Harald Kloser's score for the environmental disaster film The Day After Tomorrow has an appropriately epic, orchestral heft. Mixing slow, implosive passages with sudden outbursts, pieces like "Tornado Warning," and "Sam!" mirror the film's concept of sudden, radical climate shifts wreaking havoc on the U.S.. Even the tracks that have a relatively consistent mood are juxtaposed to create contrast: the mounting panic implied by the squalling horns and percussion in the aptly crashing "Tidal Wave" and the tense "Russian Ghost Ship" is followed by the bittersweet calm of tracks like "Body Heat" and "Hall's Plan." For the most part, the score is ominous; although a few rays of hope peek through on tracks such as "Bedtime Story," "Cutting the Rope," and "President's Speech"; the grim drama of "Blizzard" and "Superfreeze," and the bleak strings on "Because of You" set the tone for the film's music. Despite the score's powerful feel, its pieces are remarkably short, with few of them topping the three-and-a-half minute mark. Given the film's spectacular nature, Kloser could have tried to compete with the visuals and crafted an overblown score, but the conciseness of his music gives the film a little more balance. The score's closing pieces, "The Human Spirit" and "Burning Books," border on the melodramatic, but most of
The Day After Tomorrow is an effective counterpoint to the movie's action. ~ Heather Phares