If you're one of the many people who were disappointed by Brian DePalma's disaster of a film, "Snake Eyes," you may be quick to note that, while the movie sucked a lot of dick, the score was absolutely killer. That's because it was composed by one of modern music's many geniuses-- Ryuichi Sakamoto.

For those of you not keeping up with Sakamoto's career, allow me to fill you in a little: he was a founding member of the late '70s art- techno outfit Yellow Magic Orchestra, he recorded various acclaimed solo records, scored (along with David Byrne) the award- winning soundtrack for Bernardo Bertolucci's "The Last Emperor," invented his own musical genre which he's dubbed "Neo Geo," and most recently, recorded a contemporary classical piece with four movements ("Grief," "Anger," "Prayer," and "Salvation") called Discord.

Sakamoto's releases are typically unpredictible and Snake Eyes is no different in that respect. Of course, Sakamoto's trademark loud/ quiet dynamics are prevalent as usual, and this effort finds him jumping from mysterious, sensual, sax- driven pieces to beautifully orchestrated, ethereal strings- for- lovers to jarring danger music. It's very different from his previous outings, but still distinctly Sakamoto.

As far as film scores go, though, Snake Eyes is far from classic-- it's neither as memorable as the music from "The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly" nor as sultry and innovative as the score for the seminal James Bond flick, "Goldfinger." It does, however, make for an excellent occasional listen. And if there's anyone you film score buffs should be looking to for deliverance from the star- studded, chart- topping soundtracks of today-- or to become the next Ennio Morricone or Henry Mancini-- Sakamoto's the man to watch.

-Ryan Schreiber

"Snake Eyes"

[Real Audio Stream]