Willard's Wormholes

PETER GABRIEL – Passion (1989)
JOHN DEBNEY – The Passion Of The Christ (2004)
Jesus, These Are Good Soundtracks

Despite the criticism leveled at director Mel Gibson, The Passion Of The Christ is the most fearless telling of the Passion Play ever filmed. No movie stars, filmed in subtitled Latin, Hebrew and ancient Aramaic languages, and two bloody hours of Jesus getting the bejesus beat out of him (with an R rating, no less), all should have added up to a disaster at the box office. Give Gibson his props for having the nuts to put up 30 million of his own dollars to write & direct a movie that might have ended his directing career. That same chutzpah characterized the film’s soundtrack, co-produced by Mel. Composer John Debney – the lightweight behind such score filler as Elf, The Hot Chick and Liar, Liar – shouldn’t have been allowed anywhere near the set, much less entrusted with underscoring The Greatest Story Ever Told, yet somehow the pair responded with this, Oscar nominated gem – a spacey, unsettling, often neo-psychedelic swirl of Mid-East ethnicity. The grieving, wailing choruses are haunting and the darkly moving rhythms are deftly nuanced, quietly surreal, a mystical whole.

But… credit where credit might be due. It’s possible Debney received some of his divine inspiration from Peter Gabriel’s majestic 1989 score for Martin Scorsese’s, The Last Temptation Of Christ, one of the first times indigenous regional music was used with such effect for the backdrop of the Nazarene’s life and death. It was groundbreaking, being rooted in the culture’s ethnic stew of Hebrew niguns, Middle Eastern snake-charming melodies and regional atmospherics, but was naturally, in Gabriel’s hands, more rhythmic, driving and percussion heavy. It was also unique for its revelation that there’s more power to be unearthed in the music of ancient cultures than in any Hollywood orchestral concoction. As it stands, you’ll likely never hear another bombastic, Roman-ized fanfare introducing the Saviour ever again… and we have these two prominent scores to thank for that. Amazon has Passion (reissued in 2010), and Passion Of The Christ (for a penny). 

THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST (John Debney)
The Olive Garden/Night Sky (1:57)
Bearing The Cross (3:43)
Jesus Arrested (4:37)
Peter Denies Jesus (1:59)
The Stoning (2:25)
Song Of Complaint (1:33)
Simon Is Dismissed (2:25)
Flagellation/Dark Choir/Disciples (5:54)
Mary Goes To Jesus (2:47)
Peaceful But Primitive/Procession (3:36)
Crucifixion (7:38)
Raising The Cross (2:13)
It Is Done (3:37)
Jesus Is Carried Down (4:40)
Resurrection (5:04)

PASSION (Peter Gabriel)
The Feeling Begins (4:00)
Gethsemane (1:26)
Of These, Hope (3:55)
Lazarus Raised (1:26)
Of These, Hope (Reprise) (2:44)
In Doubt (1:33)
A Different Drum (4:40)
Zaar (4:53)
Troubled (2:55)
Open (3:27)
Before Night Falls (2:20)
With This Love (3:39)
Sandstorm (3:02)
Stigmata (2:28)
Passion (7:38)
With This Love (Choir) (3:21)
Wall Of Breath (2:29)
The Promise Of Shadows (2:13)
Disturbed (3:36)
It Is Accomplished (2:56)
Bread And Wine (2:19)