EDITORIAL REVIEWS
The soundtrack to the second season of the popular spy show, starring Jennifer Garner, with music from Michael Giacchino ('Secret Weapons Over Normandy').

AMAZON
Fueled largely by the endlessly inventive original music chronicled in the first anthology from the hit TV series Alias, young composer Michael Giacchino's rising star quickly led to big screen success via his first major feature, Pixar's computer animated superhero spoof The Incredibles. The composer's rich eclecticism -- one that spans a thumping, contemporary techno club-savvy and brassy winks at the 60's spy-jazz canon in just its opening few cuts -- is still one of the major delights on this collection of cues from Alias' second season. But its second half largely becomes a more dramatically focused, if no less creatively restless showcase for Giacchino's orchestral writing, the scale of which impressively belies its small-screen origins. Its rare to hear TV music that evokes everything from the brooding classicism of Samuel Barber and Bernard Herrmann to more contemporary scoring masters like Goldsmith and Barry -- with a forceful nod to mixmeister Paul Oakenfold in the bargain -- but it's all here on this compelling showcase for one of film music's most promising new stars. --Jerry McCulley