Jerry Goldsmith - Basic Instinct (CD)

All Music Guide

Jerry Goldsmith's most provocative feature film score, Basic Instinct brilliantly evokes the sex and suspense that together galvanize the onscreen narrative. While the earlier Body Heat proved Goldsmith's mastery of the erotic thriller genre, Basic Instinct ups the ante significantlyominous piano, stilettosharp bursts of strings and bubbling electronics combine to capture lust in all its myriad forms, from carnal desire to murderous rage, as well as delineate the subtle differences between each iteration. Goldsmith scores the film's notoriously graphic sex scenes with particular aplomb, achieving what can only be described as orchestral orgasm as the music builds to its climaxfor all its sophistication and invention, Basic Instinct is above all the work of a dirty old man, and it's fascinating.

- Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide