Sound Radius - Love, Life & Loss

Hear The Track Here

The logjam of predjudice towards film scores and/or soundtracks I had built up over a lifetime, refused to move no matter how many of the damn things I reviewed. Back say 8 years and that was pretty much all there was around the net, and most of it - to be honest - stank. There again I would say that because I have this bias against the genre anyway. However, even philistines like me deserve a second chance and lo and behold, I finally got one. The track that caused this flood of empathy towards a much despised genre was The Power Within (December 2006), from the aforementioned Sound Radius. It was the first track I ever reviewed from this Canadian musician and it blew me away; indeed it was the first Must Have I have ever given in that genre.

Ok, pick your jaw up now please. That's so ewwwww...

Mind you, he has not - to my knowledge - delivered the equal to that since then but hey, it was THAT good but don't take my word for it, go listen for yourself. Still, maybe this one eh? I had to admit I quailed a little when I saw 'full orchestral/rock hybrid suite' as its descriptor and it says much that I didn't obey my usual flee sequence immediately. Such things instantly conjure up words like overblown, pompous and pretentious but those are not things I associate with Sound Radius in any form. Regardless of the style, he has always shown a remarkable sensitivity in arrangement and tone and Love, Life & Loss is another in a long line of excellently scored peices.

Surprisingly enough there is just the merest hint of one of the unacknowleged greats in the field, Jeff Lynne in his ELO guise, and I suspect that is probably more wishful thinking on my part than a concious decision by the musician. What has always impressed me about Sound Radius - and this track does nothing to change that opinion - is that unerring knack of animating the music; making it live and breathe if you like. Hard enough to do with the simpler forms let alone something as complex as a suite like this. Hand on heart I don't think it is on a par with Power Within but that may well be the curse Sound Radius has brought upon himself. Personally, I think its a curse worth having, and so btw is this track.

Highly Recommended orchestral/rock hybrid.