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| • | Newest Major Reviews: | . | • | This Week's Most Popular Reviews: | • | Best-Selling Albums: | ||
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1. Nim's Island 2. The Life Before Her Eyes 3. Horton Hears a Who! 4. Leatherheads 5. The Spiderwick Chronicles | . | . |
1. Moulin Rouge 2. Gladiator 3. POTC: Curse of the Black Pearl 4. Star Wars: A New Hope 5. Edward Scissorhands |
6. Pearl Harbor 7. Schindler's List 8. Titanic 9. Braveheart 10. Home Alone | . | . |
1. Varèse Sarabande 25th 2. The Last of the Mohicans 3. Legends of the Fall 4. Schindler's List 5. LOTR: Return of the King (Set) |
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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you in any way appreciate strong orchestral and choral music, and are open to hearing an excellent merging of score and song. Avoid it... if dramatic war scores upset you and you can't listen to grand historical scores without picturing death, dismemberment, and other hideous things. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
The marketing of the Sony Classical album focuses mostly on the songs performed by Mary Fahl and Bob Dylan, in addition to the violin performances by master fiddler and violinist Mark O'Connor. The more voluminous inspiration in Gods and Generals, though, is created by John Frizzell. The score occupies roughly 50 minutes on the album and is a powerful and thematically rich introduction to the 2003 year of film music. Unlike Edelman's Gettysburg, Frizzell walks no tightrope between budget and authenticity. The score is fully orchestral and choral, written for solo performances appropriate for the time and the people fighting the war, and saturated with dramatic theme. His music is a serious tribute to the war, with close attention to detail that led, ultimately, to the inclusion of several noteworthy solo performances. Mark O'Connor's violin performances are crisp and well-placed, and his talents also as person who can turn that violin into a fiddle came in handy when performing for the Confederates at times. The well recorded and mixed sound of the orchestra offers a wet sound that conveys enough reverberation to make the violin and orchestra sound distant enough to represent the 1860's. At the same time, however, the sound is rarely so diluted as to lose the integrity of individual performances. The only exception is the dark death procession heard in the "VMI Will Be Heard from Today" cue by Frizzell in which the chorus fiercely overpowers the orchestra. A medium chorus is included in several tracks throughout the score, and functions much like the expected snare drum to represent wartime environments. The Irish influences on the score must be discussed as well. They aren't limited to the O'Connor's name in this case; Frizzell utilizes two pivotal score cues (comprising six minutes on album) to combine the violin with a tin whistle and uilleann pipes. As history buffs will recall, the number of Irish regiments from New York was considerable in number (and some of them didn't even speak English, much to the dismay of the Confederates and often their fellow Union fighters as well). Their heroicism in battle is addressed in the story and subsequently by Frizzell, whose use of those elements in his score is well placed within the framework of the rest of the material. The music flows effortlessly between the Irish influences to something like, per se, the fiddle representing Appalachia, and you'd never realize it while it is happening. The most impressive aspect of Frizzell's score is its strong consistency of high quality from beginning to end, which is something not heard in his larger commercial efforts to date. The score functions, with the exception of that "VMI Will Be Heard from Today" cue, as a lengthy, symphonic concert suite to the Civil War, the likes of which has not been recorded before. Even Randy Edelman's contribution, which is about ten minutes in length on the album, sheds that synthesized sound and provides superb piano performances in the place of obvious electronic keyboarding. Fans of the score will also be pleased with the songs presented at the beginning and end of the album. The album opens with a haunting, traditional song co-written and performed by Mary Fahl, whose voice is also heard in the later 2003 score for The Guys. Her voice has a naturally evocative and personal sound, and when partnered with the melody of the song "Going Home" specifically, an Irish twist of the tongue can be heard. Likewise appropriate for the film and score is Bob Dylan's own ballad at the end of the project, for which he contributes his deep, echoing voice and keyboard talents. His lengthy "Cross the Green Mountain" is equally sensitized with the spirit of the Civil War, modern in its instrumentation, but true to the character of the era with its theme and mellow vocals. Overall, Gods and Generals is a vast improvement over Gettysburg, which should come as even better news to those of you who enjoyed the latter. Frizzell has captured the momentous scope of the war while also conveying the personal tragedy, and it is clearly the defining score of his career to date. With the songs, the album is without a fault, and even devoted historians of the Civil War will be pleasantly surprised by the overall package. If only it was released later in the year, this could easily be an awards contender. *****
The insert includes lengthy information about the score and film from director Ronald Maxwell. The packaging includes a "limited edition" DVD in addition to the regular music CD. The 24-minute DVD contains music videos of both songs as well as bonus footage from the film and its theatrical trailer. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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