Critics at the time called it "unlistenable." They missed the point. "Loco Loco" is not a piece to hum in the shower; it is a piece to feel when your brain is running at 3 AM on too much coffee and existential dread.
The "Loco" in the title is a double entendre. In musical notation, "loco" instructs the player to return to the written pitch after playing an octave higher (8va). Kamen weaponizes this technical term. Throughout the piece, instruments leap into the stratosphere only to snap back down violently with a "loco" command. loco loco michael kamen new
Was Michael Kamen actually "loco"? Perhaps. He was a genius who wired an orchestra to explode on cue. The term perfectly captures his musical philosophy: twice as crazy. Critics at the time called it "unlistenable