Article 99 remains a bit of a mystery because it never appeared on either of Elfman's "Music For A Darkened Theater" albums. The reason is probably due to rights -- Orion Pictures, which produced the film, went bankrupt. When MCA was putting together the second MFADT volume, the rights to Article 99 were no doubt caught in a web of red-tape (the Orion Pictures library was bought by MGM). That's a shame as the original soundtrack CD is now out-of-print (but not impossible to find) and the score is actually quite good. A very underrated effort from Elfman's early 1990's period.

Article 99 features an attractive, soaring main theme which is used extensively throughout the score. Elfman brings many moods to this score - it is at times dissonant and scary ("Death"), other times melodic and jaunty ("Montage"). "Mayday" is one of Elfman's most memorably whacky cues and shares a strong resemblence to his score for Dick Tracy. Article 99 is orchestrated for full orchestra with several piano and woodwind solos, with an emphasis on the brass and percussion instruments. Some of Elfman's action material is filtered with a militaristic feel, and it's sound pre-dates a lot of what he would do with Mars Attacks!

As usual for Danny Elfman, Article 99 provides a very good listen on CD. The music is strong and mostly always pleasant. The "End Credits", which wrap up all the major themes and several highlights from the film, are exceptional and listening to them now, I realize just how unfortunate it is that this score receives so little notice from fans. Note: purchase this CD on sight.

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