Artist: Oldfield, Mike
Label: Virgin Records
Released: 1984
Length: 36:34
Rating: 3/5
In the very same year Mike Oldfield put out the hugely successful Discovery, he was asked to score the film “The Killing Fields”. Being a guy who always loves a new challenge, he didn’t need long to make up his mind. On top of that, he was drawn in by the moving story of an American journalist who survives the brutal war in Cambodia. For his first project of this kind he had help from his friend David Bedford (who handled the orchestration and one track, “The Year Zero”), while Oldfield borrowed one piece from the Spanish composer Francisco Tarrega (“Etude” is an arrangement of his “Recuerdos de la Alhambra”).
For the film, Oldfield quite fittingly decided to blend Western and Eastern cultures. He pulled it off with a mix of classical orchestra, choir, synthesizers, guitar and Eastern percussion (some of which he also simulated on a synth). This blend works really well alongside the story on screen, but on its own it doesn’t stand on very solid ground. Considering this was his first “official” soundtrack (some music from Tubular Bells was also used in the film “The Exorcist”), Oldfield turned in a pretty decent achievement, but he didn’t deliver anything groundbreaking, which admittedly only a rare few manage (Vangelis is undoubtedly one of them).
The Killing Fields has all the usual flaws of film music: out of the context of the movie, the music is practically ineffective and doesn’t hit you the way it does when you listen to it together with the story unfolding on screen. Still, Oldfield can sometimes spice things up a bit. That’s most noticeable in some of the more chaotic, avant-garde moments that are atypical for him, which aren’t exactly convincing as avant-garde, but sometimes these small victories are all we’ve got to look forward to. Some of the moments with classical instruments can be gorgeous too, but also too short, and the classical orchestra often just rides the well-worn rails of movie-score tedium. Mike rarely opts for his guitar (it’s especially effective on “Etude”), which is nonetheless sensible, at least in the context of the film.
This is by no means a traditional Oldfield album. Of course, you wouldn’t expect that from a soundtrack anyway. The classical and choir moments are mostly unimpressive, with a few rare exceptions that really get you right in the heart. The same goes for the synth parts, which do provide a fitting atmosphere but mostly fail to create a single moment worth remembering. They work best when paired with traditional Oriental instruments (the percussion). There are hardly any guitar parts, but the ones that are there are worth mentioning and full of feeling.
The album itself doesn’t stick in your memory, but the goal was to create music that fits the story unfolding on the movie screen. Oldfield pulled that off, as the music is full of tension, drama, beauty, gloom and plenty of emotions. The trouble starts when you listen to the album on its own, because it’s very dry, with no real melodies and only a certain atmosphere that suits a particular moment in the film. If you’re a collector of Oldfield albums, you’ll buy The Killing Fields sooner or later, but I recommend doing it as late as possible, since the album isn’t among his better efforts, and on top of that, some of the best musical moments from the film are missing (the closing scene, for example) and it’s not really the complete soundtrack.
Lineup
Mike Oldfield – guitars, synthesizers, Fairlight computer
David Bedford – choir and orchestra arrangements
Preston Heyman – Oriental percussion
Morris Pert – percussion
Bavarian Opera Orchestra and Tölzer Boys’ Choir
Production
Mike Oldfield
Track list
1. Pran’s Theme (0:45)
2. Requiem for a City (1:45)
3. Evacuation (5:10)
4. Pran’s Theme 2 (1:40)
5. Capture (2:01)
6. Execution (4:10)
7. Bad News (1:10)
8. Pran’s Departure (2:03)
9. Worksite (1:18)
10. The Year Zero (0:27)
11. Blood Sucking (1:18)
12. The Year Zero 2 (0:36)
13. Pran’s Escape / The Killing Fields (3:11)
14. The Trek (1:58)
15. The Boy’s Burial / Pran Sees the Red Cross (2:40)
16. Good News (1:44)
17. Etude (4:38)
