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Those who frequent this site know that 1999 has brought a new wave of speculation about the purpose and scope of film music reviews at not only Filmtracks, but on the internet in general. Questions have been raised about what (exactly) a film music review should comment upon, and the role of the reviewers have come under close scrutiny as well. I've decided to address these issues in this Theme of the Month, because I've been talking it over with my collegues and coming up with some ideas. The next few months will bring more of the "regular themes," with the awards next month and a double-sized Star Trek theme for April and May.

If I have learned one thing from running this little corner on the web, it is the fact that there are film music enthusiasts in the world who have extremely strong feelings about their favorite composers, or perhaps their favorite genres within film music. I have assisted in the production of (or supervised) web sites devoted to academia, interpersonal relationships, the supernatural paranormal, George Carlin, and Lego bricks.... and yet it is always Filmtracks that receives the death threats and other general unpleasantries. There's something about this community --that of internet film music appreciation-- that is different. Passions become easily inflamed here. There's a strong heart, but it is often sour with criticism and resentment.

I say this now because there has been a shift in the types of feedback I've been receiving at Filmtracks in the past year. When I started this site, as shitty as it honestly was, appreciation abounded from visitors left and right. Regardless of the low quality of the first 40 reviews and lack of anything really technologically unique, I still received four or five appreciation e-mails a week. And yet, sometime during 1997, this began to shift. The more time I spent on Filmtracks, the more e-mails from disgruntled visitors began to arrive. To an extent, these are normal, but gradually the appreciation letters have now dwindled down to near nothing; I've received only three in all of 1999 so far. Meanwhile, I've now been told by over two dozen people that they'd think the world would be a better place if I was to die, and simple review corrections have turned into circus-like attacks on public forums. I'm used to disregarding the usual "you suck" type of feedback, but I'm now receiving these types of random hostilities from quite a few well articulated, intelligent folks as well. This is what bothers me.

I don't mention this simply to complain about "those who find Filmtracks disagreeable," as some people with a incorrect vision of my ego would presume. I am genuinely concerned about this trend because I believe that it says something about our film music community in general. I've realized that the fans, publishers, and producers often don't get along with each other... and, other than the usual courtesy often seen between professionals in the industry, I don't often see giant strides of compassion being made towards each other. Veterans of the rec.music.movies newsgroup have experienced a snippet of this first hand. My question is this: Why? What's different about the film music community?

I believe I've come up with a possible answer (I can't word it by saying "I've come up with an answer" because, of course, I'd get flamed). The film music community is unlike almost any other music community in the world. Enthusiasts of other genres usually congregate by artist rather than general genre, especially on the web, because to set up a website trying to encompass all of "Country" or "Rock" music would be ludicrous. People who are entranced by other forms of music usually identify with their top five --or maybe even top ten-- favorite artists. Most of the general public views "soundtracks" as an easy means to get a bunch of their favorite songs on one album. Only a percentage of people actually know that the orchestral scores exist along-side the song compilations --and many of those who know just don't care.

And this last point is crucial. If you've read through this article to here then you are, my friend, in the vast minority. Every time a person spends hours and hours creatively and ingeniously constructing a personal insult against me or Filmtracks, I want to throw a drink in the guy's face and say, "It's not worth the trouble!" What us film music webmasters (or print publishers, for that matter) say and do will not affect the daily lives of thousands of people in every vast region of the world. What we say and do will not cause a magnetic reversal of the poles, the inverse rotation of the planet, or the sudden collapse of the galactic core. What we say and do will not bring King Hussein of Jordan back to life, nor will it cease the brutal ethnic cleansing occurring in the former Yugoslavia. Let's face the truth! Our passion is insignificant when compared to even the other genres of music around the world. Score fans may "ew" and "ah" or go hysterical when the Titanic album reigns on the music charts for a few months, but with all due respect, scores are just not that important 99% of the time. Have some perspective!

This doesn't mean that we aren't fully justified to love film music. I am, most of the time, proud of my choice to promote film music on the web. I just hope that these people who feel it necessary to degrade a site or individual understand that they're fighting for something that really is not that vital to their lives. The audience for film music isn't spectacular. Heck, sometimes I think I'm insane for running this site. With tens of thousands of visitors daily, and extremely low advertising rates, I've been told by market experts that I should be making thousands a month off of Filmtracks. But, as it is, I am without even a single sponsor at the moment. Why? Because film music just isn't considered marketable OR important (and, as a side note, I've been told that most record labels refuse to advertise on a site with a black backgound). I could be living off a site with this much traffic if it was devoted to practically anything else... from pornography to cooking, from backpacking to sewing.

Then again, I don't believe that this phenomenon in negative attitude is strictly due to the personalities of us enthusiasts. There's an inherent difference between film music and every other type or section of music available in the world. 99% percent of music is written and performed with the intent of BEING ENJOYABLE TO LISTEN TO. After all, that's what music usually is. It has no purpose other than to stimulate, relax, or inspire the listener (besides, of course, selling albums). Film music is different, though. It has a separate purpose. Scores are composed to function as one aspect of filmmaking, and their primary purpose is to enhance a motion picture, television show, commercial, etc... Think of it this way: when was the last time you saw a large group of people dancing to a score in a bar or club?

So this brings me back to my original question... What exactly is a film music review? What angle of evaluation is it to take? If the music was composed for an effect in a motion picture, should us reviewers be only commenting on the "music as heard in film"? This has been the subject of many recent complaints about my reviews. One guy wrote me:

"Fuck you and your stupid reviews! Mortal Kombat kicks ass! It was perfect in the movie. Do you suggest that some wimpy bullshit by Horner was used instead?"

Buffoonery. This is ridiculous. Sure, I gave Mortal Kombat the rare FRISBEE rating, but this is because the music on the CD, in my opinion, was totally intolerable crap. I'm sure it accompanies the senseless killing in the film quite well. I wouldn't for a moment wish that James Horner had produced a score for any Mortal Kombat film. But the person attacking me with vulgarities assumed I was commenting on the score/film combination when I was in reality objecting to the lengthy CD release.

Reviewing the "music as heard on CD" is a choice I made when starting this site. Why? Because first of all, it's impossible to view all 400+ films for which I have a score reviewed here. I'm a graduate student! I have no time or money for that... Secondly, people who visit this site want opinions from the point of view of the "consumer." Is, or is not, the CD worth the money? I'd be doing a great disservice to my viewers if I didn't share that opinion. Thirdly, these composers are professionals. Rarely do they screw up an assignment. There have only been perhaps a dozen scores in films I've seen which have scores that I deemed inappropriate (or just plain poor) for the film. Thus, the rating for "score as heard in film" is usually higher than rating of the CD release. Sometimes I critique both; these reviews are optimum.

Film music is also unique in that it encompasses all the other different types of music into one genre. You've got everything from Philip Glass' classical style to Terence Blanchard's jazz/blues one and Vangelis' new age one. Mixed in between are many distinct styles for each and every composer. Just as fans become attached to individual pop artists, people in our genre become attached to one or two favorite composers. There's no way that Filmtracks can satisfy 100% of the fans of Elfman, Zimmer, Horner, or, for that matter, George S. Clinton! There are just too many different styles within one type of music... and I believe that this produces much of the ill feelings towards this site. Everyone wants it to positively reflect their favorite type of film music. But I refuse to cater to any one group. If I think a score by one of my favorite composers is a pile of shit, then I'll damn well say so. By doing this, though, I'll be satisfying one group of viewers while making others insensed.

When I started this site, I was worried that film music as a whole would eventually die out and give way to the rock song trend that almost popularly killed our hobby in the 1970s. I started this site because I wanted the world to know that the scores DO exist! But, to the positive credit of the general public, film music has been coming back into style, thanks mostly to John Williams in the 1980s and James Horner in the 1990s. When walking down a Seattle street, I now sometimes hear the themes from E.T. or Glory from nearby windows, and I'm overjoyed. But even if film music becomes more highly recognized in the decades to follow, I get the disturbing feeling that devoted fans will squabble over where it should go. Are the Media Ventures composers ruining orchestral film music? Or are the classical composers simply re-hashing material written by those a hundred years past?

These are questions that a person like me has a difficult time addressing. After all, I enjoy all types of film music, and attempt to be impartial to them all. In doing so, though, I am pissing off those fans who believe that "I'm not fair" to their favorite composer or style. I encourage regular visitors to comment on these trends in my reviews, just to make sure that I indeed am not being too harsh on any one composer. But I'm sick of the personal assaults that seem to always come attached these days. To these folks, I summarize by saying this:

Film music isn't the world. It's a great hobby, but it isn't worth the death threats. In real life, I help people speak better. If you find me personally repugnant, that's fine, but separate that from my reviews. If you're so distressed that you actually write my obituary, then it is likely that you had something bothering you before coming to Filmtracks. Don't take it out on the promoter.

And as always... I encourage you all to start your own film music sites. There's plenty of room for more opinions. No matter what happens, we'll never all agree. Gentlemen such as John A. Morris and James Breakers have attacked the integrity of this site, on the ScoreBoard Forum and other places... without contributing anything positive to the site in return. If you think I've committed an atrocity with one of my reviews, I respectfully suggest submitting an alternative review instead of initiating a public assault.

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