CD REVIEW - THE MOLE


The Mole
Music by David Michael Frank
BSX Records BSXCD 8854 (US)
37 Tracks 76:55 mins

I don't know about you, but I am personally fed-up with all the reality shows that plague our TVs these days. I get enough reality in my daily life and look to my TV to take me out of that reality and to entertain. I therefore find I watch very little TV now, which of course allows me more time to listen to music, which can't be a bad thing, but sometimes it's nice just to chill out in front of the goggle box, and I find there's much less chance of doing so these days.
Anyway, moaning over, a popular US reality show, first aired in 2000, which ran for four seasons of ABC before being cancelled, was The Mole. Composer David Michael Frank was the lucky man to get the gig, lucky because the original Belgian version of the show raided the scores of John Williams, Bernard Herrmann and the like to provide a top-class musical backdrop, and when obtaining the rights to this music domestically proved prohibitive, Frank was asked to create original music of similar scope. Needless to say, with such a great opportunity, the results were memorable to say the least, the music being performed by a Prague orchestra, augmented with synths, electronic percussion and guitars. A fine soundtrack album to the show was issued by Varese Sarabande in 2001.
To Frank's great surprise, he received a telephone call from producer Scott Stone in January 2008, telling him that the show was to be revived and asking him to create a new orchestral score. This time the composer went to Moscow to record a score that has something of a Spanish influence, due to the show being shot in South America.
This limited edition soundtrack of just 1000 units features a very generous helping of music from the revived show, commencing of course with Frank's propulsive and adventurous main theme, which also makes a few welcome appearances here and there in subsequent tracks, as well of course as rounding off the album in the "End Credits." There's plenty more action-oriented music, as well as a good dose of tension and intrigue, to be found in the likes of "Burn Journal Burn;" "Ticket to Ride;" "Tick Tock Boom;" "Hypothermia;" "Cell Out;" "Close Call;" "Over the Falls;" "How's the View;" "Grapes of Cache;" "Race to the Summit;" "Midas Rush;" "Against the Clock;" and "Swing Out;" as well as the dramatic countdowns of "Enter the Execution" and "Eliminated;" whilst tracks like the melancholy "Arrival at Salto Del Laja;" the light comedy of "When Pigs Fly;" "Sneaky Subterfuge;" "Travelers;" the catchy "Santiago Shuffle" and "Strange bedfellows;" and the Latin-styled scherzo "Crusoe;" the lovely sentiment of "Farewell;" "Reunion;" "Family Ties;" and "Leaving;" the catchy, Latin-rhythmed "Dress Code;" the waltz-like "Go Figure;" the tangos "Who Said That"and " 3 to Tango;" the pastoral beauty of "Daybreak;" and the laid-back, expansive variation of the main theme in "Ten Questions" provide contrast.
All-in-all then, another great album, well worth its place in your collection alongside the soundtrack to the original series. If you still need convincing, go to http://buysoundtrax.stores.yahoo.net/moorsofrsefi.html, where you can hear samples, before you order your copy.