Soundtrack Magazine
by Randall Larson

ISLAND OF THE SHARKS is embodied with a surging melody for violins and brass, very much John Barry in style. In fact, that obvious similarity to Barry may tend to obscure the beauty of this rich composition for those listeners unwilling to venture beyond the pastiche. Williams embraces the homage and makes the most of it, lending an abundant sonority to the gentle Caribbean sunlit seas around which Michele Hall's film about marine wildlife is set. The music lends a swaying, lyrical beauty to the underwater scenes of drifting schools of fish and scampering crustaceans and gliding sea turtles, just as it does to the brightly lit world of oceanography glimpsed in the surface visuals. White tip reef sharks are heralded, in "The White Tips," with spooky squeals of synth and strings as an underlying carpet of percussion lays a mood of apprehension, ultimately overcome by a quickly-bowed succession of violin notes which creates a compelling mood of predatorial danger. "Hammerheads" swells into a glorious melody for violins, capturing the liquid poetry of the swimming sharks while an underlying sepulchral percussion texture belies the depth which lays beyond the glimmering blue hues of the surface water. "Marlin Attack" captures a violin ostinato, rhythmic, angular strokes of violins over cool, rusting percussive effects and brass chords lends a powerful sense of danger as the cue builds and grows ñ this could almost be a horror movie cue; "Shark Attack" sustains a similar suspenseful approach, with fertile instrumental textures and marvelous sound patterns. "Sea Stars" is gentle Caribbean pop, flutes and guitar and bongos, while "Sea Turtle and Hermit Crabsî" carries a slightly reggae instrumentality with marimba, violins, and bongos.

The main theme returns in "Rain and Rebirth" and, from crystal clear trumpet in "Hammerheads Return," in which the Barry influence is perhaps most evident, until it opens into a lavishly eloquent statement of the theme, over Williams' percussive bass and belltree which gives it his own exotic milieu. "Marble Ray Romance" is a gentle, almost breezy rendition of the main theme for woodwind, violin, and bass; devoid of the main Barry stylistic sensibility, the theme emerges as Williams' own, a mellifluent ballad for underwater gliding. Recorded with a 70-piece orchestra, Alan Williams truly demonstrates his capable handling of large orchestral forms. This score is powerful, beautifully melodic, and abundantly textured. Intrada has done a wonderful job at presenting this score, including notes from producer Hall.

Music for IMAX films, by definition, has to be a bit larger than life, and Williams accomplishes this task with music that is immediately accessible, richly melodic and deeply orchestrated with effective and compelling textures, and that creates a sound design which is able to transport the listener to these other places even apart from the huge visuals they were meant to accompany.