VA - Kiss Of Death - Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack (1995)

With the 1995 film noir remake Kiss of Death, Trevor Jones delivers his most gripping thriller score to date, vividly updating the genre's bleak, gritty atmosphere for the modern era. While Jones' dissonant string and brass arrangements conjure the spirit of vintage black-and-white cinema, his dark, pulsating synthesizers lend the music a postmodern sheen -- moreover, the pessimism that underlines much of the composer's work is especially pronounced here, with the threat of danger and violence lurking around every melodic corner. Sadly, Milan's CD release contains less than 30 minutes of Jones' music, instead padding out the running time with a series of forgettable pop tunes.~ Review by Jason Ankeny