Editorial Reviews

Director Irwin Winkler's 2006 film Home of the Brave (not to be confused with the 1986 movie of the same name featuring performance artist Laurie Anderson) is an examination of the postwar lives of a group of military veterans of the 2003 American invasion of Iraq and the subsequent occupation. The soundtrack album leads off with Sheryl Crow's specially written and recorded "Try Not to Remember," which addresses the major theme of the film. Crow sounds more like Sarah McLachlan than her usual self in her vocal, and the track features orchestral backing arranged by Stephen Endelman, who also composed the largely instrumental score that makes up the rest of the disc. "The Battle Ends" features some Arabic vocals, and the next track, "Opening Iraq," has a lively Middle Eastern feel, but most of the rest of the music underlines the home-front setting, and it is slow and reflective, with guitar and piano figures in the foreground and wistful strings in the back, the occasional snare-drum percussion maintaining a military air. This is music becalmed to the point of being nearly ambient, clearly intended to accompany scenes of emotional turmoil. It certainly doesn't suggest that Home of the Brave is a conventional war movie, but it does amplify the aftermath of battle. William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

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