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Conducted by:
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Joel McNeely
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Release Date:
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October 24th, 1995
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Availability:
Regular U.S. release, but out of print.
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Filmtracks Editorial Review:
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Hollywood '95: (Compilation) The Royal Scottish
National Orchestra has recorded hundreds of film music works for release by
the Varèse Sarabande label. At the helm for most of their early
recordings of the mid-1990's was conductor/composer Joel McNeely, considered
at the time to be a student and possible successor for film music legend
John Williams. The collaboration of the RSNO and Joel McNeely had proven
moderately successful during a recording of the previous year's scores
(provided on an album called, of course, Hollywood '94), and the
enormous success of Hollywood '95 would lead to one more similar
collection of recordings the following year before the collaboration would
take a few years off. The RSNO would continue to re-record entire scores to
be released by Varèse Sarabande, and like any performing group, they
have their days when they excel and days when wrong notes miserably blurt
out in nearly every cue. Such is the habit of any performing group, however,
especially when performing the works of a composer for the first time. To
the benefit of all film music fans, though, Hollywood '95 is an
exhibit of the RSNO, McNeely, and Varèse all at their finest, with
stunning recordings from beginning to end. Part of the success of the
Hollywood '95 album over those from the previous and following years
is due simply to the vast quantity of good music produced by Hollywood
composers during that year. While most people will remember it as the year
that James Horner dominated the charts, many other composers wrote high
caliber music that often exceeded the quality of the films. The other reason
for the success of Hollywood '95 is the pinpoint accuracy with which
the RSNO nailed many, if not nearly all of the performances, capturing the
spirit of the original compositions while taking some subtle, though
impressive liberties with the material at hand.
Analyzing the album in order of its presentation, it is
with great delight that McNeely and the RSNO worked directly with Elliot
Goldenthal to assemble a suite from his summer blockbuster Batman
Forever. Goldenthal was eager to arrange a suite of over ten minutes
that would offer up his score in the best light, and after some tweaking of
the orchestration by McNeely and his crew, Batman Forever never
sounded better. It is rare that a re-recording blows away an original, but
McNeely manages that here. The identical suite would appear on a later
all-Batman album by the performing group and label, and while this
1995 performance of Batman Forever is excellent, the two Elfman
scores on that album weren't as fortunate in the translation. James Horner's
patriotic and noble Apollo 13 is represented by the lengthy, exciting
"Launch" cue that unfolds all of the important themes in the film during one
powerhouse scene. A light choir completes this extremely authentic
performance, strikingly true to the original and, for those who don't own
the promotional version of the original soundtrack, existing without sound
effects or dialogue. For Judge Dredd, Alan Silvestri also worked with
the label and McNeely to arrange a suite of the best action cues from his
score. They are performed with great vigor, as is short trailer cue for the
film by Jerry Goldsmith (who left the project due to scheduling conflicts).
Horner's gorgeous lullaby from Casper is performed by the choir,
piano, and ensemble with haunting spirit. James Newton Howard's strong
Waterworld theme is adapted from no particular cue specifically, but
resembles the finale statement. Two cues from Goldsmith's ambitious First
Knight score are offered, followed by perhaps the most understated
performance on the album, the end titles from Horner's Braveheart.
Due to the passing of Golden Age composing great Miklos Rozsa in 1995,
Varèse and the RSNO would perform the pretty love theme from 1940's
That Hamilton Woman as a tribute. Overall, this is the best
Varèse/RSNO collaboration to date, and no modern film music fan
should be without it. *****
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Viewer Ratings and Comments:
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Batman Forever: (Elliot Goldenthal)
• 1. Main Title (1:43)
• 2. Chase Noir (1:54)
• 3. Nygma Variations (2:38)
• 4. Mouth to Mouth Nocturne (2:18)
• 5. Victory (2:28)
Apollo 13: (James Horner)
• 6. The Launch (9:53)
Judge Dredd
• 7. Suite (4:57) (Alan Silvestri)
• 8. Trailer (0:49) (Jerry Goldsmith)
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Casper: (James Horner)
• 9. Casper's Lullaby (5:52)
Waterworld: (James Newton Howard)
• 10. Main Titles (2:16)
First Knight: (Jerry Goldsmith)
• 11. Arthur's Fanfare (0:46)
• 12. End Credits (4:12)
Braveheart: (James Horner)
• 13. End Title (7:42)
That Hamilton Woman (Miklos Rozsa)
• 14. Love Theme (4:25)
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Insert includes extensive notes about the scores and films.
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