Reviews: (top of the page)
The River of Souls has powerful dramatic lines, which always brings out the best in Franke. It also has more
variety in style and expression than the previous two Babylon 5 film scores, including stirring choral phrases and
some light, leisurely jazz for the Holobrothel scenes. This release has five or six tracks about 10 to 12 minutes
each.
Helen San
CINEMUSIC Online
May 28, 1999
The soundtrack to The River of Souls, by Christopher Franke has quite simply got me thinking. Composed
especially for this episode (OK I know there are references to the main Babylon 5 theme tune), it is a tour de
force. Superb interplay of conventional "straight" orchestral arrangements, using the Berlin orchestra, and the
more contemporary sounds of Mr Yamaha and Co are simply inspiring. Using synthesized sounds to paint a
soundscape can be a hazardous occupation, these textures quickly start to sound dated, what is this weeks
"cool sound" can overnight become embarrassingly twee (take a listen to an old Rick Wakeman album to see
what I mean). Christopher Franke' s selections seem to me to be spot on. The mental imagery and emotional
tides certainly carried this reviewer downstream on The River of Souls. Mind you, I'm a sucker for a good
Hammond Organ sound, the sleazy, bluesy tracks conveying a space brothel bought a chuckle to my lips. But
why Mr Franke can we not have had a real drummer and bass player? I know that with a machine you only have to
punch the information in once, but I missed the human touch.
All in all, this CD is a fascinating selection of moods and thrills, competently written and superbly played and
arranged. This particular episode features the talents of Ian McShane, Martin Sheen and Richard Biggs, a
benchmark of talent and quality.
Ian Lace
FILM MUSIC ON THE WEB
July 20, 1999
