[Album] Fable Original Soundtrack (SE-2014-2)

(all information courtesy of Chudah's Corner)
Composed by: Danny Elfman (1), Russell Shaw
Publisher: Sumthing Else
Catalog Number: SE-2014-2
Released: February 15, 2005

Tracklist:
1) Fable Theme
2) Oakvale
3) Darkwood
4) Witchwood
5) Lychfield Cemetery
6) Summer Fields
7) Bowerstone
8) Arena
9) Temple of Light
10) Hobbes Cave
11) Greatwood
12) Guild
13) Fresco Dome

One of the entries in Sumthing Else's Xbox catalog, "Fable" represents something of a rarity (though it is becoming more and more common): a film score composer working on a video game. In this case, Danny Elfman, famous for his work with Tim Burton, was brought in to write the main theme, while Russell Shaw, of "Black and White," was drafted to flesh it out into a complete score.

Elfman has worked in this way many times before, contributing themes to "Pure Luck," "Novocaine," and "Heartbreakers," among others, but his main theme has much more in common with his more recent "Spider-Man" and "Planet of the Apes" scores. Dynamic, percussion-heavy, and with a full choir, the theme is built around a malleable 7 (or 8, depending on the variaton) note theme that captures the darkness inherent in the game's concept without servicing the fantasy aspect too much. The approach is light-years away from Howard Shore, and is perhaps more suited to a superhero, but manages to fit very well.

Russell Shaw clearly studied Elfman's body of work and adopted the composer's signiture motifs for several cues in his score. "Oakvale" is orchestrated and performed like a cue out of "Edward Scissorhands," for example, while "Arena" features Elfman's trademark ascending brass notes. On the whole, though, Shaw limits himself to referencing the "Fable" theme, which is heard in one form or another in virtually every track on the disc.

Shaw's own musical voice somes to the fore in tracks like "Temple of Light" and "Bowerstone." "Temple" is the only synthesized track on the disc, and features a mystical, distant , almost new-age feel, while "Bowerstone" is a quirky plucked-string delight that evokes an upper-class, uptight atmosphere.

The album does suffer from more than its share of dud tracks, however. "Lytchfield Cemetary," for example, is atmospheric and plodding, good for setting a mood but of little use outside of the game. And the final two tracks, taking up almost a fourth of the total running time, are extraordinarily dull Gregorian chants. I normally cherish choral elements in soundtracks, but the chants found in "Fable" are repetitive, shrill, and totally uninteresting, and they end the disc on a very weak note.

Overall, there is much to reccommend the album--Elfman's theme, Shaw's original work and variations--but the number of dull dud tracks brings the album down considerably. Reccommended for Elfman or Shaw fans, and anyone who wants to improve on the sound quality of the game rip.

3/5

Jam it back in, in the dark.