The hopelessly optimistic "Love Theme" from Cousins is conversely a bright beacon of light, arguably the composer's most buoyant and fluffy career piece. The original album for Cousins is not only difficult to find but also features terrible sound quality, so to hear the rambling piano and grand strings performing this Italian waltz in sonic clarity is a great pleasure. The flavor turns Latin in "Dark Spanish Symphony" from Wild at Heart, castanets and acoustic guitar joining Badalamenti's usual strings for a theme highly reminiscent of Michael Kamen's Don Juan Demarco. The guitar continues with softer, less exuberant shades in "Rose's Theme" from The Straight Story. Among the most interesting but ultimately frustrating works in Badalamenti's career is The City of Lost Children from 1995, its troubled score featuring elusive melodies and carnivalesque French tones but never really making use of its stunning song, "Who Will Take My Dreams Away?" It's a case where a three-minute original song absolutely dominates the score that it accompanies. Marianne Faithfull thankfully returns, and her grisly, chilly voice performs heartbreaking lyrics over resolute, beautiful strings in what has to be among the most depressingly powerful songs ever written for a film. That said, there is no doubt it is a highlight of this set, its performances seemingly identical to the one on the original soundtrack album. The BAFTA-winning 1990 score for The Comfort of Strangers is represented by a long suite that opens with its light percussive rhythms and exotic woodwinds before segueing to the primary theme complete with a heavy emphasis on lower brass. The 2008 period musical The Edge of Love features a handful of decent underscore cues in between its songs, none as consistent as "Fire to the Stars." The only thing that could have improved the soft string and guitar reflection in this cue would have been the inclusion of Badalamenti's short but impressive opening cue for the film (with or without its dialogue). Included instead is Beth Rowley's strong but somewhat out of place performance of "Careless Talk" from that musical.

The morbid realm returns with a long suite of the two most famous themes from "Twin Peaks." The Vertigo-like "Laura Palmer's Theme" is afforded two performances before extended treatment of the electric guitar coolness in "Main Title Theme." This is always nice to revisit, but it has difficulty sustaining an eight minute suite. Closing out the first CD in the set is a dull violin and cello duet version of "Rose's Theme" from The Straight Story. The second CD is a bit more eclectic, starting with the television music for "Inside the Actors Studio," pleasantly inoffensive background tonality that reminds of Lee Holdridge's documentary style. Equal in its orchestrally stoic character is the Lincoln Center Commission's "Snapshot From Prague." Returning to more familiar territory is the "Mysteries of Love" instrumental from Blue Velvet, a blend of strings and synthetics that meanders through a hazy romance theme at an appropriately slow, excruciating pace. Similar in its electronic enhancements but lacking the same element of sleaze is "Sacrificing Reality" from The Adversary. Two tracks featuring Dolores O'Riordan of the Cranberries are an unexpected highlight, beginning with her contribution to the song that brackets the 2004 score for Evilenko. The album for that soundtrack is difficult to obtain, so the song's inclusion here, as hauntingly depressing as it may be, is a positive. Even better is a 2006 single O'Riordan recorded for Badalamenti that has never seemed to find a home in a larger work for the composer or any of the singer's solo albums of the late 2000's. Conservative electronic backing and O'Riordan's trademark performance emphasis makes "The Butterfly" a clear winner. One final trip back to Badalamenti's gloomy orchestral tendencies is taken for the "Main Title" from Mulholland Drive. The set concludes with "The Torch Theme" from the Barcelona Olympics of 1992. There are plenty of trumpet fanfare figures and heroic ensemble choral performances in the bright theme, residing far closer to Basil Poledouris' take on the games than John Williams' unashamedly American variety. It's a bit strange to hear Badalamenti write such immense, outwardly positive, major-key expressions of action for brass, and while its inclusion on this set is welcomed, it's an awkward way to wrap up this compilation.

On the whole, the "For the Record" compilation is a solid representation of Badalamenti's various talents, though it does omit the composer's scores that remain memorable and popular because of their ensemble vocals, most notably The Beach and Holy Smoke!, both deserving of more attention in their highlights. The set also exposes his tendency to write his film music themes in the form of a song, repeating each primary phrase twice with a standard bridge sequence or interlude in between. He's not as obvious in this respect as John Barry was, but some listeners may find his themes to be a bit monotonous when heard in succession here. The sound quality of the product is outstanding, and the only quibble that could be made with set is its ordering of tracks in a non-chronological presentation. The 2009 compilation was not a regular commercial release, though it could be purchased as a promotional item through soundtrack specialty outlets for $20 to $25. A little over a year later, Varèse Sarabande condensed the contents of the set down to a single CD and titled it "Angelo Badalamenti: Music for Film and Television." The twenty minutes of material dropped from the prior album includes most of the electronically-defined music from the second CD of the set, notably "Mysteries of Love" from Blue Velvet and, most unfortunately, the two O'Riordan tracks. Also removed were the least impressive tracks on the set, however, led by The Adversary and the duet from The Straight Story. The disparate style of the song from The Edge of Love is omitted as well, leaving the absolutely necessary and engrossing "Who Will Take My Dreams Away?" as the only vocal track on the Varèse version. Ultimately, these products include the same recordings and mastering, however, and listeners not interested in the higher price and challenging availability of the "For the Record" album can hear most of the same music for standard retail prices on the 2010 follow-up. Still, the O'Riordan tracks are an undeniable highlight of "For the Record," and while it's understandable why Varèse probably had to drop them, they are reason alone to spend a few extra dollars to receive the 2009 set. Either way, it's great to hear Badalamenti receive this recognition. His musical voice has a tendency to break hearts in a way no other composer can achieve.  ****   @Amazon.com: CD or Download