American Beauty: Original Motion Picture Score

Thomas Newman's score for American Beauty is one of the few perfect movie scores I can think of. The music was part of a movie which constantly scaled the heights of greatness both on a technical level and on an emotional level. The score fit so intrinsically into the arc of the story that it seemed almost invisible.

On the other hand, by opting for this elegant approach (and I applaud Newman and director Sam Mendes for having the good taste to go for a restrained score), it means that as pure music the score has limitations. The score album has a diversity of instrumentation (tabla, piano, woodwinds, synths, guitars) and moods (from the cynical opening theme "Dead Already" to the achingly spare "American Beauty" and "Angela Undress"), but overall there is a slight lack of diversity.

I, however, find that to be a good thing in that this makes the music evocative and subtle. Instead of trying to match every musical movement to an...Read more

"American Beauty" won 5 awards at the Oscars, including Best Picture, Director and Actor. A lot of people didn't agree. The subject matter was risky and for some, all too real. Even if it wasn't such a great movie (Which it was!), it still should've gotten the Oscars it did, only for the music! Thomas Newman has scored numerous memorable films including "Little Women", "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Scent of a Woman". He composed the music for AB and was nominated this year. He sadly lost to John Corigliano's music for "The Red Violin".

Here, I will give a brief summary for each track on this CD, that you should be ordering right now!

DEAD ALREADY: This is the cynical and playful opening theme where Lester (Kevin Spacey) introduces his family and his sedated lifestyle. It is very world music-influenced and has a beauty all its own.

AROSE: This track reminds one of sleeping peacefully and dreaming of roses and beauty...Read more

Musician Frank Zappa is credited with saying that "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture." In other words, trying to express the feelings music can convey in words is a pointless (perhaps ridiculous) exercise. While Zappa's words are not always true -- much modern music is simplistic and trite enough that writing about it is actually quite easy -- Thomas Newman's music for the score of "American Beauty" certainly proves Zappa's point.

Newman's score for "American Beauty," simply put, is indescribably beautiful, highly original and completely unexpected. It's difficult, to say the least, to put into words what makes it so.

In some ways, the music is characteristic of Newman's excellent body of work. Some of the pieces are carried by a simple, quiet piano theme, while others make complex use of modern, ambient sound. For many films, this mixture of styles would sound disjointed and confused, but Newman makes it all work brilliantly and...Read more