chuck - soundtrack review

a few years ago there was this series about a guy who works for a buymore electronics store and fixes computers. except this guy then gets drawn into a load of super spy stuff and hi-jinks ensue. this guy, and series, was “chuck”.

even though the series has ended i’m now happy to relive it with the “chuck - original television soundtrack”. this soundtrack is mostly made up of the music from the series composed by tim jones. i wasn’t aware of his work before so looked him up to find he worked on a couple of series (human target and cult) and a few films (smokin’ aces 2, the death and life of bobby z, the forsaken)

when compiling the track list, the producers must have had a mammoth task ahead of them, having to select the best tracks from 5 seasons of shows. I’m happy to see that they have definitely delivered. of the collection, my stand out track is “chuck and sarah the beginning”. it starts simply enough with a piano led love theme, but soon takes us on a journey through the complicated relationship of the two leads. This is then followed up with “action theme”. putting these tracks back to back shows us that not only can tim jones bring emotion and character to a piece, he also knows how to bring out the fun, especially with what could have easily been a phoned in generic theme. instead we have something that is perfect for chuck and his character – a theme perfect for a fish out of water, wannabe superspy.

there are a few more straight forward tracks such as “mission time” and “backstories and secrets”, however even these don’t stay too safe for long, with a flamenco style theme scoring chuck’s latest mission, or even a few playful notes taking the edge of what could be a suspense filled moment.

as an added bonus to tim jones’ score are 3 tracks (5 in the digital copy) by the screen band jeffster  featuring vik sahay (the band on the show is formed of chuck’s two co-workers at the buymore). the covers of classics “take on me”, “fortunate son” and “fat bottomed girls” really help to round the album off, and pretty much help to sum up the fun in the score and the series as a whole.

the album is a joyous, action packed, suspense filled ride, that doesn’t forget to show it’s softer side when needed. tim jones has done an excellent job of referencing, rather than lampooning the spy theme genre (if there is such a thing). it’s great trying to pick up on the influences used to build what is such an interesting score.

for anyone who loves chuck the series, this soundtrack really is a must. perfect listening for anyone trapped in a dull 9 to 5, dreaming of the exciting life of a spy.

the chuck soundtrack is available now on cd and digital download