Buy it... only for purely illogical, sentimental reasons in the post-2000 market and for a fraction of the price it originally demanded when it was considered one of the most collectible soundtrack CDs of all time.

Avoid it... if you seek superior arrangements and sound quality for any of the four scores represented on this album, for all of them have received fuller treatment in the fifteen years following the hyped CD's debut.

The Jerry Goldsmith SPFM Tribute: (Compilation) Once the most valuable album in the history of soundtracks, the "Jerry Goldsmith SPFM Tribute" CD holds a distinct place in the genre's past. While its value has greatly diminished since its peak in the mid-1990's, it still represents the hysteria associated with extreme fandom and at one time demanded the kinds of prices to prove it. In March of 1993, the Society for the Preservation of Film Music gave copies of this compilation to attendees at its annual tribute dinner. The album, honoring Jerry Goldsmith for his career achievements, was originally reported to have been limited to 500 copies in quantity. Those original pressings were type-numbered, although unnumbered copies beyond the first 500 were available for a donation price to Society members after the dinner. Almost immediately, the "Jerry Goldsmith SPFM Tribute" became one of the first albums to ever be bootlegged in the soundtrack genre, with tricky fakes soon circulating around the secondary collector's market. While original copies of the real album reliably fetched many hundreds of dollars, the bootleg pressings also commanded impressive prices. For those lingering aficionados curious about the differences between the products, there is a distinct way of knowing whether the album you hold is genuine. First, a genuine "Jerry Goldsmith SPFM Tribute" CD will include a small, rectangular white sticker over the hidden Fox logo in the upper-right corner of the back insert. Whether you got one of the original 500 copies or one of the few that were sold following the festivities will be determined by the existence of a number on that sticker. Secondly, the genuine article will have a round, gold and silver-tinted foil sticker in the upper right of the front cover. For serious collectors, a transaction of the original pressing was only to be considered complete if a copy of the dinner program booklet also accompanied the sale. Since the album was mastered and assembled by Intrada Records' Douglass Fake, a small number of the unnumbered originals were made available to non-Society members, essentially regular buyers at Intrada's store, in the days that followed the tribute dinner. The mastering of the album was strong for its era, though the soundscapes are still somewhat muted compared to the digital remastering technologies of a decade later. Within fifteen years after the CD debuted, its position as a top collectible had completely vanished. By then, all four of the Goldsmith scores featured in its compilation had been released in fuller presentations on their own albums, leaving the original compilation and its bootlegs as only a subject of nostalgia.