CD REVIEW - UNSTOPPABLE

So I took a few days off. This was partly because I was working on a personal project, but also because I did it - I finally caught up with the backlog of CDs and suddenly found myself with nothing left to review. Anyway, I've since received a number of releases, including a big batch of La-La Land's latest releases and this is where I start:-

Unstoppable
Music by Harry Gregson-Williams
La-La Land Records LLLCD 1160 (US)
13 Tracks 42:22 mins

Taking brief time out from releasing all those excellent expanded editions and premieres of past scores, La-La Land Records here release Harry Gregson-Williams's music for the recent runaway train thriller Unstoppable, starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pine (the new Captain Kirk), a film that my brother informs me ticks all the right boxes.
Utilising synths, samples and a handful of musicians: Heitor Pereira and Tony Morales on electric guitars; Martin Tillman on electric cello, Hugh Marsh on electric violin and the composer himself on piano; and with the assistance of Justin Burnett, Gregson-Williams' score is naturally largely propulsive, often in a tense, electronic-pulsed/percussive fashion, as can immediately be heard in the opening "Stanton, PA." For our heroes, Frank and Will, the composer offers sympathetic scoring for strings and piano, but even the quieter moments offer an underlying propulsiveness.
Amidst all the tension, the music does of course break free in the more action-packed sequences, where the guitars and percussion really come into their own, culminating in the lengthy "The Stanton Curve," with "Who Do I Kiss First?" providing the appropriate sense of relief.
To sum up, it's a very contemporary sounding score, not really my cup of tea, but I am sure it serves its purpose well enough.
Get along to www.lalalandrecords/unstoppable.html.com for your copy.