Anyway, back to Jablonsky's score. Watching the film (before hearing the album) I can't say that much struck me, indeed the only memorable part was the finale (My Name is Lincoln) opening with near identical percussion to Now We Are Free from Gladiator. Add in the chorus (no Lisa Gerrard) and it's the same thing, but without the original's insanely catchy tune. Even my non-film music friend noticed. Outside of that, only the opening title of The Island Awaits You made any impression and that's probably because it was one of the few passages not buried under layers of explosions. On disc, the action is low key digital percussion or loud digital percussion of the sort that clubbers with ADHD would probably enjoy; the orchestra occasionally swells in the background, but never materialises into much. At least we're spared the synthetic horns of a typical Media Ventures "orchestra" but it's a shame that Jablonsky and the inevitable entourage of additional music flunkies waste the exceptional talents of the large orchestra at their disposal. They must be especially proud to have their names listed on the liner notes given their huge impact. Sarcasm, gotta love it.
Although often loud and percussive, The Island is at least modestly well balanced in terms of volume; earlier segments hold back on the volume with Where Do These Tubes Go having a nice K-Pax vibe and some neat string riffs, but these are easily abandoned in favour of drumming of a less subtle and rather more crap sort. Later moments of respite, notably the lightly mournful I'm Not Ready to Die and the gentle This Tongue Thing's Amazing (a track title that only makes sense in light of viewing the film) are nice enough, but hardly worth waiting for. The album closes with the moderately unbearable Blow performed by The Prom Kings. No, I've never heard of them either. In the words of football commentators, at the end of the day, when all is said and done, it's a score of two halves: loud and quiet. When the aforementioned Goldsmith legacy is considered and that of the still going strong John Williams (Minority Report, Star Wars prequels AI, War of the Worlds etc.), a score as unsophisticated as The Island really isn't worth your money. I'll look out for Jablonsky again, but Steve, please, stay away from Michael Bay films. They are crap. Nice drumming, shame about the music.
Rating ~ 
Total Time ~ 56:08