Original Soundtrack
The Thomas Crown Affair (Rykodisc 10719)

I haven't seen the 1968 film from which this soundtrack is taken, but if it's anything like Michel Legrand's kooky score, I'd imagine it to be a brilliantly colorful, action-packed comedy caper movie with serious romance and lots of swank 60s cinematography.

The images in the booklet seem to suggest this, although I doubt this is very much of a comedy (Steve McQueen & Faye Dunaway riding in a dune buggy – surely it must be a comedy). I bought it after discovering Legrand's awesome score for The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, figuring anything the man did must at least be okay.

The Thomas Crown Affair is short of great, but a lot better than okay, full of jazz, cocktail harpsichords, Legrand's French pop ("The Windmills of Your Mind" comes from this film), and bits of dialogue from the film.

The overall effect is sort of like a Saint Etienne album minus the participation of Saint Etienne, very atmospheric and casting back to a time when film music was fun yet sophisticated, and didn't serve only to sell 30 million copies of Armageddon.

In addition to Noel Harrison's "Windmills," the album features the lesser-known "His Eyes, Her Eyes," sung by Legrand in sort of a "Teen Aznavour" sort of style, while everything else (but the dialogue soundbites) is instrumental.

The arrangements use jazz combo (piano, bass, drums, guitar, organ, trumpet) alongside harpsichords and sexy strings to forge an amalgam of swingin' 60s bachelor pad music and neo-baroque-isms, a style I might term "Bach-a-Go-Go" if I had any more (or is it less) of a sense of humor.

The soundtrack is not indifferent to the sounds of the day ("The Boston Wrangler" even manages some sort of Tijuana Brass vibe, but it's Herb Alpert & the T.B. in Gay Paree. Other parts veer into early 60s Miles Davis territory (I'm thinking of the Gil Evans sessions), with lush small-big-band backing and great tone colors. Legrand is very underrated as a composer, probably because he was so good at incorporating so many different styles. Very difficult to pigeonhole him or create a hilarious parody (that's a challenge to you, "Weird" Al – the all-Legrand parody concept album. The French will eat it up.)

Overall, a very enjoyable album that remains with you longer than most soundtracks, although, being film music, it does have a certain forgettability factor outside of the main themes. The dialogue is not obtrusive, and actually gives the album a So Tough kind of feel at some points. Very pleasant music, coming very much from the "lounge" field but not as immediately dismissable.

I compare it to a really delicious strawberry lemonade that hits the spot, but leaves you still a bit thirsty for all its colorful sweetness. I didn't check out the enhanced portion of the disc, which features the original theatrical trailer and a few other bonuses. What do you think, I have no life?! There's reviews to write!

Loud Bassoon rating scale

Review by Honey Roasted-Peanuts