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| There are 528 Reviews Done |
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Henry Jackman, Rodrigo Y Gabriela - Puss In Boots
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| Zorro for Puss lovers! |
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Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the regular release
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Puss in Boots may bring The Mask of Zorro to mind, and even directly state it from time to time, but I'm glad such a delightful score comes to mind when listening to it. Because Henry Jackman's score is so wonderful on its own that you'll dance on the infectious rhythms after the very first time. It's not complex, it's just deliciously upbeat. Rodrigo y Gabriela's additional material and Jackman's score are a perfect match, enough to give your listening experience a twist and a shake, a tango el fantastico, an enjoyable experience for young and old. Meaning it's fun fun fun.
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Excellent Tracks:
- Diablo Rojo *
- The Wagon Chase
- Golden Goose of Legend
- Hanuman *
- The Great Terror
- The Puss Suite
* Written & performed by Rodrigo y Gabriela
Read the complete review on MainTitles.net
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1 of 3 found this review helpful |
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Michael Giacchino - Super 8
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| Signature Michael Giacchino |
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With the addition of Steven Spielberg's name, this film is another collaboration of J. J. Abrams and Michael Giacchino. You would probably be able to tell that without seeing the credits since we see the bright lights gleaming from nowhere across the screen, a typical J. J. Abrams (Bad Robot) touch. The alien in this picture immediately reminded me of the monster in "Cloverfield", also J.J. & Michael G.. AND, as the music crescendos towards the end of the movie, we begin hearing musical passages very similar to the chord progressions from the credits of "Cloverfield". Clearly, Michael Giacchino is brilliant and likely to be as recognized as John Williams sometime soon, but, it is hoped we don't hear repetitions of musical phrases too often in future collaborations. Giacchino provided a great score for this movie and we're all looking forward to more great music from him..
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2 of 2 found this review helpful |
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John Williams - Lost World, The: Jurassic Park
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| Williams meets Goldsmith |
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It's been four years since "Jurassic Park" dazzled audiences with it's captivating story and groundbreaking visual effects. After it became a critical and financial success, thus becoming one of the most famous films ever made, a sequel was really predictable. So, Michael Crichton, the author of the "Jurassic Park" novel was pressured not only by fans, but by Spielberg himself, to write a sequel. When the book was published in 1995, the work began on the sequel. Steven Spielberg once again took the director's seat in this film, a film that had a totally different approach. While the idea of the first film was a theme park ride and an awe upon seeing the dinosaurs coming alive on the screen, this sequel abandoned the theme park ride "Jurassic Park" and became more like a jungle adventure and a surviving film. The critical reaction was mixed but the film still managed to bring in plenty of cash in box-office, becoming the second most successful film of 1997, behind "Titanic".
With Steven Spielberg as director, it was everybody's guess who will the take the scoring assignment. And they were right. The task was handed over to John Williams, thus marking his 17th collaboration with Steven Spielberg. Williams decided to abandon the theme park sound of the first film and chose to create a totally new sound for "Site B". For this, he came with a Goldsmithian approach, consisting mainly of percussion and low brass action music, delivering one of the most aggressive scores of his career.
Williams wrote a new theme for this one, which is dark and performed mainly on brass. We hear it straight from the beginning of the album, in "The Lost World", a concert suite that was used in the end credits. The theme was featured pretty much in the film but not as much as, let's say, the main theme of "Hook". One of the most disappointing aspects of this score is that Williams chose not to write a sequel score and use the themes from the first movie. The only one that is used, even if sparingly, is the brassy "island theme", with the menacing four-note "raptor theme" appearing briefly in "The Raptors Appear". The rest of the themes are used in "Finale and Jurassic Park Theme" but that one cannot be taken into consideration because it wasn't used in the film, it is more of a concert suite than a cue from the film.
Apart from the main theme, the soundtrack has nothing else excitable to offer. Sure, there are a few tracks that can be quite enjoyable, such as the jungle rhythms of "The Hunt" and "Rescuing Sarah"; "The Stegosaurus", which is the closest resemblance of the marvel of "Jurassic Park". "A Visitor in San Diego" also has to offer a quite good 7 minute action cue. Other than these, the rest of the soundtrack is mainly background music, with some tracks reaching five minutes and they become quite dull at times. And, by the end of the album, Williams abandoned even the new title theme.
Overall, if you take "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" as an individual soundtrack, it is quite satisfactory but as part of trilogy, it is quite disappointing. It is understandable that Williams was willing to move the series forward but the fact that he abandoned the themes from the first film is disturbing, even though there were scenes where they could have been used. However, it would be malicious to say that "The Lost World" is a bad score. Williams' approach to Jerry Goldsmith's style of writing action music is quite commendable and for action music fans this could be a must-have. But for mainstream film score fans, they could easily stick for the first movie's soundtrack, which easily remains one of the finest of Williams' career.
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John Williams - Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone
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| The magic begins |
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2001 was an extraordinary year for the fantasy genre. On one hand you had "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring", the adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's first volume of the world favorite "The Lord of the Rings" series. On the other hand, you had "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" (or "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" as it's known internationally), the adaptation of J.K. Rowling's first volume of the popular "Harry Potter" books. Thus, 2001 was virtually a dream come true for fantasy fans. Both films received Academy Award nominations for Best Score, with the former winning. But if "The Fellowship of the Ring" hadn't been released that year, this one could have been a likely winner.
The first film, directed by Chris Columbus, managed to beautifully portray the young Harry Potter as he goes for his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As expected, the film was a box-office hit, almost reaching the 1 billion $ mark (just by 30 million short). Part of the success that the film enjoyed was possible thanks to its wonderful score. It is said that James Horner was contacted to score this first installment of the "Harry Potter" franchise but he refused because he wanted to score Ron Howard's bio-drama "A Beautiful Mind". In the end, the task was handed over to veteran film score composer John Williams. Whether you listen the music on the soundtrack release or you are watching the movie, you can clearly see that Williams was the natural choice, marking his first great score of the new millennium.
Williams and Columbus were not strangers to each other because the two worked together before on "Home Alone" and "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York". "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" was John Williams' first score for a fantasy movie since 1991's "Hook" so film music fans expected this one with much enthusiasm. And honestly, they were not disappointed.
Williams brought to the table 2 hours of large-scale orchestral music (even though only 73 minutes of it are available on the commercial soundtrack) that is very reminiscent of "Hook" and "Home Alone". For "Harry Potter", Williams composed three principal themes, all three of them being used in the following sequels, even those in which Williams was not responsible for the score. The main theme, also called "Hedwig's Theme", is the one that opens the soundtrack with "Prologue". The theme is beautifully played on celesta and then is taken by the horns accompanied by sweeping strings. This was the first time since "Hook" that John Williams actually composed music for the theatrical trailer of a film. The second theme was written for the Hogwarts school and we first hear it majestically performed on strings at the very beginning of "Harry's Wondrous World", a concert suite that brings together all three themes. Finally, the third theme is a calmer one and represents the growing friendship between Harry, Ron and Hermione. We also hear it first in "Harry's Wondrous World" starting at 2:04.
In addition, Williams wrote a few secondary themes, including one for the Quidditch game, that we first hear it once again in "Harry's Wondrous World" starting at 3:18, and one for Voldemort, which is scarcely heard and rightfully so because he is still a stranger to Harry.
Other than that, the album is packed with plenty: playful music, action music, suspense music, even Christmas music. So, in a way, it's got everything. The one thing that I particularly liked is that, unlike other blockbuster films, they chose not to have a commercial pop song over the end credits so it's only orchestral music. Thumbs up for this decision. Now, for John Williams fans, the 73 minutes of music contained might not be enough for them but, luckily for them, there are some 2 CD bootlegs containing the complete score.
Overall, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" was an excellent return for John Williams to the fantasy genre and truly marked his first great score of the new millennium. He also set the music standards that the other "Harry Potter" films will follow, whether they were scored by Williams or not. Remember, this is no "Hook" so don't expect to hear a large palette of themes. However, the themes written for "Harry Potter" are really wonderful and beautifully orchestrated. Williams demonstrates us that wonderful and beautiful themes can come out of his fingers. Congratulations, Maestro!
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2 of 2 found this review helpful |
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Hugo Friedhofer - Between Heaven And Hell
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| Between Heaven and Hell/Soldier of Fortune |
| By: |
AveD
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| Date: |
7 Oct 2011 |
| Rating: |
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Hugo Friedhofer is possibly the most underrated composer of the time of the golden age films. Working under gurus- such as Korngold and Steiner - he learned his craft well and definitely achieved his own style.
Between Heaven and Hell is a double album - along with Soldier of Fortune - difficult to tell this from the cover art!
Between Heaven and Hell, 1956 is an intelligent war story following a young soldier (Robert Wagner) in WWII. The music was written with a more meditative take on war instead of the typical way most war films are described. It was composed with a coming together of two styles, exhibited by the score's two main themes - a sublime love theme, & the vigorous theme for the war scenes. The former can be heard in the main character's flashbacks. (tracks 1,4,5)
According to another review: "the main war theme was adapted from Dies Irae, a traditional chant of the dead, which Friedhofer turned into an oppressive march & a furious action cue - one of the genre's best - for the finale." (quoted from FSM) This is
track 15 - "Don't Argue / Desperate Journey", a phenomenal piece which starts with piano and percussion and keeps building into the previously noted furious action cue.
Soldier of Fortune, 1955 is the story of a powerful businessman in Hong Kong - Hank Lee (Clark Gable) who is approached by a women (Susan Hayward) who is searching for her missing photojournalist husband. They do not see eye-to-eye at first so she sets out alone. Lee ultimately rescues her after her dangerous search ends and goes off to be the big hero. The film's exotic setting is filled with scenes of sampan sailing vessels, scenery around Hong Kong, etc - all the Asian flavor you could ever want.
SOF is my personal favorite because I like romantic adventure films but most of all due to its lush score. The main theme (love theme) is my most very fave "Hollywood-ish" movie theme of all time-from way back- because I go way back. It is heard in the main title, piano theme, end title, track 20 and at its hauntingly beautiful best on track 26. Lee and Jane
One of the more rousing cues is Tweedies- a medley of 50's era songs sung by the drinking members of Tweedies night club. (track 29)
Unfortunately, the score was damaged in storage losing several cues but was restored as best as possible. You can hear a little of the damage on the end title track. Overall, though, the restorers did a terrific job in bringing back one of Friedhofer's very best film scores.
Hoping you enjoy listening to this album as much as I do. imho, Golden Age classic film music is truly a treasure.
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2 of 2 found this review helpful |
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Franz Waxman - Sunset Boulevard: The Classic Film Scores Of Franz Waxman
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| Even the casual listener of golden age film music will want to have this release in their collection |
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Written by Thomas Kiefner - Review of the regular release
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This new re-release from Sony/BMG uses the original master tapes that the LP’s were made from. The Dolby Surround CD’s designed for listening with a surround system was avoided. This is not to say that there is anything wrong the Dolby masters at all, only that they produce inferior sound on a traditional stereo system.
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I encourage you to add this CD to your collection along with any of the other CD’s in the series that you can afford. The sound quality is excellent for a 1974 recording as the mike placement and engineering is top notch. These are treasures that you’ll return to often. Highly recommended.
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Read the complete review on MainTitles.net
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2 of 2 found this review helpful |
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Hans Zimmer - British Years, The
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| There was a time when a german composer wasn't so famous |
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During Christmas of 2005 Milan Records released two Hans Zimmer compilations aimed for collectors. The first one is a compilation of scores that Zimmer composed when he worked in London as a composer for British films between 1985 and 1990. The second consists of scores from Zimmer's first years as a Hollywood film composer.
We are dealing with the first volume. Now, this is before Remote Control Productions and the collaboration with other composers and conductors. This is from the time when Zimmer worked alone at Lillie Yard Studio in London after he finished the studies under his mentor, the late Stanley Myers. What's better is that, with the exception of "A World Apart: End Titles", all the tracks contained on the CD haven't been released commercially before. These aren't some of the best scores that Zimmer has ever written and the respective films are long forgotten, but it gives us an idea of how he began to combine the sound of synthesizers with the sound of orchestra over 20 years ago.
The first track is a long 25 minutes suite from "Burning Secret", which gives us a hint of Zimmer's ability to score dramatic films. The simple strings combined with the sound of the panpipes and rolling piano creates a lush yet dramatic sound. It's a really enjoyable suite but it hasn't got anything spectacular or notable. It's just a plain, simple suite.
"My Beautiful Laundrette" is the oldest track from the compilation, written in 1985 in collaboration with Stanley Myers. It's important to point that this is not a score track but a song, written in the specific 80's synth-pop. It's not anything special and you can easily skip it.
"The Fruit Machine" is another 20 minute suite and is yet another dramatic score that is mostly string-driven. It's not entirely original, since it repeats quite often the theme from LLa bohème's "Che Gelida Manina" written by Puccini.
"A World Apart End Titles" is the only track that has been previously released. This is where Zimmer began to experiment with African rhythm and chants and also the percussion pattern he will use later in "Rain Man". "A World Apart" was an important score because it was virtually the score that brought Zimmer to Hollywood.
Lastly, we have "Fools of Fortune", a 17 minute suite from a 1990 film. And, again, it's another dramatic score. Not anything special but still better than "Burning Secret" or "The Fruit Machine".
Final thoughts: "The British Years" was aimed primarily at Zimmer collectors and it's a real treat for them. It's the perfect opportunity to hear from where he got the combination between synthesizers and orchestra, a sound that he will later improve and perfect. As I said above, these aren't some of the best scores that Zimmer has ever written but they're not bad either. They're just simple scores from the time Zimmer experimented with his new sound.
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James Horner, Will Jennings James Horner - Titanic
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| A masterpiece |
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Every film score composer has a once in a career chance to create his best movie score and to place his name in film music history and also in film history. 1997 was Horner's year. The result of his second collaboration with the director James Cameron gave Horner the chance to create one of the greatest and most beloved soundtracks in history. James Cameron is not a prolific director (you know, the kind of director who makes one or two movies a year) but every time he makes a new film you know that it will be something big. Such was the case with the 1997's "Titanic".
James Horner's approach to "Titanic" was somewhat different than his other scores. Unlike the large scale orchestral scores for films such as "The Land Before Time", "Legends of the Fall" or "Braveheart", Horner decided to write his music for "Titanic" for a smaller orchestra and combine it with synthesizers, which is not something he does very often. And he also brings to the table one of his favorite instruments, the uileann pipes, just as he did in "Braveheart" two years earlier. And they work very well in setting the mood for the score (let's not forget that Titanic was in fact an Irish ship, built in Belfast by Irishmen, and many of the third class passengers were Irish). Last but not least, for the voice solos he engaged the wonderful Norwegian soprano Sissel. One of the most interesting facts about the score is that Horner decided not to use a real choir but a synthesizer-based choir. Interestingly, it works very well with the small orchestra.
From the beginning to the end of the album, every single second of the score is a beauty. From the lush, sweeping love theme to the more aggressive, bombastic music to accompany the sinking of the ship, Horner managed to deliver a masterpiece. Indeed, strong, action music has never been Horner's specialty but he was pretty good with the tracks "Hard to Starboard", "The Sinking" and "Death of Titanic". If some are disappointed with his approach to action music, they are quickly enchanted by the last half of the album, especially by the tracks "An Ocean of Memories" and "Hymn to the Sea", both being cues that weren't used in the film. "A Life So Changed" is identical to "Never an Absolution" except that the uileann pipes intro has been eliminated for the former so it can be considered a reprise of the first track from the album. The only disappointment that I had with this album was that the tracks "Southampton" and "Leaving Port" (again a track not used in the movie) were almost identical in both sound and orchestration. But then again, there are many wonderful tracks that made me almost ignore this fact.
And what can be said about "My Heart Will Go On" that hasn't been said before. Almost nothing. Except that remains one of the highlights of Horner's songwriting career.
In conclusion, "Titanic" remains Horner's masterpiece and finally placed Horner's well-deserved name in film music history. True, Horner composed many wonderful scores before and after "Titanic" but not one managed to enter in the hearts of people so greatly than "Titanic" did. Congratulations, Mr. Horner!
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6 of 6 found this review helpful |
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Michael Giacchino - Lost: The Final Season
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| Best Score of the Series |
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The final season of LOST is quite possibly the best score of the series. Needless to say, Michael Giacchino is absolutely brilliant and the score is the highlight of the season - the pure emotion that bleeds from every note gives us new dimensions to the story as we watch it unfold. The characters become hallow if it weren't for the score. The show would become empty.
Some songs worth noting are Richard’s theme in None the Richard, Mother’s theme in None The Nurse, and Jacob’s theme in Jacob’s Advocate. Also the final song of the series (which is also in the “Last Episodes” track list) Moving on – where the show literally ends with a black screen and the final 3 seconds of music … that’s how powerful this soundtrack is in the series. It ends the show.
Request
Heavy Metal Crew
Doing Jacob’s Work
Lax
Trouble Is My First Name
Closure
Temple and Taxi
The Substitute
Love In A Time Of Pneumonia
Dead Man Talking
The Fall Of Man
Worst car wash
Hugo Reyes Of Light (reminiscent of a LOTR track)
The Hole Shabang
Karma Has No Price
Skip
Locke at it this way
Standing Offer
Tesla Tester
Reunion and Reneging
Temple and Spring
Lie Thou There
Coffin Calamity
My Orca
Door Jammer
Sayid After Dentist
Shepharding Sun
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Yoko Kanno - Cowboy Bebop V.1
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| An Eclectic Soundtrack for an Eclectic Show |
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Cowboy Bebop was an anime that set out to be undefinable. Is it a comedy? Drama? Romance? Action? Mystery? Western? Sci-Fi? Horror?
The answer is all and none of the above. It simply is.
The musical score is a lot like that too and it is deliberate on Ms. Kanno's part. This is not an album that has a lot of songs that sound the same or have repeating themes. Chances are you'll dislike one or more tracks and like others. And that is fine. Most of the songs were used once in their respective episode and then never heard from again. Which was seriously ground-breaking in the anime world where recycled themes/music is the rule and expected. There are Vocal and Instrumental tracks on this album as well.
My personal favorites include:
1. Tank - this is the opening theme song to the show and will wake you up if you are sleeping.
6. Cosmos - a yearning sax solo that is totally the kind of song to make you want to slow dance with that special someone.
7. Space Lion - An odd mix of tribal, new age, and smooth jazz that shouldn't work but does. This song is honestly one of the reasons I bought this album.
15. Rain - A vocal track that is very reminiscent of a hymn/power ballad. It is sung by Steve Conte but in the actual show it was sung by a female singer. Another of my favorites.
17. Memory - a poignant music box melody.
The rest of the tracks while good aren't my favorites. Porbably because I am not a huge fan of Jazz which is the base for much of these tracks. Although there is a fair amount of honky tonk and harmonica to be found here as well.
It's good, but not my favorite of Kanno's soundtracks.
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2 of 2 found this review helpful |
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