Soundtrack Review: Angel: Live Fast, Die Never

By Mark Sung May 27, 2005, 17:21 GMT

The soundtrack sounds surprisingly ‘big’ for a television series. The themes and motifs are very grand and theatrical. The soundtrack is given an epic feel with its strong brass and strings led cues and its use of choral voices, which is rather fitting for a series which dealt with the fight against evil and preventing the frequent comings of the apocalypse.

Opening the soundtrack is ‘The Sanctuary Extended Remix’ of the main theme performed by Darling Violetta. Rather than just looping the original theme to make it last longer, the main theme has instead had its various segments extended. Together with an added rock beat and vocals, the main theme is successfully extended to over three minutes. The added vocals may be a little distracting at first to those familiar with the original version, but overall the remix is still in keeping with the original style of the theme.

The score music begins with the underscore used for the story arc where Angel and his allies fight against the Beast. The tracks ‘Start The Apocalypse’ and ‘The End Of The World’ provide some dynamic battle themes as well as moments of foreboding.

Some of the more emotional moments from the series are tackled in tracks such as ‘Home’ and ‘Hero.’ Soft piano notes help to give the bittersweet track ‘Home’ a heart and soul. The cue conveys the sadness in the scene where Angel secretly observes his son starting his new life with his new family at the expense of forgetting who he really is.

Vocal and woodwind solos in the ‘Hero’ suite, taken from the first season episode with the same name, provide some poignant moments to reflect the sacrifice the character Doyle makes to save the day.

With 25 tracks the soundtrack provides a good amount of music from the various seasons of the show, although there seems to be particular attention paid to the Pylea story arc and the Darla suites.

Kral brings his selection of score music to an end with the touching track ‘Farewell Cordelia' taken from the episode ‘You're Welcome.’

Buffy composer Christophe Beck also makes a contribution with his short but heroic theme ‘I’m Game.’

Towards the end of the soundtrack are two songs sung by Andy Hallett, who played the singing karaoke bar demon Lorne. The songs, which include ‘Lady Marmalade’ and ‘It’s Not Easy Being Green,’ provide a nice reminder of the more musical moments from the show.

Also included is the country style ‘LA song’ by Christian Kane and Vast's ‘Touched.’ The soundtrack comes to a close with the mournful ‘A Place Called Home’ by Kim Richey, which reflects over the loss of the character Fred.

Although some fans may be disappointed that some of the music from their favorite episodes are missing from the soundtrack, there’s only so much music that one soundtrack album can hold. What is generously provided on the soundtrack is a wide range of impressive themes ranging from the dynamic battle motifs to the emotional cues. For the fans of the series, the soundtrack will no doubt be a nice token of the show.