Search - Stephen Trask :: American Dreamz

A Wonderful Soundtrack

AbigailAdamsBuff | Cleveland, OH | 04/22/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is such a great soundtrack!! I loved all the singing in the movie and I like this soundtrack a lot, too!



Mandy Moore is a great singer and Omer is very personable and so we keep rooting for him.



The way the [...] Arab/American cousin sings & dances is absolutely HILARIOUS.



I would most certainly rate this 5 stars."

Great score, slightly odd album

James Luckard | Los Angeles, CA | 06/13/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Stephen Trask is a really exciting new film composer. His "In Good Company" was one of the most original comedy scores in ages. His second project with director Paul Weitz resulted in a score that is just as strong.



I'd describe Trask's music as Carter Burwell meets Michael Nyman. There's a light, playful quirkiness to it that's like Burwell, and an often powerful, driving minimalism, always with a heart, that reminds me of Nyman. There's great stuff here, including three strong themes for the President, the TV host and the would-be terrorist.



That said, there's one thing wrong with this CD. I'm usually a fan of soundtrack albums having the music from the film, in the order it appeared in the film, but this album shows why that's so dangerous. What we get is every track of music, it would seem, from the film, in order. This means there are nearly 50 tracks, many less than a minute. They would probably work better as suites.



In addition, the songs from the film, which the competitors sing on the show and which Trask co-wrote, are in the order they appear, but only in the snippets heard in the film. I love the score, but this is a screwy album. I find myself constantly skipping the songs, which gets annoying."