I know what you must be thinking, "I thought he said he'd review soundtracks with only orchestral scores!" Well in case you didn't know it, there were two soundtracks to The Crow that were released. Of the two, the one with songs by Nine Inch Nails and Stone Temple Pilots got all the glory, and the one by Graeme Revell was allowed to slip into anonymity. My brother, in his infinite wisdom, decided one day that he had to get the orchestral soundtrack to the movie. After a long search of most of the music stores in our area, we finally found a copy. He loved the soundtrack simply because he loved the choir pieces in the movie. One of his favorites, and mine, to use the choir beautifully is Pain and Retribution.
Revell uses many styles of music, at times it is synthesizers and choir that gives it a Hans Zimmer feel, at others he brings in a full orchestra. In one of the more unusual pieces, Revell starts off with a portion of the song Brandon Lee's character, Eric Draven, sings in the movie entitled It Can't Rain All the Time. However, as in the movie, this song is slowly faded out as the Crow and Eric track down one of his killers. This track is called Tracking the Prey. Another track which does the same is Captive Child. It starts with the guitar riff Eric plays on the roof of his apartment building and flows into the action scenes that follow. It is yet another example of how Revell manages to mix in different types of musical styles into one flowing piece. At some points, some portions of the score tend to sound a little like Vangelis's score to Blade Runner but it isn't a blatant rip off, just a passing similarity. I enjoyed this soundtrack, but Revell's style of mixing may not appeal to everyone.
Total time: 49:30
1: Birth of the Legend (6:16)
2: Resurrection (2:10)
3: The Crow Descends (2:30)
4: Rememberance (2:54)
5: Rain Forever (2:32)
6: "Her eyes....so innocent" (2:45)
7: Tracking the Prey (3:35)
8: Pain and Retribution (2:34)
9: Believe in Angels (3:31)
10: Captive Child (2:32)
11: Devil's Night (2:30)
12: On Hallowed Ground (2:42)
13: Inferno (5:02)
14: Return to the Grave (3:45)
15: Last Rites (3:55)