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| 10/29/09
- | The Godfather Part II: (Nino Rota/Carmine
Coppola)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you seek to investigate only one score in this famous franchise, a compelling combination
of the memorable themes from the first score with several powerful additions for the
continuation.
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Avoid it... |
if, like the first score, you expect to hear either a truly well-rounded work outside of its
primary set of themes or, for that matter, any definitive album release of the music.
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| Rating: | *****
Read the entire review
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| 10/26/09
- | The Godfather: (Nino Rota)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you have fond memories of the classic Nino Rota themes that enamored and impressed
audiences with their ability to merge Sicilian tradition with symphonic romanticism for this
influential production.
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Avoid it... |
if you expect to hear either a truly well-rounded score outside of its primary three themes
or, for that matter, any decent album release of the score whatsoever.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 10/24/09
- | Desperado: (Los Lobos)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you love the film and want a pretty competent (though not complete) representation of its
songs, limited score, and dialogue on album.
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Avoid it... |
if you expect this listening experience to be as tightly cohesive and consistently
entertaining as Once Upon a Time in Mexico.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 10/22/09
- | Ocean's Eleven: (David Holmes)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you groove to the hip and cool, retro style of 1970's funk and jazz, a distinctive sound
that David Holmes resurrected very effectively for this equally suave production.
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Avoid it... |
if you're expecting to hear a retail album that emphasizes Holmes' original score, because the
product is so thoroughly dominated by dialogue and the source songs heard in the film that the
score is significantly obscured.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 10/19/09
- | The Polar Express: (Alan Silvestri/Glen Ballard)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
on the regular commercial album if you desire the award-winning songs and a basic summary of
Alan Silvestri's conservative and predictable contribution to the fluffy holiday environment
of the film.
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Avoid it... |
on the "deluxe" commercial product unless you seek an overpriced board book and cheap jingle
bell; in terms of the score, avoid the promotional and bootleg albums unless you seek mostly
instrumental regurgitations of the songs.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 10/16/09
- | Blade Runner: (Vangelis)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
on the 1994 Atlantic album or, if you're a devoted fan of the film, on one of the post-2000,
fan-engineered bootlegs for an adequate, but still unsatisfactory survey of the new age music
from a cult classic.
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Avoid it... |
on all of the albums if you expect any of them to give you a decent presentation of Vangelis'
original recording in consistent sound quality, for this highly overrated, largely ambient
work isn't worth the trouble.
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| Rating: | **
Read the entire review
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| 10/13/09
- | The Piano: (Michael Nyman)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you can appreciate a crossover film score that merges the sensibility of classical piano
performances with Michael Nyman's own, distinctive orchestral structures.
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Avoid it... |
if you're interested in the score purely because of the hype generated by collectors of
classical music, for Nyman's music is impressive in its technical precision but, like the
film, lacks convincing warmth in a challenging environment.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 10/11/09
- | Requiem for a Dream: (Clint Mansell)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you fully appreciate the mind-numbingly depressing demeanor of the film and are prepared
for an equally heavy and sparsely abstract score from Clint Mansell, a clear precursor to his
music for The Fountain.
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Avoid it... |
if you demand clarity of direction, complexity in construct, or redemption at the end of this
extremely dulling, morbidly ambient listening experience.
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| Rating: | **
Read the entire review
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| 10/9/09
- | Stardust: (Ilan Eshkeri)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you're swept away by all the usual orchestral and choral techniques that define the fantasy
genre of film music, even if they're not guided into any new territory whatsoever.
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Avoid it... |
if you require the engagement of your brain when appreciating music with as much potential as
Stardust, because your intellectual half might start a list of the references clearly employed
to carry this score.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 10/7/09
- | Scent of a Woman: (Thomas Newman)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you appreciate Thomas Newman's creative instrumental and rhythmic devises of the early
2000's but your heart sways to his early 1990's symphonic sensibilities, a balance perfectly
achieved in Scent of a Woman.
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Avoid it... |
if you don't ever want to hear Newman step over the line into the realm of shameless symphonic
romanticism of a mainstream variety, a sound that gets the best of this score in its final
moments.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 10/5/09
- | Crash: (Mark Isham)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you prefer to use your film music to establish a general mood or environment, in which case
the lyrical half of Crash will function as well as any new age album in existence.
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Avoid it... |
if you're looking for sharp subtlety in construct and development in this score, because it
generally connects the disparate characters of the story without really emphasizing any
individual, distinguishing characteristics.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 10/3/09
- | The Fly II: (Christopher Young)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you want a safe, gloriously harmonic starting point from which to explore Christopher
Young's extensive work in the horror genre.
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Avoid it... |
if you expect either a continuation of Howard Shore's constructs from The Fly or an abundance
the truly challenging dissonance more typical to the genre.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 10/1/09
- | The Fly: (Howard Shore)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you desire one of Howard Shore's best pre-The Lord of the Rings career achievements, a
massively melodramatic horror score of operatic constructs and overwhelmingly morbid
romanticism.
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Avoid it... |
if you expect the listening experience of The Fly to be as harmonically fluid as Christopher
Young's mostly unrelated music for the inferior sequel.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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