Varèse Sarabande Records release Harry Gregson-Williams's score from The Equalizer. In the movie, Denzel Washington plays McCall, a man who believes he has put his mysterious past behind him to lead a quiet life in peace. But when McCall meets Teri, a young girl under the control of ultra-violent Russian gangsters, he can’t stand idly by – he has to help her. Armed with hidden skills that allow him to serve vengeance against anyone who would brutalize the helpless, McCall comes out of his self-imposed retirement and finds his desire for justice reawakened. If someone has a problem, if the odds are stacked against them, if they have nowhere else to turn, McCall will help. He is The Equalizer...

On the first listen through of this album my initial thoughts were how memorable the main theme was and, on a side note, how similar a lot of the music sounded to Harry Gregson-William's work on the console game Call of Duty IV: Modern Warfare. In fact 'McCall's Decision' reminded me of the menu music for CoD IV.

This isn't a complaint, far from it. I loved the score for CoD IV, so the opportunity to hear music in a similar vein was very welcomed. The album contains 11 tracks (51 min, 38 sec) and if I had one slight grumble it's that the main theme is reused a little too often. While it's not obvious on a first listen through, it makes an appearance in almost every track at some point. Thankfully, however, it's a strong theme and is used so differently, whenever it appears, that you don't get the feeling it's being used to just pad out the score.

The album opens with probably the most beautiful track 'Alone' and closes with the most action packed theme 'The Equalizer'. An impressive soundtrack, which is not too much of a surprise considering the composer behind it.

10

Darren Rea