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Flesh + Blood
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Composed, Conducted, and Produced by:
Orchestrated by:
Greig McRitchie Jack Smalley
Performed by:
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LABELS & RELEASE DATES
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ALBUM AVAILABILITY
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The 1992 Varèse Sarabande album was a top
collectible between 1994 and 2002. Only 1,500 copies of that release
were printed through the Varèse CD Club, and it originally sold
through the label's mail-order service for only $12. At its height in
the late 1990's, it sold for as much as $200.
The 2002 Prometheus album was limited to 3,000 copies, with only a third
of the numbered albums selling within the first year of release. The 2010
Intrada pressing of 2,000 copies did not suffer the same problem, selling
out at a price of $20 within a week. The 2014 La-La Land re-issue of the
Intrada presentation was similarly priced and limited to 1,200 copies.
All of the albums were primarily made available through online soundtrack
specialty outlets.
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AWARDS
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None.
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ALSO SEE
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Buy it... on the similar 2010 or 2014 albums if you seek a bold,
glorious, tonal, and rhythmically constructed companion score to Basil
Poledouris' Conan the Barbarian in its most obviously superior
sound quality.
Avoid it... if you are not an audiophile and the score's raw
demeanor has never really enticed you going all the way back to
Varèse Sarabande's Club CD in 1992, in which case subsequent
presentations of additional material will likely not impress you.
BUY IT
 | Poledouris |
Flesh + Blood: (Basil Poledouris) In 1985, audience
fascination with the raw brutality of the Middle Ages continued to feed
Hollywood's production of topics involving swords and sorcery. The
popular acceptance of these violent depictions of barbarians and magic
had begun to taper off by the time Paul Verhoeven's Flesh + Blood
blindsided audiences with what some have said is perhaps the most bloody
and gruesome vision of the era to come from Hollywood to date. The story
of Flesh + Blood wasn't spectacularly new, though unlike many of
the other films to come from that genre, there wasn't one clear-cut hero
in the plot to follow. Each of the film's primary characters is flawed,
leaving the audience to exist as a sort of outside observer while
witnessing massive sieges, bloody battles, religious offense, political
debauchery, explicit rape, and conflicting courtship splash across the
screen, usually in shades of red. Perhaps due to the lack of a single
superstar in the cast (Rutger Hauer was the most recognizable name),
Flesh + Blood was soon forgotten by audiences, and many critics
blamed Verhoeven's blood-splattering realism in the violence for turning
audiences away. After successfully elevating the character of Conan to
greatness with his tonal yet brutal scores for that franchise of films,
composer Basil Poledouris was an immediate and logical choice for the
project of Flesh + Blood (despite consideration of Jerry
Goldsmith cut short by budget concerns). Poledouris had not worked the
Middle Ages out of his system quite yet and was very eager to compose
for another barbarian-related film. Through his meetings with Verhoeven,
Poledouris discovered that the director's desired score was essentially
an extension of the tonal and rhythmic Conan the Barbarian sound.
The thematic development in those earlier scores, especially in regards
to Poledouris' ability to form harmonic battles between two themes
simultaneously in counterpoint, is what the director was seeking. An
additional dose of adventurous, sword-fighting spirit would also be
requested of Poledouris, as well as a general scope of grandness meant
to aid in the filmmakers' efforts to hide the on-screen manifestations
of the restrictingly low budget for the production.
Using folk music from the time was a consideration, but
while a couple of source songs were employed as source material, that
sound simply didn't offer the modern standards of thematic power needed
for a film of this magnitude. Thus, the only music rooted in the period
for this project is similar to that in Conan the Barbarian, with
simple, rhythmic themes performed by woodwinds and percussion. Despite
the inherent reliance on folk elements at the roots of many of
Poledouris' scores, don't be fooled into believing that there's any
attempt at authenticity in Flesh + Blood. There are even slight
synthetic effects employed to compensate for the ensemble's smaller
scope of performance, such as those heard the crescendo at 1:30 into the
opening cue. On the other hand, the percussion section was augmented
with several notable unique tones to assist to the same end. The style
of this score consists of accessible Poledouris action and carnage at
its most savage. He establishes themes and motifs for every character,
as well as one pounding identity for the element of war itself, and
through these constantly mingling themes, Poledouris creates a very
satisfying and rich orchestral powerhouse. With the help of tambourines,
triangles, and drums, Poledouris's music dances with light rhythms
throughout its scenes of contemplation, courtship, and rest, often
relying on low woodwinds (as usual) to add a primordial, staggered
rhythm to that canvas. What will interest film score enthusiasts,
however, is the considerable attention to monumental action sequences
featuring muscular French horn performances. The opening and end titles
are extensions of this battle music, flowing with the same slightly
folksy rhythms that define much of the rest of the score but backed up
by the intensity of the London Symphony Orchestra and featuring more of
a swashbuckling style than heard in previous Poledouris entries. For the
slower moments, only 25 musicians were necessary, but that number was
beefed up to 75 players for the numerous cues of wartime conflict. These
elevated, brass and timpani-dominated action cues are lengthy and
repetitious in their presentations, and rarely do they fade without a
fight. One unfortunate abnormality, however, is the trumpet solo at 2:15
into "Siege of the City," a passage that awkwardly recalls Poledouris'
title theme for 2000's Kimberly. The love theme's progressions
will also remind heavily of Jerry Goldsmith.
The sheer quantity and forcefulness of action material
similar to Conan the Barbarian is overwhelming, but when
comparing the two scores, Flesh + Blood's plethora of complexly
mingling themes causes it to have a different effect on the listener.
Whereas the earlier score stated its themes in distinctive, unyielding
fashion, Flesh + Blood mixes and fragments its ideas with better
clarity, sometimes even with elegance. The score's two love themes, led
obviously by the one represented in "Martin and Agnes," are
significantly accessible in their romantic appeal. Thus, you get a more
rounded score that may, for some listeners, play better on album, but
you also hear a score that is less memorable in terms of individual
highlights. Surely, Flesh + Blood is a less brutal, less magical
score, but if you were disappointed by Conan the Destroyer in
1984, rest assured that Flesh + Blood is your true sequel score
for Conan the Barbarian in terms of quality. Despite Poledouris'
mentioning of chants in this work, it should be noted that there is no
choral accompaniment, which has always been something of a surprise. On
album, this score long existed only on a pair of rare, collectible
releases made from relatively poor source tapes. It was a member of the
original Varèse Sarabande series of Club albums in the early
1990's and remained a prized collectible until 2002, when Prometheus
released another limited edition of the score as one of the last in
their original club series. The additional material supplied on the
expanded 2002 album, secured from Poledouris' own cassette copy of the
complete score, is interesting but not as necessary as the music
presented on the older Varèse CD. The sound quality of the
appended material is acceptable, though slightly poorer than the
original album's selections (due not only to the cassette source but
also to the fact that these selections are among those that employed
fewer players). In 2010, Intrada Records released the entire score in
stunning sound from a newly discovered, superior source in the studio's
vaults. This pressing of 2,000 copies sold out within a week and for
good reason; the score was at last assembled into film order and is
mixed to accentuate solo performances the way Poledouris had always
intended them to be heard. In 2014, La-La Land Records offered a
1,200-copy re-issue of the same presentation with no discernable further
improvement in sound quality. Finally, these later products convey this
excellent Poledouris score in its best, bombastic and relentless glory. **** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
Bias Check: |
For Basil Poledouris reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.52
(in 33 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.27
(in 34,728 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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Not very true! Expand >> Nick - January 15, 2005, at 4:07 p.m. |
2 comments (3784 views) Newest: January 15, 2005, at 4:09 p.m. by Nick |
1992 Varèse Album Tracks ▼ | Total Time: 39:18 |
1. Main Title (2:32)
2. Siege of the City (3:26)
3. Courtship and Mandrake (4:06)
4. Wagon Attack (2:36)
5. Martin & Agnes Love Theme (1:24)
6. Castle Invasion (2:02)
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7. Night Fires (2:21)
8. The Box (5:24)
9. Water (The Undoing) (1:40)
10. Arnolfini Assult (5:47)
11. Denouement/End Title (7:44)
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2002 Prometheus Album Tracks ▼ | Total Time: 68:22 |
Previously Released Score:
1. Main Title (2:33)
2. Siege of the City (3:25)
3. Courtship and Mandrake (4:08)
4. Wagon Attack (2:37)
5. Martin and Agnes Love Theme (1:25)
6. Castle Invasion (2:03)
7. Night Fires (2:22)
8. The Box (5:49)
9. Water (The Undoing) (1:41)
10. Arnolfini Assault (5:49)
11. Denoument/End Titles (7:43)
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Bonus Tracks:
12. The Box (Edited Version) (4:34)
13. St. Martin Leads the Way (2:01)
14. Driven from the City (1:14)
15. Cask and St. Martin (2:36)
16. Agnes' Wagon (1:14)
17. Assault on Agnes (3:46)
18. The Feast (1:49)
19. The Locket (0:48)
20. Out of the Well (2:39)
21. Denoument/End Titles (Alternate Version) (7:20)
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2010 Intrada/2014 La-La Land Albums Tracks ▼ | Total Time: 73:50 |
1. Main Title (2:34)
2. Siege of the City (3:24)
3. The Noose (0:34)
4. A Rotten Trick (1:19)
5. Saint Martin (2:52)
6. Lesson in Nature (1:09)
7. Agnes and Kathleen (0:48)
8. Courtship and Mandrake (4:05)
9. Wagon Attack (2:38)
10. The Rape (2:40)
11. Martin's Withdrawal/The Pointer/The Castle (5:09)
12. Castle Invasion (2:03)
13. Feast for Martin (3:20)
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14. Martin and Agnes Love Theme (1:24)
15. Rescue Me (0:52)
16. Night Fires (2:22)
17. The Box (5:27)
18. The Burning Wheel (1:00)
19. The Plague Dog (5:07)
20. Water/The Undoing (1:42)
21. Prepare For Battle (3:11)
22. Arnolfini Assault (5:50)
23. Denouement/End Title (7:46)
Bonus Track:
24. The Box (With Percussion Overlay) (5:27)
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(the 2014 La-La Land album's total time is 73:16) |
All four albums contain extensive information about the score and film, the
2014 product's insert containing the most complete contemporary interview with Poledouris
in existence about the score. The first two albums were also hand numbered.
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