Del Rey & The Sun Kings
Battleship Potemkin
Trakwerx 2007

01. Main Title
02. The Men and the Maggots
03. The Soup
04. Drama in the Harbor [Edit of Alternative Version]
05. Vakulinchuk Acts
06. The Death of Valulinchuk
07. A Dead Man Calls for Justice
08. All for One and One for All: The Rebellion Begins
09. The Odessa Staircase
10. A Happy Day in the City
11. Suddenly... the Czarist Soldiers
12. The Ship Guns Roared [Extended Version]
13. Meeting with the Squadron
14. Squadron Sighted: Prepare for Action [Extended Version]
15. Join Us...Brothers!
16. Bonus Track: Original Piano Theme [Solo]

This, then, is Jackson Del Rey's homage to director Sergei Eisenstein's classic silent film. In his writings, Eisenstein stated that he hoped a new score would be written for the 'Battleship Potemkin' every ten years. Eisenstein felt that although the imagery of the film would remain vital and vibrant, new music would help "update" the film and thereby aid its introduction to subsequent generations of moviegoers.

'Battleship Potemkin' was originally screened in Moscow in October of 1925. Interestingly, in 2005, (the 80th anniversary of Potemkin) the Pet Shop Boys (not kidding) were commissioned to compose a new soundtrack thereby "fulfilling" Eisenstein's wishes. However, the score by the Pet Shop Boys fails to capture and/or convey any of the unique drama or historical context that led the valiant sailors aboard the Potemkin to mutiny against the "tyrannical" rule of Czar Nicholas. And quite frankly, the 80s era Pet Shop Boys apparently haven't bought any new synthesizers lately and their score sounds, well, dated. Perhaps they could write the score to the next David Hasselhoff movie...

Eisenstein kept notes about what kind of music he wanted to see behind 'Potemkin'. He wrote that he was not very interested in melodies that followed the action on the screen and that instead, the songs should be structured in such a manner so as to build tension between the five parts or chapters he designated as the "inner" construction of 'Potemkin'. Eisenstein's only other recorded thoughts regarding the musical score was that he wanted the ending sequences as rhythmic as possible. To this end, Del Rey & The Sun Kings chose to blend classical instruments including live violins with nylon stringed guitars and rather cool trumpets (think Miles Davis) together with an "industrialized" background of purposefully synthetic sounding Tangerine Dream-inspired keyboards and various rhythmic, mechanical samples (Morse code/echo sounder/machine press).

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Ranging from the bombastic opening and drama of 'Drama in the Harbor' (with sonar sounds) to the more restrained 'A Happy Day in the City' this fully instrumental score is a joy to listen to. Mixing classical themes and instruments with more ambient and even industrial sounds the music, much like the events on the battleship, never has a dull moment. Watching the movie whilst playing the CD is quite an experience indeed. Del Rey's score fits the movie perfectly.