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| 11/30/11
- | Thelma & Louise: (Hans Zimmer)
- Updated Review, With Additional Album |
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Buy it... |
on the widely traded bootleg or 2011 Kritzerland album if you desire the defiantly beautiful,
gospel-laced finale cue to go with the commercially available presentation of the famous
"Thunderbird" suite from the score.
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Avoid it... |
if you expect to hear more than eight to ten minutes of truly meaningful material in this
score, because outside of the stylish guitar performances and that finale, there isn't much to
impress on any full presentation of the short score.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 11/28/11
- | The Core: (Christopher Young)
- Updated Review, With Additional Album |
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Buy it... |
if you have long ago lost patience with the insipid, mundane trash usually recorded for
blockbuster disaster films, in which case Christopher Young's score for The Core will impress
you with surprising intelligence in its sustained volume.
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Avoid it... |
if you can't handle being challenged by a composer who tosses aside the notion of easy,
harmonic statements of a bold theme in every action cue and instead offers the kind of robust
"wall of sound" that will overwhelm you with its transcendent structures.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 11/26/11
- | Spider-Man 2: (Danny Elfman)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you wish to hear Danny Elfman's very strong, thematically satisfying sequel score in its
original form, separate from the film's awkwardly poor treatment of it.
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Avoid it... |
if you were hoping for a more contemporary and stylish turn to the franchise's scores or if,
like many, you wonder why the director would force Christopher Young's music from Hellraiser
II into this picture.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 11/23/11
- | Basic Instinct: (Jerry Goldsmith)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
on either of the albums featuring this score if you are ready to hear truly unique erotic
thriller music that perfectly balances the inescapable sensuality and chilly dread of the
film's shamelessly lurid plotline.
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Avoid it... |
if even a clever exploration of the noir genre in Jerry Goldsmith's contemporary methodology
cannot keep you from being disturbed by the score's legendarily turbulent, challenging, and
musically graphic sex and orgasm sequences.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 11/21/11
- | Aladdin: (Alan Menken)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
on the original 1992 pressing if you seek to hear Aladdin as it was meant to be, an entertaining and humorous
collection of songs with strong melodic adaptations in the accompanying underscore.
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Avoid it... |
on the 2004 "Special Edition" album if you expect a satisfying and comprehensive presentation of the songs (with the
lyrics of the original theatrical release) or the previously missing score material that remains elusive on album.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 11/19/11
- | Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith: (John Williams)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you consider yourself any kind of Star Wars fan whatsoever, for John Williams concludes the
saga with melodramatic weight of immense depth for this critical bridge to the classic
trilogy.
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Avoid it... |
if you are accustomed to the traditional format of Star Wars scores that values memorable
themes and concert arrangements, a characteristic aspect of the franchise consciously dropped
by Williams for this final film.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 11/17/11
- | Star Wars: Return of the Jedi: (John Williams)
- Expanded Review, With Additional Albums |
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Buy it... |
on the 1997 "Special Edition" albums over all others because they feature the best combination
of outstanding packaging and a nearly complete presentation of John Williams' slightly
diminished but still very powerful sequel score.
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Avoid it... |
on the 1985 to 1993 albums because of poorer, archival sound quality and incomplete
presentations, as well as the 2004 and 2007 re-pressings that are identical to the 1997 albums
in contents but without the superior packaging.
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| Rating: | *****
Read the entire review
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| 11/15/11
- | Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back: (John Williams)
- Expanded Review, With Additional Albums |
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Buy it... |
on the 1997 "Special Edition" albums over all others because they feature the best combination of outstanding packaging
and a complete presentation of John Williams' incredibly memorable sequel score.
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Avoid it... |
on the 1985 to 1993 albums because of poorer, archival sound quality and incomplete presentations, as well as the 2004
and 2007 re-pressings that are identical to the 1997 albums in contents but without the superior packaging.
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| Rating: | *****
Read the entire review
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| 11/13/11
- | Star Wars: A New Hope: (John Williams)
- Expanded Review, With Additional Albums |
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Buy it... |
on the 1997 "Special Edition" albums over all others because they feature the best combination of outstanding
packaging and a complete presentation of John Williams' classic, iconic, and revolutionary space opera music.
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Avoid it... |
on the 1986 to 1993 albums because of poorer, archival sound quality and incomplete presentations, as well as the
2004 and 2007 re-pressings that are identical to the 1997 albums in contents but without the superior packaging.
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| Rating: | *****
Read the entire review
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| 11/11/11
- | Gremlins: (Jerry Goldsmith)
- Updated Review, With Additional Album |
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Buy it... |
if you've already sought and enjoyed the more readily available and possibly easier to
appreciate Gremlins 2: The New Batch on album and are prepared for Jerry Goldsmith's
cat-howling original.
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Avoid it... |
if you tend to be annoyed by Goldsmith's harsher electronic tones that existed primarily in
his mid-1980's scores, for they dominate the soundscape in this ultra-quirky entry.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 11/9/11
- | Dances With Wolves: (John Barry)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
on the 2004 expanded album if are one of the few in a generation to have never before owned
the classic symphonic score, John Barry's triumphant crowning achievement while nearing the
end of his career.
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Avoid it... |
if you have grown tired of Barry's trademark stylistic simplicity of the 1980's and 1990's,
because despite this score's perfect emotional tone for the film, its instrumentation and
themes are extremely derivative of the composer's prior scores.
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| Rating: | *****
Read the entire review
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| 11/7/11
- | Troy: (Gabriel Yared/James Horner)
- Expanded Review, With Additional Album |
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Buy it... |
on the commercial album with James Horner's functional but mundane replacement score only if you have extreme patience
with his tendency to recycle his own music, a technique
actually made necessary by his last minute rush job for this film.
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Avoid it... |
on the Horner album completely if you have a chance to somehow obtain the vastly superior rejected score by Gabriel
Yared, the momentous crown jewel of his career that has haunted
film score fans since its intentional leak to the public in 2004.
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| Rating: | VARIED
Read the entire review
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| 11/5/11
- | Midway: (John Williams)
- Updated Review, With Additional Album |
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Buy it... |
if even one of John Williams' less acclaimed and less cohesive epic scores of the 1970's is
worth investigating based on its two enduring themes of concert fame.
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Avoid it... |
on the 2011 limited release of the original recording if you seek the best available album for
Midway, in which case a 1998 re-recording of almost all of the score on the same label is the
far better experience.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 11/3/11
- | WarGames: (Arthur B. Rubinstein)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you seek a valiant attempt by Arthur B. Rubinstein to capture the somewhat schizophrenic
nature of the film's duality, balancing light parody and synthetic pop style with ballsy
orchestral mayhem for the threat of nuclear war.
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Avoid it... |
if you have difficulty accepting scores that challenge you with a wide range of technical
intellect and melodic constructs instead of simplifying their personality to capture your
heart with cohesive ethos.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 11/1/11
- | For the Record: Craig Armstrong: (Compilation)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
only if you seek a complete collection of the "For the Record" albums from the Ghent
performances of major composers' works during the late 2000's, for the Craig Armstrong entry
is rather weak compared to the others.
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Avoid it... |
if you can't fathom hearing Armstrong's music without its trademark synthetic elements, the
naked orchestral variants bizarre to the ears in a presentation that is also necessarily
absent some of his best-known music.
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| Rating: | **
Read the entire review
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