Ben's film-music reviews

Priest review

2012-01-24T15:08:00.000-08:00

Priest (2011)

Composer: Christopher Young

Number of tracks: 12

Total time: 55:09

Overview:

Ah, Christopher Young... The man certainly knows how to score a film to a perfect T, yet he usually gets stuck giving amazing scores to truly awful films. Enter the dystopian future vampire action flick, Priest. The film is based off of a somewhat obscure Korean comic book of the same name. The plot is rather trivial, centering around an alternate reality where humans and vampires constantly duke it out and a military Catholic Church runs everything with the help of warrior priests.

Admittedly the story sounds kinda cool if you don't stop to think about how ridiculous it sounds. As can be expected, the film failed at the box office only barely breaking even on it's massive budget. Besides the impressive visuals, the only other positive of the film is Christopher Young's massive Gothic action/horror score.

Review of the music:

Christopher Young made a name for himself with lyrical orchestral horror scores in the late 80's- early 90's and is most fondly remembered for his scores to Clive Barker's late 80's films and 1989's The Fly II. Young also has ventured into action films with scores to Hard Rain and Spider-Man 3, so the blending of Gothic horror and action film sensibilities into one score seemed the ideal blend.

The primary theme is introduced immediately in the opening track, "Priest", setting the tone for the rest of the score with choir, brass, percussion (including wooden blocks), racing strings and even an organ for added Gothic-ness. The Main theme is tweaked and repeated throughout the score, though at times it's hard to tell if it's the Main theme or not, one of the very few downfalls of the score. "Eclipsed Heart" is yet another beautiful piece by Young for a horror score, featuring wonderful string work played against a duduk clarinet. "I Have Sinned" (track 3) is the first true action piece of the album and doesn't waste any time getting started, opening with racing strings, brass and choir before building to a frenzied crescendo. This is pure horror/action scoring at its finest, with wild percussion and sliding strings adding extra effect.

The rest of the album features several tracks of immense orchestral action writing with horror overtones such as "The Vampire Train", "Sacrosanct Delirium" and "Detuned Towne". These tracks make full use of the large orchestra and choir Young gathered for the recording, plus the added enhancements of tastefully used electronics. "The Vampire Train" is easily the highlight of the action cues as the Main theme battles it out with the Vampire theme, all the while as the orchestra mimics the sound of a train (and no, it's not as goofy as it may sound). The purely horror cues are also great, especially "Blood Framed Hell" and "Never One For Love" again showcasing Young's mastery at horror scoring, especially the freaky chanting in the former track.

As with all good horror scores, there is a balance between all the orchestral chaos and the more harmonically pleasing pieces. "Faith, Work, Security" opens ominously before turning into a heroic fanfare not too unsimiliar to what can be heard in Tron: Legacy (2010), though taken to the next level with a full choir. "Fanfare for a Resurrected Priestess" features the vocal work of Lisa Gerrard over a hauntingly powerful theme that could easily be from one of Zimmer's action scores of the 2000's. The Zimmer influence is present again in "Cathedral City Blue", an impressive "Journey to the Line"-esque cue where Young expands upon the Main theme and Hero fanfare over a racing string ostinato, though only after a somewhat dark opening two minutes.

The score finally comes to a resounding end with the epic "World Without End", perfectly summing up the central themes of the score and giving Lisa Gerrard's vocals one last chance to shine. It's an impressive and satisfying close to the equally impressive precedings.

Closing thoughts:

Christopher Young has done so many great scores over his 30-plus years of work, its a shame most of his work goes unappreciated or has to be stuck to some truly wretched films. Priest will probably quickly fade into the bargain bins of most stores and the filmgoing publics memory, but Young's masterful score to the movie should not be thrown out with its correlating film. This is a highly impressive, very satisfying horror/action score that truly deserves the highly overused term nowadays of EPIC.

This is also probably Mr. Young's most impressive work of the last five years. Priest may be a film to avoid like a rabid vampire, but the score is must-have for film-score collectors and fans of well made action scores. As Patrick Doyle proved with Thor (2011): Just because the Zimmer style of action scoring is overused doesn't mean talented composers can't make it feel fresh again. Highly Recommended.

Note: This album is only available via digital download or as a CD-R from Amazon.com.

Score:

5 out of 5

Top 10 Goldsmith Scores You Need To Hear

2012-01-19T18:05:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been awhile since I have tackled a "top 10" list, so here's a new one: Goldsmith scores you need to hear!

Now, some of these will be well known titles and some not-so well known. At any rate, I hope you will look into the scores listed after reading this. As always, this is purely my own opinion and based off of the Goldsmith scores I have actually heard. As with most lists, this will simply be a snapshot of what I feel are the works by Mr. Goldsmith that most of my readers should hear/be aware of.

So, here we go....

----------------------------

10. Patton (1970)

Thoughts: A rather sparse score, Patton is one of those works that says a lot in a very short amount of time. It nicely conveys the many aspects of General Patton's character through a three part overture, making great use of the echoplex at the same time. A score that lives up to its high reputation.

9. Medicine Man (1992)

Thoughts: Goldsmith in the jungle... with synths. This is one of those scores that you have to get used to in order to really enjoy it. Thankfully, there is a lot to enjoy once you get pasted the jungle rhythms and synth textures. Give it a chance, you may find you really like it.

8. The Edge (1997)

Thoughts: Goldsmith without synths. Period. This is one of those rare later year scores by Mr. Goldsmith that does not feature synthesizers of any kind and is easily one of the highlights of his later career. With a sweeping main theme ("Lost in the Wilds") and plenty of rugged action music, this is one of the best of the 90's.

7. Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)

Thoughts: As I mentioned in my review, this score works as both a sampler of Goldsmith's styles for newcomers and as a great collection of some of the best the Master had to offer at the time. It's practically four scores in one, so what's not to like?

6. First Knight (1995)

Thoughts: Some complain about this one being too obvious in its emotions, thus giving it an almost parody feeling. In this reviewer's opinion, it merely harkens back to the grand old adventure scores of Hollywood's Golden Age. Heroic fanfare, a sweeping love theme and wall shaking action music. A must listen for both fans and casual listeners.

5. Secret of N.I.M.H (1982)

Thoughts: Goldsmith's first foray into animated features and it's a knock-out. This is one of those scores that has a very strong Classical feeling to it in many parts, which helps greatly in giving the music a much bigger and more serious feeling. The choir work is wonderful and the array of themes are both wide, yet easily recognizable and identifiable. "Flying Dreams" is probably one of the most sappy, yet lovely songs/themes for an animated movie prior to James Horner's work in the genre.

4. Alien (1979)

Thoughts: Experimental horror score with Romantic leanings when it comes to the non-horror moments. This is one of those that may take some time to get used to, but is well worth the effort of listening to. The mastery of orchestral tones and strange recording techniques alone are highly impressive, though what's most striking is just how listenable the work is. This will always be one of the greats in both film and score.

3. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

Thoughts: The first and possibly the best Star Trek score, Goldsmith injects the perfect balance of awe, mystery and adventure into this work. The Main title is an instant classic and the music for Vger and the cloud sequences are simply fantastic in their balance of dark beauty and mysteriousness (similar music would be used later in Poltergeist (1982) ).

2. Legend (1985)

Thoughts: Probably the toughest Goldsmith score to really get into, this is also the one score that has the most to give to those that can get pasted the electronic elements and singing. Without a doubt the finest fantasy score pre-Lord of the Rings, Legend shows Goldsmith at the peak of his creative powers. Definitely worth the effort to get into.

1. The Wind and the Lion (1975)

Thoughts: Possibly the easiest Goldsmith score to like and also one of his very finest. Everything about this score is pure classic Goldsmith: the use of ethnic instruments, percussive action material, a grand Main theme and several equally impressive supporting themes. There is really no reason not to like this score, so if you have not heard this one yet, go and listen to it or buy the film. Both are classics in their respective fields.

The Shipping News review

2012-01-08T17:10:00.000-08:00

The Shipping News (2001)

Composer: Christopher Young

Number of tracks: 16

Total time: 46:10

Overview:

Christopher Young typically isn't the first name to pop into someone's head when you mention Celtic flavored scores for dramas. Best known for his amazing work in the Horror film genre, Young surprised most mainstream listeners in 2001 with his score to Lasse Halstrom's adaptation of The Shipping News. The story revolves around a newspaper reporter named Quoyle (Kevin Spacey) who returns to his ancestral home in Newfoundland and begins a new life in the small town of Killick-Claw.

The film gave Young the perfect opportunity to delve into Celtic flavored dramatic scoring, which was all the rage after a small film in 1997 about a sinking ship made this style popular. Needless to say, Young delivers a knockout score with much more authentic feeling Celtic overtones than his contemporaries' efforts.

Review of the music:

Young centers the score of The Shipping News around two primary themes: an overall Main theme and a touching piece for the romance that enters the story later on. The Main theme is introduced immediately in "The Shipping News" with Uillean pipes, fiddle and Penny whistle performing with the main assemble over a bed of lite percussion. This theme is heard several times throughout the album, though its performances typically stick with the ensemble and is rarely heard on solo instruments.

The secondary theme, or Romance theme, is introduced in "Weather Rhymes" on cello and acoustic guitar. A lovely Penny whistle version of the theme is heard in the second part of "Killick-Claw Harbor" before it gets a more sorrowful rendition in "One Kite Better" and "Alwyn Spires." The Romance theme finally acts as a prologue to the Main theme in the closing "Sail On" cue.

Along with the two principle themes, there are several cue highlights as well. A sprightly jig offers a fun surprise in "Dutsi Jig" while Young's more suspense-esque sensibilities come to play in the darker tracks "Seal Flipper Pie", "Mooncussers", "Asleep with the Angel" and "Dog on Fire". The sole action cue on the album, "Death Storm", is yet another easy highlight with its driving percussion and full fledged rendition of the Main theme. A more upbeat tune is introduced in "The Gammy Bird" and reappears a few times later on the album.

Closing thoughts:

This is another work by Young that is very enjoyable and easy to get lost in. While he is most known for his horror scores, Mr. Young has shown time and time again that he is proficient in most genres of film. The Shipping News only helps to prove that point.

While the use of authentic pipes and woodwinds throughout the score may be a detriment to some listeners, this is definitely a score worth checking out. It might not be Young's greatest score, but it certainly ranks among his top efforts. Highly recommended.

Score:

4 1/2 out of 5

The Spitfire Grill review

2011-12-31T12:49:00.000-08:00

The Spitfire Grill (1996)

Composer: James Horner

Total time: 50:12

Number of tracks: 14

Overview:

By 1996 James Horner was nearing the end of his amazing run of film scores which roughly started in 1981 and pretty well ended in 1996 with this score. Within that 15 year span, Horner composed what were arguably his best works including Wolfen (1981), Star Trek II (1982), An American Tail I-II (1986-1991), Aliens (1986), Willow (1988), Land Before Time (1988), Glory (1989), Field of Dreams (1989), The Man Without a Face (1993), Legends of the Fall (1994), Apollo 13 (1995) and Braveheart (1995).

Compared to these previous films, The Spitfire Grill is a rather small scale affair dealing with a young woman who moves to a small New England town after being released from prison. Along the way, she helps the townsfolk rediscover themselves, as well as saving the local diner (The Spitfire Grill). It's a very Hallmark-esque film with plenty of drama and sappy moments, but the actors play their parts well and the film is put together in a way that saves Spitfire Grill from simply being yet another tear jerker to skip on.

Another great asset to the film is the wonderful, small scale drama score by James Horner. While most of the music is recycled from previous Horner ventures, what is reused is so good that you don't mind that fact, similar to Horner's later work on Bicentennial Man (1999).

Review of the Music:

As with most of his work in the 90's, a great deal of the themes heard in The Spitfire Grill come from previous Horner scores, namely Field of Dreams, Legends of the Fall and Jumanji. The Main theme is a variation on the 4-note ascending/descending string and woodwind piece heard in Jumanji and Legends of the Fall, but developed in a much more satisfying fashion (heard best during the opening of "... Care of the Spitfire Grill"). The descending 3-note "Family theme" from Field of Dreams also makes an appearance as a principle supporting motif.

This is not to say that there are no new elements to Spitfire Grill; there are actually two very interesting and important new elements that Horner introduces with this work. First is the fluttering woodwinds, chimes, piano and lite percussion to represent the forests at the heart of the film ("Mystery of the Night", "The Trees", "Gift from the Forest"). This style of representing the magical qualities of nature would later be used by Horner in The New World (2005), but to a less impressive extent. Secondly is the use of contemporary instruments to give a local flavor to certain cues. Violin, acoustic guitar, mandolin, flute and electronic bass help to give a very modern, yet country feel to tracks such as "Shelby & Percy", "Open for Business", "Reading the Letters" and "A New Life for Gilead". Horner had previously used contemporary elements in some of his scores, but never to the extent or emotional impact as in this score.

Interestingly enough, the title theme does not appear until rather late on the album. "Reading the Letters" is the first time we hear the theme for the Spitfire Grill, which also could be said to be the Main theme. This theme is a very low key, almost folksy sounding piece (especially when played on solo fiddle/viola) and is easily one of Horner's best standalone themes. The Spitfire Grill theme is given multiple renditions during the finale ("... Care of the Spitfire Grill") including a very moving version by the full orchestra.

For the most part the score stays in a very comfortable lite drama area, though two tracks near the end, "Wrongful Blame" and "A Desperate Decision", add a bit of dark string writing and action material to the score. Of interesting note is that the action motif heard on horns in "A Desperate Decision" would later be used as a central theme in Ron Howard's "The Missing" (2003). Besides those two cues, the rest of the album is a very pleasant and enjoyable listening experience.

Closing thoughts:

There's really nothing bad to say about The Spitfire Grill as it's easily one of Horner's best scores and an excellent album. While it may not be his most original work or his most sweeping score, Spitfire Grill has plenty of heart and a very sincere personality. Also, it's a great respite from the usual grand scale epics that Horner composed at the time.

Also, if you loved the quieter moments of Jumanji and want to hear that music expanded upon and uninterrupted by dissonant passages or action material, then The Spitfire Grill is for you. With the excellent use of the orchestra and solo instruments plus expanding upon previous (great) themes and motifs, this is definitely a Horner score that I can not recommend highly enough.

Score:

5 out of 5

Transformers (2006) review

2011-12-06T10:42:00.000-08:00

Transformers (2006)

Composer: Steve Jablonsky

Number of tracks: 20

Total time: 59:45

Overview:

In 2006 Michael Bay unleashed Transformers onto the American public. The film was big, loud and dumb, yet had a strange draw to the movie going public. Apparently all that was needed was Meagan Fox doing what she does best, massive explosions, cool machines and cinematography that makes you want to hold the camera steady and in one place for longer than a few seconds... after slapping the director several times.

Granted, this was a Michael Bay movie, so I suppose most moviegoers knew what they were getting into. Still, the film was dumb yet fun, got a lot of negative criticism (which it deserved), won an Oscar for visual effects and spawned a trilogy of films of similar badness. Oh! And it also kick started composer Steve Jablonsky's career and introduced the first of three shameless Hans Zimmer ripped "epic scores" for the warring robots.

Review of the music:

The first three tracks introduce the primary themes, though there will be more to come later on. "Autobots" obviously enough introduces the theme for the good robots, the Autobots. The track contains the required string ostinato and epic choir along with real and synthetic brass. It's a decent heroic piece, though it owes a great deal to the Main theme from King Arthur (2003). Next up is the Decepticon theme, which actually sounds pretty original. Various percussion, cellos and some strange chanting open the cue before exploding into a percussive onslaught accompanied by guttural male chanting.

"The All Spark" opens with more string ostinatos before a solo cello enters playing a melancholy theme that is soon accompanied by the full orchestra and choir. Out of all the themes in this score, the All-Spark theme is probably the best. The next big theme is that of the primary Autobot, Optimus Prime, heard in "Optimus" (fitting titles, don't you think?). This is probably one of, if not the, biggest theme offender of the score. It very obviously borrows from King Arthur, The Last Samurai and Batman Begins in one fell swoop. Is it heroic and epic? Yeah, but it's been done better in the previously mentioned Zimmer works.

The borrowed ideas from Zimmer just keep coming throughout the albums runtime. By the time the Hero theme from Batman Begins (2005) opens "Soccent Attack" (track 8) it's time to either accept the score as a fun piece of nothing or stop listening to it if this kind of rehashing gets on your nerves.

Granted there are some rather fun pieces on this album: "Scorponok" with its electronic bass and aggressive string writing as well as the overly heroic military theme at the end, "Arrival to Earth" with its no-holds-barred heroism and of course the action cues ("Downtown Battle", "You're a Soldier Now", "Sam on the Roof" and "Optimus vs Megatron") are all highlights.

"No Sacrifice, No Victory" (track 20) nicely rounds out the album with a return of the All-Spark theme and Autobot theme in one final "hurrah" after the four previous tracks of action music, bringing the album to a close... and leaving it open for the sequels.

Closing thoughts:

Unlike some other reviewers, I can fully understand how these Transformer scores can appeal to people and I fully admit I enjoy the scores to the two sequels. Having said that, I DO NOT think this trilogy is worthy of the extreme praise most people give it. Steve Jablonsky gave us three scores that are the quintessential definition of a "guilty pleasure score": they're fun to listen to, but they're really not that great when you look around at other scores or even the Hans Zimmer works the Transformer series "borrows" from.

If you're a fan of the films or just want a fun, dumb listening experience of "epic music", then go ahead and pick this one up. For anyone who wants a more robust and refined recycled score, check out Transformers 3.... or better yet, just check out The Last Samurai, King Arthur, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and Crimson Tide.

Score:

2 out of 5

Medicine Man review

2011-12-05T16:58:00.000-08:00

Medicine Man (1992)

Composer: Jerry Goldsmith

Number of tracks: 14

Total time: 50:09

Overview:

After his huge success in the 1980's with the action filmsPredator (1987) and Die Hard(1988), director John McTiernan decided to tackle an ecological drama. The result: the box office flop Medicine Man. Having not seen the film, I cannot further comment on whether the movie was good or not, but it does star Sean Connery so it can't be that bad, right? Right?

Anyway, on with the review.... The film is about a scientist by the name of Campbell (Connery) who has found the cure for cancer in the rainforest. A greedy pharmaceutical company sends another (female) scientist to find Campbell and bring back the "miracle drug". As can be expected, a romance ensues and trouble arrives when the scientists don't bring back the drug in time.

Fortunately for us, Jerry Goldsmith was hired to compose the score for this film and delivered what is arguably one of his most impressive drama scores. It may sound rather strange on first listen (like with Legend (1985) ), but this is a score that is worth warming up to.

Review of music:

The score contains three prominent themes: Rae's theme, a Romantic theme and a theme for the rainforest/natives. Rae's theme is introduced during the middle of the first track, "Rae's arrival", and is a brass heavy theme that is later given to the woodwinds and strings. It's a rather versatile theme, sounding at times threateningly powerful and at other times somewhat lonely.

The Romantic theme is probably the most recognizable theme in the score, heard in its splendor in "The Trees". This theme is among Goldsmith's finest pieces in his long career and appears several times throughout the album. The last theme is for the natives and consists of ethnic instruments, acoustic guitar and percussion. The Native theme is rather fun and upbeat being first introduced at the start of "Rae's Arrival", then appearing several times later on the album.

As was Goldsmith's way, he combines synths and synthetic percussion with the London Philharmonic Orchestra throughout the score. Some great examples of the use of synths can be heard in "First Morning" (where the synths sound like falling rain), "Without a Net", "Mocara" and "Mountain High". Goldsmith uses synthetic percussion extensively in Medicine Man, adding to the ambience of the score. There is even some musical comedy in a few tracks such as "Without a Net" and "Mountain High".

The album concludes with two amazing tracks: "The Fire" and "A Meal and a Bath". The first track features Rae's theme over a bed of organic and synthetic percussion. The latter track perfectly sums up the score with a restatement of the primary themes, with the Romantic theme being the most prevalent.

Review of packaging:

The CD comes in the standard jewel case with a booklet. The booklet is simply a two page collection of production stills with the film's credits in the middle.

The back of the album contains track listings (with correct times), album credits and brief film credits.

Closing thoughts:

Like with Goldsmith's masterwork Legend (1985), Medicine Man will take a little warming up to... but it is definitely worth the effort. This is a fun, light-ish drama score with some excellent themes and a real sense of wonder. This album comes highly recommended... with some slight hesitations.

Score:

4 out of 5

Halloween (1978) review

2011-10-31T11:48:00.000-07:00

Halloween (1978)

Composer: John Carpenter

Number of tracks: 11

Total time: 33:42

Overview:

"I watched him for fifteen years, sitting in a room, staring at a wall, not seeing the wall, looking past the wall... looking at this night. Inhumanly patient... waiting for some secret, silent alarm to trigger him off. Death has come to your little town, Sheriff."

It's the horror movie that made a star out of both actress Jamie Lee Curtis and director John Carpenter, launched the whole modern "slasher film" genre of the 80's and gave us one of the most iconic masks in horror film history. Yep, it's Halloween (1978). Many have tried to follow it and several have "borrowed" ideas from the film, but no one has been able to recapture the same creepy, uneasy feeling of the original... nor recapture the immense effectiveness of it.

The plot is well known: masked maniac Michael Myers (who killed his sister when he was a boy) escapes from a sanitarium on Halloween Eve and returns to his hometown to wreck havoc on three babysitters Halloween night. It's a rather simple premise, but Carpenter and his excellent cast and crew pull it off expertly.

Carpenter's eerie music plays a major role in making the film work and come off as more nerve wracking than it already is. Interestingly enough, the entire score was written and composed by Carpenter with only a piano and a few synths.

Review of the music:

The album opens with the iconic "Halloween Theme", a staccato piano rhythm with synthesizer chords played over it. It's a deceptively simple theme, but it works wonders in creating the perfect atmosphere for the film and its villain. "Laurie's Theme" follows a similar pattern as the Main theme, but at a much more languid pace and missing the harshness of the central theme. I'm not sure if this was intentional, but Laurie's theme is similar enough to the Main theme that it subtly interlocks the characters of Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Michael.

"Shape Escapes" returns to the Main theme in force accompanied by a clicking percussion loop. A hissing synth stinger at 0:57 marks the first appearance of Michael and will reappear later to underscore some jump scenes. "Myer's House" (track 4) returns to the slow rendition of the Main theme heard at the end of "Laurie's Theme", this time with metal chime accents. At 4:17 the synth stinger returns followed by the Main theme, closing the track.

"Michael Kills Judith" is the music that accompanies the opening of the film and is mostly minimalist suspense material with fragments of the Main theme scattered throughout. Again, the Main theme returns to prominence in "Loomis and Shape's Car" (track 6), basically acting as a recapitulation of the opening music. Laurie's theme returns in full with "The Haunted House" with the added bonus of the eerie piano motif heard at the end "Michael Kills Judith".

"The Shape Lurks" introduces Michael's motif or the "danger motif" of the score: repeating piano chords with chime hits over a bed of high airy synths. It's somewhat annoying on album, but is VERY effective in the film. "Laurie Knows" returns to Laurie's theme with the Main theme reappearing at 2:08 and closing the track.

"Better Check the Kids" opens with the eerie fragmented version of the Main theme heard in track 5 accompanied with suspense material from "Myer's House". "The Shape Stalks" sadly closes the album with a long version of "The Shape Lurks", again very effective in the film but more annoying than anything else on the album.

Closing thoughts:

There's really no arguing that both the film and the score to Halloween (1978) are classics in the modern horror genre. John Carpenter perfectly captured the mood and the suspense of his film in the minimalistic synth and piano music he provided for the film. Even after 33 years and multiple renditions by various composers, the original Halloween Theme is still as effective today as it was when the film was first released.

Despite the glowing praise of the score, the album presentation is a bit lacking for Halloween. In 1998 Varse Sarabande released an expanded and remastered version of the original album with all the music in film order. Unfortunately, the album was presented as a "Story CD" with dialogue from the film placed between tracks. Last year, the original 1988 album was re-released as an MP3 download at Amazon.com and iTunes, which this review was based off of. This digital version has great sound quality, though it ends unsatisfactorily.

If you're a fan of the film or of John Capenter's work, then the 1998 album is the way to go. If you just want the music, then the digital version of the original album is a better bet. Either way, the music is really good, if repetitive and a tad annoying at points when not accompanied by the visuals of Michael stalking poor Laurie. Recommended... with slight reservations.

Score:

3 out of 5

The Fog (1980) review

2011-10-26T11:25:00.000-07:00

The Fog (1980)

Composer: John Carpenter

Number of tracks: 14

Total time: 56:15

Overview:

After the surprise financial success of Carpenter's 1978 film about a masked maniac stalking babysitters (Halloween), the director returned to the horror genre and delivered a straight forward ghost story that is also surprisingly effective. The plot of The Fog is rather simple: During the celebration of the founding of Antonio Bay, a mysterious fog rolls in that carries the ghosts of the dead lepers that were murdered by the founding fathers of the town.

The film was a minor success, though remembered more fondly now than on its initial release. The film brought back much of the cast and crew of Halloween including Jamie Lee Curtis and Nancy Loomis as well as director/writer/composer John Carpenter.

Review of music:

Like with most of Carpenter's early horror scores, The Fog is more about atmosphere and creating an eerie mood than blowing you away with a massive orchestral assault. As he did with Halloween, Carpenter primarily uses piano and synths for the score, though he adds an organ and some chimes to give the music a larger, more Gothic feel.

The album starts with the narration of the ghost story that opens the film provided by John Houseman. It's a creepy and fitting way to start the album and the story is appropriately chilling. The Main theme is introduced straightforward enough in "Theme from The Fog", opening with Gothic organ and crashing percussion before segueing into the Main theme. The Main theme is again a synth and piano piece that sounds similar to "Tubular Bells" but with an electronic ticking percussion beneath it.

Oddly enough, the opening ghost story track is repeated in "Matthew's Ghost Story" albeit without the narration. The rest of the score is appropriately atmospheric and relies on the basic piano part of the Main theme as the backbone of most of the tracks, though usually heard in fragmented form. There is another motif in the score that can either be seen as a theme for the Fog itself or just for bad things that are happening. This secondary theme appears in "The Fog" (track 6) and is primarily a percussion piece for piano and synth effects.

"Reel 9" is the only outwardly horror-action piece on the album, containing the music for the finale of the film. The secondary theme (Fog motif) is the main focus of this cue though the Main theme does make fragmented appearances. The first part of the album closes with a reprise of the Main theme in "Main theme Reprise", but presented in abbreviated form.

On the Silvan release from 2000, there are four bonus tracks stuck on the end of the album: three score cues and an interview with Jamie Lee Curtis. The extra score tracks are nice, but "Blake in the Sanctuary" is mostly a repeat of what was heard early in "Reel 9". "Finale" in many ways repeats the music from "Matthew's Ghost Story", but it's such a creepy piece and closes the score portion of the album so well that there is little to complain about. The interview with Miss Curtis is fine, but feels somewhat out-of-place on a score CD.

Closing Thoughts:

While The Fog may not be as well known or as instantly recognizable as Halloween (1978), in many ways it makes for the better stand alone listen on album. The Fog relies much more on atmospherics and creating an uneasy mood rather than creating a handful of themes and repeating them over and over. Both scores are definite classics in the horror genre (as are their respective films), but The Fog makes for a better stand alone experience.

Even though the Silvan record release is long out-of-print, I recommend picking it up if you can find it. It may not be as familiar sounding as some of John Carpenter's other work, but it's a great atmospheric and Gothic score performed on just a few synths, a piano and an organ. Very recommended.

Score:

3 1/2 out of 5

The Thing (2011) review

2011-10-18T09:49:00.000-07:00

The Thing (2011)

Composer: Marco Beltrami

Number of tracks: 21

Total time: 55:06

Overview:

The short story "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell, Jr. has spawned no less than three different film adaptations over the past 60 years. The first adaptation was the 1951 classic The Thing From Another World, produced by Howard Hawks (and possibly also directed by Hawks), a creepy and highly atmospheric film. In 1982 rising horror movie director John Carpenter (The Fog, Halloween) made a much more faithful, if extremely gory, adaptation which became a "cult classic" of the 80's.

Now, Dutch director Matthijs van Heijningen, Jr. has made a prequel to Carpenter's film aptly titled The Thing. No confusion over the 1982 film and it's 2011 prequel, right? The film has garnered mixed reviews with critics deriding its gory nature with the various Thing transformations and fans loving the return to the style of Carpenter's original. One thing that is definitely a plus about the film is its score, composed by Marco Beltrami.

Master composer Ennio Morricone composed the music for the 1982 adaptation, but did not return for the prequel, so Beltrami was hired instead. Beltrami treats his score as a new creation, but does throw some slight nods to Morricone's work, delivering a very creepy and effective score.

Review of music:

The album opens with wind sound effects and the central "Thing motif" played on strings. A sudden orchestral crash segues into the Main theme (or Human theme) before a brief snippet of Moricone's main percussive idea from the 1982 score closes the track. "Road to Antarctica" opens with an air of mystery with chimes, woodwinds and strings before erupting into a full fledged rendition of the Main theme at 1:00. Psycho-esque choppy strings close the track.

There are really only two central themes in the score: a "human theme" or Main theme and a theme for the Thing. The Main theme is a very melancholy piece for strings and woodwinds, though it can be performed in a much more aggressive manner when needed. The "Thing motif" is a rather interesting piece for sliding strings, woodwinds and brass that mimics a breathing rhythm, often accompanied by guttural brass (the orchestra builds up, then releases at a high note). There are other minor motifs that appear in various tracks, but for the most part the Main theme and Thing motif are the central elements to the score.

Beltrami shows an excellent hand at combining creepy atmospherics and all-out horror/action cacophony throughout the score. The best combination of these two styles is presented in "Female Persuasion" which opens with orchestral chaos capped by the Thing motif before quieting down in the second half with the Main theme on woodwinds. The balance kept between the tonal and atonal is also impressive, though for the most part the score leans towards the atonal.

In many ways, The Thing reminds one of Beltrami's earlier score to Mimic (1997) as well as Jerry Goldsmith's Alien (1979) and some of Elliot Goldenthal's horror stylings. All the previously mentioned scores have a strong presence and memorability as well as containing full blooded action material and heartbreaking string work. "Meet and Greet", "Meating of the Minds", "Can't Stand the Heat" and "Sander's Bucks" are all excellent horror/action cues that show off the orchestra's range very well. "Autopsy", "Cellular Activity" and "Survivors" are classic atmospheric cues that help to balance the onslaught of action material in the album's later half.

The final two tracks are definitely some of the best melancholy horror music heard this year, outside of Don't Be Afraid of the Dark. "The End" and "How Did You Know?" perfectly capture the bleak ending of the film with a final rendition of the Main theme in its most yearning performance of the score. The final moments of "How Did You Know?" return to the opening wind effects... driving home the bleak resolution.

Closing thoughts:

While it would have been great to hear another Morricone score for this new film, Marco Beltrami does a fantastic job of making this a cousin score to Morricone's work while also making it his own. The score is creepy, dark and in many ways bleak with its melancholy Main theme, but that's exactly the type of score a film like The Thing deserves. Beltrami's idea for the "Thing motif" is also interesting and effective, even if it's not all that new of an approach.

The Thing can rightly take its place as one of the surprise hits of the 2011 film-score season along with Beltrami's Soul Surfer and Don't Be Afraid of the Dark. After more than a decade of hit-or-miss scores, Beltrami seems to finally be hitting his stride. Here's hoping he will continue delivering these great scores for years to come. Recommended.

Score:

4 out of 5

Van Helsing review

2011-10-11T09:33:00.000-07:00

Van Helsing (2004)

Composer: Alan Silvestri

Number of tracks: 12

Total time: 42:53

Overview:

After the success of The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns (2001), director/writer Stephen Sommer decided to tackle more classic Universal monsters in the action/adventure/horror film Van Helsing. The film had promise with a fun premise and atmospheric cinematography, not to mention including some great modern British and Australian actors including Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale, David Wenham and Richard Roxburgh. Unfortunately, the film starts out strong but by the time the second and third acts arrive, everything has devolved into such an abysmal state of "over the top"-ness that the film finally implodes on itself.

Along with impressive production designs and the charismatic (and always fun) performances of Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale, the strongest area of the production was Alan Silvestri's score. Silvestri delivers a huge, dark, heart pounding action score that beats you over the head with the sheer power of a real orchestra.... This is both a good thing and a bad thing.

Review of music:

Alan Silvestri is no stranger to writing great action and fantasy scores as is obvious in just a short list of his credentials: Back to the Future Trilogy, Predator-Predator 2, The Mummy Returns and The Abyss. For Van Helsing, Silvestri takes the raw power of the full orchestra and uses it to the best of his abilities, delivering one huge sounding action score with plenty of horror movie stylings thrown in.

There are several themes and motifs running throughout the score, though there are only four primary themes of note. The first theme that is introduced on the album is the theme for Dracula (Richard Roxburgh) and his minions, but could also be seen as the primary theme as it keeps appearing throughout the score. This theme is immediately introduced in "Transylvania 1887" and is heavily used in the various action sequences. A sorrowful and tragically heroic theme is given to Frankenstein's Monster, which is introduced in "Burn it Down!" (track 2). The last two themes are for the romance between Anna (Kate Beckinsale) and Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman) as well as Van Helsing's theme. The Love theme is really only heard in the closing "Reunited" cue where it is given an appropriately dramatic and beautiful rendition. Incidentally, the Love theme sounds highly reminiscent of music from The Mummy Returns. As for Van Helsing's theme, it consists of some of the oddest instrumental choices of the entire score including acoustic guitar, electronic percussion, choir and orchestra. It's a memorable theme, if a tad out of place among the rest of the music.

The majority of the commercial album is of the action material with only very brief respites mixed in. Tracks like "All Hallow's Eve Ball" and "Reunited" start off as more subdued pieces, but by the end they have morphed into more action music. "Attacking Brides", "Transylvanian Horses" and "Final Battle" are great showcases of Silvestri's action writing at its best and most powerful.

This is not to say that Silvestri's action writing is bad! On the contrary, it's extremely impressive, unfortunately the album presentation takes away all the softer moments and "breathing room" tracks so that you are left with just a little over 40 minutes of pure action music.

Closing thoughts:

Silvestri has done some great work in his career and Van Helsing is probably his best purely action oriented score after the original Predator (1987). The score is both dark and powerful, thematic and diverse. Unlike most action scores of the 2000's, this one does not fall into the Hans Zimmer/Media Ventures mold which is always a major plus.

The album is rather a hard one to judge, though. On the one hand, the music is great and the short runtime is perfect for an all action music album. On the other hand, this is an album with all action music. The album is missing some of the great non-action material heard in the film, thus making the listening experiences a bit... tiring.

Ultimately I'll have to say check out the album of Van Helsing if you are in the mood for some great, wall shaking action music that is also thematically sound. For most listeners though, just pick out a few tracks that you really like and get those. This is one of those scores that really needs a complete release.... Recommended, with caution.

Score:

3 out of 5

The Dark Half review

2011-10-05T18:24:00.000-07:00

The Dark Half (1993)

Composer: Christopher Young

Number of tracks: 13

Total time: 46:48

Overview:

For better or worse, adaptations of the works of Stephen King have historically been as awful as the silly premises in the most of his novels. The two major exceptions to this unwritten rule were Tobe Hooper's Salem's Lot (1979) and Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (1980). Unfortunately, George Romero's The Dark Half (1993) falls into the company of the numerous bad Stephen King film adaptations.

The story itself is somewhat intriguing: A writer of violent crime novels, Thad Beaumont, decides to "kill off" his pseudonym George Stark as a publicity stunt before retiring from the genre. Unfortunately for Thad, Stark has somehow come to life and begins terrorizing/killing everyone Beaumont knows... slowly making his way to Thad's family.

The film suffered from a myriad of problems, including being canned after its completion in the late 80's only to finally get a release in 1993. One of the few bright spots of the production is Christopher Young's atmospheric, and at times, hauntingly beautiful score.

Review of the music:

"Prologue and Tumor" opens the album by introducing the Main theme on solo piano before dissonant strings and violin enter with airy synth accompaniment. A boys choir briefly enters before harp, chimes, plucked strings, woodwinds and piano continue exploring the Main theme. Atonal texture finally enter at 3:35 with high woodwinds, low strings, tumbling piano and gurgling brass. The track ends with a final building crescendo of boys choir and sliding/swirling strings.

Pretty much the rest of the score follows the basic style setup in the first track, though with a delicate balance of the tonal and atonal stylings. In many ways The Dark Half is very similar to Young's earlier powerhouse score to The Fly II (1989), though without the Gothic grandeur and a rather heavy emphasis on the piano instead of strings. Young makes great use of the piano as both an instrument to carry a theme and as a percussion instrument, with many atonal moments featuring crashing piano chords.

Many reviewers and listeners have bemoaned the fact that the score seems to drop the haunting and lyrical Main theme after the first track, only for it to reappear in full during the closing "The Dark Half" cue. In actual fact, the theme is quite prevalent throughout the album, though it's performances are usual heard in fragmented form. This actually gives the score a great sense of cohesion, though it may not seem like it upon first listen. Though the majority of the score resides in the dark and haunting areas, there is one moment of lite, almost playfulness in "Green to Green" where the Main theme is treated to a upbeat variation on strings and woodwinds.

One of the primary things that helps The Dark Half standout as one of Young's better horror works is its surprising level of orchestral experimentation. Along with the heavy emphasis on piano and boys choir that appears in a few tracks, Young also employs various chimes and bells to accentuate various moments throughout the score. Sampled bird chirps are also employed to represent the psychic connection between Thad and Stark. Also, some minor use of saxophone appears in a few later tracks, presumably associated with the sleazy Stark.

The primary instruments in the score are still the traditional orchestra: woodwinds, strings and brass makeup the backbone of the score with appropriate synth textures to expand the sound palate. As is the case with all of Christopher Young's horror scores, the atonal writing is as good as the tonal writing and is shown off quite well in "Omnibus Death" (track 7). For seasoned listeners, there are also some hints of Bernard Herrmann throughout the score, especially during the last half of "Dano" (track 5).

Review of packaging:

As is to be expected, the CD comes in the oh-so-standard jewel case with a one page insert. The insert doesn't really do anything but act as the cover for the album.

The back of the album contains track listings (with correct times), album credits and brief film credits.

Closing thoughts:

Christopher Young has shown his talents in every area of film music from dramas to action to romance and even comedies. Though, there is always something special about his horror works, for the man knows how to work the perfect balance between harmony and dissonance like no other horror composer around today. The Dark Half continues Young's basic horror stylings but adds some new ingredients to the mix to give the score a somewhat unique flavor.

This album is really just a footnote in Christopher Young's long career, but it is definitely worth checking out. As with most of his work, it is more haunting than outright scary... though there is plenty of fright mixed in. It's a somewhat overused term nowadays, but The Dark Half is truly a "Hidden Gem" for Christopher Young fans. Very recommended.

Score:

3 1/2 out of 5

Tangled review

2011-10-01T10:40:00.000-07:00

Tangled (2010)

Composer: Alan Menken

Number of tracks: 20

Total time: 55:38

Overview:

Tangled was a much appreciated return by Disney to the style of their late 80's and early 90's animated musical blockbusters both in style and tone. Even though the film was rendered with computer animation, the animators strove to copy the hand-drawn style of the earlier films. Also, the omnipresent references to modern pop culture that typically plagues recent animated films by Disney are thankfully completely absent.

The film was a resounding success at the box office and was one of three major animated films of 2010 (the others being Megamind and How To Train Your Dragon). In keeping with the "throwback" style of Tangled, composer Alan Menken was hired to do the score and co-write the songs heard in the film.

As he did with Enchanted (2008), Menken delivers a fun and highly enjoyable score to a fun and highly enjoyable film.

Review of the music:

As seems to be the mode of operation for Disney Records when a musical album is released, all the songs from the film are collected at the front of the album with the score portion appearing afterwards. The album opens with "When Will my Life Begin" which also acts as Repunzel's theme. The song is a mix of orchestra and contemporary elements that actually blend together well. Mandy Moore's vocals may not be as strong as some of the vocals from other Menken scored films, but they still work fine in this instance. Interestingly, the first reprise of "When Will My Life Begin" does not appear in the film, though the second reprise does.

"Mother Knows Best" (track 3) is the over-the-top villain song sung by Donna Murphy in classic Broadway style. Again, this is another fine song by Menken with clever lyrics by Glenn Slater. Strangely enough, there are a few verses in the song that never appear in the film. "I've Got a Dream" (track 5) is a purely fun song sung by a tavern full of ruffians who actually are not all that bad.

"Mother Knows Best (reprise)" is a nicely dark twist on the original performance with a much more ominous sound in both the singing and the orchestration. "I See the Light"returns to the classic/contemporary blend heard in "When Will My Life Begin", though this time in a lovely romantic setting. This song acts as the basis for the Love theme for Flynn and Repunzel and is sung by, guess who?, Flynn and Repunzel (Zachary Lev and Mandy Moore). "The Healing Incantation" is a short song sung by Repunzel and is a rather mellow fantasy piece.

As far as the score portion of the album, Menken does a fantastic job at keeping the music surprisingly consistent despite the wide range of emotions and styles in the score. Some of the highlights are "Flynn Wanted", a great action piece; "Campfire", a beautiful piece for strings and woodwinds; "Kingdom Dance", a rather unexpected Medieval styled piece and "Waiting for the Lights", another beautiful fantasy cue.

"Realization", "The Horse with No Rider" and "The Tear Heals" take the score in to darker territory and lets Menken delve into minor mode orchestrations. While the music is darker than the surrounding cues, it never feels out of place or unwanted. At around 2:46- 3:30 in "The Tear Heals" there is a great section of dissonance and pounding percussion that would fit perfectly into Willow (1988).

"Kingdom Celebration" (track 19) nicely sums up the score and all the main song melodies in a nice suite form. As for the pop song stuck at the end.... No comment.

Review of packaging:

The CD comes in the typical jewel case with a thick booklet that contains song lyrics, album credits and photos (or should that be drawings?)

Closing thoughts:

Alan Menken has always been the "go-to guy" for Disney musicals and even after nearly 20 years, he continues to deliver great music and songs. Tangled is the perfect capsulation of Menken's style and a great introduction for newcomers to this composer. For those that have been collecting Menken's scores since the late 80's, this is pretty much more of the same... but when "more of the same" is this good, why complain?

The album has some slight issues (the annoying idea of splitting the songs and score into sections, sticking the prologue in the middle, including the pop song at the end), but overall this is still a very good album and should be enjoyed by all. Highly Recommended.

Score:

4 out of 5

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark review

2011-09-07T16:17:00.000-07:00

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (2011)

Composer: Marco Beltrami

Number of tracks: 21

Total time: 55:01

Overview:

If the film title seems vaguely familiar, it's because it is. Don't Be Afraid of the Dark is a remake of the 1973 TV movie of the same name that stared Kim Darby (of True Grit fame). The remake follows the story of a newly married couple, Kim (Katie Holmes) and Alex(Guy Pierce), as they move into an old Gothic manor with Alex's daughter, Sally (Bailee Madison). As usually happens in this type of film, the old mansion holds a dark secret buried in its basement that wants to get out....

The film is produced by monster and fantasy film guru Guillermo del Toro (Mimic, Hellboy, Pans Labyrinth) and scored by del Toro's friend Marco Beltrami. During production, del Toro instructed Beltrami to fashion his score in the style of the classic horror scores of Jerry Goldsmith and Bernard Herrmann from the 60's and 70's.

Beltrami delivered and gives us one of the most surprising standout scores of 2011, fashioned in the classic symphonic horror style that has been missing from recent films of this genre.

Review of the music:

Beltrami wastes no time in introducing the primary theme for the character of Sally in "Gramophone Lullaby", an achingly beautiful piece on strings with the perfect undercurrent of slight unease. "Main Titles" expands on the Main theme with eerie vocals performed over a bed of racing and slashing strings, an obvious tip of the hat to the opening titles of Bernard Herrmann's Psycho (1961).

The remainder of the score keeps a mostly harmonic balance with some atonal moments when needed. The Main theme gets several great renditions in "Sally's Lullaby" where the theme moves from woodwinds to piano and finally strings. "Sally Arrives at Blackwood Manor" is a perfect Gothic piece that would fit perfectly into any of Christopher Young's work, while "Lamb Lamp Lambency" gives a somewhat eerie music-box performance of Sally's theme.

The score begins to twist into something more sinister with "Into the Basement", as a synthetic pulse buried beneath minimalist strings gives a sense of small heartbeats to the cue. Future tracks such as "Gardener Gets Snipped", "Bed Bugs", "Shrink Wrapped" and "The Library" open peacefully enough before dissonant horror writing takes over. "Goblins in the Garage" and "Goblin Trouble" are two classic examples of traditional orchestral horror/action writing at its best, bringing to mind the final sequences in both Amityville Horror (1979) and Poltergeist (1982).

"Return to Blackwood" opens with ominous piano before swelling into a fully orchestral rendition of the Main theme which then slowly descends into chimes, woodwinds and strings swirling before closing with a solo violin. "Voices from the Pit" closes the album with an eerie piano motif and low strings before a series of low brass notes and plucked strings ends the track... the perfect way to end a Horror score.

Closing thoughts:

So far 2011 has not been the stellar year for film scores that 2010 was, but there have been a few surprises. Don't Be Afraid of the Dark is definitely one of the more pleasant surprises so far. Granted, there really is nothing new in this score (it's your traditional symphonic horror music) but for those that miss the days when this type of horror score was the norm... then this is a must buy.

The fact that the album is mostly tonal for the majority of its runtime and features a hauntingly beautiful Main theme makes it an easy recommendation to even non-horror score fans. Here's hoping that Beltrami's score to The Thing prequel in October will be as good as this....

Score:

4 out of 5

Super 8 review

2011-08-23T12:29:00.000-07:00

Super 8 (2011)

Composer: Michael Giacchino

Number of tracks: 33

Total time: 77:43

Overview:

There is one thing that remains a constant about writer/producer/director JJ Abrams: the man knows how to draw a crowd in with only hints of what the movie/TV show is about. Abrams is also a fine director and continues to give Michael Giacchino some impressive assignments to score. From Alias and Lost to Mission Impossible: III and Star Trek (2009), the partnership between the director and composer has been very strong. This latest collaboration is no exception and, dare I say it, may be their best so far.

The plot of Super 8 follows a young boy, Joe, and his friends as they try and make a no-budget zombie film only to witness a train wreck that unleashes "something" into their nearby town. As locals begin disappearing, the military steps in to do what they do best... destroy the creature and "cover up" the whole incident (aka kill everything). The film is an out-and-out homage to the late 70's and early 80's family films of Steven Spielberg with the whole film seen through the eyes of the kids.

Following the homage feel of the film is Giacchino's impressive score that is obviously framed after the John Williams classics of the same time period (which were mostly done for Spielberg films).

Review of the music:

Giacchino wastes no time in setting up his themes in Super 8, opening the first track with the Creature theme before introducing Joe's theme/Main theme. The Creatures theme is a short series of four descending notes similar to the Raptor theme in Jurassic Park (1993), with the fourth note played lower than the previous three. The Main theme is actually closer in tone and style to the 1980's scores of James Horner than to the similar work of Williams in its string led performances. Even though the Main theme may be a bit overly sympathetic, it's still a strong theme, though not as strong as the secondary theme.

Alice's theme (or the Children's theme) is the secondary central theme and is first introduced hesitantly in "Acting Chops" before getting a full and rather energetic rendition in "We'll Fix It In Post Haste", which sounds similar to the Flying theme in E.T (1982). This theme was initially mistaken to be the Main theme by most people and it does seem to be a better fit as the main idea, even getting standout treatment during the final track, "Super 8 Suite". Granted, it works just as well as the secondary theme and is always a pleasure to hear when it appears in the score.

The last theme of note is for the evil military/government who invade the kid's hometown and act as the real villains of the film. Not so surprisingly then the military theme is a minor mode brass fanfare that sounds like it could easily be the Nazi theme for the next Indiana Jones film. The theme is first heard near the end of "Aftermath Class" and reappears several times after.

Besides the four very strong and memorable themes, Giacchino also adds his usual high level of orchestral sophistication to the music. The use of counterpoint and adding slight dissonance to certain cues is handled beautifully, with the counter point of Alice's theme and the Creature theme in "Thoughts of Cubism" a perfect example. Some of the dissonant textures from Lost and Let Me In find their way into the score, though they are always used sparingly to the service of the music.

The action music is also handled very well with "Neighborhood Watch-Fail" (love that title!), "Evacuation of Lillian", "Worlds Worst Fieldtrip" and "Siege of Lillian" all major action highlights. The latter two tracks sounding similar to action music/chase music of John Williams Prequel scores for the Star Wars series.

The final three tracks are easily the highlight of the album, thought the whole score is great. "Creature Comforts" runs the gamut of emotions from eerie suspense writing to all out horror and finally melancholy meanderings. "Letting Go" is the powerful finale of the film and includes the most weighty and sweeping rendition of the Main theme heard on the album. "Super 8 Suite" brings the whole album full circle by opening with the Creature theme before Joe's theme and Alice's theme get their respective final statements. The track closes with a dark statement of the Creature theme (a la la Jurassic Park End Credits) before a sustained major note on the strings brings the album to a close in a similar vein to the works of James Horner.

Closing thoughts:

So far this year only two scores have really impressed me: this one and Christopher Young's epic, Gothic score to Priest. Michael Giacchino has long been an impressive composer, but I personally think Super 8 is his finest all around score to date. The homages to the works of John Williams and James Horner (whether fully intentional or not) and the array of great themes easily makes this a favorite.

The album has some minor issues in the areas of a dry audio mix and several cues that are under a minute in the length. Granted, with music this good it is easier to overlook these small faults. At least the short tracks actually add something to the overall album unlike with Let Me In. Without a doubt one of the finest scores this year and worthy of adding to anyones collection. Very highly recommended to all.

Score:

4 1/2 out of 5

Tron: Legacy review

2011-08-14T17:51:00.000-07:00

Tron: Legacy (2010)

Composer: Daft Punk

Number of tracks: 22

Total time: 58:36

Overview:

It was a long time coming, but in 2010 Disney finally released the long awaited sequel to the 1982 popcorn movie classic Tron. The original Tron was a fun (if silly) romp through the "computer world" and is best remembered for it's ground breaking visual effects which are still impressive today.

Tron: Legacy follows the story of the son of the hero from the first film going into the digital world to save his father (Jeff Bridges) who has been stuck there for years. Obviously not a very deep premise, but it looks to be loads of fun (much like the first Tron).

Musical duties for the new film were handed to the synth/dance-pop group Daft Punk (actually a duo who have been quite popular in Europe since the 1990's). For most film score fans (myself included) this immediately sends up red flags. Surprisingly, the finished product is a masterful blend of retro synth textures and real orchestra that is both fascinatingly constructed as well as incredibly fun to listen to.

Review of the music:

The first thing you notice about the score to Tron: Legacy is just how much a traditional orchestra plays into the sound scape. Daft Punk went out of their way to hire and get tips from some of the finest orchestral composers for their task on TL to give the score a more accessible sound. This included help from Hans Zimmer, John Powell and Bruce Broughton with most of the orchestral ingredients handled by Joseph Trapanese.

Thanks to the use of a traditional orchestra along with the synths, this makes the score much more enjoyable than just a straight synth soundtrack. Though, just because an orchestra is used with synthetic elements does not mean it will be good. Thankfully, this is one of those cases where the electronic and organic elements mesh perfectly... much to this reviewers relief.

There are two primary themes in Tron: Legacy, a central theme and a love theme. The Main theme is introduced in the opening "Overture" cue in a mostly orchestral setting before getting a mostly synth rendition in the following track "The Grid". The Love theme is first heard during "Adagio for Tron" and is an appropriately moving piece. A very minor gripe about the themes and motifs is that they are relatively simple and sound akin to the modern Hans Zimmer blockbuster variety of themes. Thankfully though, the orchestrations save the themes from becoming dull or boring.

While most recent blockbuster hybrid scores have seemed content to overuse the synthetic instruments and even go so far as to make the live orchestras sound synthetic, Daft Punk wisely leave the synths and orchestra to themselves. The thing that makes this score so great is the way the synths and orchestra mesh so well in the orchestrations and recording, neither element seeming out of place with the other. Tron: Legacy is equally as much an orchestral score as it is an electronic score.

Despite this praise, there are some problems with the album presentation of the music. The most obvious (and annoying) problem is with some of the cues included on the album. "End of the Line" and "Derezzed" are rather annoying all synth mid 80's dance club sounding cues, while "Fall" is simply irritating with its distorted synth line running through the entire track. I'm sure these cues work well in the film, but on album they are simply annoying.

Another slight issue is the fact that all the tracks center around one theme or motif which is repeated multiple times. Fortunately the themes and orchestrations are interesting enough that this is not a major problem, but the album is on the repetitive side.

Closing thoughts:

Despite my first impressions of this score, I have found myself really enjoying Tron: Legacy. It's by no means a masterpiece, but it is a fun hybrid score that shows that even tired ideas can still be reinvented in new, fresh ways. It's also a blast to hear classic 80's sounding synths in a recent score alongside a large orchestra.

If it wasn't for the three annoying tracks and the slight repetitiveness of the music, this would be a four star album. As it is, I have to bump half a point from the overall score due to the above. Still, this is a soundtrack I would recommend picking up or at least giving a try. Even if you are traditionally a purely orchestral score type of person, give this a try. Who knows, you may end up like me and like it.

Score:

3 1/2 out of 5

Willow review

2011-08-01T17:53:00.000-07:00

Willow (1988)

Composer: James Horner

Number of tracks: 8

Total time: 73:16

Overview:

By the late 80's, visual effect driven films were becoming more and more prevalent and pushing the limits on what could be filmed and put on-screen. It was only fitting that George Lucas, who had helped jump start the "Special effects boom" of the late 70's with Star Wars (1977), would help to produce the next film to make a a giant leap in visual effects, Willow (1988). This time, Lucas would merely act as one of the producers and writers of the project and let a young Ron Howard take directing duties.

The film follows Willow (Warwick Davis) as he tries to keep the evil queen Bavmorda from killing the baby Elora Danan, who is destined to overthrow the queen. Along the way, Willow encounters several odd characters including a rogue warrior (Val Kilmer) and an old sorceress who is stuck in animal form. Ultimately, the heros face-off against the evil of the land at a great battle in Bavmorda's castle.

By this point in James Horner's career his style was going through a change from the harsher action styles of his early 80's works such as Star Trek II (1982) and Aliens (1986), to the much more lush orchestrations of scores like An American Tail (1986) and Land Before Time (1988). Thankfully, Willow combines the best of both styles in one great and memorable package.

Review of the music:

Horner wrote five central themes for the film that are all unique and intriguing in their own way. The Main theme is a bold and brassy fanfare that acts as both a theme for Madmartigan (Val Kilmer) and for heroic actions which is introduced first in "Escape from the Tavern". The theme is very swashbuckling in style and bears a heavy resemblance to the opening of Robert Schumann's 3rd Symphony, though the theme is very much a work of Horner. The secondary central theme is for Elora Danan (the baby princess) and is by far one of Horner's best sweepingly beautiful themes prior to Legends of the Fall (1994). The third primary theme is for Willow himself and is a much more fitting piece for the hero instead of the Main theme's fanfare, which is commonly mistaken for Willow's theme. Both Willow's theme and Elora Danan's theme first appear during the opening track "Elora Danan", with the theme for Willow appearing late in the cue.

The villains of the film also receive two distinct themes, both impressive, if repetitive in their use. The primary bad guy theme is the dreaded "danger motif", the four-note brass motif that Horner is so fond of using. Its use in Willow is rather repetitive, though it does do its job of letting you know when the villains have entered. The next theme is for Bavmorda (or is it General Kael?) and is simply a series of descending bass notes.

Along with the strong array of themes, Horner also uses several specialty instruments including bagpipes, pan pipes, various drums and the ever impressive shahukachi flute. Interestingly enough, for this score the shahukachi is used in a more lyrical way playing alongside the orchestra in performances of the Elora Danan theme and others. Still, Horner knows when to let the eerie side of the shahukachi shine through during cues like "Tir Asleen" and "Bavmorda's Spell is Cast".

Willow also perfectly shows off the best of Horner's early action stylings alongside his maturing romantic sensibilities of the late 80's. The score perfectly moves from sweeping string passages to rollicking action pieces that rival the action cues in Aliens (1986). By far the finest action pieces are "Escape from the Tavern", "Tir Asleen" and the last half of "Bavmorda's Spell is Cast". The last track features one of the most resounding villain death cues of the 80's. Thankfully the action music is still very lyrical, with multiple themes being stated during the surrounding racous.

Unfortunately there are some complaints to be had with the score/album. Horner's over fondness for the shahukachi flute means that it is used throughout the score. This wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact that the flute is so distinct and unique that it lends itself to be attached to one mood or character (a la, Tristan's theme). It's slightly offputting to hear the distinct wailing of the shahukachi for everything from Elora Danan to Bavmorda casting a spell. Likewise the use of the specialty instruments for the "celebration music" at the start of the end credits is simply insuffurable.

Of more minor concern is the fact that the album tracks are rather long. The shortest cue is almost four minutes while the epic "Bavmorda's Spell is Cast" runs nearly nineteen minutes. Personally, the track lengths are no problem, but be forewarned they are truly "epic tracks". Also the ever present "recycling" issue hangs around Willow, mostly in the dissonant moments which are pulled straight from Aliens.

Review of packaging:

The CD comes in the familiar jewel case with a six page booklet. The liner notes contain tracklistings (with times), production photos, album credits and a note from director Ron Howard.

The back of the album contains tracklistings (with times) and a picture of of General Kael in the center (shudders...).

Closing thoughts:

This is one of those rare scores that I actually disliked when I first heard it. It was only recently that I realized how good it was and purchased it. I still don't believe this is Horner's masterpiece as many fans say, but it is definitely one of his finer works. The combination of the rollicking action material and the sweeping string passages make it an easy highlight of Mr. Horner's long career.

The album has some minor problems that unfortunately add up to it not being perfect, but overall this is one Horner score I would definitely recommend. Unfortunately, the album is out of print, but if you can find a copy, definitely pick it up.

Score:

4 out of 5

The Last Samurai review

2011-07-26T11:05:00.000-07:00

The Last Samurai (2003)

Number of tracks: 11

Total time: 59:45

Overview:

Over the past ten years Hans Zimmer has produced some amazing works (The Dark Knight, Pirates 3, Sherlock Holmes) and just as many (or more) duds (Pirates 1-4, Pearl Harbor, Rango). Thankfully, The Last Samurai belongs in the former group and is quite possibly one of Zimmer's finest of the decade.

The film follows a Civil War captain (Tom Cruise) who is hired to train and modernize the Japanese army so they can wipe out the last remaining samurai. As the film progresses, the captain becomes more intrigued by the samurai way and ultimately switches sides.

The film was directed by Edward Zwick who had previously directed the epics Glory (1989) and Legends of the Fall (1994). Zwick's composer of choice, James Horner, was unavailable to score the 2003 film, so the director turned to Hans Zimmer.

Review of music:

The score is roughly split into three distinct styles, which rotate out during most of the cues. These three styles are restrained melancholy, mystical dissonance and finally all out action. Thankfully the dissonant passages are kept to a minimum, leaving the majority of the score to explore the melancholy and action music.

There are three distinct themes that run throughout the score: a meandering string piece (possibly the Main theme or a love theme...), a five-note "power theme" and finally a typical Zimmer two-note theme/motif with an ascending/descending structure. The first two themes are introduced during the opening track "A Way of Life" and reappear several times later on. The "power theme" is heard more sparingly than the Central theme, but is given two standout performances in "Safe Passage" and "The Way of the Sword".

The alternating two-note theme is first introduced in "Taken" and quickly becomes one of the central pieces of later cues. There are some other, lesser motifs (or orchestrations) sprinkled throughout the score including probably the earliest forerunner to the "Inception Brass Bellow" heard in the tracks "To Know My Enemy" and "Ronin".

As would be expected, Zimmer assembles an array of specialty instruments for the score including the standards such as the Shahukachi flute and Taiko drums. Various strings and woodwinds help to add a definite Eastern flavor... though always performed with a Western orchestral sensibility. Also as to be expected, Zimmer incorporates his usual synthesizers and bass enhancement to the score. Thankfully, the synths are kept to a supporting role for this score, allowing the organic instruments to shine.

The final two tracks on the album, "The Way of the Sword" and "A Small Measure of Peace", are arguably Zimmer's finest two closing tracks until 2008's The Dark Knight. The only minor gripe is that the final track just.... ends. It's a rather abrupt ending to a very melancholy and introspective piece. A final orchestral crescendo (like at the end of "Idyll's End") would have been much appreciated to close the album with a memorable end.

Review of packaging:

The CD comes in the oh so standard jewel case with a fold-out booklet. The liner notes contain extensive album credits and a few film stills, but little else.

The back of the album contains a picture of Tom Cruise's character in one of the film's battles with the tracklisting (no times).

Closing thoughts:

Even though it would have been interesting to hear what Horner would have done with the film, Zimmer more than adequately makes up for his departure. This is easily one of Zimmer's best scores of the 2000's and is a surprisingly much more restrained action score from the composer.

There are a few problems with the score that keep it from a perfect rating (it's somewhat repetitive, the tracks bleed into each other, etc), but this is still a score worthy to add to anyone's collection. Unless you have some deep hatred for the work of Hans Zimmer, I would eagerly recommend checking out this score.

Score:

4 out of 5

The Wolfman (2010) review

2011-07-09T15:34:00.000-07:00

The Wolfman (2010)

Composer: Danny Elfman

Number of tracks: 19

Total time: 66:05

Overview:

It seems the rule of thumb for film scores is that a bad film can deliver an amazing score. Joe Johnston's awful remake of the Universal Pictures classic The Wolfman only continues to prove that. The film was "cursed" from the beginning with production troubles: finding a good script, going through various directors, being postponed for a year, studio forced edits and finally going through two different scores.

In probably the strangest turn of events in modern film scoring, Danny Elfman was originally hired to score the film. After test screenings went poorly, Elfman's score was dropped for an electronic score by Paul Haslinger (best known for Underworld). Thankfully, Johnston was adamant that Elfman's score be used, thus it appears in the finished film. Granted, Elfman had to come back and re-score certain scenes plus additional music was inserted into the film.

Thankfully for us, Varese Sarabande released the original score by Elfman on CD for which this review is based.

Review of music:

Elfman's score is heavily influenced by the work of Wojciech Kilar for Brian De Palma's Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), namely in the Eastern European flavor and string heavy melodrama. The opening two part "Wolf Suite" is a perfect example of this influence and a good sampling of the score overall. After a short opening build-up, the primary theme is introduced on violins with a cello ostinato line keeping the pace moving. The remainder of the first "Wolf Suite" is a collection of variations on the primary theme.

"Wolf Suite pt.2" focuses on the more romantic side of the score, though with a constant sense of melodramatic sorrow. The Main theme returns during the last half of the track to give a sense of returning unease. For the most part, this back and forth of melodrama and creepy horror is what this score is all about, with a liberal mixture of action material sprinkled throughout.

Speaking of action material, The Wolfman features several cues of aggressive action music based around the Main theme (Wolfman theme) and furious strings/percussion. "Gypsy Massacre" , "Bad Moon Rising" and "Country Carnage" are as furious in their orchestrations as the titles suggest. The two transformation cues open with eerie atmospherics before unleashing the full force of the orchestra with the Main theme.

On the softer side of the spectrum, there are several cues of dramatic string heavy material throughout the album. "Wake up, Lawrence", "You Must Go" and "The Antique Shop" feature the romantic music for Lawrence (Benicio Del Toro) and Gwen (Emily Blunt) which helps to break up the dark tone of the rest of the score. Still, these tracks have a certain sense of loneliness to them as the Wolfman theme stalks around the orchestra's perimeter.

Elfman lets loose with some truly impressive Gothic stylings in "The Traveling Montage" and "Finale" with the full ensemble accompanied by wordless choir. "The Funeral" features enough string heavy horror/drama to make fans of Christopher Young's stylings happy. On the flip side, "The Madhouse" and "Healing Montage" are pure experimental horror scoring with strange vocal effects and orchestral colors.

Closing thoughts:

Unless you have a complete aversion to horror scores of any type, even if they are in the grand Gothic mold, it's hard to find anything that is not recommendable about Elfman's The Wolfman. The heavy melodrama may get overpowering at times, but this is such an impressive score it's easy to get swept away in its Gothic excesses.

The film may be complete rubbish, but Danny Elfman was thankfully able to give us a very enjoyable and impressive score, the kind not heard since 1999's Sleepy Hollow. Highly Recommended.

Score:

4 out of 5

Red Riding Hood review

2011-07-06T16:11:00.000-07:00

Red Riding Hood (2011)

Composer: Brian Reitzell/Alex Heffes

Number of tracks: 14

Total time: 50:15

Overview:

Ah, a beautiful young woman moping over two muscular guys while an evil creature lurks in the shadows. No, this isn't Twilight... or Vampire Diaries. Believe it or not, it's Little Red Riding Hood or as it's been abbreviated to: Red Riding Hood.

The plot follows the original legend but is Twilight-ified for modern audiences. A young woman named Valerie is betrothed to a young man in her village, though she actually loves the local woodcutter's lad. During a full moon, a giant wolf begins attacking the villagers which then leads the peasants to summon a famed hunter. Usual angst and havoc ensues....

Granted, the similarities to the first Twilight film and this film are probably more than just a coincidence seeing as how Catherine Hedgewick helmed both that.. erm, film and Red Riding Hood. One must give Miss Hedgewick credited for making a very Gothic looking film, though at the same time nearly ruining the mood with a truly awful and out of place score.

Review of the music:

The album opens with "Towers in the Void" which features a hypnotic cimbalom rhythm accompanied by strings and airy synth effects. It's a more modern sound, but at least has a certain fairy tale/dream quality that fits the setting. Unfortunately, all this subtly is quickly thrown out the window in the follow up track, "Kids". After opening with a continuation of the motif heard in the opening, a very intrusive pop-rock rhythm enters followed by electric guitars.

Regrettably, most of the score portion of this album is made up of minimalist orchestral tones overpowered by electronic textures or pop rhythms. The two composers credited with writing the score are as different as could be imagined: Alex Heffes is more of a traditional orchestral composer while Brian Reitzell is best known for his truly awful electronic noise soundtrack to the horror film 30 Days of Night.

I honestly feel if the score had been left solely to Heffes, it might have been good. Alas, it is not so. There are some highlights to the score, though. The opening track, "Wolf Attack Suite" and the last three score tracks are actually decent ambient horror cues. Interestingly enough, some of the best moments of the action/horror material seem to be "inspired" by superior scores, namely Alan Silvestri's Predator (1987) and the works of Elliot Goldenthal in the percussion and dissonance respectively.

Despite the highlights, the majority of the score resides in the ambient electronic/orchestral territory and thus feels horribly out of place in a Gothic film set in a village during the Middle Ages. Another unfortunate aspect of the score is that it lacks any discernible themes. There are some short possible thematic ideas that are toyed with in a few tracks, but nothing ever comes of them.

In a somewhat strange turn, the album includes four songs by indie/rock groups, probably to entice the emo crowd from the Twilight series. The only two standout songs are "The Wolf" and "Keep the Streets Empty For Me" both performed by Fever Ray. The first song is rather creepy and uninviting with strange vocal effects and the odd use of a set of didgeridoos. The latter song is actually quite nice with a melancholy ambiance about it and another surprise instrument making a guest appearance: a shahukachi flute.

Closing thoughts:

Red Riding Hood is another classic example of a missed opportunity with its score. The film desperately cries out for a full fledged classical Gothic score in the vein of Bernard Herrmann, Danny Elfman or Christopher Young. Instead, it gets a score that feels more at home in an urban horror story like Vampire Diaries or Ginger Snaps.

The album does have four or five highlight tracks that I would recommend looking into, but for the most part just stay away from this one. It's a wolf in cheap clothing (sorry, couldn't resist).

Note: This album can only be purchased either as a download or as a CD-R from Amazon.com

Score:

2 out of 5

Transformers: Dark of the Moon review

2011-07-03T18:41:00.000-07:00

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)

Composer: Steve Jablonsky

Number of tracks: 17

Total time: 57:36

Overview:

Third times the charm for Jablonsky and Bay... sort of. After the horrid disaster of a film that was Transformers 2, it appears Michael Bay has rebounded quite well with Dark of the Moon. Garnering good reviews and word-of-mouth, the film is a much more serious and darker film than the previous two giant robot rumble fests.

But, what about the score? Steve Jablonsky returns for a third outing with the Autobots and Decipticons and actually produces his finest score in the series.

Review of the music:

Jablonsky delivers a much more mature sound with this score, even adding the occasional woodwind into the mix. The same basic sound palate from Revenge of the Fallen (2009) is carried over into this score minus Lisa Gerrard's vocals. Massive brass and prominent strings take center stage as well as electronics, percussion and full choir. Overall, this is by far the most "epic" sounding Transformers score.

Several of the themes from the previous two scores return for this final installment. Both the Autobots theme and the Inception-esque "blaster beam" motif from the first film return along with the Prime theme and Fallen/Decepticon theme from the second film. Along with these older themes a handful of newer thematic elements are mixed in. The most prominent new theme first appears in "Sentinel Prime" and bears an uncanny resemblance to a primary theme in The Last Samurai (2003). Also, more electronic dissonance is onhand for our villains, though the effects are thankfully handled much better here than in Transformers 2.

Most of the album (at least the digital album) is made up of dramatic cues with the occasional all-out action piece mixed in. Most of the music has a definite The Dark Knight (2008) vibe to it and overall a much darker score than the previous installments. Jablonsky is actually able to pull off some very emotional moments in this score with "There is no Plan", "The Fight Will Be Your Own" and "Our Final Hope" being genuinely moving cues... if rather derivative. If Revenge of the Fallen was more Batman Begins then Dark of the Moon is definitely TDK all the way.

Now for the problems, of which there are many though not as grievous as may be thought. Keeping with tradition, Jablonsky heavily borrows from the stock pile of themes and motifs of his mentor Hans Zimmer. There are recognizable snippets of The Last Samurai, Pirates 2-3, The Dark Knight, Inception and King Arthur scattered throughout the score, though this time handled with more maturity than the rips heard in the previous two Transformers films. Interestingly enough, there is even some heavy borrowing from trailer music in the cue "Battle" taking obvious lifts from "Requiem for a Dream" and "Mind Heist" (used for Inception trailers).

Closing thoughts:

Even with the issues that have continued to plague Mr. Jablonsky's scores, Dark of the Moon is actually a decent album. It's still a Hans Zimmer/Media Ventures score, so if you despise that style, stay away. For everyone else, I'd recommend taking a listen to this. As with most of the Media Ventures scores not done by Zimmer, it's a fun "epic" listen though don't expect anything more from the album.

A final note: Thus far the score album for Transformers 3 is only available through iTunes. There is a rumor that a physical CD will be released later this year when the DVD/Blu-Ray comes out. Hopefully this rumor is true....

Score:

3 out of 5

Dances With Wolves review

2011-06-29T17:41:00.000-07:00

Dances With Wolves (1990)

Composer: John Barry

Number of tracks: 24

Total time: 75:29

Overview:

Sometimes it takes awhile to finally discover a great movie/score/book and then once you do, you wonder how you ever lived without it for so long. John Barry's masterpiece Dances With Wolves is one of those instances. I regret to say it was only after the passing of Mr. Barry that I became intrigued by this score that I had heard so much about. After finally purchasing it, I realize what all the fuss was about... and how much it deserves the status it holds.

The film was directed by Kevin Costner who also stars as John Dunbar. The story follows Costner's character as he is stationed out in a lowly cabin in the West and eventually befriends the Sioux indians who live nearby.

Scoring duties were originally offered to Basil Poledouris (Conan the Barbarian, Les Miserables) who turned down the offer. At this point, long time British composer John Barry (Goldfinger, Somewhere in Time) entered the project after having recovered from a near fatal ruptured esophagus which required four separate surgeries. Barry would go on to write and record one of his finest works and arguably one of the greatest film scores of all time.

Review of the music:

Instead of taking the obvious approach of trying to write ethnic music for the Indians and then counterpoint this with more traditional music for John Dunbar, Barry instead wrote all of the score in the traditional orchestral style. This approach not only works since the story is told from Dunbar's point-of-view, but it also allows for a much deeper and richer emotional resonance in the score.

Unlike his usual mode of operation of taking a central theme and reworking it in a multitude of ways over the course of one score, Barry instead wrote over a dozen distinct themes and motifs. The amazing thing about this is that each theme and motif (no matter how short) are all amazingly crafted. The central theme to the score is "The John Dunbar Theme", first introduced on solo trumpet at the onset of the album and then fleshed out for strings and woodwinds in the aptly titled "John Dunbar Theme" (track 4). This theme carries a melancholy, yet beautiful air that is hard not to fall in love with.

Other themes of note are the Journey motif, a playful woodwind theme for the wolf Two-Socks; a restrained love theme for Stands with a Fist and John Dunbar; a noble brass theme for the Sioux people and an aggressive, percussion-heavy theme for the enemy Pawnee indians. All these themes are given strong statements throughout the score and album.

The final three tracks of the score portion of the album are fantastic, starting with "Rescue of Dances With Wolves" through "Farewell/End Credits". The Sioux theme is given a heroic rendition during "Rescue" while "Loss of the Journal/Return to Winter Camp" acts as a perfect segue into the sweeping, yet melancholy end credits. The final moments, which return to the solo trumpet statement of the John Dunbar theme, brings the score full circle.

Two bonus tracks are included on the album: the album version of "Buffalo Hunt" and a film version of "The John Dunbar Theme". Both are decent additions to the album, though not crucial listening.

Review of packaging:

The CD comes in the standard jewel case with a generous 11 page booklet. The liner notes contain a decent number of production stills and a nice essay on the making of the film and score by Jon Burlingame. The booklet also includes tracklistings (with times) and extensive album credits.

The back of the album contains tracklistings (with times) and a brief paragraph hyping up this score.

Closing thoughts:

There are very few scores out there that live up to the hype most people give them. Thankfully,Dances With Wolves is one of the few that actually is as great as everyone says. To put it simply, this is a modern masterpiece. A score that can sit quite comfortably on the same shelf as the great works of the Golden Age composers.

I'm happy to report that there is really only one complaint to be had with this score, that being the overlong nature of the "Pawnee Attack" track with its near constant percussion and minimalist orchestral accompaniment. Besides that one track, this album is as near perfect as can be imagined.

I highly recommend Dances With Wolves to anyone who enjoyed James Horner's magnificentLegends of the Fall (1994) and/or wants to hear a more harmonically consistent score in the same vein. Very highly recommended.

Score:

5 out of 5

Intrada/Disney Records Score Series!!!!!

2011-06-27T18:02:00.000-07:00

It's finally happened! Walt Disney Records has allowed one of the premier film score specialty labels to release a series of remastered and premiere releases of old classics, both live action and animated.

Knowing how the Disney corporation is very protective of their products, this is a huge achievement. Many kudos to both the team at Intrada and the heads of Disney for making this possible.

Anyway, the first release in this new series is the first ever CD release of Michael Giacchino's score to Pixar's UP (2009). The score was released via iTunes and digital download when the film was released, but has never been available on disc till now.

UP can be purchased at screenarchives.com and on Intrada's official site.

Bicentennial Man review

2011-06-15T18:38:00.000-07:00

Bicentennial Man (1999)

Composer: James Horner

Number of tracks: 17

Total time: 66:27

Overview:

After the critical and commercial success of Titanic (1997), James Horner found himself scoring many high profile, big budget films in the remaining three years of the 90's. One of his last scores of the decade was for the Chris Columbus film Bicentennial Man. The film stars Robin Williams as a robot who, over the course of 200 years, learns what it means to be "human".

The film was met with moderate critical reception, though is still a sentimental fan favorite to this day. The score, much like the film, is nothing all that amazing but is still endearing with it's sincerity.

Review of the music:

The album opens with "The Machine Age" which begins with one of the central themes (sounding very similar to "Dreams to Dream" from An American Tail 2 (1991) ) before segueing into a combination of piano, synths and various percussion for the opening titles. Oddly enough, the theme presented during this percussive section never appears again on the album and is also a revision of a theme from The Man Without A Face (1993). The cue comes to a rousing ending with the percussion and brass flourish that ended Horner's classic Star Trek II (1982).

As you can probably tell by now, Bicentennial Man is one of those "recycled" scores by Horner. What sets this one apart from the others and allows it to be a great album is the fact that it's a perfect compilation of Horner's family film and lite drama themes/motifs. This is the last time that Horner would use so many of his family film themes/motifs in one score, barely returning to the genre in the proceeding decade.

If one is familiar with Horner's prior works in the afore mentioned genres, it's easy to point out blatant lifts from Braveheart (1995), Legends of the Fall (1994), Deep Impact (1998), The Spitfire Grill (1996), Titanic (1997), Field of Dreams (1989), Jumanji (1995) and The Man Without a Face (1993). Also orchestrations and themes that sound as though they could fit perfectly into An American Tail (1986), Land Before Time (1988) or Cocoon (1985).

The above might sound like a nightmare to some, but it's actually handled well by Horner. The combination of all these varied themes and motifs fit together surprisingly well and deliver a very enjoyable, well rounded score. The only two themes that push the limits are the blatant lift of part of the Love theme from Braveheart and the piano motif from Deep Impact. Besides that, if you're not familiar with the other scores this is one amazing album. And even if you are familiar with the other scores, it can still be an enjoyable album if you just don't overanalize it.

There is a pop song at the end of the album by Celine Dion "When You Look At Me" based on the central theme. If you're into this sort of thing it's a pleasant enough song, though not as good as "My Heart Will Go On" (yes, I just said something from Titanic was better....). Thankfully the song is the final track, so if you don't want to hear it, you can just stop after track 16.

Review of packaging:

The CD comes in the all so standard jewel case with a fold-out booklet. The liner notes contain plenty of film stills with album credits and lyrics to the Celine Dion song. Tracklisting is also presented, though without track times.

The back of the album is blue with brief film credits and tracklisting (again, no times).

Closing thoughts:

This is one of those scores that causes a bit of a turmoil for a reviewer like myself. On the one hand, this is a great little Horner score with many memorable melodies heard for the last time and an overall consistent mood on the album. On the other hand, this is one of Horner's most blatant recycled scores with practically every moment either sounding like or actually lifted from a prior score.

Overall, I have to lean more towards my emotional side than my intellectual side for this one. The fact that Bicentennial Man is the last time we hear most of these great dramatic themes and motifs from Horner's late 80's and early 90's works easily gets a decent rating from me. Couple this with the fact that these themes all mesh so well together, forming a great album experiance and this score gets a higher than normal rating for a recycled Horner score.

I recommend this to beginners and Horner fans that don't mind the recycling issue. For all others, recommended.... with slight caution.

Score:

4 out of 5

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides review

2011-05-24T18:36:00.000-07:00

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)

Composer: Hans Zimmer

Number of tracks: 18

Total time: 77:13

Overview:

As one might expect, Disney could not allow a highly successful series of films to simply end. After closing the Pirates trilogy in grand fashion, a fourth film was announced to be in the works. Four years later and we have On Stranger Tides directed by Rob Marshal instead of regular Gore Verbinski. Most of the same crew is back though the cast has changed a bit. Gone are Orlando Bloom, Keria Knightly and Bill Nighy instead replaced with newcomers Penelope Cruze, Ian McShane and for the younger crowd Sam Claffin and Astrid Berges-Frisbey as a missionary and a mermaid, respectively.

The plot this time is about finding the Fountain of Youth and the majority of the film is devoted to Capt. Jack Sparrow. Reactions to the film have been mixed: critics despise it and audiences love it (not surprising, as this is usually how these things go). I personally have yet to see the film so the following review is solely based on the album release of the score.

Alright, let's get this over with....

Review of music:

First, forget any hopes that this is going to contain 75 plus minutes of score. Over half the album length is given to remixes... seven in all. Seven! And you thought one at the end of Dead Man's Chest (2006) was bad? Secondly, it appears that most of the score heard on the album does not actually appear in the film or is a horrendously truncated version of what's in the film. Now, on to discussing the score (I will not waste time on discussing the "remixes")....

I'm afraid to say that after the magnificent score that was At World's End (2007), On Stranger Tides falls short... very short. Most of what we hear is simply re-statements of prior themes in slightly lesser performances. At first the score sounds largely electronic, though in actuality Zimmer recorded with all orchestral performers. While this is an admirable move, it is ultimately for not as the orchestra tries to mimic the sound of Zimmer's usual synths, completely negating the use of a live orchestra.

All the themes you expect return as well as some you might not expect. Surprisingly, Davey Jones's theme (in battle mode from AWE) appears at the end of "Mermaids", though Jones obviously met his end in the prior film. Having not seen the film, I'm not sure how this works, though it sounds rather strange on the album appearing out of nowhere. Most of the music is of various versions of Jack's theme interspersed with some new material.

Of the new material, three themes standout on the album. First is the theme for Penelope Cruze's Angelica heard in "Angelica" (obviously). This theme is a very straightforward Spanish cue with flamenco style guitars provided by Rodrigo Y Gabriela which never appears in full in the film. Next is the theme for Blackbeard, the central villain of the film. Blackbeard's theme is the typical low, droning badguy theme that Zimmer loves to do, though it's rather unmemorable compared to what he came up with for Davey Jones. Lastly is a duel theme for the mermaids and the Fountain of Youth - why it's a duel theme I have no idea. This is by far the most interesting and memorable of the new themes, sounding like a cousin to the World's End theme from the prior film but with haunting female vocals. This theme is given the full treatment in "Mermaids" and later appears during "On Stranger Tides".

A major component that has been flaunted about this fourth score is the hiring of Mexican guitar duo Rodrigo Y Gabriela, who get several cues on the album. The duo give a decent injection of Spanish flavor to the score (sometimes being mixed in with Zimmer's orchestra), though ultimately their contributions feel somewhat out of place. The flamenco flavored tracks feel more like an easy listening album than a film score and usually have little to nothing to do with the surrounding Zimmer music.

Closing thoughts:

Perhaps my expectations were too high after the great score Zimmer put together for At World's End (2007), but even considering the first album, this fourth entry is shamefully pathetic. This is unfortunately one of those scores that you almost wish the producers had simply reused the previous films music and copy-and-pasted onto this album. As it is, this score is bad... really bad. It's only saving graces are "Mermaids" and the Rodrigo Y Gabriela tracks, though that's still not saying much. The addition of those unbearable remixes is simply unforgivable, though I'm not sure more score would have helped the album any.

So, skip this album. If you must get something from the album, just download "Mermaids" and possibly the Rodrigo Y Gabriela tracks. For everyone else, just go back to your copy of At World's End and forget this album exits. Nothing to see (or hear) here....

Score:

1 out of 5 (would be none if not for "Mermaids")

Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End review

2011-05-16T15:23:00.000-07:00

Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End (2007)

Composer: Hans Zimmer

Number of tracks: 13

Total time: 55:50

Overview:

In 2007 the trilogy was finally complete... for the time being. The rollicking, convoluted adventures of Jack Sparrow, Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan were finally brought to a close in this blockbuster film that pulled out all the stops. Strange new locations? Check. Epic sword fights? Check. A sea battle inside a whirlpool? Check.

The same cast and crew from the previous two films naturally returned to complete the trilogy, with composer Hans Zimmer delivering by far his most impressive work on the series to date. At World's End gave Zimmer a perfect opportunity to pull out all the stops and go out with a bang. A what a bang it is!

Review of the music:

The bulk of the themes from the previous two scores are reprised here as well as the introduction of several new themes specifically for the third film. Jack's themes, Davy Jones's theme, Beckett's theme (or the East India Trading Company theme), the Black Pearl theme and a few smaller motifs are all present in this score (though are not as prevalent on the album as they are in the film). Both Beckett's theme and Davy Jones's theme are given updated, battle renditions for this film, a major plus for both themes.

Among the new themes are an overarching idea for the pirate community as a whole that is introduced in the first track, "Hoist the Colours". This theme is first heard as a song, then later given a full orchestral treatment in "What Shall We Die For". Another new theme which appears only briefly on the album is the Sao Fang theme. This theme is only heard in "Singapore" at the start of the track and between statements of Beckett's theme and Jack's theme. The last two new themes are the World's End theme and the three part Love theme.

The Love theme is a tricky piece to explain as it is never really stated as a romantic idea until the end of the score. It's broken into three pieces heard at various points throughout the album: part A is heard most often, first at the start of "At Wits End" and getting a lovely oboe solo at the beginning of "I See Dead People in Boats". Theme B is a heroic/adventurous idea heard at 3:10 in "At Wits End" with counterpoint (something refreshing in a Zimmer score). Both theme A and B are heard together in the upbeat action cue "Up is Down". Theme C is first heard in the middle of "I See Dead People in Boats" and could easily fit into The Last Samurai (2005). All three theme fragments finally come together in the last three tracks. This alone shows a much greater depth to Zimmer's writing and the overall landscape of the series.

A major boost to this album is the fact that there are no "filler" tracks and the album flows perfectly from start to finish. Each track has something different to offer, yet it all feels like it belongs to the same film (a problem with the prior score). Zimmer throws in some odd orchestrations in "Multiple Jacks" including electronic pulses for the desert landscape of Davy Jones' locker. There is even a great homage to Ennio Morricone's "Man With a Harmonica" cue from Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) in the track "Parlay".

Another large boost to the scores overall feel is the improved soundscape Zimmer used. There are still the electronic elements and the bass enhancement, yet Zimmer mostly relies on an organic orchestra with specialty instruments and.... woodwinds! The array of speciality instruments ranges from harpsichord to erhu to various woodwinds. The wide range of orchestral colors are a definite plus to the overall sound of the score, making At World's End easily the best sounding and most thematically rich of the Pirate scores.

Review of album:

The CD comes in a digipack, which unfortunately has degraded a good bit since the original purchase almost four years ago. The album comes with a full color booklet with photos from the film, a word from the album producer and extensive album credits (again, with "cute" pirate names).

The back of the album contains the track listings (no times).

Closing thoughts:

After two good (if flawed) scores, Zimmer finally hit his creative stride with the third installment of the Pirate series. Yes, this is still very much a Zimmer score, but its orchestral and thematic depth/complexity easily make up for any shortcomings one may have of its use of the "Zimmer Sound". This is not an amazing score, but it's definitely one of Zimmer's best from the 2000's.

If there is one Pirates album to get, this is the one. It may not contain as many restatements of previous themes as the prior album does, but it does contain the best overall album experience and thematic statements of the trilogy. In short, this is a very highly recommended album to all film score fans.

Score:

4 1/2 out of 5

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest review

2011-05-10T10:01:00.000-07:00

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)

Composer: Hans Zimmer

Number of tracks: 12

Total time: 58:32

Overview:

What do you do when when you have an overnight mega blockbuster on your hands? Make a sequel, of course! Or in this case, make two sequels back-to-back. After the surprising success of the first Pirates, Disney told director Gore Verbinski to go and make two more... now.

What we ultimately got were two fun, if inferior, sequels with dazzling special effects and good to excellent scores. All the main cast returned for the sequels as did most of the crew, including Hans Zimmer. Thanks to some sort of legal issue, Zimmer was unable to take credit for the first score and thus gave the full credit to young Klaus Badelt. For the two sequels, Zimmer took full control of the music.

As happens too often in trilogies, the second score is probably the weakest. This doesn't mean it's bad, it's just not as strong as the first and third. Thankfully most of the technical issues from the first album are corrected here, though a whole new batch of issues arises with Dead Man's Chest....

Review of music:

The album opens appropriately enough with a suite for Jack Sparrow titled "Jack Sparrow" (what else?). Here we are introduced to a new theme for old Jack that captures more of the offbeat pirate swagger of the character. It begins on cello with the strings playing a moderately paced ostinato (why is it always an ostinato?) as accompaniment. From here, we get a long recap of the goofy cello theme from the first film and some of the action music as well.

"The Kraken" is another long track featuring the music for the giant beasty that Davy Jones keeps as a pet/weapon. This is a standard over the top Zimmer action cue with drum pads, epic strings and brass, cellos, male choir, electric organ and electric guitars. It's one of the highlights of the album, though it does grow a bit tedious near the end of its running time. Of interesting note: the reoccurring theme first heard at around the :40 mark is extremely close to the riff in Led Zeppelin's song "Kashmir".

Track 3, "Davy Jones", begins with a music-box rendition of Jones's theme before organ, choir and various percussion enter. The track ends with a return to the music-box version of Jones's theme. "I've Got My Eye on You" opens with rather eerie and dissonant effects, including sliding strings and distorted guitar before a triumphant statement of Jack's theme from the first film (you know, when he arrives at Port Royal...). The short track ends with a brief statement of the new Jack theme on cello.

"Dinner is Served" (track 5) is by far the oddest cue on the album. It opens with frenzied tribal percussion and strange vocal effects before suddenly turning into a classic waltz. This music accompanies a comic scene in the film, though it makes for a really strange track on the album. "Tia Dalma" opens with chanting male choir and heavy strings before settling into a ghostly mood of low strings and synth effects. Strings and music-box enter late to play Tia Dalma's theme with hints of Davy Jones's theme in bass region. The final moments of the track feature strange vocal effects that could easily fit into Transformers 2 (2009)

"Two Hornpipes" is a rather upbeat track of source music for a bar brawl in the middle of the film. The cue has nothing to do with the rest of the score, but it's a fun distraction. Track 8, "A Family Affair", opens with a string theme that could easily fit into The Last Samurai (2004) before a rising string figure gives way to the first epic rendition of Davy Jones's theme for full orchestra and choir. The lovely string theme returns before being overtaken by a slow, deliberate rendition of Jones's theme.

We finally get to another action piece in "Wheel of Fortune", which encompasses all the main material from the first film and the second in one great piece. The Black Pearl theme, Jack's two themes, Davy Jones's theme (on music-box), The Flying Dutchman's crew motif and Jack's new cello theme all have a moment to shine here. Things go back to a darker feel with "You Look Good Jack" (track 10), a brooding cue for the conversation between Jack and Bootstrap Bill near the beginning of the film. The strings dominate this track, with occasional synth textures or chimes giving extra flavor. Near the end of the track distorted guitar and strings play a short action piece before a brief appearance of Davy Jones's closes the cue.

Track 11, "Hello Beastie", is the final climactic cue of the album running a little over ten minutes long. It's a dark track with all areas of the orchestra getting one last moment to shine including the choir, which is used to great effect here. The overall mood of this track is similar to "A Dark Knight" from The Dark Knight (2008) with emphasis on minor key epic writing. The track ends with a brief flurry of the orchestra performing a brief statement of Jack's secondary theme from the first film, closing the album.

I won't even try to explain the final track, a "remix" of "He's a Pirate" from the first film. I'll simply say it was a waste of space that should have been filled with the actual end credits music giving the album a better close than the abrupt end of "Hello Beastie".

Closing thoughts:

Dead Man's Chest was definitely a step in the right direction musically for the franchise, though I can't really say that for the film itself. With Zimmer taking the main creative control (he still had help from eight different "assistants"), the score has a more rich texture and the electronic elements are handled better than the first film. Still, there are some cues where the electronics are a bit distracting or overbearing.

My main criticism of the second album is the fact that the music almost has a schizophrenic feel to it. Switching from one mood or style to another from track to track. The only real constant is the dark mood in several of the cues and the return of the themes from the prior film. Besides that, this music could really fit any number of Zimmer scores just fine. Also, the horrible decision to add a "remix" to this album is nigh unforgivable. By having the abrupt ending of "Hello Beastie" be the end of the score makes for an unsatisfying album.

Thankfully all the technical issues with Curse of the Black Pearl were fixed with this CD. So, I would still recommend this album to fans of the franchise for it is still a decent album and a step above the first. For everyone else, this is recommended with caution....

Score:

3 out of 5

Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl review

2011-05-09T11:35:00.000-07:00

Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

Composer: Klaus Badelt (mostly composed by Hans Zimmer)

Number of tracks: 15

Total time: 43:30

Overview:

It's hard to believe that there was a time not so long ago when the exploits of a certain pirate by the name of Captain Jack Sparrow were unknown. Yet, prior to the summer of 2003, Capt. Jack and company did not exist. Now, after a trilogy of blockbuster films (and with a fourth film set to release late this month) everyone and their grandmother knows who "Captain Jack" is and can probably hum a bit of the Main theme from the films.

The first score to the trilogy was actually a rushed production. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer had hired veteran Alan Silvestri to score the film, but ultimately fired Silvestri for unknown reasons. In comes Hanz Zimmer and his team to write a quick replacement score.

What ultimately came about was an enjoyable, fun action/adventure score that would lead to better scores in the sequels. Unfortunately, this fun score would be horribly butchered on its album release.

Review of music:

The first Pirates score is overflowing with themes and motifs, many of which are carried throughout the trilogy. The central theme (or Black Pearl theme) is a full bodied action piece heard throughout the album and especially in the final cue, "He's a Pirate". The second most common theme is easily the one for Jack Sparrow heard in full form in "The Medallion Calls". This is definitely one of the great themes of the 2000's by Zimmer, both heroic and over-the-top, it captures Jack's personality well. A possible secondary theme for the quirky side of Jack is a short, upbeat jig played on cello first introduced at the onset of "Fog Bound". This motif could also just be for the goofy aspects of the film... its purpose is a bit vague.

Lesser themes include a short romantic idea on strings for Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan heard best near the end of track 14 "One Last Shot" (which is actually for the last scene in the film). A dark orchestra and synth theme for Barbossa and his evil, undead pirates as well as various dissonant effects. Also a short motif for the medallion exits in a few cues performed on ghostly synths.

While the score is undeniably fun and works great in film, the album is a complete mess. The first thing that must be addressed is the horrible mixing. The EQ of the album is completely off, giving the score a very loud and in your face presentation. All subtlety in the orchestrations are destroyed by the overly loud mix. Next, is the reliance on synths to "fill out" the orchestra. I'm pretty sure this is due to the extremely short amount of time given to write and record this score, but the haphazard way synths are used here detract from the overall enjoyment. This is not as prevalent in the film, but thanks to the horrible album mix, it becomes a problem.

Two other (minor) gripes about the album are that the tracks run together and the track listings are completely useless. Now, the fact that the tracks run together is nothing new (Zimmer has been doing this for years), but the way it is handled here is just sloppy. You can't enjoy each cue as a separate piece and several of the cues have horrible "stopping points" if you try to listen to them away from the rest. Finally, the track listings have no connection to the music that is contained within them. For instance: track 4, "Will and Elizabeth" features the music to the duel between Will and Jack in the blacksmith shop near the beginning of the film. Probably the best is the next to last track, "One Last Shot". While you would think this would contain the final moments of the end duel, it instead contains the music to the final scenes of the film.

Review of packaging:

The CD comes in the ever popular jewel case and contains a fold-out pamphlet. The liner notes contain film credits, album credits (with "cute" pirate nicknames), film stills and track listing (no times).

The back of the album contains track listing (no times) and brief album credits.

Closing thoughts:

Despite giving this album a rough review, it really does contain some good action/adventure music. It's nowhere near as complex or deep as say, a Goldsmith or Horner score, but it still has enough pure fun for those that want to enjoy a simple action score. The unfortunate thing is, it comes as a horrible album presentation.

This score deserves a re-release and a remastering to fix its issues, because Pirates of the Caribbean could easily be a three out of five album... with a better mix. So, if you desperately want the origins of the series themes or don't care about a lackluster presentation, buy it. Though for everyone else... just buy the second and third albums.

Score:

2 out of 5

The Haunting review

2011-05-06T19:28:00.000-07:00

The Haunting (1999)

Composer: Jerry Goldsmith

Number of tracks: 9

Total time: 35:15

Overview:

As seemed to be the habit of Mr. Goldsmith, he produced an amazing score for a film that really did not deserve it. This time the film was a remake of the 1963 Robert Wise classic The Haunting that was based off of the book "The Haunting of Hill House". The film is a typical haunted house story with a group of people moving into Hill House as part of a sleeping disorder experiment only to discover the house is indeed haunted. Odd things begin to happen and quickly escalate to reveal that the spirit of the crazed owner of the mansion is still inside the house.

The film boasted a rather impressive production design and several good actors. Unfortunately, the only things to work in the film would be the design and Goldsmith's score. Unlike the typical horror scores of the time that rely more on strange sounds than anything else, Goldsmith delivered a score that is mostly beautiful, though has a constant sense of foreboding and uneasiness bubbling just under the surface.

Review of the music:

The album opens oddly enough with the track "The Carousel" which begins with a carnival-esque theme for the carousel in the film. A dark brass motif, or fanfare, enters at 1:00 which segues into the central theme. The Main theme is a very beautiful descending string piece that sounds like wind wafting down through the string section. This theme appears most often on the album and acts as not only the central theme but also a theme for the house itself, which is why there is always a undercurrent of uneasiness to the orchestration.

The first true horror cue is "Terror in Bed" (track 2). After a slow start of both organic and electronic effects, blaring horns and pounding percussion enter for the majority of the track. An interesting electronic percussion loop is first introduced here and will reappear in later tracks. "A Place For Everything" introduces the second primary theme, a sweet lullaby for the character of Nell (Lili Taylor). The track slowly shifts to another brooding statement of the Main theme which closes the cue.

"The Curtains" opens with a softer rendition of the brass fanfare from the opening before more synthetic effects enter. Nell's theme is restated a few times before the track comes to an uneasy close. "Curly Hair" opens with perhaps my favorite reoccurring motif in the score: an echoing synth note that sounds like an electronic version of Goldsmith's echoplex motif from Alien (1979). The Main theme is restated a few times both by the strings and woodwinds before the track ends.

"The Picture Album" (track 7) is all about atmosphere and delivers some great eerie moments. Again the Main theme gets another workout being performed on everything from brass to woodwinds to strings. The strange synth effects and tones help to give an uneasy feeling to the track before an abrupt string swell near the end of the cue delivers an appropriate jump moment. "Return to the Carousel" opens with frantic percussion before calming down with synth tones and uneasy strings. The Carousel theme returns at roughly 3:00, though this time accompanied by dark orchestral tones and a very eerie brass motif. The Main theme performed on strings close the track.

"Finally Home" is the climactic centerpiece of the album with all the themes and motifs coming out for one final performance. The track builds an epic orchestral assault in the last three minutes of the cue with blaring brass, operatic strings and heavy percussion (both real and synthetic). This is a track that could almost have come from a Christopher Young score. "Home Safe" is a much needed quieter cue after the grandeur of the previous track. Nell's theme is given one final, heartwarming performance before the orchestra returns to a softer rendition of the Main theme. The album closes on an appropriately hopeful, yet dark tone... befitting a horror story.

Review of packaging:

The CD comes in the standard jewel case with a two page booklet. The packaging is extremely bare bones with the insert only including stills from the film.

The back of the album contains track listings (with correct times), album credits, brief film credits and some pictures from the film. The CD itself has a nice replica of the album cover on the front.

Closing thoughts:

This score is either not mentioned much or is given undeserved hatred by most film score fans. Most of the negatives one hears about this score seems to stem from fans who suffer from the unfortunate condition of not being able to separate the score from the horrid film it goes with. If you can either get past the film this score belongs to or better yet just skip the film, then this score has a lot to offer.

It's not really a score that is designed to scare you as much as it's a score that is meant to lull you into a false sense of ease. For the majority of its run time the score actually contains some very beautiful pieces, though there are the needed action/horror cues which add variety. The overall feeling of the album is not necessarily creepy as much as it's... well, haunting.

A very recommended album for Goldsmith fans and casual listeners who are looking for a more harmonic and pleasant horror score compared to the usual dissonance of this genre.

Score: 4 1/2 out of 5

Batman (1989) review

2011-04-22T17:14:00.000-07:00

Batman (1989)

Composer: Danny Elfman

Number of tracks: 21

Total time: 54:57

Overview:

Before Christopher Nolan and the team of Hans Zimmer/James Newton-Howard tackled the Dark Knight, Tim Burton and Danny Elfman breathed life into the character in the 1989 blockbuster simply titled Batman. Michael Keaton starred as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Kim Basinger played the love interest reporter Vicky Vale and Jack Nicholson did what Jack does best: played the psychotic villain The Joker.

The film followed Bruce as he falls in love with Vicky, only to be interrupted by the birth of the maniacal Joker, one time mob hitman who has had some bad plastic surgery after falling into a vat of chemicals. The film was a solid action/adventure film with plenty of humor and a more dark, adult tone compared to prior incarnations of the character.

Contrary to popular belief, this was not Elfman's first score. He had previously worked on several projects in the 80's including Scrooged and Beetlejuice (both 1988). Though Batman helped to put the young composer on the filmscoring map and solidify him as a composer with popular appeal.

Review of music:

The album opens appropriately enough with "The Batman Theme". The construction of the central theme is surprisingly simple: four descending notes followed by two ascending notes. This theme is heard multiple times throughout the score and becomes instantly recognizable as the identity for Batman/Bruce Wayne. The track features brass, woodwinds, strings and percussion performing the theme in action mode with interludes of the strings or brass performing a slower rendition. The track ends with a crescendo of furious percussion and a cymbal crash.

Besides the Batman theme, three other prominent themes exist in the score. A Love Theme for Bruce and Vicky appears in the first part of "Kitchen/Surgery/Face-Off" and later in full in the tracks "Folwers", "Love Theme", "Up the Cathedral" and "Finale". The Joker gets two different themes for the two sides of his character: a waltz and a rendition of "Beautiful Dreamer". The waltz is the primary identity of the Joker and is heard best in "Waltz to the Death" (track 18). Beautiful Dreamer is used for a twisted "love theme" , so to speak, for the Joker's fascination with Vicky Vale.

A great highlight of the score is the frenetic action music. Elfman holds nothing back in the various action cues on the album, giving a fun and fast paced feel to the action scenes. Highlights include "First Confrontation", "Batman to the Rescue" and the last six tracks. The Batman theme is interspersed throughout the action pieces, always lurking in the shadows just outside of the orchestra.

Another highlight of the score is Elfman's and orchestrator/conductor Shirley Walker's use of instruments. The usual orchestral instruments are here, but a wide variety of not so common instruments are also worked into the mix. Cymbals, piano, organ, music box and orchestral bells are all featured throughout the score. The obligatory choir is used to great effect in cues such as "Childhood Remembered" and "Descent into Mystery".

One of the few complaints about the score is that Elfman does not give a strong musical identity for the henchmen in the action scenes. I have read that there is a percussive motif for the bad guys, though I have yet to pick-up on it. While this may sound meaningless, it is a problem with the action cues which seem filled with (great) "filler" music until the Batman theme enters. A minor gripe that does subtract a bit from the overall score.

One last tidbit about the score: for the seasoned listener, there are several allusions to Bernard Herrmann scattered throughout the score. The opening of the first track and, in fact, the Batman theme itself is a variation on a motif heard in Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) while the organ music variation of the Love theme in "Up the Cathedral" is an obvious homage to Herrmann's Vertigo (1958).

Review of packaging:

Album presented in standard jewel case with a foldout booklet. The liner notes contain film credits, album credits and track listings.

The back of the album has a close-up view of the moon with the Bat signal over it. Track listings and brief film/album credits are also presented.

Closing thoughts:

Danny Elfman has had plenty of hits and misses in his career, fortunately Batman is a solid homerun. This is a score that every film score fan should own and would even be recommended to the casual fan. It's one of the most recognizable superhero scores around and is a blast to listen to... even after multiple listens.

The simple fact that there is no obvious motif for the villain in the action music is the only thing keeping this album from getting a perfect rating. With that said, it is still a landmark score and should be owned and enjoyed by all.

Score:

4 1/2 out of 5

2001: A Space Odyssey review

2011-04-22T16:21:00.000-07:00

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Composer: Various

Number of tracks: 8

Total time: 42:01

Overview:

A circular space station in orbit with a shuttle approaching, a monkey playing with a skeleton, HAL and a "Star Child". These are all unforgettable images presented to us by director Stanely Kubrick in his 1968 film, 2001: A Space Odyssey. The film was more of an exercise of "style over substance" than anything else, though still to the present day people argue over "deeper meanings" to the films visuals.

Kubrick had original hired composer Alex North to write the score to 2001. North assembled the National Philharmonic Orchestra and recorded a very striking score for Kubricks vision. Upon the films release, it was revealed that North's score and been completely dropped and replaced with classical music. During the editing of the film, Kubrick had played a Classical record to help in the editing of the film. The eccentric filmmaker had gotten so used to this temp track that he scrapped the original score for the Classical pieces.

Today I will be reviewing the Classical compilation album or soundtrack from 2001 released in 1990.

Review of music:

The album opens with "Excepts from Atmospheres" by Ligiti. This atonal music acts as an overture in the film and sets up a feeling of the bizarre... a feeling that will remain constant throughout the film and album. From here, we move into the famous "Also Sprach Zarathustra" which has been copied and parodied countless times over the past 50 years in film and TV. Still, the piece retains in goosebumps inducing majesty after all these years.

"The Blue Danube" follows the opening titles on the album, skipping the ape sequence which comes between the two pieces in the film. Compared to the previous two pieces, "The Blue Danube" is rather light and at times playful. It's a nice rest before the more abstract music to come.

"Lux Aeterna" by Ligiti takes the album back to the more eerie atmosphere of the opening. This piece features a choir in a rather experimental way, similar to how Rosenthal would later use a choir for Olympus in Clash of the Titans (1981). The album returns to purely orchestral music with "Adigio from Gayane Ballet Suite". This string heavy piece is my personal favorite from the album and conveys a melancholy and haunting quality that perfectly conveys the emptiness of space. A fragment of this piece would be adapted by James Horner for use in 1986's Aliens.

The abstract and atonal choir returns in track 6 "Requiem for a Soprano". This is by far the most nerve racking and nightmarish of the Classical pieces used in 2001. It truly sounds like Hell. Very disturbing indeed...

The fixation on Ligiti continues with "Atmospheres", a great atonal orchestral piece that obviously has influenced many of the great composers of horror scores over the past half century. The album finally comes to a rousing close with a reprise of "Also Sprach Zarathustra".

Review of packaging:

The album comes in a white plastic jewel case with a one page booklet. Surprisingly for album this old, the liner notes actually give a bit of history on the music as used in the film as well as a brief history of each piece.

The back of the album gives track listings and times.

The disc itself is silver with the track listing listed in the center, above and below the center hole.

Closing thoughts:

2001 remains a strong force in film history even to this day. The same could be said for it's soundtrack, possibly the first "space opera" though that title can be argued since it uses pre-existing music instead of an original score.

This compilation of Classical pieces is an easy recommendation for both film score fans and casual listeners. It contains some great pieces, as well as a few unfortunate ones (the two choir pieces, namely). The sound quality on this 1990 release is muffled and rather antique sounding, though it does give the album a certain charm. A remastered album was released in the early 2000's with superior sounds and bonus tracks.

Whichever version you buy, this is definitely worth the purchase.

Score: 3 1/2 out of 5

Some film score links to Youtube!

2011-04-06T12:49:00.001-07:00

Hello to all my readers!

As I have done in the past, this post is simply a collection of links to videos I've found on Youtube of really good scores. The following is a mass-up of various styles, so hopefully ya'll will find something to enjoy!

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The Journey of Natty Gann.

Composer: James Horner

Year: 1985

Comment: A mid 80's family film score from Horner. Combines the warm orchestrations of Land Before Time and Field of Dreams with the upbeat spirit of the Boys theme from Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983).

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Dances With Wolves

Composer: John Barry

Year: 1990

Comment: A great, sweeping and lush score by the late great John Barry. It was only recently that I took the time to listen to this amazing work. Wish I had discovered it earlier...

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Alien3

Composer: Elliot Goldenthal

Year: 1992

Comment: An avant garde score from the leading avant garde film composer. This one is along the lines of Dragonslayer, it may take awhile to warm up to. It's still an impressive work and one of the few good things about the horrible film.

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The Uninvited

Composer: Christopher Young

Year: 2009

Comment: A hauntingly beautiful score by the great Christopher Young. As he usually does, he gives this suspense/horror film a better score than it deserves. Great standalone listen!

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The Boys From Brazil

Composer: Jerry Goldsmith

Year: 1978

Comment: It's Goldsmith. What more do you want? Well, this is one of the Masters great scores of the late 70's. In a slightly odd move, Goldsmith uses waltzes to represent the hero and the villain in this film. Of course, it works very well and is actually digging deeper into the film than usual. Hint: the film is about Nazi's cloning Hitler.

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Enemy At the Gates

Composer: James Horner

Year: 2002

Comment: As was typical in the 2000's, this is a recycled score from Horner. Why put it here? Well, because it's one of his better recycled scores and undoubtedly one of his better works of the past 10 years. Yes this one had a lot of controversy around it, but it's still good.

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O.K, I hope you enjoy the links!

Happy listening!

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan review

2011-03-12T10:31:00.000-08:00

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

Composer: James Horner

Number of tracks: 23

Total time: 75:28

Overview:

After the huge success of Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), Paramount quickly went to work on making a sequel. What we would get would arguably be one of the finest Trek films in the series: Wrath of Khan. Combining an engaging story, great characters, superb visuals and a great score made this an easy favorite among fans and non-fans of the Star Trek universe.

While the first film was directed by famed director Robert Wise (West Side Story, Sound of Music, The Haunting, Day the Earth Stood Still), the sequel would be helmed by relative newcomer Nicholas Meyer. Also taking over from a legendary member of the previous film would be relatively unknown composer James Horner taking the reigns from the great Jerry Goldsmith.

It's hard to believe there was a time when the name James Horner would get a response of "who?" from the general public. Yet, in 1982, Horner was basically unknown. Contrary to popular belief, Star Trek II was not Horner's first score. He had already composed scores for half a dozen smaller (and lesser) films before getting the job to compose the music for Wrath of Khan.What Horner delivered was one of his finest works of the 80's and also one of his best scores in his entire career.

Note: The following review is of the 2009 FSM CD release.

Review of music:

The score opens with "Main Titles" as throbbing synths give a sense of empty space before horns enter playing snippets of the classic Star Trek fanfare. A flourish of strings and horns lead into a full statement of the Main theme (Kirk's theme) which is followed by the more warm Enterprise theme performed by cellos and basses. The track closes with the throbbing synth tones returning, then fading out.

Horner approached the score with a nautical sensibility as was the instructions of director Meyer. Meyer always envisioned the adventures of Capt. Kirk as a space version of Horatio Hornblower, so a seafaring angle was given to both the score and the production as a whole. The result is a great adventure score with an obvious seafaring spirit. The Main theme could easily fit into a film about ships in the 1500's as it does in a film set in the future.

The score is equally balanced between action cues and more emotional cues. Examples of the first are "Surprise Attack" and "Kirk's Explosive Reply", while the last 7 tracks (beginning with "Genesis Cave" and going through "Epilogue/End Credits") perfectly blend the action music and the human drama into one powerhouse ending. The optimistic seafaring mood is on full display in the tracks "Enterprise Clears Moorings", "Kirk Takes Command" and the latter portion of "The Eels of Ceti Alpha V/Kirk in the Space Shuttle". An uneasy, eerie mood is created with synths and minimilist techniques for the creepy moments involving Khan in cues like "Khan's Pets", "Eels of Ceti Alpha V", "Inside Regula 1" and "Buried Alive".

Two areas of special note is the music for our second primary protagonist and our antagonist: Spock and Khan, respectively. Horner gives Spock a strange, mystical theme on synths and strange plucked instruments first introduced in, surprise, "Spock". This theme is later given a fully orchestral rendition in the powerful "Epilogue/End Credits" and takes center stage as the primary theme in 1984's Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. On the other hand is the aggressive, splintered militaristic music for Khan. Khan's music is mostly made up of various motifs which include a minor descending two-note motif, militaristic percussion, a repeating trumpet motif and the first appearance of the infamous "four notes of doom!" brass motif.

Review of packaging:

The CD comes in the oh-so-standard jewel case with a very generous 27 page full color booklet. The liner notes contain an in-depth look at the making of both the film and score as well as a track-by-track breakdown of the album.

The back of the album contains track listings (with correct times), brief film credits and a selection of production stills. The disc itself has the picture of the Genesis Device readout on it.

Closing thoughts:

This is without a doubt one of the essential film scores to have in your collection. It's Horner's breakout work and also one of his finest achievements. It's also just a really great score. There will always be a raging debate on whether Goldsmith's or Horner's work on the Trek series was better, but one thing is certain: both composers gave some of their best work on this film series.

There are two albums available of Star Trek II: the 1990 GNP Crescendo album and the 2009 FSM release. FSM has digitally remastered the entire score and released it in film order for the first time. For those that want the GNP Crescendo presentation, FSM has given the option to re-program the CD in the order of the original release.

The FSM release is hands down the superior release and thus makes the GNP album somewhat moot, especially with it's superior sound compared to the muffled audio quality of the older album. Very highly recommended.

The FSM release is an unlimited pressing an can be ordered here.

Score:

5 out of 5

Dragonslayer review

2011-02-28T13:57:00.000-08:00

Dragonslayer (1981)

Composer: Alex North

Number of tracks: 25

Total time: 73:24

Overview:

In the early 80's, fantasy films were all the rage. Starting with George Lucas's mega hit Star Wars in 1977, studios realized they could use the new special effects technologies to create fantastical films and people would go to see them... hopefully. Around this time we got such classics as Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Krull, Clash of the Titans, The Dark Crystal, Legend and Dragonslayer.

Dragonslayer is by far the oddest out of the list as it is "technically" a Fantasy film, but plays out and feels more like a medieval horror movie. While the surrounding fantasy films were usually fun and somewhat lightweight, Dragonslayer was dark, bloody and in many respects down right depressing. This is a film were the powers-that-be are corrupt, the people are starving and the hero can't seem to do anything right until the end. It also didn't help that this was a joint effort between Paramount pictures and Walt Disney, the latter company who got hit hard for making such a dark film.

Over the years, the film has slowly gained recognition as a landmark in both visual effects and in making a more gritty, real fantasy world. Still, it's a depressing movie that isn't for all tastes. The same thing can easily be said about the score.

Well renowned film score composer Alex North (A Streetcar Named Desire, Spartacus, Cleopatra) was hired by producer Hal Barwood to give his film a different sound than the "normal" fantasy film. The two men agreed that the work of Prokofiev should be a starting point for the sound of the score. What North ultimately delivered is a great, twisted, dark, dissonant and at times beautiful horror/fantasy score that should be at least heard once by everyone.

Review of music:

I'll go ahead and say it up front: Dragonslayer is a really hard score to review or describe. It's a fantasy score.... with hardly any traditional fantasy elements in it. It's better to approach this one as a horror score with a sprinkling of fantasy, because if you approach it otherwise.... you'll be in for a rude awakening.

North's approach to the score was to coat everything in a layer of dissonance to drive home the foreboding nature of the world our hero lives in. This approach may sound horrid on paper, but when you listen to the album, it works very well. The whole score has a constant dark, brooding feeling to it which helps it to be more akin to a horror score. There are moments of more tonal beauty, especially in "Still a Virgin", "Dejection/Eclipse/Resurrection of Ulrich" and "Intro to End Credits/End Credits".

Now to talk about themes. There are four central themes in the score, all of which are given multiple variations as the film progresses. First we are introduced to the guttural brass theme for the dragon of the film, Vermithrax. This theme opens the score, though is not used as often as one may think giving it's apparent statement as the "main theme". Next is the Amulet theme/Galen's motif, a flurry of woodwinds, plucked strings and horns that give off a somewhat comical (and annoying) vibe. Thankfully the scherzo version of this theme is only heard three times during the score.

The last two themes are for the humans: a theme for the Urlander's and a love theme for Galen and Valerian. The Urlander's theme is introduced shortly after the Vermithrax theme in the opening cue and reappears frequently throughout the score. The Love theme is cautiously introduced early in the score and finally takes a central stance in "Still a Virgin" and the finale.

One final thing to note is the amazing array of instruments that Mr. North used in Dragonslayer. Bassoons, Contra-bassoons, organ, harpsichord, euphonium, bell tree, log and parade drums, baritone and bass oboes, chimes plus the usual orchestral instruments are all used to great effect in this score. In some ways this was probably overkill, but it helps to give Dragonslayer a very distinct sound.

Review of packaging:

The CD comes in the usual jewel case with a generous 18 page booklet. The liner notes cover the making of the film as well as giving a detailed track-by-track breakdown of the album. The liner notes also contain several movie stills and production photos.

The back of the album contains the tracklistings (with correct times) and brief film credits over promotional artwork for the film. The disc itself is a deep royal purple color with the Dragonslayer icon at the top and "Music Composed and Conducted by Alex North" on the bottom.

Closing thoughts:

This will probably sound harsh, but I'll go ahead and say it: you really need to have had a good sampling of various styles of film scores before you try to approach Dragonslayer. It was only recently (in the last few months, actually) that I finally warmed up enough to this score to purchase it. It's a difficult listen, but well worth the effort.

The score has some problems (the annoying Amulet scherzo, the overly flighty end credits), but overall it is truly a magnificent achievement that unfortunately gets overlooked or spat upon too often. I will stress one thing though: this is a horror/fantasy score at heart. If you do not appreciate modernistic dissonant scoring, then you should probably leave Dragonslayer alone.

But, for all those willing to give it a spin, I highly recommend it.

Note: This is a review of the Limited Edition album of 3000 units from La-La Land records. You can purchase it here.

Score:

4 out of 5

Rambo II review

2011-02-12T13:51:00.000-08:00

Rambo II (aka First Blood: Part II) (1985)

Composer: Jerry Goldsmith

Number of tracks: 21

Total time: 57:00

Overview:

By the mid 80's, the "macho-man" action films had kicked into high gear. Featuring large muscles, lots of action violence and plenty of over-the-top explosions and scenerios, these films were immensely popular and still continue to this day. At the top of the list of action heroes of the 80's, John Rambo always seems to appear in the top three.

The character of Rambo had already been well established in First Blood (1982) as a sympathetic and tragic vietnam vet who just doesn't belong in the post-war world. In Rambo II, the character becomes the antithesis of the 80's action hero: all macho man that can take on anything and survives everything. Plus he still has a bit of a sympathetic side as well to keep things balanced.

Scoring duties for all three of 1980's Rambo films went to master composer Jerry Goldsmith. Goldsmith had given John Rambo a very melancholy theme in the previous film and treated the remainder of the films "hide and seek" action with sparse, Stravensky-esque orchestrations. For Rambo II, Goldsmith went all out with a percussion heavy action score of the highest calibre.

Review of the music:

Goldsmith carries over the main Rambo theme or the "Long Road Home" melody from the previous score and uses it for the more emotional moments of the film (heard prominently in "Stories"). Along with this theme, another motif is carried over to the sequel from First Blood. A nervous, 3/5 motif typically heard in the brass is used for tense moments or sneaking around scenes.

The most prominent new theme is the Hero theme. Introduced late in "Main Title", this theme is related to the "Long Road Home" melody but is more militaristic and determined in it's orchestration. This Hero theme is used almost to the point of annoyance in the score, though it is given enough variations to keep it one step from becoming annoying. Besides, it's one powerful action anthem, so what's not to like?

Goldsmith also introduces an Asian influenced motif for the location of the film. Also a descending 4 note motif in the lower brass is present in the latter half of the album to represent the evil Russian commander that Rambo later fights.

The major draw of this score is the action music, which is quite possibly some of Goldsmith's best of the decade. About 3/4's of the album contains action material that is of the highest quality. Lots of percussion (both organic and synthetic), brass and string work are featured in all the tracks and give some variety to the album. The last 8 tracks (from "Escape From Torture" to "Day By Day") are pure action score awesomeness. Goldsmith pulls out all the stops with this last segment of the score and shows why he was such a master at film scores.

Two minor drawbacks to the album is the inclusion of the Pop song at the end and overuse of synths. The pop song is the final track, so if one wants to they can simply stop the CD after "Day By Day". The heavy use of synths throughout the score is something for the individual to decide whether they like it or not. At this point in his career, Goldsmith was heavily mixing synthetics with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The results were always masterful, but for those that can't stand synths, be forewarned.

Review of packaging:

The CD comes in the typical jewel case with an 8 page booklet. The back of the album features a picture of Rambo running from a huge explision along a gorge with the tracklisting (with times) underneath.

The liner notes give a brief overview of the film before giving a track-by-track breakdown of the album. Most of the information is about the film's plot and what is happening in each track. The liner notes close with a brief word on Jerry Goldsmith and the remastering job on the CD.

Closing thoughts:

Goldsmith composed many great scores between the mid 70's and the mid 80's and the first two Rambo scores rightfully deserve a place of honor in the lists of his best works of this period. Taking the basics of the first score and adding a heroic new central theme with impressive action material, Goldsmith created one of the high points of 1980's action film scores and of his career.

Ultimately, this score deserves an almost perfect rating. The only things to hold it back are the pop song at the end and the repetitiveness of the music. Still, this is a very worthy score to add to anyone's collection and once again shows the mastery that Mr. Goldsmith had on this medium.

Score:

4 out of 5

How to Train Your Dragon review

2011-02-04T16:48:00.000-08:00

How To Train Your Dragon (2010)

Composer: John Powell

Total time: 71:49

Overview:

2010 was a very good year for film scores. Two of the top scores in the past year just happened to accompany Fantasy films: The Last Airbender and How To Train Your Dragon. Dragon is an animated film from Dreamworks studios (creators of the Shrek series, Kung Fu Panda, etc) about vikings and dragons and the bond that forms between a viking lad (Hiccup) and an outcast dragon (Toothless). The film was a huge success in the summer of 2010 and is one of the finest non-Pixar animated films in a long time.

The score was provided by John Powell, best known for composing the music for the X-Men series and co-composing with his mentor Hans Zimmer on Kung Fu Panda. Powell delivers a fun, clever and endlessly entertaining score that works perfectly in the film and also works wonderfully as a standalone listen.

Review of music:

The album opens with the track "This is Berk" which introduces the main themes in succession. First off is the "Flying Theme" which also acts as a theme for the friendship between Hiccup and Toothless. This theme is heard in multiple variations throughout the album. Next is the theme for the vikings themselves aka the Main theme. Bold and brassy, the orchestra belows out this masculine sounding theme with resolve accompanied by male choir to give a bit of "umph" to the music. Finally we are introduced to Astrid's theme, the female viking that eventually becomes Hiccup's girlfriend. Astrid's theme is classic romantic string writing on a grand scale, similar to James Horner's Main theme from Legends of the Fall (1994).

From here the album continues to get better and better and the album flow is nearly flawless. The sound mixing is phenomenal with every instrument coming through perfectly without overpowering the listener.

One thing that has gotten a lot of criticism is Powell's use of Celtic instruments for a film about vikings. Yes it's technically inappropriate for the setting, but it's a comedy film plus a children's film to boot. Also the Celtic flavor works fine in the score, so there really is not a lot to complain about in this regard. Granted, it was a bit odd to hear pennywhistle and bagpipes during my first viewing of the film.

Along with the Celtic influence, there are several other interesting instrumentations in the score. Electric guitars are used to give extra power to the bass region in "Dragon Battle" and "Test Flight" (don't worry, the guitars are not obnoxiously overused like in many recent scores). Synth vocals are employed to give an air of fantasy to the budding friendship between Toothless and Hiccup in "Downed Dragon" and most effectively in "Forbidden Friendship" along with xylophone, chimes and sleigh bells. Most prominently featured during the opening and final battle sequences is the much used anvil strikes. The tricky thing with using anvils in scores is that sometimes they come across as gimmicky. Thankfully Powell uses the anvils to masterful effect that rivals James Horner's use of the instrument in Aliens (1986).

Along with the main themes mentioned at the beginning of this review, there are also several secondary themes woven throughout the score. Our hero, Hiccup, receives his own slightly quirky but lovable theme first heard around the one minute mark on "Downed Dragon". Later on it is heard in a more robust form during the opening of "New Tail" where Hiccup's theme is treated to a Kung Fu Panda-like variation. There is also a theme for the dragons as a whole, a very mysterious Bernard Herrmann-esque piece heard throughout the album but most prominently "The Dragon Book". A theme for friendships also appears during the latter half of the album and gets an entire track to itself in the concluding "The Vikings Have Their Tea" (great title!). Of final note is a dark theme for the monster-dragon at the end of the film heard in "Ready the Ships", "Fighting the Green Death" and "Counter Attack".

Something that I noticed that very few others seem to catch is that there are numerous moments that feature orchestrations similar to other scores or composers. This by no means is a bad thing! In fact, it adds to the enjoyment of the score. If you are familiar enough with various composers, you will notice moments that sound reminiscent of Bernard Herrmann, John Williams, James Horner, Alan Silvestri, Marrice Jarrar and even Christopher Young throughout the score. This may sound like a negative, but believe me it's not.

Finally, in a rare occurrence for a commercial film score release, the album contains the vast majority of the score.... in film order. Now this is a HUGE plus for fans of the film. You are getting roughly 90% of the score on the album release with all the big set pieces and memorable character moments intact and in film order. Plus there is some music included that was cut from the finished production.

Review of packaging:

The CD comes in the typical jewel case with a 10 page booklet. The liner notes contain the lyrics to the end credits song, extensive album credits and several full color pictures from the film.

In a cute move, the CD is a recreation of the shield Hiccup used during the initial dragon training sequence.

Closing thoughts:

If you can't tell by now, I highly enjoyed this album. This is a near perfect album with the only drawback being the pop song at the end. Thankfully this is not the final track and can be easily skipped. The rest of the score is pure film music magic, the kind of animated score not seen since the "glory days" of James Horner's animated scores in the late 80's and early 90's.

Along with James Newton-Howard's The Last Airbender and Danny Elfman's The Wolfman, How to Train Your Dragon is one of the finest scores from the past year and deserves to be in every film score fans collection. Extremely highly recommended.

Score:

5 out of 5

Sad news for film score fans....

2011-02-01T14:40:00.000-08:00

The great British film composer John Barry died on Monday, January 31 of a heart attack in New York, New York. He was 77.

Barry is best known for composing the scores to such films as Born Free, The Lion in Winter, Zulu, Somewhere In Time and the mega hit Dances with Wolves. Mr. Barry also composed several of the classic James Bond scores including From Russia with Love, Goldfinger and The Living Daylights.

Mr. Barry will be sorely missed by all film score lovers.

John Barry (1933-2011)

Clash of the Titans (1981) review

2011-01-17T14:10:00.000-08:00

Clash of the Titans (1981)

Composer: Laurence Rosenthal

Total time: Disc 1= 45:15/ Disc 2= 58:27

Overview:

Between the mid 50's and early 80's, Ray Harryhausen was the creator of some of the most well regarded fantasy films of the day. From The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms to Jason and the Argonauts to the Sinbad film series, Harryhausen created some of cinema's most beloved creatures using stop-motion animation. An aspect of these films that gets overlooked is their impressive scores.

Over the years, the team of Harryhausen and Charles Schneer was able to hire some of Hollywood's top composers: Bernard Herrmann (7th Voyage of Sinbad, Jason and the Argonauts, Mysterious Island), Miklos Rozsa (Golden Voyage of Sinbad), Jerome Moross (Valley of Gwangi) and finally Laurence Rosenthal.

Clash was ultimately the last film for the team of Harryhausen/Schneer and was also the film with the largest budget thanks to MGM studios. With the larger budget, John Barry and John Williams were approached but both declined. Williams did recommend a replacement composer to the production: Laurence Rosenthal. Rosenthal eagerly accepted the assignment and produced one of the great Fantasy scores of the 80's and possibly of all time.

Note: The following review is of the limited edition 2-disc set by Intrada. Since the two disc set contains over an hour and a half of music, I will refrain from giving a track-by-track review and instead just talk generally about the music and the release.

Review of the music:

The score is split over two discs, with the second disc also containing bonus tracks to fill out the runtime. The score itself is beautiful, a great heroic and fun listen with just the right amount of romanticism and dissonance for the love story and the monsters, respectively. The Main theme (which also acts as Perseus's theme) is introduced during "Prologue and Main Title" after a powerful descending motif for the wrath of the gods. Surprisingly, the Main theme only appears thrice in full form, while only fragments appear throughout the score.

The theme for the gods' wrath is also given to the Kraken at the climax of the film. Likewise a sorrowful, yet creepy string-led theme accompanies both the gods' curses and also works as a theme for the deformed prince Calibos. Of special interest to fans of the film is the inclusion of purely choral cues for the scenes of the gods on Olympus. These haunting pieces were almost completely dialed out of the film and help to give a more fuller world to the score.

The last three themes of note all appear in the final score track on disc two, "The Constellations-End Credits" as well as in their own special cues. First is the theme for Andromeda which is also the Love theme for the film. This is pure romantic string writing in the classic sense with harp accompaniment. This theme first appears in fragment form during "Andromeda", but soon gets a full rendition during the later part of "Justice or Revenge?/The Lovers". Next is the theme for the noble Pegasus introduced in the track "Pegasus/To the Marsh". This theme is a natural progression from the Main theme and reflects the mystery and nobility of the great steed. Lastly is the flighty theme for the robot owl Bubo. Written for strings and woodwinds, this theme is appropriately comical in tone without detracting from the overall mood of the score.

Before I move on I must mention the music Rosenthal wrote for the more eerie moments of the film. The strange and exotic orchestrations and instruments used throughout the score to represent Calibos, Medusa or the river Styx are both ingenious and quite effective. Especially the atonal sound design for Medusa, who has no real theme but instead a motif of plucked strings and rattles. The London Symphony Orchestra does a standout job handling the ethnic instruments and the score as a whole.

The bonus tracks at the end of the second disc contain alternate versions of certain cues as well as the LP version of "The Constellations-End Credits" with Laurence Olivier's narration from the end of the film.

Review of the packaging:

This set comes in the standard fold-out jewel case for two disc sets. The liner notes contain plenty of information about the film and score plus a special section about the restoration process for this release. The liner notes also contain a few full color production photos from the film.

The back of the album contains a photo from the film of Perseus and Pegasus in sillouette on a hill from the scene after Perseus tames the flying horse. Track listings with times and brief credits appear over the picture and are easy to read. Note: Some of the times on the back of the album are off by a few seconds.

The first disc is black with Clash of the Titans in the classic gold font with "Composed and Conducted by Laurence Rosenthal" appearing on the bottom. The second is the same as the first, but with "Disc 2" appearing on the right side of the disc and is blue instead of black.

Closing thoughts:

This has been a favorite film and score for me since I was little, so I may be slightly biased in saying this is one of the finest Fantasy scores of the 80's. While Goldsmith's Legend (1985) has the experimental fantasy element and Horner's Krull (1983) has a swashbuckler feel to it, Rosenthal's Titans is pure unadulterated fun. It's the kind of score that makes you feel like a kid again and even when it goes into dissonant passages, you know it will always come back around to a glorious, heroic finale.

Without a doubt this is one of the easiest film scores to recommend to all my readers. If you like good, fun action/adventure/fantasy music, then there is no need in hesitating in getting this release. The folks at Intrada have perfectly restored this score and have delivered a top notch product (as usual). Very, very highly recommended.

Final note: This is a limited run of 3000 units, so order soon! You can order this release from screenarchives.com.

Score:

5 out of 5

Top 10 Favorite Scores

2011-01-08T11:11:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been awhile since I compiled a "favorite scores list". Over the last year my top 10 has changed greatly. I have re-discovered some old favorites and have decided that some of my old favorites really are not that great.

So, without adeiu, here is my revised top 10 list!

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10. Alien/Aliens. Composers: Jerry Goldsmith/James Horner. (1979/1986)

Comment: While film score collectors argue over which score is truly better, I personally feel that both Goldsmith's and Horner's respective scores to the Alien series deserve the same recognition and praise. They are both similar in their atmospheric setting, but one is purely space age horror while the other is a action/Sci-Fi/horror hybrid. No matter how you look at these scores, they are both great and contain some of the best music by their respective composers.

9. Jumanji. Composer: James Horner. (1995)

Comment: This has been a personal favorite of mine ever since I saw the film on TV when I was little. Even back then I noticed that the flute music in Jumanji sounded like An American Tail. This is not a great score by Horner, but it is fun and holds a special place in my heart as one of my favorite films/soundtracks from when I was younger.

8. Legend. Composer: Jerry Goldsmith. (1985)

Comment: Without question one of Goldsmith's greatest scores and a high water mark for Fantasy scores pre-Lord of the Rings. Both beautiful and eerie, this soundtrack has it all. The Main theme is enough to recommend checking this one out!

7. An American Tail 2. Composer: James Horner. (1991)

Comment: My other childhood favorite film that happened to be scored by Horner, AAT2 is possibly the most purely fun animated score that Horner ever composed. Mixing both heartstring tugging moments with a sense of pure fun, this is one of my all time favorite Horner scores.

6. The Dark Knight. Composers: Hans Zimmer/James Newton-Howard. (2008)

Comment: Dark, brooding, creepy, powerful, epic. That pretty well sums up TDK, by far the best score by Zimmer since The Last Samurai and Pirates of the Caribbean 3. The album is actually a better representation of the score than what you hear in the film.

5. How To Train Your Dragon. Composer: John Powell. (2010)

Comment: Celtic instruments used for a film about vikings and dragons? Well, thankfully it worked and is in my opinion one of the best scores of the past year. HTTYD is magical, fun and epic all rolled into one highly enjoyable score. The album presents almost the entire score in chronological order. A rare occurrence for a commercial film score release.

4. Clash of the Titans. Composer: Laurence Rosenthal. (1981)

Comment: A highly overlooked hidden gem of the 1980's Fantasy film boom, Rosenthal's score is a true classic. Bold, brassy and heroic, the score is everything you could want from a Fantasy film set in ancient times. The themes for Perseus and the romance between Perseus and Andromeda are easy highlights.

3. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Composer: John Williams. (1980)

Comment: It's the best Star Wars ever got, both musically and film-wise. A definite must for any film score collection. For a time I had lost interest in this score until I recently re-listened to it. Now it's back in my top favorites. A truly timeless score.

2. The Last Airbender. Composer: James Newton-Howard. (2010)

Comment: The finest Fantasy score to come out since Howard Shore's great Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Howard perfectly melds orchestra, synths and ethnic instruments into a fantastic score worthy of anyones collection.

1. Legends of the Fall. Composer: James Horner. (1994)

Comment: James Horner's finest score ever. Nuff said..... Well, I guess I should add a bit more. So far no other score has continually impressed me or affected me in the way that Legends has. I have listened to this album multiple times and every time it feels fresh and new. If there is one score to buy sometime in your life, this is it.

--------------------------------

And in the special honorary place.......

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Composer: Howard Shore. (2001/2002/2003)

Comment: I doubt there will ever be a series of scores that can match LotR in size, scope and impact. Instead of trying to rearrange my favorite scores to include the Rings trilogy, I decided to give it an honorary place. In other words this would be #1.2.

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen review

2010-12-29T17:18:00.001-08:00

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

Composer: Steve Jablonsky

Number of tracks: 14

Total time: 43:56

Overview:

In 2006 Michael Bay unleashed his take of the 1980's transforming robots from outer space with Transformers. The film, like most of Bay's work, was overblown eye candy mostly aimed at teen guys. With a barrage of cool CGI effects plus the constant presence of Meagan Fox, it was no surprise the film was a box office success. Despite it's major flaws (which there are many) the film was somewhat fun on a "stupid action movie" level and Steve Jablonsky's score was decent.

Now comes the inevitable sequel: Transformers 2. Anything and everything that could possibly work as redeeming factors of the first film are completely stripped away. Movies like this really should not be so popular, though stick a barrage of cool CGI and Miss Fox in the skimpiest of outfits and I guess you've already snagged a good chunk of American males.... The plot of these films are not really worth going into. Just know the good guy robots are "Autobots" and the bad guys are "Decepticons" and they are constantly fighting. Now that we have that out of the way, it's time to concentrate on the score by Hans Zimmer student Steve Jablonsky.

Note: The following review will only look at the music. I do not own this album yet, so I cannot give one of my usual full reviews.

Review of the music:

The album opens with "Prime", the new central theme for the hero Autobot Optimus Prime. The theme is appropriately heroic and epic with a racing string ostinato playing beneath brass, synths, percussion and choir. The only problem with this theme is that one quickly realizes it's a direct ripoff of the Rising Hero theme from Batman Begins (2005) minus the choir. This is the biggest problem with Jablonsky's Transformers scores: they feature blatant ripoffs of superior work by Hans Zimmer.

"Einstein's Wrong" opens with a goofy little theme for Sam (Shia LaBeouf) before delving into darker territory with cellos, male choir and a continual electronic ticking sound. The next three tracks, "Nest", "The Shard" and "The Fallen", make-up the most annoying music on the album."Nest" is an odd techno/rock hybrid piece while "The Shard" features a barrage of electronic beats and noises. To add insult to injury, the worst offender is "The Fallen" (track 4) which introduces the new villains theme. This cue begins with low distorted electronic pulses before vaguely Middle-Eastern vocals (electronically enhanced, of course) enter accompanied by synths and distorted strings. If you thought "Why So Serious?" from TDK was a test of endurance, you should definitely skip "The Shard" and "The Fallen".

Track 5, "Infinite White", finally returns some sanity to the album with a full return of the Prime theme this time accompanied by the haunting vocals of Lisa Gerrard. The track ends with strings playing a sadder melody. This definitely marks one of the highlights of the album. "Heed Our Warning" (track 6) returns to the electronic pulses and male choir of the villains, though this time accompanied by pounding percussion at around the 2:30 mark. This track is reminiscent of "Aggressive Expansion" from TDK.... minus the male choir.

"The Fallen's Arrival" continues with the bad guys music and gives a much better rendition of the new villains music, much better than "The Fallen". After opening with a brief statement of the Prime theme, electronic pulses, percussion, choir and the descending two note/four note theme for the Fallen enters with full force. The style of this track reminds me a great deal of the Davy Jones music from Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At Worlds End (2007). The Decepticons "blaster beam" effect from the previous film ends the track, connecting the old villains with the new.

Track 8, "Tomb of the Primes", returns to the music heard in "Infinite White" though in a much more contemplative variant. Strings dominate for the first half of this cue before the classic racing string ostinato and brass enter to carry the Prime theme to a heroic rising brass ending. As the title suggests, "Forrest Battle" is a short action cue cut into two pieces: the first half features the Fallen's theme while the last half gives a guest appearance to the Autobots theme from the first film over racing percussion.

"Precious Cargo" opens with dark strings, male chorus and anvil strikes before military percussion enters with a solo horn version of the Prime theme. The cue ends on a dark note with descending strings and the ever present racing ostinato. Track 11, "Matrix of Leadership"opens with the vocals of Lisa Gerrard before giving way to a statement of the Autobots theme before surging into a building, full blown heroic rendition of the Prime theme. The Autobots theme returns in the last 30 seconds to close the track.

Track 12, "I Claim Your Sun", is the final big action cue on the album. All the themes from the score are presented here in fine form: Fallen's theme, Autobots theme, Prime theme and Decepticon theme. This track leads directly into "I Rise, You Fall" which opens with moaning synths and heavy percussion before giving way to a final statement of the Fallen theme. The Prime theme immediately picks up where the villain theme ended, again accompanied by Lisa Gerrard's vocals. The Autobots theme makes a final appearance as well in an appropriately heroic and epic setting to close out the album on a high note.

Closing thoughts:

Steve Jablonsky, despite ripping-off several of his teacher's scores, delivered what the film needed: a big, epic and admittedly fun score. Besides the blatant ripoff issue, the main thing I dislike about the album for Transformers 2 is the wasted space with the tracks "Nest", "The Shard" and "The Fallen". Not only are these tracks almost unlistenable but the central themes to these tracks appear in better form later on the album.

So in closing, is this a good album? Not really. Is it a fun album? In a word.... yes. The score is definitely the only good thing from Transformers 2 and if you accept the ripped off themes and skip the above mentioned tracks, the album can be a fun, if mindless, listen. Just approach with caution..... and for the love of everything good STAY AWAY FROM THE MOVIE!!!!

Score:

2 1/2 out of 5

Just in time for Christmas, a load of new film score releases!!!

2010-12-17T09:39:00.001-08:00

Well, it's time of the years again. Time for the weather to get bitterly cold, the days to get shorter and companies to start advertising like crazy. Granted, that last bit is usually highly annoying..... unless it is for film scores.

Over the last few weeks a several special soundtrack releases have been announced. In this post I'll list the various releases, give their price and a link to where you can purchase them.

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Patton (2-CD set). $19.95. (1970)

Note: This set contains both the score as it appeared in the film (disc 1) plus the classic LP presentation created by Goldsmith with opening and closing speech by George C. Scott. This is a non limited release by Intrada.

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First Blood (2-CD set). $19.95. (1982)

Note: Like with the Patton release, Intrada has compiled the complete score to First Blood as it appeared in the film plus restored the 1982 LP album for the second disc. Again, this is a non limited release.

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Clash of the Titans (complete score). $29.99. (1981)

Note: Finally! Intrada has released the complete 90 minute score to Titans by Laurence Rosenthal. This is a great fantasy score and should not be missed! Limited run of 3000 copes.

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Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. $12.18. (2010)

Note: The long awaited third installment of the Narnia series, Dawn Treader is a fun, if not

great, continuation of the series. You can read my review of the album here.

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Home Alone (Expanded). $19.95. (1990)

Note: La La Land records recently released an expanded version of John Williams holiday/comedy score to the Chris Columbus family film Home Alone.

The CD contains a near complete representation of the score as well as bonus tracks. Limited to 3500 copies.

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The Karate Kid (Complete). $21.99. (1984)

Note: This is a special release by Varese Sarabande of Bill Conti's iconic mid 80's score. Complete and digitally remastered, this is a limited release of 2000 copies. Conti fans act fast!

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Poltergeist (2-CD). $24.95. (1982)

Note: O.K, I originally mentioned that FSM was going to release Jerry Goldsmith's classic horror/fantasy score Poltergeist way back in October. Well, after some delays FSM has finally released their CD and boy, is it a doozy!

The first disc features the complete score as it appeared in the film with additional music, all remastered in stereo by Bruce Botnick the long time recording engineer and friend of Jerry Goldsmith. The second disc contains a recreation of the 1982 LP plus several tracks of alternate takes on various cues. To round off the presentation, the CD comes with a 28 page booklet which includes a track-by-track breakdown of both discs.

Limited to 10,000 copies.

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Well, I hope this short list will prove useful for my fellow film score lovers. Sorry for a few of the album covers being on the large side. The thumbnail pictures barely showed up, so to give a better view of the cover art, I used a larger image.

Happy listening!

~Ben

Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader review

2010-12-07T18:18:00.000-08:00

Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010)

Composer: David Arnold

Number of tracks: 30

Total time: 72:08

Overview:

In 2005 Disney released Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe directed by Andrew Adamson with a score by Harry Gregson-Williams. After the major success of that film, Disney released the sequel Prince Caspian in 2008 which featured the same cast and crew to slightly lackluster reviews. 20th Century Fox took over the franchise when Disney dropped the rights in 2008 and have now released the third Narnia film: Voyage of the Dawn Treader directed by Michael Apted with a score by David Arnold.

This is Arnold's first large scale fantasy work since 1998's disaster of a disaster film Godzilla. His most recent work includes scoring the historical film Amazing Grace as well as the two latest Bond films: Casino Royale (2006) and Quantum of Solace (2009). While Arnold has proven himself skilled at scoring drama and action films, it's great to hear him return to the genre that first made him known.

With Dawn Treader Arnold takes what Harry Gregson-Williams had laid down in the previous two scores and adds his own flair to the music resulting in a very fun, if somewhat unfortunate, album.

Review of music:

The score is quite simply magical in places such as in the first few tracks, especially in "Opening Titles". The Main theme is quickly introduced in the first track after a short choral piece by woodwinds, strings and horns. This theme returns multiple times throughout the album and is surprisingly versatile, though it can sound a little too "magical" (i.e, like something from Night at the Museum by Alan Silvestri) at times.

The action music is a definite standout of the score sounding surprisingly fresh even if it does bring to mind Arnold's action writing from Stargate, Godzilla and even Casino Royale. The massive 11 minute track "Into Battle" (track 27) is a great example of Arnold's action music with pounding percussion, sliding strings, massive choir and triumphant brass statements. Speaking of choirs, Dawn Treader features several pieces with choir varying from magical and mysterious to downright creepy and epic (namely track 8, "The Green Mist" and the previously mentioned "Into Battle").

Overall the music is very good and perfectly captures the spirit of Narnia. Granted, there are many moments that bring to mind Arnold's previous efforts especially Stargate, Independence Day, Godzilla and Casino Royale. While this might be a negative to some, it actually makes the score more fun, especially the great fantasy orchestrations similar to Stargate. Of interesting note is the use of various ethnic instruments throughout the score from shahukachi flute to Irish fiddle and African percussion.

Of importants to Narnia fans and those interested in keeping continuity, Arnold reuses Gregson-Williams Narnia theme a total of three times during the score: "High King and Queen of Narnia", "Aslan Appears" and "Time to Go Home". Dare I say it, the theme actually sounds better in the re-orchestrations by Arnold than in their original presentation.

Unfortunately, there are some negatives to the album. Most of the cues seem to be cut short, simply stopping without a good fade-out. I'm not sure if this is something done for the album or if this is how the music is in the film. Also the album could have greatly benefited from an end credit suite. The final track is good, but does not feel like "the end" for the album.

Lastly the album flow is a bit choppy. While the music presentation is O.K, one gets the feeling that you are listening to little snippets of the score instead of a continuing whole (compare Dawn Treader album to The Last Airbender for a good example).

Review of packaging:

The CD comes in the standard jewel case with a 6 page full color booklet. The liner notes contain album credits, tracklistings (with correct times) and brief film credits. Film stills are presented on every page.

The back of the album features tracklistings (no times) and brief film credits.

Closing thoughts:

David Arnold has done a very good job at following up Harry Gregson-Williams previous scores while still making Dawn Treader a unique listening experience. While I would love to give this album a 4 1/2 rating, I'm afraid I must knock-off half a star for the abrupt endings to most of the tracks and the fact that the album does not have a solid ending.

Still, Dawn Treader is an easy recommendation to fans of the series or of good fantasy scores. James Newton-Howard's The Last Airbender is still the best score of 2010 in my opinion, though Dawn Treader is a close second.

Score:

4 out of 5

My Goldsmith Paper For All to Read

2010-12-05T15:11:00.000-08:00

Alright, I'm long overdue for a blog post.... Instead of giving a review today, I'm posting the Goldsmith paper that I wrote for my music appreciation class this semester. I hope all of you enjoy the read! (BTW, I made an A- on this paper).

Note: Citations included and formating has been changed from original MLA format.

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Jerry Goldsmith: A Film Score Composer Remembered

There have been several great film score composers over the eight long decades since films first had sound: Erich Korngold, Max Steiner, Dimitri Tiomkin, Elmer Bernstein, Bernard Herrmann and John Williams. Of the composers of the post “Golden Age” Hollywood, there is one composer that I feel deserves the title of master: Jerry Goldsmith (1929-2004).

Jerry Goldsmith was born on February 10th, 1929 in Pasadena California to Tessa and Morris Goldsmith. At a young age Goldsmith showed interest in music, learning to play the piano at age 6 and by age 14 studying music theory, composition and counterpoint with Jacob Gimpel and Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. Later, Goldsmith became acquainted with legendary film composer Mikolas Rosza and attended Rosza’s classes in film composition at the University of Southern California. Interestingly, it was Rosza’s score to the 1946 film Spellbound that first captured Goldsmith’s attention to compose music for films. Prior to seeing Spellbound, Goldsmith had wanted to be a concert hall composer, but realized that the infrequency of concert hall commissions would never be enough to fill his hunger for writing music.

After graduating from the University of Southern California, Goldsmith’s first job was working as a typist in the music department of CBS. His first assignments were for radio shows including CBS Radio Workshop. Goldsmith continued working for CBS and eventually moved from radio to television, scoring such shows as Playhouse 60 and several episodes of the classic Rod Serling Sci-Fi series Twilight Zone. In 1960 Goldsmith left CBS and was hired by Revue Studios to score their new TV series, Thriller. In the meantime, Goldsmith also composed the themes for Man From U.N.C.L.E. as well as the spin-off Girl From U.N.C.L.E. Goldsmith received his first Academy Award nomination in 1962 for his work on Freud after having scored several smaller, lesser known films. In the same year, Goldsmith met and became friends with legendary composer/conductor Alfred Newman. Newman recommended Goldsmith to Universal studios to score their Kirk Douglas western Lonely Are the Brave (1963). Following that film’s success, Goldsmith became the contracted composer for 20th Century Fox and quickly became a leading name in American film music. By the late 60’s Goldsmith had composed several well known films including The Blue Max, Rio Chonchos and the groundbreaking, Oscar-nominated experimental score to Planet of the Apes (1968). In the 1970’s Goldsmith continued scoring mainstream films which included the classics Patton, The Omen (his only Academy Award winning work), and Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Along with being noted with scoring many blockbuster films and/or classic genre films, Goldsmith was also noted for his eagerness to experiment with various ethnic instruments and recording techniques. The use of ethnic instruments in Goldsmith’s work ranges from the Arab influenced sounds heard in The Wind and the Lion (1975) to the use of Serpent, Diderjudu and Indian conch to give a truly disconcerting sound to the title beast in Alien (1979). One of his most memorable recording techniques was using an Echoplex to give a far off, repeating sound to horns in Patton (1970) and a similiar, yet creepy, sound in Alien (1979). The abstract, percussion heavy approach to Planet of the Apes was also highly influential and opened the door for new, more experimental film scores. In addition to composing film scores, Goldsmith was also an intregal part of pushing for synthetics to be integrated into orchestral work. While his contemporaries were using synths to compensate for having a small orchestra or a tight budget, Goldsmith was simply using the technology as another instrument. He felt that the synths were just another part of the orchestra. Goldsmith began integrating synths into his work in the 70’s, but only truly gave the synths center stage in the 1980’s. Some of the best examples of this approach are heard in: Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), Gremlins (1984) and Legend (1985). Famous works by Goldsmith in the 1980’s include the above mentioned films plus Secret of N.I.M.H, Under Fire and Hoosiers. Goldsmith continued scoring films through the 90’s and early 2000’s before his death in 2004.

Over the years Goldsmith worked with a variety of directors, some he considered good friends such as Franklin J. Schaffner and Michael Crichton. Among his collaborators, Goldsmith worked with Steven Spielberg , Michael Crichton, Franklin Schaffner, Ridley Scott and Joe Dante. Goldsmith considered his work for the films of Schaffner to be some of his best and often spoke affectionately of the director always pushing him to explore new areas when it came to scoring his films: “Certain composers are doing the same thing over and over again, which I feel is sort of uninteresting. I don’t find that you grow very much in that way. I like to keep changing, trying to do new things.“1 On the other hand, Goldsmith did not have a good experience with Ridley Scott. When working with Scott on Alien, the director asked Goldsmith to re-score several cues then ultimately butchered the score in the finished film: rearranging cues, using stock music from Howard Henson Symphony Number 2 and Goldsmith’s own Freud as well as leaving some music out completely. Needless to say, Goldsmith did not appreciate the treatment of his score as he stated in this excerpt from an interview with CinemaScore in 1981: “They just got used to the pre-tracked score. This happens a lot of times. You try to convince someone not to put music in before, because whether it fits or not, they get used to it.....” 2

Goldsmith’s approach to film scoring was very much that of both an artist and an audience member: “I like to go see any film that I’m scoring as an audience first and react as the audience and try to distance myself from what I eventually have to do.” 3 Goldsmith understood that a truly great score not only has to work well for the film, but also be a solid stand-alone experience: “I think the real challenge of composing music for film is to write a score that works brilliantly in the film but also has a life of it’s own, that stands by itself.”4 and also that a score needed to have a structure: “Of course there should be a structure, an architecture to any score. It’s not a piece here and a piece there. It has to be thought out. You can’t approach each cue as a separate piece of music.” 5

Goldsmith was also highly influential on the young up and coming generation of film composers in the 1980’s. Such regarded composers as James Horner (Titanic, Star Trek II, Legends of the Fall), Christopher Young (Hellraiser) and Alan Silvestri (Back to the Future, Predator) all mention Goldsmith as a big influence on their careers and styles.

Unfortunately, Goldsmith’s long battle with cancer ended in 2004 when he died at his California home on July 21st. He was 75 years old. With his passing we not only lost a great composer, but a great piece of film score history.

Works Cited:

1. Larson, Randall D. “A Conversation with Jerry Goldsmith.” Soundtrack: The CinemaScore and Soundtrack Archives. Thursday, 03 April 2008 9:27 . Originally published in CinemaScore #11/12, 1983

2. Bryce, Allan. “A Conversation with Jerry Goldsmith.” Soundtrack: The CinemaScore and Soundtrack Archives. Sunday, 30 March 2008 10:56. . Originally published in Soundtrack Magazine No.25/1981.

3. Alien: The Director’s Cut (DVD Documentary). DVD. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2004.

4. Alien: The Director’s Cut (DVD Documentary). DVD. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2004.

5. Karlin, Fred and Wright, Rayburn. On the Track: A Guide to Contemporary Film Scoring. New York: Routledge, 2004.

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For Film Score Lovers.....

2010-11-13T17:56:00.000-08:00

Greetings all!

After looking over my blog recently, I realized I have never talked about where I get my information or where I buy my albums. So, today I will briefly discuss the various websites I frequent for film score info and purchasing.

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Review sites and information hubs:

www.soundtrack.net is a good source for unbiased reviews and audio clips. Unfortunately the site has not been updated much recently with new CD reviews. Still, worth checking out.

www.Filmtracks.com has plenty of good information on scores, though the reviews are heavily biased depending on how the author feels about a certain composer, genre, etc. I mostly go here for technical information and to see what "the other side" has to say about certain scores.

Warning!: The author of the above site has a tendency to swear like a sailor, so be forewarned.

www.moviemusicuk.us. A great, mostly unbiased, review site run by Brit John Broxton. There are a ton of thorough reviews on this site, though they have recently remodeled so most of the older reviews are currently unavailable.

Purchasing CDs:

www.screenarchives.com. THE main source for my soundtrack collection. This site is run out of Virginia and is part of the FSM record label. They have a huge catalogue of film score CDs from regular releases to specialty label titles.

The customer service is good, the shipping time is decent and the orders always arrive in mint shape. If you are looking for any soundtracks, I highly recommend checking out Screen Archives.

www.Amazon.com. You knew this one would be on the list, didn't you? Amazon is mostly good for regular commercial releases. Don't expect to find any "hard to find" albums for a good price here, though.

FYE store. On very rare occasions I will buy an album from our local FYE store in the mall. Usually it's because they have a good deal on a particular CD (like Inception or The Dark Knight).

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Well, that covers everything. I hope this list will come in handy for any of you film score enthusiasts out there. If you have a question about any of the above mentioned sites, feel free to leave a comment.

Continue to enjoy the music!

~Ben

The Best of Godzilla: 1984-1995 review

2010-11-08T13:09:00.000-08:00

The Best of Godzilla: 1984-1995 (1998)

Composers: Akira Ifukube, Kohichi Sugiyama, Reijiroh Koroku, Takayuki Hattori

Number of tracks: 30

Total time: 78:28

Overview:

Quick Godzilla film history lesson......

Way back in 1954 a small group of Japanese filmmakers would create one of the most iconic creatures ever conceived: Godzilla. The original film, Gojira, was a dark allegory for the horrors of nuclear bombs and especially the impact of such weapons on Japan. The first movie was such a success that several sequels followed, each one more outlandish than the last. By the mid 70's Godzilla had been in 15 films and was finally given a break after Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975).

In 1984, Godzilla was brought back to the silver screen and returned to his dark roots in a "reboot" film simply called Gojira (aka Godzilla 1985 in America). This kicked-off a second series of films that lasted until 1995 when Godzilla finally officially died in Godzilla vs Destroyah. The second series or Heisei series of Godzilla films kept the serious tone of Gojira (1984) but ultimately succumbed to the increasingly bizzare nature of the early Showa series.

Alright, now that we have all of that out of the way we can talk about the CD that this review is about. This compilation album contains music from the Heisei Godzilla films from Gojira (1984) to Godzilla vs Destroyah (1995). You may be asking "Why review Godzila music? There's nothing to talk about....", on the contrary the Godzilla series features some surprisingly good film scores. This compilation gives a nice overview of what I consider the better series of scores to accompany the Big G.

Review of album:

The album begins with Akira Ifukube's iconic "Godzilla Theme". The theme is actually cut into two parts: the "rampage theme" which opens the track and then the "Godzilla March" which is the memorable three-note pattern in the brass played over steady military percussion.

From there the album moves on to a collection of cues from Godzilla 1985 ("Main Title", "Godzilla vs Super-X", "Army March", "Godzilla's Exit", "Ending"). Reijiroh Koroku's style is much more Gothic than is typically heard in a Godzilla film, much more akin to the work of Christopher Young in the 80's. This darker style perfectly fits the attitude of the film and makes for probably the best non-Ifukube Godzilla music on the album.

Moving along in chronological order, we next get three tracks from Kohichi Sugiyama's Godzilla vs Biollante (1989). While this score is lauded as one of the best in the series by fans, it just is not a good "Godzilla" score. There is nothing wrong with the music, (well except for the hard rock vibe of "Bio Wars") it's rather pretty in several spots. The problem is that it sounds too much like something from one of the Final Fantasy video games. Of course, Mr. Sugiyama was a composer for that game series, soooo....

Tracks 10-12 feature the triumphant return of Ifukube to the Godzilla series in Godzilla vs King Ghidorah (1991). The track selection for this film is rather odd as there is a lot of great music not presented while the cues that are available are lesser cues, except for the "Main Titles" (track 10).

Continuing with Ifukube, the next six tracks contain music from Godzilla vs Mothra (1992) and Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II (1993). Again, the music selection for these two scores are somewhat weak, with Mothra being the better of the two. The music for Mechagodzilla II is rather annoying at times, especially Mechagodzilla's theme heard in the Main titles.

For the sixth film in the Haisei series, a new composer was hired: Takayuki Hattori. Hattori's score for Godzilla vs Spacegodzilla (1994) is well represented with four tracks including the film's end credits in the track "Crystal" (track 24). Harroti's style is more derivative of David Arnold and John Williams than his fellow composers on this compilation. By far "Main Titles" and "Crystal" are the best cues from this score.

The album comes to a epic conclusion with the (then) last Godzilla score: Godzilla vs Destroyah (1995) by Akira Ifukube. The music here is dark, epic and heartbreaking. All five cues from this score are highlights, especially "Godzilla Attacks Hong Kong" (featuring Destroyah's theme) and "Requiem" (for Godzilla's death). I dare anyone not to get choked-up while listening to "Requiem".

Unfortunately, the album ends with the completely unneeded and tacky "remix" of the Monster Zero March from Invasion of the Astro-Monster (aka Godzilla vs Monster Zero) (1965).

Review of packaging:

The CD comes in the standard jewel case with a five page booklet. The liner notes contain track listings (plus times), an overview of the Heisei series scores and brief synopsis of the various movies represented.

While this may sound like a lot of good information, there are several typos and odd sentence structures that make reading a bit difficult. Also there are obvious bias's towards certain films in the liner notes such as stating that Godzilla 1985 and Godzilla vs Biollante both had ".... Serviceable, if unremarkable scores."

Closing thoughts:

For anyone who is a fan of Godzilla, this CD is really is a "must have". For the casual listener, I would recommend giving the album a listen. In many ways the music to Toho monster films are more accessible than a lot of Western scores. Most Japanese monster scores have three or four main themes that are easily recognizable and hummable after the first listen.

Even if you are not "into" Godzilla, give this album a listen. You'll be surprised that such good music would come from films with "guys in rubber suits destroying model cities."

Note: If you are not interest in spending the money for the whole album and only wish to hear the best music from these Godzilla films, then I would suggest heading over to youtube and looking up the soundtracks to Godzilla 1985, Godzilla vs King Ghidorah and Godzilla vs Destroyer.

Rating:

3 1/2 out of 5

Lord of the Rings Trilogy soundtrack review (single disc albums)

2010-10-28T10:22:00.000-07:00

Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, Return of the King (2001, 2002, 2003)

Composer: Howard Shore:

Number of tracks: 17/19/19

Total time: 71:29/ 72:48/ 72:07

Overview:

There are very few composers that have undertaken a project as large in scope as The Lord of the Rings and even fewer who have emerged with a truly masterful score. Thankfully Howard Shore was able to compose not only the perfect music for Middle-Earth but also some of the best film music of the 2000's and probably of the last few decades.

Instead of doing my usual track-by-track breakdown of the albums and discussing all the themes (there are over 34 themes and motifs sprinkled throughout all three scores), I will instead simply give an overview of each album and give my opinion on the treatment of the music for the single disc versions.

So, let us begin......

Fellowship of the Ring:

The first album and film, Fellowship introduces the central themes for the trilogy plus contains hints of other thematic material to come. While the range of these thematic hints are very prominate in both the film and Complete Recordings set, on the single disc album most of the foreshadowing moments are cut. Most surprising is the almost total lack of the Ring theme or History of the Ring theme on the album. While the theme is very much a central piece to the score, it only appears briefly on the album in a few tracks.

An important thing to note is that the album is made up of various moments from throughout the score edited together to form tracks. Most of the important highlights from the score are present, though there are some great moments that have been cut.

While the music is presented in a "butchered " form, it still makes for a great and enjoyable listen. In fact, certain pieces sound better in truncated form than in their complete form as heard on the magnificent Complete Recordings. For instance: The track "Amen Hen" features the music from when Boramir tries to take the ring from Frodo through the battle with the Uruk-Hai and finally ends with the solo French horn rendition of the Fellowship theme. This track omits the dragged-out buildup to the Uruk-Hai/Isengard theme and ends that theme with the pounding anvil strikes, minus the interspersed choir as heard on the CR.

Also of note is the unused early version of the prologue music that opens the album. This track contains very different muisc from what finally appeared in the finished film and Extended Cut, making the track a stand-out on the album.

The album concludes with the massive "The Breaking of the Fellowship" which contains the music from the scene where Frodo and Sam leave all the way to the end of end credits (abbreviated slightly, of course). This track also contains the song "May It Be" by Enya.

All in all Fellowship of the Ring is a very good album, even if it is not the best of the single disc CD's. You really have to hear the Complete Recordings to fully appreciate this amazing score, though if you simply want the highlights and/or strapped for cash, then get this "best of the score" album.

The Two Towers:

The second installment of the trilogy naturally builds on the themes of the first score plus adds some new themes into the mix, namely the Rohan music, Gollum's themes and The White Rider theme. The Ring theme, Fellowship theme, Shire theme, Mordor and Isengard theme all make reappearances in this score.

I freely admit that this by far my favorite album of the single disc CDs. All the best parts from the score are presented in well constructed cues and the overall feeling is a much more satisfactory listening experience than with Fellowship. Unlike the previous album, TTT opens with the music heard at the beginning of the film which is simply amazing and a great way to start the album. The music is once again presented in "rearranged" form, though the remixing feels more organic and comfortable than on the prior album.

Of slight annoyance though is the rearranging of the music for the climatic battle of Helms Deep. Music that appears at the end of the battle is put in the middle ("Forth Eorlingas!") and the middle music is last ("Isengard Unleashed"). Fortunately this is only a minor gripe as the rest of the album is presented in a better layout (yet still greatly out of film order).

The new Rohan theme is given appropriate prominence on the album as is the new theme for Gandalf (The White Rider) and Gollum (first heard in "The Taming of Smeagol"). "The Uruk-Hai" is great suite of the Fellowship theme, Mordor theme and Isengard theme from the first film. The Fellowship and Isengard theme appear off and on throughout the album though always seconded by the Rohan theme.

Like the previous album, Two Towers ends with the end credit song before surging into the final few minutes of the end credits suite, this time a final rendition of the Rohan theme.

If there was only one of the single disc albums to get, I would recommend getting The Two Towers. This album has the best layout and selection from its corresponding film of the three scores. Still, I would highly recommend getting the Complete Recording for TTT if you want the best possible presentation of the score. Just saying.

The Return of the King:

"We come to it at last. The great battle of our time..." ~Gandalf

The Big Finale. The End of All Things. The completion of the trilogy. The score to RotK is truly "epic" in every sense of the word. Shore not only brings to bear all the themes from the previous two films but also introduces two new themes for Gondor (only hinted at previously), a theme for the giant spider Shelob and some of the most epic choir music imaginable for the final battle at Mount Doom.

Unfortunately, over 3/4 of this epic final musical chapter is left off of the single disc album. All of the main highlights are here: opening credits, entrance to Minas Tirith, Lighting of the Beacons, Minus Morgal emptied, Aragorn receiving Anduril, Shelob's Lair, Siege of Gondor/the Ride of the Rohirrim and the final fifteen minutes of the film.

The majority of the highlights are edited together in one track - for instance the charge of the Rohirrim and the siege of Gondor are both on one track with the attack on Gondor appearing in the middle. Also the great final battle music at the climax of the film is abbreviated with the amazing Gondor Reborn theme edited out.

While the album only begins to scratch the surface of this amazing orchestral work, it is a decent representation of the score as a whole. Of the three single disc albums, RotK is definitely the second best and is only held back by not including some truly magnificent restatements of themes from the previous two films in arguably their finest forms.

Review of Packaging:

All three CD's come in the usual jewel case with a fold out booklet. The liner notes contain a note from Peter Jackson and Howard Shore along with album credits. Production stills round out the liner notes.

The back of the albums contain track listing (no times) and brief album and film credits.

Closing Thoughts:

I hope these overviews of the Lord of the Rings trilogy scores have been of use and hopefully a fun read. If you have the money, I would really recommend checking out the Complete Recordings for all three scores as they present the full scores in film order plus contain unused pieces integrated into the music.

Ratings:

Fellowship of the Ring= 3 1/2 out of 5

The Two Towers= 4 1/2 out of 5

Return of the King= 4 out of 5

3 Great Horror Scores You've Never Heard.

2010-10-15T17:44:00.000-07:00

Well, it's October. Time for the weather to cool off, leaves to start changing and falling, Jack-O-Lanterns to be set out and talk of Horror films/scary stories/what you're going to dress-up as for Halloween night.

For a film score collector, this is also around the time that one begins checking out scores for creepy films: past and present. There have been many horror movies with good to great scores composed by some of the greats (Jerry Goldsmith, Max Steiner, John Williams, Lalo Schrifin, Bernard Herrmann, Christopher Young, Howard Shore, Elliot Goldenthal, etc.), yet there are some good scary scores that have fallen through the cracks or gotten lost to public attention over the years.

Tonight I searched through youtube to find videos for three of the best overlooked horror scores (in my opinion). The following are my personal picks:

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The Thing (1982)

Composer: Ennio Morricone

Comments: A highly overlooked score, Morricone's work for John Carpenter's freakfest is a great minimilist, neoclassical score that perfectly reflects the isolation of the human characters and the building uneasy as "The Thing" slowly takes over the base.... and the men.

Tracks picked: Humanity (part 1), Wait, Despair.

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The

Wolfman (2010)

Composer: Danny Elfman

Comments: 2010 has been a surprisingly good year for film scores and this great Gothic score by Elfman is a real treat. Highly influenced by the Eastern European and string heavy melodrama of Wojciech Kilar's Bram Stoker's Dracula, Elfman gives a very impressive and harmonic horror score worthy of any

collection.

Tracks picked: Wolf Suite (Part 1), Wolf Suite (Part 2), Traveling Montage, the Funeral.

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The Fly II (1989)

Composer: Christopher Young

Comments: I have already expressed my affections for this score in my review of The Fly/The Fly II 2-disc set, so I will simply say this: if you enjoy the Main title music..... buy the album. It's a highly underrated score from a highly underrated composer.

Track picked: The Fly II (Main Title)

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I hope you enjoy all these great tracks. I'll try to post a regular review next week.

Happy listening!

~Ben

The Last Airbender review

2010-10-02T15:22:00.000-07:00

The Last Airbender (2010)

Composer: James Newton Howard

Number of tracks: 12

Total time: 66:46

Overview:

After collaborating on 6 different films with director M. Night Shyamalan which mostly revolved around a supernatural premise, The Last Airbender marks the 7th time the director/composer duo have teamed up and the first epic fantasy film for Shyamalan. While the director is new to this genre, Howard had already made a name for himself scoring fantasy films such as Waterworld, Dinosaur, Treasure Planet and Atlantis: The Lost Empire in the late 90's and early 2000's.

With Airbender, Howard takes all of his experience from his prior work and adds in several new touches, especially in instrumentation, to make one knockout fantasy score.

Note: The following review is of the album only. I have not seen the film, thus I cannot relate the music to certain scenes, characters, etc.

Review of music:

The score contains three base themes and several motifs that waft in and out of the music. The Main theme consists of alternating ascending/descending two notes that are typically heard in the brass (similar to the Main theme in Batman Begins, but slightly different). This Main theme is surprisingly versatile in the score moving from grand, majestic performances by French horns with string accompaniment to aggressive staccato movements in the brass for action scenes.

The next theme of note is the "Avatar theme". This theme begins with a romantically inclined descending cello figure which is then accompanied by the rest of the strings and finally woodwinds and brass. The Avatar theme first appears at the beginning of "Earthbenders" (track 1) and reappears often throughout the album, albeit in abbreviated form. The theme finally gets the full treatment it deserves in the final track "Flow Like Water" where it takes center stage before the track ends with a final statement of the Main theme.

The last central theme to the score is the villain's, the Fire Nation. The Fire Nation theme appears in three parts: a brassy, pompous fanfare/ a driving toaki drum assault/ and finally a four note descending brass figure backed by strings. All three forms of the Fire Nation theme appear in succession during the second half of "Airbender Suite" (track 1).

There is also a recurring motif for synths, wind chimes and shahukachi flute which seem to reflect the mystical side of the story. There are two themes on the album that strangely only appear once and then never return: a vaguely Stargate-esque theme heard during the first half of the "Airbender Suite" and a theme for strings and woodwinds heard during the last half of "We Are Now the gods" (track 11). The fact that these two themes do not appear anywhere else on the album is slightly puzzling, though it helps to make the two previously mentioned tracks highlights for the above reason.

Each track on the album is great, deftly moving from action set pieces to soft woodwinds with strings and then percussion outbursts for epic battles. In other words, every area of the orchestra is given at least one moment to shine.

Something that is very refreshing about the score to The Last Airbender is the use of ethnic instruments. Ever since Howard Shore's epic masterpieces for Lord of the Rings came out, everyone has been trying to recapture that sound for fantasy films. It's very refreshing to hear Howard use taoki drums and shahukachi flutes along with wind chimes to give a distinctly Asian flavor to the score.

Review of packaging:

The CD comes in the standard jewel case with a foldout booklet. The liner notes contain a listing of the performers, track listings (no times) and album credits. The back of the album contains track listings (no times) and brief film credits.

Full color production photos are scattered throughout the packaging.

Closing thoughts:

This is one of the best scores I have heard this year. After my first listen, I was extremely impressed. To put it in perspective, the last score to leave me feeling almost speechless was Legends of the Fall and the last "recent" release to have that effect on me was The Dark Knight.

The Last Airbender is an impressive achievement by Mr. Howard, perfectly blending ethnic instruments with a full orchestra and keeping an emotional core even when surrounded by an epic canvas. It may take a few listens to catch the three central themes, but once you do they are worth remembering. Some people have complained about the uncomfortable narrative flow of the album. I personally do not have a problem with how the album flows. Then again, I have not seen the film.....

One last thing: The Last Airbender album recently went "Out of Print" on most online retailer sites. The album can still be found in stores, though for normal price. If you can find a copy of this one, I strongly recommend picking it up. You won't be sorry.

Score:

5 out of 5

3 film score videos from youtube

2010-09-19T10:14:00.000-07:00

Well, today I have decided to do something a little different with my blog. Instead of posting a review, I'll post three links to film score videos that can be found on youtube....

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Rambo II: Village Raid/Helicopter Fight

Composer: Jerry Goldsmith

Comment: Prime example of both mid 80's "he-man" action scoring and some of the most pumped-

up action music that Goldsmith ever composed.

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The

Dark Half: The D ark Half (End Credits)

Composer: Christopher

Young

Comment: Though he has done several non-horror scores, Young seems to have a natural knack for composing great horror scores: perfectly balancing the tonal with the atonal. This is one of his lesser known works, but it's still one impressive score.

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Dinotopia: Suite

from the TV score (fan made)

Composer: Trevor Jones

Comment: While the TV mini series has aged very poorly, the score by Trevor Jones (of The Dark

Crystal fame) is still as great as it was when I first heard it in 2002. This fan video of various cues from the soundtrack gives a nice overview of Jones's work.

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Extra vid:

The Edge: Lost in the Wild

Composer: Jerry Goldsmith

Comment: A score from Goldsmith's later years, this is definitely one of the masters greats. Grand and heartfelt, this is one great Main theme.

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Well, I hope you enjoy these videos as much as I do. Comments are welcomed!

Your blogger,

~Ben