AMG Review of Departed [Original Score]

James Christopher Monger
All Music Guide

For 2006's gritty #Departed, director Martin Scorsese, instead of deftly balancing the film's score with selections from the his notoriously large jukebox of jazz, rock, pop, and country tunes as he has done in the past with both #Goodfellas and #Gangs of New York, split the two into separate releases, allowing fans the option of experiencing composer Howard Shore's moody, guitar-heavy soundtrack without the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, or Badfinger there to break the vibe. Shore is as adaptable as always, crafting an urban landscape littered with dissonant strings, gently plucked classical guitars, and feedback that comes and goes like the ebb and flow of the public transit system. From tango to the blues, Shore paints Boston as the multicultural Petri dish it is, shadowing Scorsese's tale of cops and corruption like a willing participant rather than a fish-out-of-water bystander.