CD REVIEW - Basic Instinct 2


Basic Instinct 2
Music by John Murphy, with original Basic Instinct themes by Jerry Goldsmith
La-La Land Records LLLCD 1045
33 Tracks 61:54 mins


I feel a little sorry for John Murphy, having to incorporate themes from Jerry Goldsmith's masterful score for the original Basic Instinct in his own score for this sequel, which has been a long time in coming and which, now it's here, hasn't been given the warmest of receptions by the critics. I haven't seen the film myself, but Murphy's music seems perfectly adequate for the genre type, with much suspense and mysterious, often piano-lead, music. It's just that whenever Goldsmith's music appears, it raises the whole thing up a notch.
Murphy has also been criticised for his use of mournful duduk and middle-eastern-styled rhythms in his few out and out action cues. As the story is set in London, it does seem a little odd, but there may well be a very good reason - I just can't say without seeing the film.
There are 29 score tracks on the album, with a further four bonus tracks of source music, three from Murphy and one from Mozart, with the usual lavishly illustrated booklet featuring notes on the film and its composer.