> 'Love Field'
> A delightful main theme, some cool jazzy stuff throughout and a
> super-emotional finale combine to make another solid Goldsmith entry. I
> really enjoyed it while listening to it, but found that everything but the
> main theme quickly faded from my memory. I really wish the album were
> longer (I think it's just around half an hour) so that Goldsmith would
> have had the opportunity to develop the world more -- perhaps that's why
> it so quickly fades. Still, if you've never heard it or haven't listened
> in a long time, I encourage you to check it out.
> Score: ***1/2
Never heard this one. Sounds interesting, but not high on my "to buy" list.
> Mr. Baseball
> 'da fuck is this? I listened to the album in bits and pieces on YouTube,
> and genuinely I thought it must have been some horrible remix or that a
> commercial was playing in the background when I first listened to it. I
> mean, seriously, how is this the same composer of every score I've heard
> on this odyssey so far? The electronics and the orchestral stuff make zero
> sense together, nor does using that grating baseball theme (no idea what
> its actual name is) as a repetitive motif. And the baseball stuff makes no
> attempt to combine at all with the Asian influence you see elsewhere. The
> love theme, which involves Horner's 'flute of doom' is nothing special
> either. This is just a trainwreck in every way -- I actually don't have
> anything positive to say about it. Were this the first Goldsmith score I
> listened to, I would have truly thought the man was incompetent.
> Score: *
Yeah this one is kinda infamous. I wonder if Goldsmith ever talked about how he came up with this score, because it seems really bizarre. Did he think the movie needed more humor? Was he going for zany fun? Or was he just trying to make the strangest score he could think of? Part of me gets a kick out of it, so goofy. But really it may be one of his worst scores.
> Mom and Dad Save the World
> First, is there a worse film title in history? What age group would want
> to see this movie? Kids don't want to go see it because obviously. Adults
> won't want to see it because it's too juvenile. So who is that title
> supposed to appeal to?
> The fact that Goldsmith supplied even a decent parody score is a credit to
> his talent. It's fun, but the action stuff is taken seriously enough to
> land (it actually sounds like a close cousin at times to 'Return to Oz,'
> and I mean that as a compliment), and there's a lovely theme (I'm guessing
> for either the family or the mom and dad in question) that Goldsmith
> introduces early and never abandons, no matter how zany things get. The
> songs are absolute trash and I've deleted them from the album. This isn't
> A-list Goldsmith, but solid enough B-level stuff that I'll definitely save
> a track or two of.
> Score: ***
Yeah this one I've never heard either. But I did see the movie way back when. I worked in a video store at the time of its release on VHS and I remember having that sucker playing on the TV in the store to try to get folks to rent it. It didn't help.
> Medicine Man
> Okay, this probably isn't going to go over well, but I don't love this
> score. I know that people on the board have lauded it as one of
> Goldsmith's very best, but I don't see it. The Caribbean style music that
> opens is good, but some of the electronic mixing feels off and way too
> overbearing (look at 1:10 and on in 'Rae's Arrival'). Things improved
> greatly around the one-two punch of 'Campbell and the Children' and the
> especially lovely 'The Trees,' where I honestly felt a little Horner in
> the work. Anyone else? It's a good score, but I found myself frowning a
> little more than I should have... and the weird zig-zag between the
> Caribbean stuff, the romance and then the more bass-heavy work is not a
> juggling trick Goldsmith pulled off... at least to me. I listened to the
> entirety of the album twice, thinking that perhaps I was in the wrong mood
> for it the first time, but felt the same indifference as the first time.
> Still, not a total loss -- 'The Trees' is definitely a track I'll be
> revisiting.
> Score: ***
Wow, I'm surprised by this rating. I really like this one a lot. Four stars easy and "The Trees" is one of his best cues. I don't find the electronics to be that distracting in this one, but I have a high tolerance for the stuff. I really think he crafted some great themes on this one and does some fine things with it. Maybe give it another listen at the end of the Odyssey to see if you feel differently.
