 |
|
| Goldsmith |
|
|
Twilight Zone: (Compilation/Various)
Few fantasy or science fictions shows could exist
on television today without the popular appeal of the "Twilight Zone"
series, which ran on CBS from 1959 to 1964. Like Steven Spielberg's
"Amazing Stories" several decades later, the producers of "Twilight
Zone" recognized that only with top talent in crew and actors could the
series truly be successful. This quest for quality by CBS led to a
significant budget (at the time) to be allotted for the original music
for the series. Composers under contract for the studio included names
both famous and upstart, and the series would benefit in the long run by
its employment of such a diverse collection of solid talent. The history
of the music on CD has been troubled, though in 1999, anxious fans of
the "Twilight Zone" series were treated to almost 300 minutes of
original music from the show, courtesy the Silva Screen label. Unlike
many of the re-recordings offered by Silva through the years (their
defining soundtrack products, really), this 4-CD set features only
original music from seasons one through five, as well as complete scores
from some notable episodes. The music had been released previously on 5
LPs in the United States, with portions released on two very early and
totally out of print CDs by Varèse Sarabande. There was a set of
five CDs of "Twilight Zone" music available in Japan in the early
1990's, but the sound quality on that set was not as crisp as this
official, 1999 Silva product (nor did the Japanese set have such a
condensed and straight-forward ordering of tracks). Unlike some other
lengthy sets of music from classic, cult science fiction TV shows (such
as the "Battlestar Galactica" package that was released at about the
same time), this enhanced treatment of "Twilight Zone" scores is
available as a regular commercial release.
This set was advertised as "The 40th Anniversary
Collection," and even 40 years after the debut of the show, there was a
very strong following of it. An enigma for its time, the show was not
only craftfully scripted, with strong acting performances, but also
featured consistently impressive musical scores for its episodes. Like
many television shows of the time, composers wrote lengthy suites of
cues for "Twilight Zone" that would be recycled countless times for the
156+ initial episodes. Some of the music would also be pulled from stock
library cues written for CBS by most of the same composers. Bernard
Herrmann was the first composer to contribute to the "Twilight Zone"
phenomenon, and his 1957 "Outer Space Suite" would be kept in the CBS
Music Library for use in a plethora of early episodes. Interestingly,
Herrmann's music, even though it was limited by a very small ensemble,
has all the same characteristics of his music for Alfred Hitchcock
films, including the concurrently written
Psycho. The first CD
features only Herrmann's music, and is a must-have for collectors of the
composer. It includes several "alternate takes" of the title theme as a
bonus and, as a whole, makes for a very entertaining listening
experience. With the second season of "Twilight Zone" came the
all-too-familiar theme by Marius Constant and a switch to Jerry
Goldsmith for many of the episodic scores. Goldsmith was obviously not
as well established as Herrmann had been at the time, and the difference
shows. The Goldsmith CD is perhaps the weakest of the four; although his
music is interesting to analyze for the veteran film music listener
(especially "The Invaders," which would influence his later score for
the
Twilight Zone film), his early talents did not allow him to
make as good of use out of the occasionally eight player mini-orchestra
as Herrmann could.
The third and fourth CDs are, though, the highlights of
the set. As the show began to experiment with other various composers,
hidden gems began to appear. Nathan Van Cleave's contributions to the
show (the most voluminous in the history of the series) highlight
innovation (especially with the electronic sound effects inserted into
"Perchance to Dream") and are presented with an even better depth of
sound. The fourth CD has noteworthy scores by Leonard Rosenman (which
accentuates some of the creepiest music on the set), Fred Steiner
(carrying over some of his "Star Trek" sensibilities), and Franz Waxman
(whose involvement with this particular episode recalls the Golden Age
style of
Sunset Boulevard). Each of the final three CDs features
the main and end title themes for the show by Marius Constant, and all
four include the introductory monologue by narrator Rod Serling. The set
really has no weaknesses (beyond the disjointed incorporation of some of
the jazz source cues on the second CD). The sound quality is improved
both overall and even moreso in specific cues appearing on the last two
CDs. The editing and remastering by James Nelson, John Beal, and Alan
Howarth is superb, with sound quality that will easily exceed your old
"Twilight Zone" LPs. The packaging is similarly improved upon, though
you should be aware that the track listings on the insert are incorrect
for the first CD. That insert does, however, include very in-depth notes
by Christopher Landry and a fold-out calendar poster (for the year 2000)
featuring the cover art of the album. With a price far below the typical
4-CD set, the quality and value of this new album cannot be surpassed
for fans of the "Twilight Zone" series. The lack of subsequent albums
featuring original music from the show serves as testimony to a rare
occasional when a label hit the nail right on the head.
**** Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download
| Bias Check: | For Jerry Goldsmith reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating
is 3.26 (in 113 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.32
(in 133,462 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
The packaging includes a booklet with very lengthy commentary, as well as a fold
out calendar poster for the year 2000.
