3 out of 5 (score)

2 out of 5 (vinyl edition)

Label: Music on Vinyl, Netflix

Produced by: Ramin Djawadi

The reviews for Netflix’s 3 Body Problem adaptation are… interesting. Any piece of media that becomes a cultural touchpoint – such as the Liu Cixin book / series that served as the inspiration for the show – is ensured to elicit quite a mixed bag of feedback, but arriving at the English, serialized TV version of 3 body, as made by Game of Throners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss (with Alexander Woo as another co-creator and writer), the reviewers are almost hilariously mixed, to the extent where it feels like certain critics are praising and shaming the show for the same things: that it’s hard sci-fi; that it’s philosophical.

I can’t weigh in on the book(s) or show, and I’ll probably give it some time / distance before or if I do so. But I like composer Ramin Djawadi, and I also find it a rewarding exercise to experience film scores without direct reference of what they’re scoring, so: 21 tracks, about an hour of music, composed and produced by Ramin and played by orchestra-for-hire The Czech Film Orchestra (which I don’t mean as a knock, but I find the process of orchestra selections to be interesting).

The context I’d offered above is because I feel like some of that waffling comes across in the score. It’s incredibly interesting, but not entirely engrossing. It has a strong theme, but at the same time, it doesn’t feel very effectively applied. And I want to praise the way the music seems to meld a digital tinge with the orchestral, but that’s also kind of the problem with it. Fun!

Opener ‘Main Title’ establishes the album’s overall careful sound: slow; meticulous; with a thematic ‘doubling’ of notes and an atmospheric dash of digital butting against the analog. This is such an impressive turn from the Game of Thrones string-heavy bombast, and calls back to Djawadi’s earlier, and often more experimental scores. However, ‘Title’ only goes so far with it; this is not an extended take – it’s limited to only what’s needed for an opening crawl. While this isn’t always true of the runtimes, that is an overarching feeling, that we’re not quite diving deep enough, and that’s somewhat the divide I’m pointing to within the reviews and now this soundtrack: only a few tracks really feel like they make their point (particularly on some of the swelling conclusions in the last 1/4th of the score), and the best moments turn out to be the simplest, when we’re pared down to just piano or light strings and not trying to juggle emotions of hope and fear within a single song.

It’s a fascinating work that feels conceptually sprightly, but slightly disconnected from its source – and also maybe distanced between composer and orchestra, as I don’t get much emotion from the playing itself. This actually works well when the atmosphere is played up, creating a nervy discontent, but that needs to be paired with more impactful moments, and, as mentioned, those tend to arrive more rarely.

I separated out the rating for the LP edition, which was my initial listen, because, well, it’s not very good. It’s mastered / mixed in a way that doesn’t service the nuance of the music, and doesn’t sound necessarily mastered for vinyl – i.e. it sounds like a digital port that’s like a couple dubs removed. While my copy / player is possibly the cause, I have had this experience with Music on Vinyl before. The packaging is sturdy and the wax looks good, at least, but I’d say digital is the way to listen to this.