Following on from the successful first two The Chronicles of Narnia movie soundtracks to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) and Prince Caspian (2008), David Arnold takes over the reigns to compose the soundtrack to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - although he has book ended the movie with a few of Harry Gregson-Williams's themes from the prior scores.

It's obvious that Arnold had great fun working on this soundtrack. There's a mood and theme for every occassion and he's really been allowed to let his creative juices flow.

'The Painting' houses one of this soundtracks most interesting themes - even if it does seem to "borrow" a little from John Williams's main theme for Harry Potter. The last segment of this track is one of the most emotive on the album.

'Reepicheep' is another power track with a beautiful theme at it's core and I particularly enjoyed the emotionally charged 'Time to go Home' which ends the album.

I had to do a double take on the 'Into Battle' track. The choir surely didn't sing "ars*hole" exactly 5 minutes into this track... did they? No, but even on a second and third listening it's difficult to be sure.

There were a few tracks on here that reminded me of Arnold's earlier score for Stargate. These included, most notably the opening to 'Land Ahoy' and 'Market Forces'.

This is an enjoyable soundtrack which is well worth adding to your collection - Arnold has done the franchise proud.

8

Darren Rea