Record Label: Decca
Genre: Film Score
Band Link:
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I didn’t even know this movie was coming out, that’s how much I’m out of the loop. I haven’t seen the first Elizabeth movie, but this sequel looks a little more appealing to me. Elizabeth: The Golden Age takes place after the first Elizabeth (obviously) and it’s about the end of Queen Elizabeth’s era. Religion and politics are changing and Elizabeth’s rule gets challenged by the Spanish King Philip II. Besides the pending war, Elizabeth falls for Sir Walter Raleigh, but Raleigh isn’t interested since the Queen is so focused on her own country. So you got romance, backstabbing, treachery and political war. Sounds like a good movie to me!

Getting tapped to do the score is composer Craig Armstrong, who has composed such films as Plunkett & Macleane, Moulin Rouge, Romeo and Juliet and World Trade Center. I think this score is one of the stronger film scores by Craig Armstrong. A lot of the time, his work seems to be too modern or computerized. With this score, he composes a sweeping epic sounding score filled with lots of strings and chanting. There is still the occasional computer-sounding motif in there but it doesn’t really sound out of place. Composer A.R Rahman also lends a hand with composing as well. He adds an Indian element to the tracks he worked on and I like it. Not sure how well it works in the movie but it sounds good on the soundtrack. One score that comes to mind when listening to this is Hans Zimmer’s “The Da Vinci Code.” Not every track sounds like it but a few do. Another score that popped into my head was the music from “A History of Violence.” The song that reminds me of that one is “Smile Lines.” I’m not sure composers like to hear their work being compared to other works; but that’s what happens when I listen to scores. At least they are good scores right?

This is probably one of the best film score albums by Armstrong to date. Maybe I’m more interested in this score because of the subject matter? I don’t know, but I really liked the music to Elizabeth: the Golden Age.

Bottom Line: Fans of Craig Armstrong will really enjoy this album.
Notable Tracks: Opening, War/Realisation, Smile Lines
Overall Rating: