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NOTE: This section was placed in the Filmtracks Archives in 2009 and will never again be updated.	(last updated 3/31/03)

Between January, 1997 and March, 2002, Filmtracks chose a film music topic to celebrate every month. Some months specialize on issues, awards, tributes, composers & conductors, and extraordinary events in the soundtrack world. Others present an opportunity for viewers to compete in a contest of vote for favorite scores, composers, and ideal CD compilations. Be sure to check back every month or two for a new theme!

March, 2002: The 2002 Academy & Filmtracks Awards

The year of 2001 marked the grand return of the fantasy film and fantasy score, and when it came down to awards time, the mainstream fantasy genre took flight. The late year powerhouses of The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone were joined by A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Monsters, Inc., and A Beautiful Mind in the "Best Original Score" category. All five have fantasy elements to them, and more interestingly, all five are major American films. Filmtracks examines the nominees of the Academy in 2001, makes a few predictions, and adds some perspective to the awards process. Finally, as we do every year, the fan's choices are added to the Filmtracks Awards to round out a complete overview of the film music of 2001.

January/February, 2002: The 2001 Fan Vote

It's time to vote for the best once again! At the turn of every year, Filmtracks has provided a place for fans to vote for their favorite CD release, composer, and "score as heard in a film" from the past year. Previous votes have yielded some blowouts, some close races, and some very interesting results. The vote started January 5th, 2002, and concludes February 20th, 2002. You can view the final results from the previous five years as well.

November/December, 2001: Filmtracks Audio Library Bonanza

When Filmtracks opened in 1996, it was a review site devoted only to textual content, and the number of audio clips with those reviews was limited to a sum of about 100. As part of the April/May, 2000, Theme of the Month, Filmtracks expanded the number of audio samples offered with its reviews to a total of 350, and created this library in which to list them. With the demand for audio samples always increasing, Filmtracks' November/December, 2001, Theme of the Month is devoted to the addition of 1,200 audio clips to Filmtracks, making this the largest and most eclectic film score audio library on the web. Each clip at Filmtracks is carefully hand chosen using our expertise of each score, which gives you a much better representation of the scores than the batch processed clips you often find at other sites. New clips are always being added, so check back for more!

October, 2001: Filmtracks' 5-Year Anniversary

My God, we're getting old. This site has staggered through the last six years in a sort of digital drunken stupor, and with this five-year (or six, depending on how much stock you put in domain names) anniversary, I've taken a step aside to provide those few curious among you with a glimpse of Filmtracks in years past. I've collected a bunch of dusty old Filmtracks memories, including 20+ copies of ancient Filmtracks home pages, for this month's "Theme" and thrown in some silly commentary about it all. This includes, by popular request (and the shame of the webmaster), the embarassing layouts during the trailblazing 1995-1996 year. Filmtracks has been an on-again and off-again project over the years, and yet, through the high and low times, another common thread in its history is its willingness (and stupidity, some would say) to poke fun at itself. So come on in and check out the real story behind the one quote on Filmtracks' home page from the very beginning... Be warned, however, this is a seriously graphic-intensive retrospective.

September, 2001: This month's theme has been postponed until November in wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11th.

August, 2001: The Collector's Corner Frenzy

The oldest section at Filmtracks is its "Collector's Corner." This month, the section is brought into the 21st Century, offering commentary about the current state of soundtrack collectibles, as well as the traditional information about bootlegs, promotional albums, and unreleased music. An overview of the CD series published by Varèse Sarabande, Film Score Monthly, Intrada, Prometheus, and more, is provided for completists. The new highlight of the Collector's Corner is an audio archive of samples from collectible film music. Beginning in August, 2001, Filmtracks will add new audio samples from unreleased scores on a regular basis, allowing you to hear pieces of the music that record companies aren't interested in releasing. The first audio clips at the new section include Young Sherlock Holmes, Jade, The War of the Roses, Innerspace, and The Relic. Keep checking back for monthly surprises!

June/July, 2001: Filmtracks' Tribute to Cliff Eidelman

These two months were an in-depth review of the career of upstart composer Cliff Eidelman. All of Eidelman's commercially available scores on CD were reviewed at Filmtracks suring these two months. To cap off the concentration on his work, a Filmtracks Cliff Eidelman Tribute was established. Included in this tribute is a short biography, overview of his career, quotation about everyone's favorite sci-fi franchise, and audio from his Tempest concert piece as well as a rarely heard Czech performance of his Star Trek VI suite. Eidelman is confirmed as having produced the score for the upcoming film, An American Rhapsody, which will be released in the U.S. by Paramount on August 10th. This film represents Eidelman's first feature film score in two years, and follows a series of work completed conducting the RSNO for performances of classic film music.

May, 2001: The New Filmtracks Viewer Ratings

Since 1999, Filmtracks viewers have had the ability to rate their favorite scores midway down many review pages on the site. Now, as part of the May Theme of the Month in 2001, the 2-year-old ratings system has been overhauled and greatly expanded. The mass listings of the ratings have been separated into four categories: Modern Film Scores (1988 to Present), Classic Film Scores (Before 1988), Television Scores, Compilations/Other. The listings pages have all been arranged so that they are easier to read, and now include the number of votes submitted per score. Depending on the popularity of the score, the number of total votes ranges from 20 to 20,000. Finally, Filmtracks has added voting capabilities to over 300 more scores at the site, and every new review from here on will include them.

April, 2001: The 2001 Label Power Rankings

Film music is inherently different from most other forms of music when it comes to its release on CD. It is the one genre of music which is not specifically aimed at album listeners; because it is composed for a film or show, not every piece of music written in this genre makes it onto a CD album release. Neverthess, there are both well known and specialty record labels that often take fiscal chances in order to publish these film and television scores on CD. In the list below, Filmtracks ranks the top labels pertaining to the film music genre. This gives you, the fans, the opportunity to keep an eye on these labels so that you can learn about the biggest and best upcoming albums on their sites.

March, 2001: The 2001 Academy & Filmtracks Awards

Who could forget that frightful moment at the Oscars last year, when Thomas Newman's face seized up with anger on national television as John Corigliano was announced the winner of the best score category for The Red Violin? It has been rumoured that many Academy members disapprove of such blatant, live expressions of disgust when the award is announced, and one can only wonder if the absence of Newman's score for Erin Brockovich --nominated for best picture, no less-- is due to those members taking note of his ugly reaction last year. Filmtracks examines the nominees of the Academy in 2001, makes a few predictions, and adds some perspective to the awards process. Finally, as we do every year, the fan's choices are added to the Filmtracks Awards to round out a complete overview of the film music of 2000.

February, 2001: Filmtracks' First Cue Clue Contest

On the newly updated Filmtracks Cool Stuff page, you'll discover the first in a series of "name-the-clips" contests. All you have to do is guess one of three mysterious film score clips correctly, and you'll automatically be entered into the contest. The more clips you identify correctly, the greater your chances of winning the prize! The prizes for this and future contests are graciously provided by long-time film score label Varèse Sarabande. For this contest, you can win a copy of Varèse's newest album: Cast Away. Check out the Cool Stuff page for all the juicy details. Good luck!

January, 2001: The 2000 Fan Vote

The first vote of the new century has arrived! At the turn of every year, Filmtracks has provided a place for fans to vote for their favorite CD release, composer, and "score as heard in a film" from the past year. Previous votes have yielded some blowouts, some close races, and some very interesting results. The vote started January 6th, 2001, and concludes February 6th, 2001. You can view the final results from the previous four years as well.

December, 2000: The Best of the 1990s Vote

With Filmtracks' choices for the best, overrated, and underrated scores of the 1990s featured in the last three Themes of the Month, December is your month to elect your favorites. The "best of the past year" vote, which usually occurs every December, will appear in January, 2001, so that we can celebrate the best of the entire decade past. Please consult the rules and extra information about this vote before proceeding. The vote started November 29th, 2000, and will conclude January 6th, 2000.

November, 2000: The 10 Best Scores of the 1990s

With the most overrated and underrated scores of the 1990s proposed during the last two Themes of the Month, now is the time to finish the "90s lists" with perhaps the most important list of them all: The 10 all-out best scores of the decade. The scores on this list are the ones that should be on the shelves of any serious film score collector, and if they aren't on yours, then you might want to download some audio clips and give them a listen. Not only are the ten scores on the list excellent, but some of them also marked very important trends or moves in the film music world during the decade. As the month progresses, more titles will be revealed... leading to the #1 best score of the decade. Every three days in November, another entry in the list will be added. Before that even happens, however, the twenty excellent "runner-up" scores will be revealed.

October, 2000: The 10 Most Overrated Scores of the 1990s

Last month, Filmtracks provided the list of its Top Ten Most Underrated Scores of the 90s. The list inspired reactions ranging from pleasant surprises to casual indifference on the part of Filmtracks' visitors. This month, however, it's time to ruffle some feathers. That's right, it's time to choose the ten most overrated scores of the last decade. There are some scores of the 90s that were overrated on the first day of their release and have remained overrated to this very day. With this month's list, Filmtracks recommends that you think twice before purchasing the following ten albums. Just like last month, the Filmtracks list of the most overerrated scores of the 1990s contains readily available titles by mainstream composers. As the month progresses, more titles will be revealed... leading to the #1 most underrated score of the decade. Every three days in October, another entry in the list will be added.

September, 2000: The 10 Most Underrated Scores of the 1990s

Any film score collector has those two or three scores near the CD player at all times. Those few that have singled out from the collection. Those favorites that nobody else seems to like. Yes, we all enjoy a handful of scores that are not often spoken of. Perhaps they're silly, or perhaps they just have a special meaning to us personally. The list of ten scores presented in the September, 2000, Theme of the Month may not be your favorites, but they should be. One of Filmtracks' proudest achievements is the suggestion of underrated scores to people who had simply not known that they either exist or are worth the price. Every year has that great forgotten score, and it's our job to find it for you. The Filmtracks list of the most underrated scores of the 1990s contains readily available titles by mainstream composers. As the month progresses, more titles will be revealed... leading to the #1 most underrated score of the decade. Every three days in September, another entry in the list will be added.

New Forums for... X-Men Mission: Impossible 2 Hollow Man U-571 The Perfect Storm ...and more...

June - August, 2000: Filmtracks Review Interactivity & Forums

With the ScoreBoard Forum gaining popularity every month, Filmtracks has now expanded its capabilities to all of the new reviews of major albums at the site. Below the "Viewer Ratings" option on those new reviews, which began with the 14 most popular albums of 2000, you will find a mini-scoreboard where you can post your own reviews about that particular score. You can also use it to ask questions about the release, or point out errors in the existing reviews. Filmtracks maintains the forums with an advanced filtering and track system that eliminates rude or irrelevant posts. Comment capabilities will be added to more titles throughout the summer.

April/May, 2000: The Filmtracks Audio Library

Last year's survey of Filmtracks visitors revealed that more audio was a priority for improving the site, so alas, more audio has arrived. As part of the April/May Theme of the Month, Filmtracks now features a special section devoted to listings of reviews with audio clips. This surge in clips is thanks to two contibutors, including Tom (a.k.a. "Gunnlace") and Todd Wong, as well as my efforts to add a few myself. With 50 new clips already for April, 130 Filmtracks reviews now include at least one audio sample. Check back over these two months for even more additions.

March, 2000: The 2000 Academy & Filmtracks Awards

After a few trial years of an expanded "best original score" category, the Academy of the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has decided to once again condense the "best comedy/musical" and "best dramatic" categories into one. In the process, the 2000 awards represent a return to the Academy establishment. Filmtracks examines these nominees, makes a few predictions, and adds some perspective to the new category arrangement. Finally, as we do every year, the fan's choices are added to the Filmtracks Awards to round out a complete overview of the film music of 1999.

February, 2000: Filmtracks' Tribute to Mark McKenzie

Continuing the series of new composer tributes, Filmtracks presents a month of information devoted to rising composer Mark McKenzie. By groundhog day, 2000, Filmtracks will feature new reviews for almost every one of his compositions, as well as biographical information and an overview of his career. Special to this theme of the month are audio clips from the rare My Family/Mi Familia score, Warlock: The Armageddon, as well as a note and clip regarding Dragonheart II: New Beginning, which will be released this coming summer. You might be surprised by the quality of Mark McKenzie's works, and it's possible you might get hooked on them!

December, 1999 - January, 2000: The 1999 Fan Vote

The last vote of the 1990s is here! At the turn of every year, Filmtracks has provided a place for fans to vote for their favorite CD release, composer, and "score as heard in a film" from the past year. Previous votes have yielded some blowouts, some close races, and some very interesting results. The vote starts December 15th, 1999, and concludes January 31st, 2000. You can view the final results from the previous three years as well.

November, 1999: Filmtracks' Tribute to John Debney

In the survey provided for the October Theme of the Month, Filmtracks visitors replied by saying their #1 priority in additions to the site are more composer tributes. So in response, November is John Debney month, with an all-new tribute page, a vast collection of new reviews of Debney albums --both rare and commercial-- as well as a special audio clip. With My Favorite Martian, Lost & Found, Inspector Gadget and Dick (among others) already scored so far this year, Debney concludes 1999 with the blockbuster End of Days. Look for more new composer tributes in the near future of Filmtracks, including a tribute to Mark McKenzie early in 2000.

October, 1999: Filmtracks' 3rd Anniversary Survey

Just as I did with Filmtracks' first anniversary years ago, I want to step back for a moment to ask you, the repeat and first-time visitors of Filmtracks, for some feedback. I've got many possible plans for the future of the website, and your input will help me guide the site to the destination that you'll find most useful and entertaining. I am most appreciative for any feedback I can get, and I'll post a summary of the results on the Filmtracks ScoreBoard Forum at the end of the month.

Also included in this theme of the month is a yearbook of previous Filmtracks home page layouts from 1995 to the present, just for the hell of it.

Recordings for... Jerry Goldsmith James Horner John Barry Bernard Herrmann John Williams ...and more...

September, 1999: Silva Screen's Composer Compilations

For the past ten years, the international Silva Screen label has provided countless albums of recordings by the City of Prague Philharmonic and Crouch End Festival Chorus. Since the very first of these compilation albums was released to the public, the players and singers of these groups have consistently improved their talents in performing the best of Western film music. In the past few years, the quality of their compilations has surpassed recordings by even the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Boston Pops and the London Symphony Orchestra, and have even obtained the same status as the famous Charles Gerhardt recordings. Like all performing groups, they have adaptations and interpretations that are better than others, though on the whole, their efforts have been spectacular.

Test your knowledge of the genre of film music on this interactive web puzzle! Are you a fan?

August, 1999: The Film Music Crossword Puzzle

With all of the recent Themes of the Month resembling articles that we've all read at some point or another, the month of August, 1999, offers something completely wacky and new. Whether you're a film music fanatic or not, the java crossword puzzle below will prove to be some fun for you. Some of the clues are very difficult, while others are obvious. Some of them might take a little research, involving some trivia from our genre of music. There are no trick answers or non-score related answers. Clues are provided at the top of the puzzle when you click on the first cell of each word. When you type letters into the puzzle, correct entries will be in black (incorrect entries will alert you right away in red). Enjoy the puzzle!

Including: Mulan --promo (Jerry Goldsmith) Cherry 2000 (Basil Poledouris) SPFM Goldsmith Tribute Vibes (James Horner) Wind (Basil Poledouris) ...and more...

June/July, 1999: The Summer 1999 Filmtracks Auction

With thousands of CDs on our shelves, the Filmtracks collection of film music CDs has been steady growing since CDs were first made commercially available in the 1980s. Every once in a while, we end up with multiple copies of certain collectible titles, or an excess of newly released titles. So, in order to help pay for Filmtracks' always-troublesome server costs, auctions of our excess CDs are held about once a year on this page. Because of Filmtracks' high standing in the film music community, you can be sure that our products are authentic and our service prompt. You can view the confident bidding in previous auctions at Filmtracks...

"To be called human... is an insult."

April/May, 1999: The Music of Star Trek

For over thirty years, the phenomenon of Star Trek has captured the hearts of countless people world-wide, tackling social and ideological issues while also presenting an entertaining and optimistic vision of the future. No less diverse is the music of Star Trek. From the very first notes composed by Alexander Courage to the most recent ones, composed by a new generation of composers and heard in films and on television, Star Trek's scores have taken us on a long and continuing journey of melodic excitement. For April, Filmtracks will review and compare all of the Star Trek feature film scores, and for May, reviews of Star Trek television score releases will be added. During both months, visitors can vote for their favorite two Star Trek film scores, favorite television show music, as well as who should compose the next Star Trek film.

March, 1999: The 1999 Academy & Filmtracks Awards

For the third year at Filmtracks, we journey to the land of ridiculous awards in March! This year, we followed the same format that pleased everyone last year. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, in its last year of two-category score nominations, has once again provided us with material to ponder. Along with an analysis of the Academy's nominations, you can view the Filmtracks voters' choices and browse through the Filmtracks choices for the "best and worst" winners in just about every soundtrack-related category. Some of the categories were created this year for pure fun, so don't take them too seriously!

What reviewers say and do will not cause the magnetic reversal of the poles...

February, 1999: What is a Film Music Review?

Those who frequent this site know that 1999 has brought a new wave of speculation about the purpose and scope of film music reviews at not only Filmtracks, but on the internet in general. Questions have been raised about what (exactly) a film music review should comment upon, and the role of the reviewers have come under close scrutiny as well. I've decided to address these issues in this Theme of the Month, because I've been talking it over with my collegues and coming up with some ideas.

January, 1999: The 1998 Fan Vote

Every year, Filmtracks has provided a place for fans to vote for their favorite CD release, composer, and "score as heard in a film" from the past year. Previous votes have yielded some blowouts, some close races, and some very interesting results. The vote starts December 25th, 1998, and concludes January 30th, 1999. You can view the final results from the previous two years as well.

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