The lead attraction on the soundtrack for this Scotland-set movie is "Back Where You Belong (Theme fromThe Water Horse)," a song written and performed by Sinéad O'Connor, and produced by Daniel Lanois. It's a heartwrenching ballad that's all the more powerful because O'Connor's performance is so pared down. In an age of overbearing movie themes, it's a refreshing approach, full of tenderness and dignity. The song bookends the CD with "The Water Horse Suite," a piece performed by Irish trad-music superstars, the Chieftains, that steadily builds up momentum over the course of its eight-minute duration. Sandwiched between these two tracks is James Newton Howard's score. In his liner notes, director Jay Russell calls it "a beautiful Celtic symphony which delivers the complexity of Gustav Mahler with the simple grandeur of Aaron Copland." Er…not quite. Howard does not deviate much from the Hollywood template for family/fantasy films, except this time he introduces Celtic flavors on a few cues. At his best ("The Fishermen"), Newton Howard evokes a certain fierceness, but overall this is fairly standard.--Elisabeth Vincentelli