Prince of Persia The Forgotten Sands Collector's Soundtrack :: Review by Chris

	Album Title:	Prince of Persia The Forgotten Sands Collector's Edition Soundtrack
	Record Label:	Ubisoft Music
	Catalog No.:	Promotional
	Release Date:	May 20, 2010
	Purchase:	Buy at eBay

Overview

On May 18, Ubisoft released Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands at the same time as the film release for the franchise. The multi-console project actually comprised two games with differing gameplay, graphics, and, indeed, scores. Steve Jablonsky (Transformers, Gears of War 2) led the soundtrack for the next-gen version of the game for PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3, while Tom Salta scored the Wii, PSP, and DS versions of the game. A close partner of Harry Gregson-Williams, cinematic veteran Jablonsky created a highly cinematic orchestral score that largely paralleled the soundtrack for the film. The collector's edition of the Xbox 360 game featured an additional DVD featuring 12 pieces of music and bonus visual content. However, a full soundtrack release with revised track titles is also now available to download and features considerably more material. Does the collector's edition really offer such a satisfying musical bonus?

Body

The most compelling feature of Steve Jablonsky's musical offerings for Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands are its memorable recurring themes. Right from the opening track, Jablonsky exposes a rich melody that recurs in a large proportion of tracks of the score. The melody itself adheres strongly to Remote Control Productions' convention with its rich shape and serious nature, but is still highly distinctive and memorable. Its treatment throughout the score is also highly impressive. At first, its presentation on "Main Theme" sounds rather clichéd — with fanfare-like brass, barbaric string backing, and, of course, some ethnic chanting. However, the composition manages to sweep listeners away with its development thereafter, whether the gorgeous string solo at the 1:12, the elating choral climax at 1:30, or the suspended conclusion. Jablonsky's music may not be the most original, but he certainly knows how to move people and this opener is an excellent example of his magic.

The main theme is the central unifying force throughout the soundtrack, even in its diminished presentation here. It recurs in everything from action themes such as "Combat", to slow-building atmospheric tracks like "End of Game", to even short cinematic cues such as "Corridor Break". Each track differs greatly in the way it treats the main theme and the references range from subtle, partial incorporations to full-blown recapitulations. Nevertheless, each recurrence always has symbolic meaning and the integration is always achieved in a subtle, artistic way within elaborately orchestrated compositions. It is particularly spectacular how the use of the melody now makes once potentially throwaway tracks such as "Crowling Tower" all that much more wholesome and meaningful. Nevertheless, compositions such as "Meet Malik" and "Release of the Djinn" demonstrate that Jablonsky is able to present breathtaking secondary thematic material where the main theme is no longer relevant.

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands is mostly an action-packed score. "Combat" is pretty representative of what to expect from such cues. It initially captures the intensity and context of the battle with its edgy string motifs and use of Arabian percussion samples. Thereafter he charms listeners by reprising the main theme in a brutal fanfare-like form before transitioning to a surprisingly deep interlude and finally transiently experimenting with Arabian tonalities. However, it is indeed the softer cues on the soundtrack that will inspire most listeners to return for more. "Release of the Djinn" and "End of Game" are particularly impressive examples of the fluid cinematic sound Jablonsky has developed for the game and evolve incredibly during their playtimes. The latter, in particular, is a gorgeous, elegaic recapitulation of the main theme to conclude the soundtrack.

Summary

Many have had mixed feelings about how many game franchises Jablonsky has infiltrated recently, but in the case of Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, he certainly delivered the goods. It's clear that, with the assistance of Kouneva, he put great time into conceiving and developing every cue in this score, even the shorter ones. This ensures that every addition is immersive and effective in context, while never sounding superfluous on the stand-alone soundtrack. That said, the soundtrack included in the collector's edition is rather limiting, despite the price many paid for it. In addition to being only available through a DVD, it features only 20 minutes of music and omits many excellent themes, including most of Penka Kouneva's tracks. It is therefore essential to download the full soundtrack release for the game through iTunes in order to receive the full experience of Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands.