Based on the novel by Lawrence Block, “A Walk Among the Tombstones” is a crime thriller starring Liam Neeson as a private investigator hired to solve a murder. The theme of the movie is clearly a grim one, which means that the soundtrack should be equally grim. Composed by Carlos Rafael Rivera—known for his work in “Brotherhood of Murder” (1999), “On The Brink” (2006) and “Without a Map” (1996)—this soundtrack is dark and ominous, but not what the listeners would expect for a crime thriller.

Each song seems to have a slow melody, which is different from most soundtracks, as they usually have a combination of both quick paced and slow themes. Considering the film is called “A Walk Among Tombstones”, it makes sense that the music in this soundtrack would be so gloomy and dark. However, this particular soundtrack remains consistent in its tempo. For example, “Main Title”, “We Got Your Wife”, “Kenny’s Story”, “Ray and Albert” and “Matt Scudder” have unhurried tempos and seem to have a melancholy piano and soft, slow strings. These are beautiful and melodic sounds as well very peaceful, but also repetitive and predictable. When I think of a crime thriller, I’m thinking of action packed music combined with slow and gloomy tunes. Instead, I hear a soundtrack that sounds as if the tracks are being recycled and set on a two minute loop. A song should have its own sound and its own story. This is not the case with these tracks.

While these songs are beautiful and soothing, they leave very little to the imagination. After the first three tracks, you already have an idea what the next few tracks will be like. Even though “A Walk Among Tombstones” is not described as an action-packed film, given the premise of the film, it would completely make sense to have a unique choice of songs on the soundtrack. One or two high paced and heart quickening tracks and one or two mellowed and smooth tracks combined would have made this album much more exciting and possibly more appropriate for a film of this caliber.

Final Grade: D

About The Author

Lauren Beverly

Music Reviewer

I love to write and have been doing so since the age of eight. Fictional stories have always been a favorite of mine, because it gives me a chance to be creative and to express myself in a multitude of ways. On more than one occasion, a song proved to be the inspiration to several stories I have written. Believe it or not, some of those songs were on soundtracks! That’s mostly what I listen to, aside from hits from the 1950’s up to the 1980’s. I’ve learned that anything can be the inspiration to a story, even a poster from the 1990’s or a DVD cover.

I’ve lived in Upper Marlboro all of my life and spent much of my childhood watching cartoons of all kinds, and listening to my older sister’s cassette tapes. Growing up, I listened to everything Jackson related, Paula Abdul, Elton John, and even the controversial group Milli Vanilli. As a teenager, I continued to listen to old-school hits and that was pretty much all I liked, aside from listening to all of Michael Jackson’s music. To this day, I still love old-school hits. That hasn’t changed.

I own a variety of CDs from artists such as Styx, The BeeGees, Michael Jackson, Queen, The Yellow Submarine Soundtrack, and many others. When a soundtrack comes out, there will always be one specific song from that album that I’ll love. It never fails.

I’ve graduated from Bowie State University in December 2013 with a B.A. degree in English.

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