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Composed, Conducted, and Produced by:
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Maurice Jarre
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Song Performed by:
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The Righteous Brothers
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Availability:
Both albums were regular U.S. releases, though the 1990 Varèse Sarabande album is somewhat more difficult to find.
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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you are satisfied with eight minutes of "Unchained
Melody" and four minutes of a classic Maurice Jarre theme.
Avoid it... if you want either extended performances of those themes
above or want a compilation of songs from the Righteous Brothers era.
Filmtracks Editorial Review:
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Ghost: (Maurice Jarre) It's hard to associate anything
related to the movie Ghost without thinking of Demi Moore, sensual
pottery, or the "Unchained Melody." Moore and the pottery aside, the tale of
promised love and protection became a hit in 1990 partly because of the use
of the "Unchained Melody" during prominent scenes in the film. As a story,
Ghost is not the typical romantic comedy, hindered by death,
melancholy, and remorse. And yet, the mysticism of Sam and Molly's love
story is elevated to cult status by the film's music. The score is from the
depths of Maurice Jarre's long and storied career, and film music fans will
be able to recognize the Jarre theme along with the major song adaptation.
Many people forget that "Unchained Melody" was written for the film
Unchained by composer Alex North, and the offshoot of that original
instrumental writing was the Righteous Brothers performance that became
famous for decades to follow. The use of the Righteous Brothers song in the
film, while definitely the reason why the masses of population rushed to the
stores for ten years to buy the album, is even overshadowed by Alex North's
own instrumental version of the "Unchained Melody" theme, which is more true
to the original spirit of the composition and appears in the film as
well.
Film score fans can make fun of pottery all they want, but
nothing will cause Jarre's effort to stand at the same level as the song
does. That said, Jarre's score is an interesting study in and of itself,
combining an Alex North-like orchestral simplicity of lofty theme with an
often curious and disjointed effort to fill in the underscore with
electronics. The resulting combination is one that fans found displeasing to
an extent on album, causing Ghost to become one of the easiest
used-CD bin finds in the history of soundtracks. Aside from saying that
North's instrumental version of the "Unchained Melody" song is equal to the
vocal performance, there isn't much that can be said about the song that
isn't already widely known. Jarre's score is the surprising element for many
first time listeners to Ghost. Nominated for an Academy Award on the
back of the song, Jarre's score featured an equally romantic orchestral
theme, one which has received enough airtime that those first time listeners
may even recognize it as well. Unfortunately, Jarre only hints slightly at
the theme for the majority of the score until, during the end titles, he
finally presents a four-minute suite performance of the lush theme in all
its glory. Its harmonic grandeur harkens back to the glorious days of
Lawrence of Arabia for Jarre, and offers perhaps the last great theme
of his career.
The same cannot be said of the underscore, however, which
consists mainly of broken action cues and a great length of droning
electronics. Without any knowledge of the film, a listener to the album
could very well be confused into believing that score is for a horror
mystery, which wouldn't be too far off from the truth, depending on your
opinion of the film. The dissonance and unpleasant synthesized clangings of
this underscore continues for lengthy sequences, causing the album to drag
significantly in its middle portions. The music has been released twice on
album: first in 1990 by Varèse Sarabande (an album which became an all-time
top seller for them), and then remastered with seven extra score minutes in
1995 by Milan Records. The additional material may not be stellar, but the
remastering and additional packaging extras give the more recent, Milan
album the edge, though this may be a moot point given that the Varese
Sarabande album is out of print. At any rate, Ghost is a very mixed
bag, with one great orchestral theme and one great song surrounded by
mediocre underscore. Mainstream buyers should be aware that neither
Ghost album is a collection of period songs similar to the Righteous
Brothers performance. ***
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Viewer Ratings and Comments:
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Track Listings (1990 Varèse Sarabande Album):
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Total Time: 38:37
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• 1. Unchained Melody - Righteous Brothers (3:39)
• 2. Ghost (7:24)
• 3. Sam (5:33)
• 4. Ditto (3:19)
• 5. Carl (4:06)
• 6. Molly (6:17)
• 7. Unchained Melody (Instrumental - Alex North/Hy Zaret) (4:00)
• 8. End Credits (4:16)
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Track Listings (1995 Milan Records Album):
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Total Time: 45:44
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• 1. Unchained Melody - Righteous Brothers (3:39)
• 2. Ghost (7:24)
• 3. Sam (5:33)
• 4. Ditto (3:19)
• 5. Carl (4:06)
• 6. Molly (6:17)
• 7. Unchained Melody (Instrumental - Alex North/Hy Zaret) (4:00)
• 8. End Credits (4:16)
• 9. Fire Escape (bonus track) (3:12)
• 10. Oda Mae & Carl (bonus track) (3:55)
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The 1990 Varèse Sarabande insert includes no extra information about the score or film, though the 1995 Milan version includes liner notes by Daniel Schweiger. All tracks on the 1995 album were digitally remastered.
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