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| 10/31/10
- | Alvin and the Chipmunks: (Christopher Lennertz)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
on either of its nearly identical, rare score-only albums if you seek a pleasantly undemanding
children's score that will meet your expectations but not exceed them.
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Avoid it... |
if even a heartfelt primary theme of sincere character cannot salvage a listening experience
that does apply necessary Carl Stalling/Warner Brothers cartoon techniques for the squeaky
protagonists' activities.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 10/28/10
- | Uncommon Valor: (James Horner)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
on the 2010 Intrada album, the score's only official release, if you seek cleaned up sound
quality for the score's famous Star Trek-derived action cues from the climax of the film.
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Avoid it... |
if you expect the challenging and arguably racist, stereotypical instrumental applications in
the first two-thirds of the score to compete in any manner whatsoever with the unoriginal but
still entertaining aforementioned action highlights.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 10/25/10
- | Groundhog Day: (George Fenton)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you seek a loyal souvenir from this cult classic film, including the choral and accordion
performances of the "Pennsylvania Polka" that are a necessity for anyone maintaining a
collection of bizarre film music with which to torture others.
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Avoid it... |
if you seek a consistent, cohesive score by George Fenton for a film that really negated the
possibility of such development given its zany personality and high profile source placements.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 10/21/10
- | Mr. Holland's Opus: (Michael Kamen)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you, like many, were impressed by Michael Kamen's balance of underscore and original source
material in the context of the film, led by fifteen minutes of music (in three cues) that have
become a defining moment in the composer's sadly shortened career.
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Avoid it... |
if you want to hear Kamen blend the rock influences of the film's many song placements into
his score outside of the famous "An American Symphony," or if you expect the engagingly
resounding tone of that piece to carry over into much of the rest of the soundtrack.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 10/18/10
- | Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: (Patrick Doyle)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you are an enthusiast of Patrick Doyle's knack for authentic romantic expression but have
wondered how his inherent lyricism would translate into a massively gothic horror environment.
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Avoid it... |
if you have little tolerance for scores that go "over the top," making no attempt to dilute
monumentally harmonic and propulsive tragedy with an abundance of nuance or lengthy interludes
of rest.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 10/15/10
- | Dante's Peak: (James Newton Howard/John Frizzell)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
only if you seek a generic taste of the disappointingly average material that James Newton
Howard and John Frizzell wrote for this equally mundane volcano thriller.
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Avoid it... |
if you expect either Howard's thematic ideas or Frizzell's action music to stand apart from
their peers, because Dante's Peak has few uniquely redeeming characteristics (especially on
its woefully short commercial album).
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 10/12/10
- | Conspiracy Theory: (Carter Burwell)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you've always had a soft spot for Henry Mancini's quirkier jazz material, a sound that is
blown to massive proportions and arguably defies logic in this score but is gloriously
successful for its humorous portions nonetheless.
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Avoid it... |
if you expect the upbeat and redemptive thematic portions of Carter Burwell's score, for many
listeners among the highlights of his career, to coexist easily with the challenging, chaotic
orchestral suspense sound that saturates the remainder of the score with dread.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 10/9/10
- | Ed Wood: (Howard Shore)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
only if you are familiar with the film and seek an outstanding companion piece to the Ed Wood
experience, in which case Howard Shore's music (along with dialogue from the film) will be
equally entertaining.
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Avoid it... |
if you're investigating the score blindly, because even enthusiasts of B-rate 1950's sci-fi
and horror schlock may find this throwback score too challenging in its often grating
authenticity for casual enjoyment.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 10/6/10
- | Terminator 2: Judgment Day: (Brad Fiedel)
- Updated Review, With Additional Album |
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Buy it... |
if you seek a more technologically advanced variation on some of the ideas primitively
expressed in the previous
score, including two solid, muscular performances of the franchise's famous title theme.
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Avoid it... |
if you expect to hear anything with the depth of meaning to suggest that a compelling dramatic
story is unfolding
under the chase on screen, because Brad Fiedel's library of screeching and grinding metallic
sound effects over
pounding, brutal percussion ineffectively addresses the concept.
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| Rating: | **
Read the entire review
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| 10/4/10
- | SpaceCamp: (John Williams)
- Updated Review, With Additional Album |
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Buy it... |
if you adore John Williams' whimsy for patriotism and adventure like that which you'd hear in
his countless rousing, stately concert pieces of the 1980's and 1990's.
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Avoid it... |
if the sticker shock of the score's pair of rare albums is not worth redundant and
surprisingly flat-sounding Williams music that would be more finely tuned in future works.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 10/2/10
- | Predator: (Alan Silvestri)
- Updated Review, With Additional Album |
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Buy it... |
if you seek one of Alan Silvestri's most enduring and memorable scores, led by an extremely
catchy percussive rhythm highlighting the score's menacingly primal thematic ideas.
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Avoid it... |
if any horror score without grand, fluid themes, and especially one with a driving
militaristic personality, isn't worth the price of any of its rare albums.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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