|
|
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
|
|
|
Composed, Conducted, Co-Orchestrated, and Co-Produced by:
Co-Orchestrated by:
William Ross Don Davis Jack Hayes Bruce Babcock Albert Olson Pat Russ Brad Warnaar Lolita Ritmanis Mark Watters Elliot Kaplin Jonathan Sacks Richard Davis Harvey Cohen
Co-Produced by:
Christopher Brooks Stephen McLaughlin
|
|
LABELS & RELEASE DATES
| |
Morgan Creek Music
(July 2nd, 1991)
Intrada Records (January 8th, 2018)
|
|
ALBUM AVAILABILITY
| |
The 1991 Morgan Creek album was a regular U.S. release. The 2018 Intrada album is
limited to an unknown number of copies and retailed at soundtrack specialty outlets for an initial
price of $30.
|
|
AWARDS
| |
The Adams song "(Everything I Do) I Do it for You" won a Grammy Award and was
nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. The score was also nominated for a Golden
Globe and a Grammy Award.
|
|
ALSO SEE
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Buy it... on the outstanding 2018 expanded album if you seek a
comprehensive presentation of this flawed but occasionally highly
entertaining score, a work highlighted by a memorable title fanfare and
fine orchestral interpolations of the melody from the famous Bryan Adams
song for the film.
Avoid it... if you expect the whole of Michael Kamen's music to
soar with any sense of convincing swashbuckling spirit or, quite
frankly, if you demand a decent performance and recording mix for a
score that deserved far better execution.
BUY IT
 | Kamen |
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves: (Michael Kamen) When
Warner Brothers built enormous anticipation in advance of their 1991
adaptation of the famous 'Robin Hood' tale, few could have predicted
that a film with such a remarkable cast and high production values would
be such a critical flop. Despite his sky-high popularity at the time,
Kevin Costner was badly miscast in the lead, reducing all the high
spirit of the character into a troubled and introspective one. And who
wants to see a thinking man's Robin Hood? At the opposite end of the
spectrum was Alan Rickman, whose entertainingly sick portrayal of the
Sheriff of Nottingham is so outrageously comical that he also defeats
the purpose of the character. The deathblow of the film, however, came
with the production's murky and violent take on the story, adding
unnecessary characters, causing confusion about Maid Marian's existence
between independence and typical damsel, and showing brutality
unsuitable for children and disconcerting for adults. Still, audiences
lapped it up and gave Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves extraordinary
returns at the box office regardless of all these issues. The orchestral
score by Michael Kamen was thrown together at the last minute and
overshadowed by the very obvious and surprisingly effective use of
several parts of James Horner's Willow during the film's immense
advertising blitz. Despite Kamen's efforts to fulfill the request for a
swashbuckling score of equal bravado, nothing he accomplished
symphonically could compare with his collaboration with Bryan Adams for
the song "Everything I Do, I Do It for You," and Robin Hood: Prince
of Thieves became one of those rare occasions in which an end title
song was such a monumental success that it alone served as life support
for the rest of the production. The song spent significant time atop the
charts and was recognized by the Oscars, propelling album sales and thus
bringing an unexpected infusion of interest in Kamen's score. While his
contribution offered a few singular highlights in context, the
composer's music was absolutely butchered in post-production, chopped to
pieces and rearranged in decent but nagging, unnatural placements
throughout. Even when it does shine, its haphazard, last-minute
rendering in the recording studio by a massive army of orchestrators
betrays the writing with frequent personality shifts and performance
errors.
When Kamen succeeds in Robin Hood: Prince of
Thieves, the score exhibits flashes of greatness, and these
highlights are enough to supply the work with its lasting reputation.
Interestingly, however, aside from the song and an associated packaged
suite of music from the score arranged for the original album, the
remainder of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves exposes a score that
badly underachieves. Kamen's concepts for the film are fine; in fact,
his primary themes are quite adept at compensating for the lack of
energy and passion in the performances on screen. The bold fanfare that
opens the film is provided faithfully by Kamen for moments of Robin's
heroic actions throughout the story, the initial rhythmic cello motif
(artificially spliced into several transition scenes) and first three,
rising notes of the main theme existing almost everywhere. (Its use to
yield an unresolved, broken chord during the "Finale" closure is quite
irritating, in fact.) In the heart of the film, "Training Sequence"
offers the most satisfyingly full presentation of this theme,
highlighted by repeated gong strikes but dogged by wildly exposed
trumpet lines. The incorporation of the song's longer, fluid melody into
the score as Maid Marian's representation makes for two very easy and
enjoyable string and woodwind-led performances in "Maid Marian" and
"Marian at the Waterfall." Such unrestrained romanticism is actually in
short supply in this score, though the fluttering oboe solos that
accompany Marian here and elsewhere are a nice touch. For casual
listeners, "Marian at the Waterfall" will highlight the score as it
features heavier string textures for the drama of the love story in the
film. When Kamen attempts a lighter touch in his folksy source material
or cues for the antics of the Merry Men, the score becomes comically
silly, with bouncing and prancing rhythms more appropriate for the Mel
Brooks parody Robin Hood: Men in Tights and supplying too much
comedy for this context. Kamen did not spend a significant amount of
time concocting memorable motifs for the secondary characters of the
story. Much of the stewing woodwind work in "Sir Guy of Gisborne" is
understated and bland, and there sadly exists no musical identity for
the Sheriff, with the cue "The Sheriff and his Witch" resorting to
underdeveloped groaning and whining string textures. Listeners expecting
to hear fantastic orchestrations are often met with lifeless solo lines
mixed too far back to make a positive mark on the whole.
While the main theme does mark some action highlights
in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, there are cues for fight scenes
that unfortunately do not generate sustained excitement. Many of them,
such as the inconsistent "A Prisoner of the Crusades" and "The Abduction
and the Final Battle at the Gallows," fail to muster any convincing
vitality or sense of rebellion. Many of the ills with this work fall
back on a surprisingly dry, sparse recording and obnoxiously poor
performances. The score does indeed have several notable, four-star
highlights littered throughout, but the execution of the product seems
rushed and, outside of a glockenspiel and some wind-like sound effects,
does not provide enough intrigue in its otherwise interesting
instrumental colors to compensate for how raw the textures generally
sound, especially on brass. Many of the score's best moments are
frightfully rough in tone, and the mix's spread is badly managed, the
instruments dryly thrown together in one central mass without satisfying
separation. This extremely dull recording mix only serves to betray
several heinous performance errors in the brass section of the "Greater
Los Angeles Orchestra" that punctuate the score's action scenes with
cringe-worthy distractions. Ultimately, Kamen's valiant attempts for
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves cannot compete at any level with
the vitality of Willow or John Debney's later Cutthroat
Island. The Adams song, with a slightly different mix on the
original soundtrack album as opposed to the single release for radio
distribution, truly is the highlight of the endeavor, and Kamen and
Adams would team up again to inspire a far more enjoyable score and song
pairing for Don Juan DeMarco a few years later. For the many
enthusiasts of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, however, Intrada
Records released an outstanding presentation of the score in 2018,
greatly expanding its material and arranging it in the order originally
intended for appearance in the film. Extensive alternative mixes are
also provided, and while these typically don't solve any of the issues
with the raw, dry tone in the score, these alternatives are often
superior to those heard in the film. It's a fantastic album for a score
that, despite its problems, was performed endlessly by marching bands
and orchestral ensembles for the decade following its release, not to
mention its application as studio logo music. The recording's abrasive
flaws aside, the adventurous spirit of Kamen's theme for Robin stands as
perhaps the most memorable mainstream remnant of a career cut short by
the composer's unexpected death in the early 2000's. *** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
Bias Check: |
For Michael Kamen reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.14
(in 14 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.2
(in 33,254 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
Robin Hood Snake Eyes - April 13, 2018, at 7:10 p.m. |
1 comment (9 views) |
WTF? Expand >> Mefisto - November 13, 2008, at 6:44 a.m. |
4 comments (2546 views) Newest: September 30, 2011, at 10:09 a.m. by mxwll |
Brass section Expand >> In the know - June 5, 2008, at 5:55 p.m. |
4 comments (2133 views) Newest: November 13, 2008, at 1:31 a.m. by David Lounsberry |
1991 Morgan Creek Album Tracks ▼ | Total Time: 60:22 |
1. Overture/Prisoner of the Crusades (From Chains to Freedom) (8:27)
2. Sir Guy of Gisborne/Escape to Sherwood (7:27)
3. Little John/Band in the Forest (4:52)
4. The Sheriff and his Witch (6:03)
5. Maid Marian (2:57)
6. Training/Robin Hood (5:15)
7. Marian at the Waterfall (5:34)
8. The Abduction/Final Battle (9:53)
9. (Everything I Do) I Do it for You - performed by Bryan Adams (6:38)
10. Wild Times - performed by Jeff Lynne (3:12)
| |
(track times not listed on packaging) |
2018 Intrada Album Tracks ▼ | Total Time: 144:17 |
CD1: (72:53)
1. Main Title - Prince of Thieves (2:45)
2. From Chains to Freedom (6:22)
3. Robin Foils Gisborne (6:14)
4. I Will Not Rest (2:34)
5. Meet Marian (1:10)
6. Escape to Sherwood (7:43)
7. The River (0:51)
8. Little John Fight (4:51)
9. Camp Oak (1:43)
10. Robin Escapes (4:37)
11. Stitch (0:46)
12. Village Destructo (Alternate #2) (1:58)
13. Training Sequence (5:08)
14. The Merry Men Continue Raids (1:55)
15. The Merry Men Ambush Gisborne (4:51)
16. Marian at the Waterfall/Camp (9:13)
CD2: (71:20)
1. Medieval Dance Source (0:58)
2. Baby (3:58)
3. The Plot Thickens (Maid Marian) (7:17)
4. Warning Arrow (1:12)
5. Celt Battle (5:02)
6. Duncan's Death (5:17)
7. Plans For Rescue (6:50)
8. Mayhem in Town (0:47)
9. Rescue Marian (13:25)
10. Reunited and Finale (2:28)
The Extras: (23:57)
11. I Will Not Rest (Alternate Mix) (2:35)
12. Robin Gives Marian Ring (Alternate Mix) (2:57)
13. The Band in the Forest (Alternate) (1:31)
14. Village Destructo (Original Without Brass) (0:46)
15. Village Destructo (Alternate #1) (0:46)
16. Training Sequence (Alternate #1) (2:06)
17. Training Sequence (Alternate #2) (2:07)
18. Marian at the Waterfall/Camp (Alternate Mix) (5:31)
19. Mayhem in Town (Alternate) (0:47)
20. Join Robin (Alternate) (1:38)
21. Maid Marian (Album Version) (2:55)
| |
|
The insert of the 1991 Morgan Creek album includes a general note about the score and
song from two of the producers/writers of the film. That of the 2018 Intrada product includes
extensive information about the score and film.
|