1492: Conquest of Paradise - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
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Wind
(1992)
1993 For Life

2002 Citadel

Composed, Conducted, Performed, and Produced by:
Basil Poledouris

Orchestrated by:
Greig McRitchie

Labels and Dates:
For Life (Japan)
(1993)

Citadel Records
(January 1st, 2002)

Also See:
Big Wednesday
Free Willy
Cherry 2000

Audio Clips:
2002 Citadel:

2. Winning (0:30), 179K wind2.ra

7. The Dinghy Race (0:30), 179K wind7.ra

11. Dead Air (0:30), 179K wind11.ra

15. Wind Song (0:29), 168K wind15.ra

Availability:
No fully commercial release exists. The 1993 release by the 'For Life' label was reportedly withdrawn, after which the album sold for as much as $75 on the secondary market in America. The 2002 Citadel album was limited to a pressing of 1500, maintaining roughly a $20 value in the years that followed.

Awards:
  None.









Wind
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Sales Rank: 247533

Avg. Rating:  out of 5 stars


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Buy it... if you specifically enjoy Basil Poledouris' creative merging of synthesizers and orchestra.

Avoid it... if the ambient sounds of wind and sail in a largely new-age dominated score with a handful of orchestral cues doesn't carry over your interest from Poledouris' muscular, epic historical scores.



Poledouris
Wind: (Basil Poledouris) Few films have been made about modern competitive sailing, and even fewer have captured the glory of a race on the ocean with cinematography as stunning as that of Wind. Director Carroll Ballard's film about four individuals teaming up to build their own boat to race in the America's Cup succeeds brilliantly whenever giving us the action on the water, but largely failed with critics because of its clunky melodrama between its primary characters when on soil. Overcoming a romantic triangle, the young, brash captain and his associates finish their boat in time for the race of Fremantle, Australia in 1987, succeeding in a world where the millionaires who run the crews aren't always the most sympathetic of characters. Ballard, director of The Black Stallion previously, was unable to make use of the screenplay by Rudy Wurlitzer and Mac Gudgeon outside of the glory of the high seas. Composer Basil Poledouris, though, largely succeeds in both wet and dry environments in Wind, thanks to his own personal love of sailing. For anyone who has watched the 1998 Film Score Monthly video about Poledouris and his life, you quickly learn that the sailboat and piano are high among the man's passions, and it's no surprise that ocean-going films have played a prominent role in Poledouris' career. From Big Wednesday to The Hunt for Red October, Wind to Free Willy, films that involve the ocean seem to bring out the best in Poledouris' writing. Among the projects above, Wind is undoubtedly the closest direct match to these passions, and perhaps it is this connection that caused Poledouris to create such a vibrant and accurate atmosphere even against the odds of budgetary constraints. Ranging from solo piano to Poledouris' performances keyboards and drum pads, the score was allowed four or five cues to be recorded with a moderate orchestral ensemble. In every case, Poledouris makes the most of it.

For a listener who has been born and raised somewhere inland, it's possible that the intangible aspects of Poledouris' atmosphere for the ocean won't make much sense, but you have to trust those of us who can place the score in context. In many regards, Wind is a smaller-scale, less outwardly enthusiastic version of Free Willy, with almost identical palettes of synthesized sounds to accompany the solo piano and orchestra. Poledouris' electronic sounds are very unique to the composer, following him from Cherry 2000 in the late 1980's through the 1990's, and for fans who miss that vibrant array of sounds post-2000, then the largely undiscovered Wind score is an obvious place to journey back. Defined by its light, flowing keyboarding and ambient sound effects, the score's greatest aspect is its free-flowing style, playing much like a new age album in parts, simple and harmonious. The scenes of interpersonal romance on land, such as "Love in the Sewers," cause plentiful soothing moments. An almost religious tribute to the wind and water is heard in the "Irolita" theme, rolling to an elegant boil in "Wind Song" (aka "Prologue"), during which Poledouris not only makes use of whispering synthetic woodwinds, but employs a swaying sound effect in the background that is almost reminiscent of the sound of wind through a sail. For fans of Poledouris' larger, more famous scores, the four primary orchestral cues will remind strongly of Free Willy, with ambitious rhythms set with synthesizers rambling under brassy fanfares for the races themselves. The orchestra goes solo for much of "Dead Air," providing one of the most thematically thunderous cues of Poledouris' career. Despite the significant contrast between the orchestral and solo keyboarded cues, Wind works because of Poledouris' ability to continue weaving the synthetic elements into nearly every other orchestral moment. One of the few low points in the score is a more dissonant, deep synthetic choir and larger drum banging in "To Australia."

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Otherwise, the only frustrations for fans regarding Wind have related to poor availability on album since its initial release. Only released on a 1993 Japanese product from the "For Life" label, the album was reportedly withdrawn and consequently sold for upwards of $100 on the secondary market in the late 1990's. Among distinguishing aspects of the Japanese album was the "Born on the Wind" vocal song (a decent match to Poledouris' score) as well as packaging with a majority of notes in Japanese. In 2003, Wind received a considerable DVD remastering from Columbia Tri-Star, translating the sounds of the water and Poledouris' score during racing sequences into a far more convincing Dolby Digital soundtrack. Just prior to that DVD, the largely inactive Citadel Records label re-released the score on a 1500-copy pressing, hand-numbered, and revised the packaging to include notations in English by Poledouris. The composer had a hand in this CD production, and new audio sources, a remastering, and rearrangement of cues are all new features. As for the sound quality, Wind never exhibited dull or muted sound on the Japanese release, though with the sharp clarity of Poledouris' usual tingling synthetics, the Citadel album does do some slightly better justice to that element of the performances. Advertisements of "greatly improved sound" may be exaggerated, however. Aside from the absence of the song, the most startling aspect of the Citadel album is its rearrangement of the cues so that they are out of film order. Presumably by Poledouris' choice, an elegant solo piano cue is followed immediately by the majority of large-scale orchestral pieces. Some awkward edits between cues result, and regular listeners of the original album may be unnerved by some of the changes. Especially for a 'story-telling formatted' score like Wind, such rearrangements take some getting accustomed to. Nevertheless, Poledouris provides a score worthy of the expense, and anyone who enjoys his creative merging of synthesizers and orchestra will appreciate Wind, not to mention the sailors among you. ****

Bias Check:For Basil Poledouris reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.48 (in 30 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.42 (in 27,544 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.





 Viewer Ratings and Comments:  


Regular Average: 3.64 Stars
Smart Average: 3.48 Stars*
***** 31 
**** 26 
*** 20 
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   Fantastic score
  Sheridan -- 2/3/07 (2:03 p.m.)
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 Track Listings (1993 For Life Album): Total Time: 55:04


• 1. Prologue (3:29)
• 2. Love in the Sewer (1:44)
• 3. The Dinghy Race (Senta) (3:12)
• 4. The Break-Up (3:16)
• 5. Windward Work (3:36)
• 6. Downwind (5:20)
• 7. Defeat (5:14)
• 8. The Glider (1:30)
• 9. Sail Locker (1:02)
• 10. The Petroglyph (1:20)
• 11. Contest (3:11)
• 12. Windshadow (1:12)
• 13. Whomper Trails (1:15)
• 14. The Bike Ride (2:29)
• 15. To Australia (2:17)
• 16. Dead Air (4:48)
• 17. Winning (3:00)
• 18. Irolita (1:34)
• 19. Born on the Wind (English Version) - performed by The Amazons (5:25)




 Track Listings (2002 Citadel Album): Total Time: 50:00


• 1. Sail Locker (1:00)
• 2. Winning (2:59)
• 3. Windward Work (3:36)
• 4. Downwind (5:18)
• 5. The Break-Up (3:15)
• 6. To Australia (2:25)
• 7. The Dinghy Race (3:10)
• 8. Windshadow (1:11)
• 9. The Petroglyph (1:18)
• 10. The Bike Ride (2:27)
• 11. Dead Air (4:38)
• 12. Love in the Sewers (1:43)
• 13. The Contest (3:10)
• 14. The Glider (1:28)
• 15. Wind Song (3:27)
• 16. Whomper Trials (1:15)
• 17. Defeat (5:13)
• 18. Irolita (1:30)




 Notes and Quotes:  


The inserts for both albums include extra information about the score and film, though the 1993 For Life album is in Japanese.





   
  All artwork and sound clips from Wind are Copyright © 1993, 2002, For Life (Japan), Citadel Records. The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Filmtracks Publications. Audio clips can be heard using RealPlayer but cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 3/15/97 and last updated 2/19/06. Review Version 5.0 (PHP). Copyright © 1997-2009, Christian Clemmensen (Filmtracks Publications). All rights reserved.