For the documentary, The Queen of Versailles, composer Jeff Beal enhances the aspirational lifestyle, and the impact of the economic crisis on the Siegel family, with his original music. The score incorporates a classical, chamber music sensibility, reflecting the baroque time period and ambience of the original Versailles. The music features a full orchestra with many melodic themes, trumpet flourishes, and grandiose moments. As the film progresses, as director Lauren Greenfield delves more deeply into the lives of Jackie and David Siegel, the music takes on a more intimate and thoughtful approach. A solo horn or cello underscores a sense of loss...

Jeff Beal has managed to squeeze so many themes and set pieces into this album that it's difficult to know where to start praising it. There's a large segment of interesting chamber music based tracks; some atmospheric modern compositions (like 'Humbled' and 'Cliff' which are designed to be nothing more than background music, but actually stand as interesting tracks in their own right); and suspenseful tracks that hint at much more ('Hiding the Truth').

'Compulsive Shopper', which was one of my favourite tracks, reminded me very much of Nathan McCree's soundtrack for the first Tomb Raider game. The album lasts for 46 min, 19 sec and is spread over 26 tracks.

Overall, this is an interesting collection of short and sweet tracks.

8

Darren Rea