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May/June 2025
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6/29/25
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One Little Indian (Jerry Goldsmith)
All New Review
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| Buy it... |
to experience one of Jerry Goldsmith's most uniquely flavorful Western scores, this one combining significant lyricism with unusual
instrumentation for the camels central to the plot.
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| Avoid it... |
if you simply cannot accept the replacement of an acoustic guitar with a sitar in your Goldsmith Western formula, the children's
genre also demanding a dose of quirky comedy in this score's midsection.
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6/26/25
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The Last Days (Hans Zimmer)
All New Review
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| Buy it... |
if there is no limit to your embrace of Hans Zimmer's gloomy light drama mode, this documentary score sufficiently and respectfully
styled for the Holocaust topic.
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| Avoid it... |
and seek Lee Holdridge's superior alternatives for the same kind of films in the 1990's if you desire your music to tackle these
challenging stories with a convincing sense of passion and resonance.
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6/23/25
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Summer School (Danny Elfman)
All New Review
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| Buy it... |
only to complete your collection of early Danny Elfman music, this score a cheap shadow of the composer's other light orchestral
comedies of the 1980's.
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| Avoid it... |
if you want anything genuinely unique from the composer, though the finale cue does offer a few minutes of nice orchestral
redemption, albeit from an undersized ensemble.
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6/20/25
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The Don is Dead (Jerry Goldsmith)
All New Review
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| Buy it... |
if you prefer your mafia scores to espouse dreadfully gritty atmospheres, Jerry Goldsmith's strategy for this gruesome story
consistently unpleasant by design.
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| Avoid it... |
if you have no interest in hearing the composer dominate the orchestral soundscape with synthetic buzzing effects as a tool of
fear.
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6/18/25
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Jurassic Park III (Don Davis)
Updated Review, With Additional Album
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| Buy it... |
if you're a casual fan of the franchise for whom the smaller technical details of the adaptation of old ideas with new ones aren't
a scientific affair.
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| Avoid it... |
if you could be bothered by some of the liberties in tempo and structural rearrangement that Don Davis applies to John Williams'
famous original ideas for the franchise.
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6/15/25
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The Going Up of David Lev (Jerry Goldsmith)
All New Review
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| Buy it... |
if you are a longtime enthusiast of Jerry Goldsmith's music for QB VII and desire a short but worthy companion score of the same
general sound for Israel.
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| Avoid it... |
if you have nightmares about Chaim Topol's singing, for his two songs in this soundtrack severely interrupt the flow of Goldsmith's
score despite conveying their own cultural merit.
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6/12/25
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The Little Polar Bear 2: The Mysterious Island (Nick Glennie-Smith/Hans
Zimmer)
All New Review
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| Buy it... |
for an engaging and often lovely extension of Nick Glennie-Smith and Hans Zimmer's Lauras Stern, this time featuring the attractive
woodwind performances of Richard Harvey.
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| Avoid it... |
for its songs, which are a major detriment despite their brevity, because the remainder of the soundtrack is an easy, friendly, and
at times inspiring experience.
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6/9/25
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Midnight Run (Danny Elfman)
All New Review
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| Buy it... |
for a vibrant and refreshingly unique entry in Danny Elfman's career, a very bluesy comedy score of immense positivity and enticing
performance inflection.
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| Avoid it... |
if you simply cannot escape the era of the recording, because while the music remains fresh stylistically, some listeners may not
be able to tolerate its connections to the 1980's.
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6/6/25
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QB VII (Jerry Goldsmith)
All New Review
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| Buy it... |
on the 2013 complete re-recording for a resounding presentation of this immense and culturally important Jerry Goldsmith score.
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| Avoid it... |
on its short album featuring the original recording unless you seek the unique solo colors of that archival mix, though the
composer's collectors will likely want both available versions.
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6/3/25
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The Godfather Part II (Nino Rota/Carmine Coppola)
Updated Review, With Additional Album
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| Buy it... |
if you seek to investigate only one score in this famous franchise, a compelling combination of the memorable themes from the first
score with several powerful additions for the continuation.
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| Avoid it... |
on the longstanding original album release to appreciate the more varied interpolations of the primary set of themes, which are
only fully illuminated on the expanded 2024 product.
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5/30/25
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S*P*Y*S (Jerry Goldsmith)
All New Review
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| Buy it... |
if you ever wondered if Jerry Goldsmith was capable of writing music so obnoxiously terrible that you curse the space it takes in
your memory.
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| Avoid it... |
if you have demented visions of playing this music for your romantic partner with any expectation of getting laid in the subsequent
30 days.
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5/26/25
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Lilo & Stitch (Alan Silvestri)
All New Review
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| Buy it... |
only on a longer presentation of Alan Silvestri's score than the one provided on the commercial album, his approach substantially
intelligent despite the overall work's brevity.
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| Avoid it... |
if you would have preferred that Silvestri infuse his conservatively pleasant orchestral score with the Hawaiian culture that he
helped address with a pair of supplemental songs.
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5/22/25
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The Weather Man (Hans Zimmer/James S. Levine)
All New Review
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| Buy it... |
if you often appreciate the style of Hans Zimmer's more intimate, improvised scores for small ensembles, especially if they serve
their films with counterintuitive personalities.
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| Avoid it... |
if you expect this score's blend of spirited reggae, light jazz, maddening percussion effects, and meager string ambience to form a
cohesive narrative or convincing soul.
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5/18/25
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Big Top Pee-Wee (Danny Elfman)
All New Review
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| Buy it... |
if you groove to Danny Elfman's wacky, comedic parody music from Pee-wee's Big Adventure and can enjoy an infusion of extra
carnival atmosphere.
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| Avoid it... |
on any album if you demand thematic continuity, this franchise's films failing to carry over any cohesive melodic identity and
struggling to coordinate the ideas within this sequel score.
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5/14/25
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Ransom (The Terrorists) (Jerry Goldsmith)
All New Review
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| Buy it... |
if you seek a surprising compelling thriller score from Jerry Goldsmith, complete with fascinating thematic tapestry, robust
instrumentation, and accessible tonalities.
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| Avoid it... |
if you expect to find any satisfying album presentation for this music, its two albums featuring extremely poor sound quality due
to the loss of the recording's masters.
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5/11/25
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Supercell (Corey Wallace)
Updated Review, With Additional Album
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| Buy it... |
if you still yearn for the sound of John Williams' dramatic adventure music of the 1980's and 1990's, Corey Wallace perfectly
executing a nostalgic score of considerable intelligence for a most unlikely film.
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| Avoid it... |
if there is no place in your heart for shameless emulation, because the structural and instrumental mannerisms of Williams
absolutely permeate this work.
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5/7/25
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The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (Jerry Goldsmith)
All New Review
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| Buy it... |
if you trust Jerry Goldsmith to provide intelligent instrumental and thematic design to cues for murder, masturbation, incest, and
fornication.
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| Avoid it... |
if you expect to find any truly satisfying album presentation for this challenging hybrid score, its poor sound quality long
inhibiting its appeal.
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5/3/25
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12 Years a Slave (Hans Zimmer)
All New Review
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| Buy it... |
to study a prime example of a score respected because of the quality of its film rather than its own merits, Hans Zimmer playing
this project conservatively to ensure harm prevention rather than elevate the narrative.
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| Avoid it... |
if you have no interest in minimally audible, derivative, and repetitious stewing that conveys absolutely no heart, no soul, and no
passion for this powerful film.
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