Source Code reminds me of the kind of score that James Newton Howard might write if he were scoring The Fugitive in 2011 instead of 1993. And why not? Chris Bacon worked alongside Howard for some time before striking out on his own.
My first take on the score was that it was a little on the conventional side; somewhat derivative. As I began paying closer attention I started having a little fun trying to pick out the influences on it. It seems to me that there might've been a lot of things on the temp track for the film. Danny Elfman (Mission: Impossible), James Newton Howard (King Kong), John Powell (the Bourne scores, Paycheck), Michael Giacchino (Mission: Impossible 3, Star Trek) and Alexandre Desplat (The Ghost Writer) seem to all bring their influences to bear on this score. All this with the spectre of Bernard Herrmann hanging over much of it (the same way he does - in the best of ways - over so many of Danny Elfman's scores).
Musically, the score hinges on a couple of primary motives. The first of which is a chromatic figure that isn't all that dissimilar to one of the primary motives in John Powell's Paycheck score. The other bears more than a passing resemblance to the rising-falling theme in James Newton Howard's King Kong. The score bristles with tension but never to the point of overdoing it. On the album at least there seems to be a slow and steady building of this tension that sustains one's listening interest.
As derivative as elements of Source Code may be, there's something fresh about it and there are many things to admire. First and foremost is the score's orchestration. Bacon has the audacity to utilize the entire orchestra augmented by minimal electronics and a keen sense of how not to overuse the percussion, both acoustic and electronic (Adroitly handled by the experience of lead orchestrator and conductor Pete Anthony). The music seems to follow the ebb-and-flow of the drama in the film itself instead of trying to play against it or above it. There's a sense of shape and drama to the album that makes it a nice listen, too. If the album is sequenced in film order then that means that perhaps Mr. Bacon had the opportunity to think about how the score is structured and this is an encouraging thought.
Overall, I find much that is enjoyable about this score for what should be a breakout effort for a young composer that may have interesting things to say in the future as he continues to develop his overall sound.
