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| 8/31/08
- | Psycho: The Essential Alfred Hitchcock: (Compilation)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you're a collector of Alfred Hitchcock's films and are interested in a superior collection of
re-recorded themes
and suites from the scores for those films.
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Avoid it... |
if you are primarily interested in the Bernard Herrmann cues that dominate the second CD in this set,
for they are
available alone on a concurrent set from the same label.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 8/30/08
- | Hitchcock, 100 Years: A Bernard Herrmann Film Score
Tribute: (Bernard Herrmann)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
only if you are a true collector of the Bernard Herrmann and Alfred Hitchcock collaboration,
for Milan Record's presentation here is more educational than enjoyable.
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Avoid it... |
if hearing the deep, raspy voice of Herrmann making commentary every third track could ruin
the flow of the sparse, Elmer Bernstein-conducted selections.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 8/29/08
- | Alfred Hitchcock Presents... Signatures in
Suspense: (Compilation)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you are a devoted fan of Alfred Hitchcock's films and seek one of the most balanced
presentations of original recordings and more recent performances representing the
music from his works.
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Avoid it... |
if you are deterred by archival sound quality for several of the earlier entries, in
which case you should investigate the Silva Screen label's superior compilations of
Hitchcock-related re-recordings from the same year.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 8/28/08
- | Citizen Kane: The Essential Bernard Herrmann
Collection: (Bernard Herrmann)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you seek a very well-rounded and, for the most part, superbly performed collection of
re-recordings representing the career of Bernard Herrmann.
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Avoid it... |
if the composer's work has never at the least intrigued you, for this compilation is about the
best re-introduction to his work that you can find.
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| Rating: | *****
Read the entire review
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| 8/26/08
- | Bernard Herrmann at Fox: Volume 2: (Bernard
Herrmann)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you seek the majority of three original recordings by Bernard Herrmann in his earliest
years composing for 20th Century Fox.
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Avoid it... |
if you already own the three scores represented on prior album releases, some of which
superior in original presentation or re-recorded sound quality.
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| Rating: | **
Read the entire review
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| 8/25/08
- | Bernard Herrmann at Fox: Volume 1:
(Bernard Herrmann)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you seek a handful of Bernard Herrmann's later and lesser known scores for 20th
Century Fox on a well-balanced compilation.
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Avoid it... |
if you prefer the flashy, unconventional, and powerful side of Herrmann's output,
replaced in these scores by his more harmonic, conversational style of underscore.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 8/24/08
- | Bond: Back in Action: (Compilation)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you seek freshly re-recorded suites of orchestral underscore from each of the first seven
James Bond scores.
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Avoid it... |
if your interest in the music from the Bond franchise is rooted primarily in the title songs
and their themes, available from the same label on another product.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 8/22/08
- | The Back to the Future Trilogy: (Alan Silvestri)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you only have casual interest in Alan Silvestri's fantastic music for the trilogy and seek
robust re-recordings of highlights from the first two entries.
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Avoid it... |
if you're enough of a fan of the scores that John Debney's significantly slower tempos in
conducting them will overshadow the benefit of the monumentally fuller sound of the recording.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 8/20/08
- | Splash: (Lee Holdridge)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you are familiar with the often gorgeous romance themes produced by Lee Holdridge
throughout the years and seek the first and perhaps most famous entry in that collection.
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Avoid it... |
if the fluffy atmosphere and pop elements in the score's conversational and action cues render
Splash too dated to compensate for the more universal love theme.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 8/19/08
- | Patton: (Jerry Goldsmith)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
on the 1999 Film Score Monthly album if you seek the best source for the original film
version of the Patton recordings, as well as a superior work by Frank DeVol for The Flight
of the Phoenix.
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Avoid it... |
in Patton's original recordings if you prefer the outstandingly vibrant re-recording
conducted by Jerry Goldsmith in 1997.
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| Rating: | *****
Read the entire review
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| 8/17/08
- | Monte Walsh : (John Barry)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you seek proof that John Barry was more intent at times on forcing his own style onto a new
genre rather than truly adapting for it.
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Avoid it... |
if the reason you are curious about Monte Walsh's score is because you are a Western
collector, for Barry's output is far closer to his works in the drama and action genres.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 8/15/08
- | The Missouri Breaks: (John Williams)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
only if you are trying to complete a John Williams film score collection and are fully
prepared for perhaps his most eccentric and dysfunctional genre-bending effort.
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Avoid it... |
if the idea of 70's pop rhythms and instrumentation in conjunction with comical Western
honky-tonk elements seem like a recipe for disaster to you.
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| Rating: | **
Read the entire review
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| 8/14/08
- | Island of the Sharks: (Alan Williams)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you enjoy the expansiveness of John Barry's dramatic 1980's string writing and the rhythmic
flair of Jerry Goldsmith's 1990's jungle rhythms.
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Avoid it... |
if you easily become annoyed by scores that make no attempt to conceal the origins of their
influences, no matter how adept their adaptation of those styles.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 8/11/08
- | The X-Files: I Want to Believe:
(Mark Snow) - All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you're such a devoted fan of the franchise that even a faint whisper of what
once made the episodic Mark Snow scores so attractive will suffice for nostalgic
purposes.
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Avoid it... |
if you were hoping that Snow would, outside of the last moments of the score,
neatly wrap the music for the franchise into a coherent and impressive package.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 8/10/08
- | Inspector Gadget: (John Debney)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
only if you already suspect that you'd have a high tolerance for that catchy "Go, Gadget, Go!"
attitude, so perfectly captured and adapted by John Debney into one of his typically
hyperactive parody scores.
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Avoid it... |
if the phrase "Go go Debney score!" confuses more than it entertains.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 8/9/08
- | My Favorite Martian: (John Debney/Danny Elfman)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you seek probably the most engaging and creative orchestral and synthetic combination to
come from John Debney's wacky comedy writing of the late 1990's and early 2000's.
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Avoid it... |
if you despise the early children's and comedy styles of Danny Elfman, whose influence figures
heavily in Debney's work here.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 8/8/08
- | The Comancheros: (Elmer Bernstein)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you seek a predictably vibrant and bold Elmer Bernstein Western score, complete
with the usual brassy themes and optimistic string interludes.
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Avoid it... |
if the cheery atmosphere of many of Bernstein's themes for the genre detracts from
the sincerity of the arguably more interesting accompanying underscore.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 8/7/08
- | The Cable Guy/Fantasy Island:
(John Ottman) - Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you never had a chance to obtain either of the two scores represented on their
previous, individual promotional releases.
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Avoid it... |
if you already have the devilishly superior music to The Cable Guy and are
interested in this compilation promo only for "Fantasy Island."
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 8/6/08
- | Brokedown Palace: (David Newman)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you seek one of David Newman's most accomplished ventures into dramatic genres, with
uniquely intriguing instrumental combinations that cross cultures with surprising ease.
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Avoid it... |
if hearing David Newman write essentially a quintessential Thomas Newman score runs
counter to the flightiness that you expect and love from David's work.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 8/5/08
- | Breakout: (Jerry Goldsmith)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you're a Jerry Goldsmith completist and would seek even a mundane action score for a
mediocre Charles Bronson film.
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Avoid it... |
if you expect the Latin influence in the Breakout score to rival most (if any) of
Goldsmith's other crossover efforts.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 8/3/08
- | Big Trouble in Little China: (John Carpenter/Alan
Howarth)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you have a taste for synthesized rock scores of the 80's and revel in their shameless
cheesiness.
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Avoid it... |
if you have no love at all for any other musical work of John Carpenter, for this score
resembles the best and worst of his style.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 8/1/08
- | The Beyondness of Things: (John Barry)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you seek an extremely predictable self-tribute to the reflective style of John Barry's late
film scores.
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Avoid it... |
if you've never been able to appreciate the repeating structures and consistently geriatric
pacing of Barry's softer, romantic writing.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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