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May/June 2022
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6/29/22
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Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (Hans Zimmer/Various)
All New Review
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| Buy it... |
if you seek the best development of Hans Zimmer's catchy escape theme that defines the scores of the franchise, this second entry offering the
idea in its best variations.
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| Avoid it... |
if you expect the commercial album to do any justice whatsoever to the score, many of its melodic highlights left off in favor of the
pop-inclined songs and parody music aimed at the masses.
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6/25/22
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Legend (Jerry Goldsmith)
Updated Review, With Additional Album
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| Buy it... |
if you want to hear a fascinating and melodic venture by Jerry Goldsmith that remains one his most outlandishly stylish and effective
integrations of synthesized and symphonic elements.
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| Avoid it... |
if you prefer Tangerine Dream's less striking music for the American release of the film despite the fact that Goldsmith's partially rejected
work remains extremely memorable in its own hybrid fantasy rendering.
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6/20/22
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Collateral (James Newton Howard/Various)
All New Review
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| Buy it... |
if you are fully aware of the mess that director Michael Mann made of this film's soundtrack and are prepared to combine the highlights of
multiple composers' works into your own compilation.
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| Avoid it... |
if all of that sounds like too much work for a rather drab suspense score with poorly enunciated soul style and minimal, generic action, the
highly collectible albums for Collateral music ironic in that they contain few attractions.
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6/15/22
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How to Train Your Dragon 2 (John Powell)
Updated Review, With Additional Album
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| Buy it... |
even if you adore the prior film's score and have fears about the quality of the sequel, for John Powell prevailed with an entertaining,
well-rounded thematic romp in the same mould for the second entry.
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| Avoid it... |
if you still cannot tolerate Powell's overtly bombastic style of exuberant, rowdy orchestral music for the animation genre despite its
undeniably high quality.
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6/10/22
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RoboCop 3 (Basil Poledouris)
All New Review
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| Buy it... |
if you want a taste of only the best music from the RoboCop franchise, this third entry by Basil Poledouris containing a nicely matured and
melodically engaging evolution of his material from the first film's score.
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| Avoid it... |
if you have no interest in hearing Poledouris stray deep into Jerry Goldsmith territory, the synthetics and orchestrations in RoboCop 3 not
always remaining within the confines of Poledouris' own trademark tendencies.
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6/6/22
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Toy Soldiers (Robert Folk)
Updated Review, With Additional Album
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| Buy it... |
if you're prepared for a surprisingly entertaining and upbeat action score seemingly inspired by the thematic and stylistic tendencies of Jerry
Goldsmith.
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| Avoid it... |
if you tend to exhibit little patience for scores that overplay their emotional appeals, Robert Folk pushing the score's two major themes to
levels of importance not supported by the film's quality.
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6/1/22
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RoboCop 2 (Leonard Rosenman)
All New Review
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| Buy it... |
only if you are able to separate the merits of an admirable composition from the concept it accompanies, Leonard Rosenman providing impressive
but outright wrong music for this movie.
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| Avoid it... |
if you have never been able to connect with Rosenman's often challenging musical constructs, this score a bafflingly complex parody of the
comic super hero genre.
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5/27/22
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Glory (James Horner)
Updated Review, With Additional Album
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| Buy it... |
if you're emotionally prepared for one of the most effectively engaging and heartbreaking dramatic film scores of its era.
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| Avoid it... |
if you cannot appreciate arguably James Horner's most gut-wrenching career achievement because of the composer's tendency to expose the sources
of inspiration for his music.
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5/23/22
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Species II (Edward Shearmur)
All New Review
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| Buy it... |
only if you relish the mood of mundane horror music, Edward Shearmur providing basically sufficient thematic and textural material for a film
that deserved no better.
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| Avoid it... |
if you expect Shearmur to be in top form with Species II, his themes underdeveloped in the narrative and his mix sometimes emphasizing the most
obnoxious elements of his ensemble.
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5/19/22
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Masada (Jerry Goldsmith/Morton Stevens)
Updated Review, With Additional Album
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| Buy it... |
on any of its albums if you value Jerry Goldsmith's few but memorable forays into the realm of massive historical epics, this one perhaps as
impressive in its scale as any in his career despite existing for a television mini-series.
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| Avoid it... |
if you are deterred by the potentially overwrought sense of melodrama inherent in expansive biblical scores and Goldsmith's robust military
marches, or if for some dubious reason you are not impressed by The Wind and the Lion.
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5/14/22
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Tolkien (Thomas Newman)
All New Review
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| Buy it... |
if you adore Thomas Newman's unique instrumental trademarks in the light drama genre, his mystical take on this story yielding a gorgeous
listening experience.
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| Avoid it... |
if you expect either sensible thematic coherence or any reference to the weight of Howard Shore's famous music for the concepts teased in this
film.
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5/10/22
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Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (James Horner)
Updated Review, With Additional Album
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| Buy it... |
if you're interested in hearing the roots of many of James Horner's great career motifs and thematic styles in one of the best scores in the
history of the "Star Trek" franchise and the science fiction genre at large.
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| Avoid it... |
if an abrasive and harsh performance tone and somewhat archival recording quality, especially on the earlier albums, gives you pause, or if
Horner's broad, sea-faring style seems out of place for you in this franchise.
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5/5/22
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Ghostbusters II (Randy Edelman)
All New Review
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| Buy it... |
only if you have an established attraction to Randy Edelman's simplistically affable style of writing and recording, this score adhering to the
best and worst of his methods.
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| Avoid it... |
if you cannot accept Edelman's haphazard thematic attributions, silly parody stylings, frustrating album presentation, or refusal to
acknowledge Elmer Bernstein's music for the concept.
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5/1/22
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Elf (John Debney)
Updated Review, With Additional Album
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| Buy it... |
if you can find merit in overly-exuberant 1950's era whistling and singing over light orchestral rhythms and John Debney's usual, consistently
melodic output.
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| Avoid it... |
if you believe for good reason that if you've heard one light and fluffy Debney comedy score, you've heard them all, the only difference in
this case being the Christmas spirit.
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