Buy it... only if you are a Silva Screen compilation completist.

Avoid it... if you own one of the many more recent compilations with many of the same recordings, including a Connery-specific one from Silva in 1998.

Music From the Films of Sean Connery: (Compilation) Back in the very early years of Silva Screen Records, they combined recordings from the German Edel label, sometimes with performances by The City of Prague Philharmonic, with their own first recordings with the group. The old Edel releases often featured outstanding performances, but also had the capability of belting out some stinkers now and then. Like those Edel compilations, the early Silva ones also varied wildly in quality. Half of the performances would range from decent to very good, while others were simply unlistenable. Silva Screen would eventually become a leader in the production of compilation recordings in outstanding sound quality, whether in Dolby, HDCD, or other budding technologies. They did produce a handful of compilations in the few years following 1993 that did not feature this superior sound, and among them were a couple of CDs devoted to music from the films of Sean Connery and Harrison Ford, among others. Meanwhile, Edel's American division had moved on and used an underpowered Orchestra Seattle group to perform a 1994 compilation of Sean Connery music much the same as Silva's first 1993 venture. The quality of all these CDs was suspect given that no group (except the Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops, as well as the usual Boston Pops) at the time had been able to perform consistently well in the large symphonic soundtrack re-recording business. Silva's 1993 "Music From the Films of Sean Connery" was an odd collection of recordings made under the original Edel contracts and some of Prague's own early recordings. Additionally, you got a few song renditions from the previous contract, as well as the original Bond song for Never Say Never Again. Sound quality is decent, but not what you'd hear in subsequent years from Silva. In fact, Silva's tendency to take the best from their previous recordings and re-press only that material on subsequent albums usually renders albums like this one useless. But because it alternates between Edel and Silva performances, you do hear some performances different from those you'd eventually hear in future Silva products.

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But are these performances any better than those subsequent ones done in Prague? Not really, but a few are interesting. Silva would use the services of a different synth arranger (Mark Ayres) in the future, and the electronic arrangements by Edel's pair of synth producers are more interesting than Ayres' early work for Silva in many ways. On this "Music From the Films of Sean Connery" album, both Medicine Man and The Name of the Rose are more vibrant than on Silva's later recordings. The former includes a faithful recreation of Jerry Goldsmith's synthetic parts of the score, whereas the symphonic performances later on would gravitate towards "The Trees" as an easier representative from that score. For the James Horner score, the version here (especially in its synth choir) is more accurate than Ayres' future version. Unfortunately, nobody has ever gotten Goldsmith's The Russia House right in 15 years of re-recordings. It's completely synthesized here, sucking all the life out of it. Likewise, future Prague recordings of its themes would be lifeless, as was the Edel Seattle recording, because it seems as though nobody is willing to actually employ a saxophone in the performance (and thus, it just doesn't work... duh!). The selection from The Untouchables ("The Ness Family Theme") would differ from that used by Silva on some future Prague recordings. Both Marnie and Robin and Marian are decent recordings, and would appear again on future Silva albums. Even in 1993, Nic Raine's strong ability to arrange and conduct John Barry music was evident. The Bond selections would also reappear on future albums, except for Thunderball, which receives a lackluster performance anyways. The performance from The Presidio would likewise vanish for good reason. The two songs, the original recording from Never Say Never Again and Roger Taylor's "A Kind of Magic" from Highlander are major detractions from the album. Overall, the product is somewhat interesting for specific collectors of Silva's compilations, but has been surpassed in quality by other products since, including Silva's "Hollywood Stars" Connery music compilation (with some of the same recordings) in 1998. ***   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download