About the Soundtrack: Believe it or not, a score from the television show "Cold Case" has been released. Composed by Michael A. Levine, the album arrives courtesy of Lakeshore Records, a label that is becoming busier and busier with their soundtrack releases, and offers up 24 tracks from the show. Levine's work has been has been impressive on "Cold Case" as he has won the ASCAP Film and TV Music Awards for five years in a row. That is certainly an impressive run!
What You Need to Know: This release had me scratching my head for a moment or two...that is until I started listening to it. It didn't take me long to realize that there was a good reason this score was released and that's due to the excellent, creative writing of Michael Levine.
The show, which offers up an accurate title for its premise, is set in Philadelphia and follows a series of cold cases that are looked into each week by the show's investigation team. Given that each case is different, there really wasn't a need for an ongoing or recurring theme to be associated with the episodes. True, the tone had to be consistent but thematically there was plenty of room to maneuver.
My initial expectation of a slow moving television underscore was dashed by Levine's unique sound, one that captures many emotions within it. The tone that he lays down is icy and shaded with sorrow but there is also a poignancy to the work, a sense of profoundness that just feels right. Believe me, I couldn't be more surprised by the quality of this score as I got into it. No offense to CBS, Lakeshore or Levine himself, but "Cold Case" isn't normally on the top of my list for soundtracks that I had to have! Sometimes, though, the music just has a way of enlightening the listener.
Another component of the score that worked really well were the various tracks that featured vocals in them. Levine works in the solo voices in many styles, one of which is even a Blues related track, and maintains a consistently captivating level of drama that kept my attention for most of the way. I say most of the way because the final tracks leading up to the bonus cues sounded like the television music I expected, lacking the emotional punch and mystery that so much of the score offered.
The final three tracks make for an interesting mention. Inspired by the Cold Case fan forum, Look Again, Levine acknowledges the fandom by dedicating three tracks that are deemed as the favorites amongst the web denizens there. I thought this was a great touch and a very nice way of giving back to fans who dedicate time and energy in celebrating the show. By the way, the tracks that they selected were spot on!
Final Score: "Cold Case" by Michael Levine is quite simply a quality score. I can honestly say that Levine brings a unique voice to the world of television music and that the originality of his score really surprised me (in a good way). Unless you are someone who needs action music in your scores as a pre-requisite, you will appreciate the style and emotion that "Cold Case" conveys.
