A review by JAMES SOUTHALL

It's deeply ironic that people's natural reaction to seeing people of even the vaguest fame being relentlessly pursued by merciless photographers is one of disgust - "fancy invading their lives like that!" - "can't they leave these poor people alone?" - "why kind of people would do this anyway?"  Well, if that's how you feel then don't buy the newspapers and magazines featuring the pictures, you fools.  Why in God's name would anyone want to buy a magazine because it promises to show you "the beautiful home of TV's Donna Blenkinsop" anyway?  Still, people buy them in their hundreds of thousands and then whinge and moan because the poor "celebrities" who get paid more for a day's work than most people get paid in a year, and who actively court publicity, then complain about invasion of privacy, yada yada yada.  Go and wipe the tables in McDonald's for 50 hours a week, you naive tosser, find out how real people live before saying how awful your own multimillion dollar life is.  OK, that's that out of the way.  Paparazzi is about such people, only taken to (doubtless Princess Diana-inspired) extremes, with the photographers actually causing serious injuries to members of one famous celebrity's family.

I don't know whether it was director Paul Abascal or composer Brian Tyler who decided to musically represent the paparazzi as if they were a plague of insects, but it was truly an inspired idea.  I must admit that when I first read of the idea I expected to hear Tyler coming up with some Bernard Herrmann-style brass clusters, but that's not the approach he took at all, instead relying on fast-paced string lines and buzzing woodwind to achieve the effect.  And it works a treat.

Elsewhere Tyler serves up something of a more mixed bag, featuring some action music which is typical of him (though arguably lacks the flair that he has demonstrated in some of his other works).  Sometimes it seems better-constructed than others, but even when it isn't quite so dynamic, Tyler impressively creates an oppressive, almost aggressively dark atmosphere which is absolutely perfect for the points the movie is trying to make.  The composer is never short of a stylish trick or two to pull out of his sleeve either, and some of his orchestral effects are rather impressive, and elsewhere there is suspense music written the way it should be, ie as actual music rather than just droning strings and the like that seems to be served up all too often these days.

With a lovely, emotional theme rearing its head (very) occasionally as well ("Aftermath" being the prime example) and a one-off bit of frenzied techno action ("Celebrity Life"), this score certainly has much to offer.  As I said earlier, Tyler works very hard at achieving and sustaining a mood, and he does it well, but I still have to say that at an hour the album is much too long.  With 15 or 20 minutes shaved off it would surely make considerably more impact on disc - but then, I get more emails telling me I'm brain dead because I think some albums should be shorter than I do about everything else put together (well, except for people offering me such attractive propositions as fake Rolex watches, valium, viagra and tight Russian sluts - if I would only part with my credit card details).  God knows what reaction I'd get if I said I thought most modern scores aren't worth releasing at all!  Still, you pays your money, you takes your choice and there's enough quality here to satisfy Tyler's fans, I'm sure, even though the temptation to skip past a few tracks may prove irresistible to everyone else.

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Tracks

1. Cat and Mouse (2:22)
2. Aftermath (3:29)
3. Solitude (1:07)
4. The Break-In (1:25)
5. The Awakening (1:35)
6. Turning Tables (3:03)
7. Silent Anger (1:34)
8. Falling (2:13)
9. Taped Evidence (2:25)
10. Questioning (2:26)
11. Taking Rex In (:49)
12. Realisation (1:48)
13. End of the Line (3:36)
14. Discussion with a Detective (:53)
15. The Telltale Pen (2:31)
16. Celebrity Life (2:47)
17. Garbage Fetish (1:00)
18. Evidence Lost (1:22)
19. Laramie Hitches a Ride (1:17)
20. Batter Up (2:15)
21. Hands in the Air (1:10)
22. Telling (:43)
23. Premiere (1:23)
24. Scene of the Crime (2:50)
25. Blackmail (1:59)
26. Camera Chase (:50)
27. Tabloid Exposure (1:49)
28. Adrenaline Force 2 (:30)
29. Invasion of Privacy (:34)
30. Intruders (1:41)
31. Fans and Lights (1:33)
32. Resolution (1:57)