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| There are 528 Reviews Done |
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Klaus Badelt - Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl
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| Amazing at most... |
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Hans Zimmer has done it again. With his in-depth look into detail allows the entire orchestra to get a piece of the "epic" parts of this music. From such thrilling songs such as "He's a Pirate" and "The Medallion Calls" to touching pieces such as "One Last Shot", this composition allows a technique feel of a 6/8 time feel in a 4/4 time signature which gives it that boat rocking feel. I highly recommend this to anyone who needs to listen to something epic.
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2 of 2 found this review helpful |
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John Barry - Across The Sea Of Time
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| review for Across The Sea Of Time |
| By: |
Angel
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| Date: |
1 Jun 2010 |
| Rating: |
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Across the Sea of Time is an IMAX-3D film about New York, and how it's changed over the years. In other words, it's just basically a visual-feast, more a documentary than a narrative. A perfect opportunity, then, for the composer to showcase his talents.
The main theme, introduced in the first track and reprised with slight alterations three or four times, is one of the lush themes for which Barry has become particularly renowned in the 1990s.
"The Subway Ride" is a loud, rhythmic action cue that builds on a "people-moving" motif first expressed in "The Automobile, the Telephone, the Skyscraper", and is just perfect for the scene. "Times Square and Broadway" is a piece of low-key blues, centred around one of the secondary themes of the score.
The finest cue is "Flight Over New York".
Across the Sea of Time is just perfect to listen to; beautiful themes, and every single piece is a musical entity into itself.
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1 of 1 found this review helpful |
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James Horner - Gorky Park
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| review for a great James Horner |
| By: |
Angel
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| Date: |
1 Jun 2010 |
| Rating: |
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It's a somewhat unusual (but very good) film and called for an unusual score combining classical and modern elements. The Main Title piece which opens the disc has some unmistakable Horner suspense music overlaying quotes from works by the great Russian composers.
The action music is mostly accompanied by synthesised percussion, which does sound a little dated twenty years on, but that doesn't particularly hamper one's enjoyment. Of particular note are "Chase Through the Park" and "Irina's Chase", whose rhythmic constructions are not unlike the action music of Horner's then-idol, Jerry Goldsmith.
Along with the action music are a couple of suspense cues - rather more interesting than suspense cues usually are - and some slightly more romantic material, particularly the beautiful "Irina's Theme", featuring cimbalom, and the opening of "Releasing the Sabres", a lovely, jaunty little piece that's wonderfully evocative of animals being set free onto snow-covered landscapes - which is exactly what happens in the film.
This is an impressive early score by a composer who was arguably going through his best period at the time.
It's not big orchestral music like some of his scores, but it's taut and exciting and certainly highly recommended.
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1 of 1 found this review helpful |
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Georges Delerue, Richard Rodney Bennett - Pick-Up Artist, The
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| 2 Albums on 1 CD release |
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This Intrada Special Collection CD has two scores on one album:
The Pick-Up Artist (composed and conducted by Georges Delerue) and Sherlock Holmes In New York (composed by Richard Rodney Bennett and conducted by Leonard Rosenman).
There are two covers for this release but we can only display one (The Pick-Up Artist) to the Album Info because of the single ASIN (linked to Amazon).
JERIC has posted both covers on Amazon.
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2 of 2 found this review helpful |
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Glenn Stafford, Matt Uelmen, Russell Brower (...) - World Of Warcraft: Mosaic
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| The ultimate sound for all WoW gamers and non players... |
| By: |
Courbi
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| Date: |
15 May 2010 |
| Rating: |
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You always be happy when you play WoW and hear the sounds of several locations like the ironforge or something else. Than your right with this album. A nice complitation with the most of the songs in WoW and definetly with one of your favourites.
I played WoW for two years and when i now hear the sound i always remember my playtime and the fun with my friends. It also is a good music for non WoW player but not everyone likes it. Its a special kind of music and not always the right for everyone. But dont be afraid of it try it and jeah you wont be disappointed.
Enjoy the music and yeah just relax.
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1 of 1 found this review helpful |
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John Williams - Jaws
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| Mastery and Savagery |
| By: |
Andres
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| Date: |
12 May 2010 |
| Rating: |
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It is difficult to give an adequate introduction to John Williams' score for Jaws. Although few would disagree that it was the most powerful, complex, and effective score he had yet done, it was soon followed by so many great and popular scores that its real worth is sometimes obscured.
The famous theme for the shark is universally recognized and widely quoted, but it really does not communicate much about the music as a whole. Taken by itself the famous two-note motif is almost silly--so immediate is its impact that it is a sort of instant cliché. In less skilled hands the shark theme could easily have become something to laugh at even before the movie was over. Williams took the simple sequence of notes and used it masterfully, incorporating it sparingly with many variations and changes into a rich fabric of action and drama.
Two hallmarks of Williams’ style are his generosity with musical ideas, and the number of highly accessible and effective melodies found especially in his most popular scores. Jaws contains seven melodies apart from the shark theme, but much of the music does not revolve around melodies. Four of the melodies appear solely in individual tracks: "Montage", "Ben Gardner's Boat", "Father and Son", and the ‘Spanish Ladies’ shanty quote in “Between Attacks”. The other three melodies are themes in the seagoing and action scenes in the latter half of the movie: two more sea shanties and a primary action theme (the latter showcased in "The Shark Cage"). In Jaws the musical wealth appears in great part in the form of countless unique motifs and melodic fragments, many of which appear only once. Pick any track and you will find multiple instances of this unique material.
Williams' score is not only remarkable for the variety of ideas, but also for the way those ideas interrelate and the way they are structured. Perhaps surprisingly given his jazz background, Williams’ compositional style is very 'classical'. He uses classical forms perhaps more than any other film composer, from obvious examples like "The Shark Cage" in the form of a fugue, through the latter part of "Man Against Beast" which is in the form of a scherzo, to his overall tendency constantly to evolve and interrelate his musical material in each score.
One can begin to get a sense of the variety and structure of Williams' music by listening closely to a track of comparatively average complexity: "Into The Estuary". The famous shark motif in the bass appears here in six different guises: a slow tentative version which speeds up to a fast run, the 'normal' version which then shifts to a more urgent position in the harmony, a brief appearance in the horns, a loud jarring variation in the brass, an instance which rises and falls in volume 'passing by', and a rhythm-only reference. The "shark/ocean" melody that often accompanies the bass motif appears here with a partial harp substitution, then in a syncopated variant in the horns, then as a 'warning' motif in the horns, then as a tentative/suspense motif repeated on the harp, then with a partial statement in the brass. There are at least 17 further individual musical gestures in the track, all in unique forms, and about half of those only appear in this one track.
All that material is crammed into a small space: “Into the Estuary” is only two minutes and fifty seconds long. Highlights of the track include: the uncertain 'hinting' opening evocation of the shark which builds to a certainty; the eerie almost ill-feeling sections relating to the actual shark attack in the water; the sickly unsettled and sad section when Brody's child is pulled from the water; and the magnificent somber section at the end which evokes the threat and vastness of the sea.
Of course sophisticated and rich writing do not guarantee a film composer's success. The ability to evoke emotion with perfect focus is what really sets the great composers apart. Williams is known for his command of this sort of focus. In Jaws he demonstrates it over and over again: from the very uncomfortable, even savage music for some of the shark attacks; through the richly atmospheric music for the suspense scenes; or the playfulness, urgency, and violence of the seagoing scenes; to the beautiful peace of the final track.
It is not necessary to be conscious of all of what is happening when listening to the score, but all this sophistication is part of what empowers the score and gives it such richness that today, after listening to the score for more than 30 years, I still relish it.
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13 of 13 found this review helpful |
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Stu Phillips, Kipp Lennon - Buck Rogers In The 25th Century
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| Great SCI-FI Score! |
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Just a bit of information: This is the complete original soundtrack album, with exactly the same content as the original 1979 LP, digitally remastered.
I’m quoting some lines from the editorial review, which describes this score ways better than I could do it …:)
Stu Phillips chose an approach that combined heroics with good-humored suspense, giving Buck Rogers a musical scope that befitted the pilot's breezy tone. The score is heavy on brass, with the largest sessions featuring six trumpets, three trombones, two bass trombones, and five horns.
When the title song 'Suspension' did not fully integrate with the score, Phillips wrote his own James-Bond-ish theme for the action scenes, adding rock and roll drums for a contemporary feel. Packed with themes, from the heroic, to the sultry (for Princess Ardala), to amusing (for Twiki), to downright sinister (Dead City/Attack of the Mutants), Stu Phillips delivered a colorful, energetic sci-fi score that proudly sits alongside his work for Battlestar Galactica.
I like all tracks - the title song is beautiful - but people who don’t like electronical funky 1970s sound should avoid listening to Track 10 …;)
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1 of 1 found this review helpful |
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Richard Rodney Bennett - Murder On The Orient Express
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| Murder on the Orient Express - Richard Rodney Bennett |
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Richard Rodney Bennett created an entirely original score, by turns melodious and atonal, to capture the mood of this movie.
Track 1 (Overture) expresses the excitement that is to come perfectly.
Tracks 2 (Kidnapping), 10 (Prelude to murder), and 11 ( The Murder) are eerie and frightening musical masterpieces.
In my opinion the best track is the majestic "The Orient Express" (Track 3) - you can hear the train start … and then the music combines a joyous waltz with an ominous woodwind motif that tells of dark deeds to come.
Track 12 (Finale) picks up all motifs and leads to a beautifully orchestrated satisfactory ending, while the train goes on …
ImO a brilliant score – with every track worth listening!
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1 of 1 found this review helpful |
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