Music Review: Breaking Bad OST

Various: For fans of this fantastic TV series, the music and the visuals are inextricable. Often, the two are so comfortably enmeshed that hearing the soundtrack by itself might be a bit surprising for some. This can work as both a plus and a minus because you might find just the music to be a bit unsatisfying. Nonetheless, the musical course charted by subtle drones and distant rumbles of Jane's Demise and the pulsating Crawl Space are nicely evocative of

Heisenberg

's metamorphosis from an average Joe to a mastermind who has a law of his own. 1990s exotica are overt influences (think Coil, Cabaret

Voltaire

, Ministry and

Einst'rzende Neubauten

) in songs like Aztek, Searching For Jesse, Parking Garage Standoff and Baby's Coming. Apart from these edgy delights, there are also quieter, softer swells in this undulating aural ocean. Composer

Dave Porter

does not use the technique often employed in scores like gradual buildups. The music sets the mood and is largely (or rather, sounds largely) fluid in construct. His challenge is to use the music to underscore the evolution of the TV characters. Accordingly, the music is unpredictable and yet, disciplined. Some of the clever twists might make you grin in that same enigmatic way that Bryan Cranston did in the series, now and then.

Listen to

Breaking Bad

music on Gaana.com