Wanted Soundtrack

Some of you may know that before Danny Elfman became a film composer he was part of the band Oingo Boingo. Well for the film Wanted, Danny has returned to his rock roots and written and performed the song, "The Little Things". I knew Danny was part of Oingo Boingo, but I didn't actually know that he was the lead singer until I heard this track and thought, "Wow. He is a really good singer." And then it clicked. I don't usually listen to this kind of music, but I actually really like it.

After the song comes the score. It starts out pretty well with "Success Montage" which is my favourite cue on the album. The score seems to calm down a bit for the next few tracks but picks up again with "The Scheme" and "Fox In Control". "The Scheme" is a slow piece that works at building tension, where as "Fox In Control" is more of an action cue.

I also like "Exterminator Beat" which had a great string motif, and sounded great with the subtle guitar over the top.

Although it used the sames themes as "Success Montage", I didn't like "Rats" that much, perhaps because of the way it was arranged.

Next we get some action cues, "The Train" and "Revenge" which are alright but nothing special. These are followed by "Fox's Decision", which starts out quite forgettable but builds up to quite a dramatic end.

Finally we end with "Fate". A cue that doesn't cause the soundtrack to end as strongly as it started, but still isn't bad.

Overall this soundtrack isn't an essential listen if you're not a big fan of Danny Elfman. But if you are then it is an obvious must, especially since he revisits his Oingo Boingo years with "The Little Things". But if you're not a big fan of Elfman then if you did buy this soundtrack then it wouldn't be the end of the world, as it does provide quite an enjoyable listen. There just unfortunately aren't that many outstanding cues.