Title (6.34)
Total Length: 46.02