Scott Glasgow, composer of Chasing Ghosts and Hack!, as well as Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles, Bone Dry and The Gene Generation, has crafted a gritty, urban score for Alan Pao's action thriller Toxic, which stars Susan Ward, Corey Large, Master P, Dominique Sawin, Danny Trejo and Tom Sizemore...

When I started listening to the soundtrack to Toxic, for a moment I had to double check that I wasn't playing Harry Gregson-Williams music for the Call of Duty IV - Modern Warfare console game.

While I think that the majority of Gregson-Williams music for Modern Warfare is impressive, the soundtrack to Toxic soon descends into a collection of music cues and atmospheric pieces.

On balance, this is not my sort of soundtrack. It's the kind of score that, on the whole, will age incredibly quickly. Buy this now and you'll no doubt look back on it in a few years time, along with other "urban" sounding scores, and realise how cliched it all is.

However, when Glasgow can flex his creative muscles, his work shows great promise. It's just a shame that so much of this score steers clear of conventional classically composed work.

Highlights for me are too few and far between, but include 'Ghost Story' (which has a hauntingly beautiful theme); 'Consolation' (which returns to the same theme); 'There Can be Only One' (which, in places, reminded me of Nathan McCree's music for the first Tomb Raider Playstation Game); and 'Visions of Lucille' (which again revisits the movie's main theme).

While an interesting collection of musical styles and themes, the soundtrack to Toxic isn't one I'll be listening to on a regular basis. There are a few too many uninteresting tracks that, while no doubt heighten the atmosphere of the movie, sound a little flat and dull well listened to out of context.

4

Darren Rea