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Note from the Editor:

Alas! The order of the "themes" during the final part of 1998 has been shuffled around. Although November was originally supposed to have a "Babylon 5" tribute to Christopher Franke and December have a history of "Star Trek" on CD, recent events have caused a re-ordering. Specifically, Sony Legacy announced in late October that the double-CD release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture would be delayed until next year (yes... again!). In light of this, I rearranged the upcoming themes so they will appear as thus:

• November, 1998: "The Great Addendum"
  
• December, 1998: "Babylon 5: A Tribute to Christopher Franke"
  
• January, 1999: "Vote: The Best of 1998"
  
• February, 1999: "The Worst Flops of Soundtrack History"
  
• March, 1999: "The 1999 Academy Awards"
  
• April, 1999: "Star Trek: A History on CD"
  
• May, 1999: "The Silva Complilations: A Comparative Analysis"
  

In the meantime, I was reading through some of the archives of old "themes of the month" from years back and was surprised by their antiquity and, in some cases, recently invalidated concepts. Some of the subjects and issues raised have solved themselves, while others remain just as pertinent. This theme will serve as a addendum to the first fifteen themes, dating from January, 1997, to March, 1998, and will include my thoughts on these issues since the theme was first published. There have been events unfolding since they were written that have had an effect on most of them... so this is catch-up time.

January, 1997: Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops

Unfortunately, and certainly without my knowledge, this first Filmtracks theme marked the end of Kunzel's reign on soundtrack compilation re-recordings. After this theme was written, only one more soundtrack compilation featuring recordings by Kunzel and the Cincinnatti Pops hit the shelves. Called "The Big Picture," it featured some of the best work these artists have done, including some performances that eventually ended up on the "Heart of the Ocean" compilation released by Sonic Images. Apollo 13, Cutthroat Island, Batman Forever, Crimson Tide, and a rousing performance of Independence Day are the highlights of "The Big Picture," as well as an array of Telarc's best sound effects... (the stampede in corellation with the Jumanji track is excellent for use on telephone solicitors). According to the Telarc website, however, there have not been any major soundtrack compilation re-recordings since. One of my enduring favorites --which I didn't mention in the theme-- is the "Under the Sea" performance (from The Little Mermaid) included on the "Sailing" album --the foghorn sound effect at the start of that track is an extra bonus.


Since early 1997, though, the Cincinnati Pops/Erich Kunzel releases have been replaced, in at least volume, by the City of Prague Philharmonic performances released by Silva Screen. The styles of these two groups of musicians are different; Kunzel et al excelled at the jazzy, percussian-lively tunes, whereas the Silva group is more effective with the massive, dramatic types of pieces. Nevertheless, I hope there will again be some new recordings of soundtrack material by Kunzel and the Pops.

February, 1997: Star Wars: The Special Edition Trilogy

There's no doubt in my mind that the upcoming trilogy of prequel Star Wars films will have scores that add a whole new dimension to any discussion of Star Wars music. This February, 1997, theme, however, which was inspired by the highly anticipated complete 2-CD releases of the original scores, endures as a valid examination of the history of Star Wars music on CD. Interestingly, there haven't been many releases of re-recordings since that theme. Perhaps this is due to the fact that many of those re-recordings were released with the knowledge that the entire form of the original scores had not been released to date; once they were available in their full original form, the novelty of these re-recordings was lost. Some of them are, after the last two year, very difficult to find in stores these days.

March, 1997: The 1997 Academy Awards

The more I think back to this year, the more irritated I become when reminded that The English Patient won the nod. At the same time, it was a break-through year in that Rachel Portman won her first Academy Award (and becoming the first female to with a "best score" category). The most memorable scores from that year continue to be The Spitfire Grill, The Ghost and the Darkness, and the much-overlooked Evita. On the whole, it was a rather bland and uneventful year for composers, especially coming off of a stunning year of production in 1995.

April/May, 1997: The Best of the 1990's Compilation CD, Vol. 1

The title of "Volume 1" seems to indiciate that there will be another vote in the coming years, and I am sure there will be (December, 1999?). So what material from the past few years deserves to be added to this prestigious list? Certainly a selection from Titanic and The Mask of Zorro. Perhaps themes from Starship Troopers, Saving Private Ryan, Air Force One, The Lost World or Men in Black would be candidates.

June, 1997: The State of the Sequel

There haven't been any major additions to the list of of sequels for discussion since this theme was written. The only great success, in my opinion, was David Arnold's Tomorrow Never Dies, which returned to a traditional style of James Bond while retaining Arnold's uniquely modern style. Most of the other sequel scores of the past year have been enormous failures. John Ottman's score for Halloween H2O met with unneeded resistence by the producers of the film, who opted for Marco Beltrami's work instead (Varese did release Ottman's score, as well as both Beltrami's Scream and Scream 2). Batman & Robin was a regurgitation of Batman Forever and didn't even receive a score album release of its own. Home Alone 3, Escape from L.A. and Alien Resurrection were either unreleased or suffered horrible monetary loses in CD sales. Of course, the equation will intensify in the coming months with both Star Trek: Insurrection and the Star Wars prequels. Overall, there's been no indication that the sequel score business will become a lucrative (or even entertaining) aspect of the business for the next decades to come.

July/August, 1997: The Collector's Frenzy

This was a major addition to Filmtracks when it first debuted, as there was no other site that featured a large database of collectible scores at the time. With collectibles, as usual, value and availability changes from month to month, and there have been some major changes to the listings in past year alone. Some of the top collectibles have been re-released in full, while others have been re-recorded by the likes of the Royal Scottish Orchestra and others.


Most importantly, SuperTrack's 2-CD release of Krull cut the price of the SCSE CD drastically. The original SCSE release cannot even attract the price of the new set --as it should not! Varese Sarabande's re-recordings of scores like Body Heat and Seventh Voyage of Sinbad have partially deflated the value of the originals. John Barry still has many collectibles in the secondary market; my personal hope for the next Varese re-recording (or even original recording) would include High Road to China and excerpts of Raise the Titanic and The Black Hole on a single set.


The original set of 14 Varese Club releases have remained top collectibles. Film Score Monthly has since created the "Silver Age Classics" line of limited releases that will likely grow into healthy collectibles. One of these releases was The Poseidon Adventure, and this expanded release deflated the value of the original bootleg. So what other CDs will likely become tomorrow's collectibles? Bootlegs are too irregular and of too poor a quality to qualify, but the realm of promos has a whole separate potential. Be weary of the re-print, though, which is what happened most recently to Willow.

September, 1997: 1989, What a Year!

Since this time, I've gone even further back in time; I decided to draw the line at 1988, though, for the earliest compositions to regularly review. I have since reviewed and added Born on the Fourth of July, Warlock, Always, Ciminal Law, Field of Dreams, Henry V and more to the listings, so check out the 1989 review listings for complete links. It was indeed a phenomenal year for scores!

October, 1997: Filmtracks' First Anniversary

This was a simple questionnaire for feedback on the site on its first anniversary. Most of the answers have helped lead Filmtracks on the direction it has taken (mostly towards a greater coverage of lesser-known composers and promo/bootleg releases --I'm still trying to work out bandwidth problems that will allow for more audio clips). I decided not to celebrate the second anniversary with a theme in 1998... There are many more interesting things to cover in the film music community. :-)

November, 1997: DVDs and... Soundtracks?

I'm surprised that this issue hasn't been such a broad topic of conversation recently. A year ago, DVD was being heavily advertised by manufacturers and it was the talk of the town, especially when it came to soundtracks being heard on individual tracks on the DVDs. Most people who have contacted me about the future of DVDs and what it means for soundtrack collectors assume that it is too early to adequately predict the course of things to come. It's possible that all that hype was for little or no eventual reason! Only time will tell. The technology is still too highly priced for most consumers and recordable CDs are being compiled with use of laserdiscs instead. With everything from minidiscs to flat TVs about to hit the market, who knows what will come next? Soundtrack brain implants?

December, 1997: The 1997 Fan Vote

Voting results from past years are always fun to look at. While you're there, check out the 1996 voting results as well... I'm still amused by the complete domination of the voting by Titanic. Each year has produced a different winner for "best composer of the year," which is, in my opinion, a healthy thing.

January, 1998: Soundtracks... Is it a Guy Thing?

This is perhaps the shortest, yet most successful "theme of the month" that ever crossed my mind, and it is by far the most entertaining one to date. There are some fundamental differences --physiologically-- that must cause the majority of women to reject or ignore film music. In the past year, though, I have received numerous e-mails from women on the web who wanted to add their voice to cause of "women's film music recognition." I even got a death threat from a guy in regards to the article (but then again, he believed that women, in general, should function only as playtoys and reproductive tools, so I disregarded his foolish statements). Yet the situation remains. Even though the population of women is increasing on the web, and female viewership of this site is steadily increasing, I still don't see them in discussion groups or browsing through the "films and shows" of my local record stores... One would have thought that Rachel Portman's Academy Award for Emma would have been one giant leap for womankind. But no...


Just remember what my father, a veteran of the film music community, had to say about the issue: "Women are too intelligent to get excited about such things."

February, 1998: Scores for the Consumer

Visitors at Filmtracks have been purchasing more and more CDs online, which is good for two reasons. First, of course, it means that I can pay the increasing server costs of this site, and secondly, it shows consumer confidence in a new way to shop. I purchase ALL my CDs now through Music Boulevard, which is one of the purchasing options at this site. Music Boulevard has typically the lowest prices and fastest order turnaround. CD Universe has the easiest ordering process and comparatively good prices. These two online stores bring in 90% of the commission I earn online. Interestingly, CDnow, which is listed up with amazon.com as one of the online powerhouses, has been losing the trust of many Filmtracks visitors, and sales through CDnow have dwindled to only ten or so a week. Filmtracks serves about 60 orders a week through the other two stores.


As far as specialty CDs are concerned, there are several new or improved (or both!) places on the web to purchase difficult-to-find CDs. If I don't receive promos automatically, I purchase them through either cdcellar.com or mobydisc.com. These are both stores that deal with many genres of music. For special attention to soundtracks, you can visit Screen Archives Entertainment or Intrada online, and they usually have very similar prices. Often times, the site of the record companies have discount prices on CD deals if you purchase their products directly from them through the web site. Varese Sarabande has "web specials" on items that cannot be found elsewhere, such as Malice and Mr Baseball. Citadel Records, Sonic Images, and C.A.M. Soundtracks also offer special package deals for buying online. Be sure to check out these sites in your searches!

March, 1998: The 1998 Academy & Filmtracks Awards

There's no dispute that Titanic is still a juggernaut in the world of film music. With the sequel album release in September, it continues to bring in millions of dollars of revenue for James Horner. The fact it won the Academy Award this year was predictable, and in a way, justified. On the other hand, the Academy's choice of The Full Monty for best comedy score is still confusing and ridiculous. Dudley still doesn't deserve the recognition that was initially sparked by the good use of a few songs at key points in the film. It is buffoonery.


This was the first year I did the "Filmtracks Specialty" awards for every category from "Best IMAX Score" to "Most Erotic Packaging for a Soundtrack CD." Look for there to be more of the same fun awards this upcoming March.

That's it for now! The rest are too recent for further comment. Be sure to view the October, 1998, theme, "Money and the Industry," which has garnered widespread praise from regular Filmtracks visitors. Enjoy the upcoming variety of themes!

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