Search - Sheryl Crow, Stephen Endelman :: Home of the Brave [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

The Sheryl Crow song that opens this soundtrack, "Try Not to Remember," sets the tone: slow, moody. The CD follows it up with two Middle Eastern?themed tracks ("The Battle Ends" and "Opening Iraq"), which establish the movie's departure point?the Iraq war. But Home of the Brave isn't so much about war as it is about what happens when soldiers return home, and so the overall musical feeling is more thoughtfully somber (think low-key clarinets, muted horns, delicately picked acoustic guitars) than action-packed brash--even "The Chase" is a lot more subdued that tracks with that title tend to be. It all gets a little samey after a while, and so the best moments are those when composer Stephen Endelman inserts Middle Eastern touches--as in "The Kitchen," "What We?re Thankful For" or "All Hell Broke Loose"--to signify the shadow that looms over the movie. Middle Eastern chanting spookily comes back bookend the album on "Return to Iraq." --Elisabeth Vincentelli