As fate would have it, however, the producers of
Joe
Versus the Volcano ended up removing a handful of Delerue's
lengthier cues in favor of pop songs anyway, including the notable
recordings for "Brain Cloud," "Shopping Spree," "Alone in New York," and
"Fishing." Much of the remaining score was undermixed in the film,
deflating its impact in many parts of the love story. In fact, as you
will notice if you have watched the film in one of its numerous
television reruns, the fabulous "End Credits" suite is dubbed out and
most casual viewers won't likely get the idea that a strong score for
the film exists at all. As for that score's contents, the music for
Joe Versus the Volcano follows the fairy tale genre of the story
very faithfully. Delerue begins with a music box theme that repeats with
innocence several times throughout the score before eventually
concluding the narrative with it. The central romance is treated with
one of Delerue's many remarkable, career-defining love themes,
flourishing in rich strings, flowing harp, and melodically dramatic key
shifts. This one in particular is even loftier than many of his other,
similar entries in the genre, sometimes straying into the pure fantasy
genre, though Delerue, as always, manipulates the otherworldly whimsy of
the theme for insertion into nearly every cue in some way or another,
whether it be with a sax, full brass, or even a chorus. The lengthy "End
Credits" suite, which for years had been a popular bootlegged
representation of the entire score (likely yanked from the end titles of
a foreign-released VHS tape), presents the love theme in not only a
solid performance of full strings, but also a lyrical song as well. In
terms of integration, the lyrical version of the theme melds with the
surrounding score much like Jerry Goldsmith's accomplishment in his
rejected fantasy score for
Legend. For Delerue enthusiasts who
collect his plentiful love themes on album, there are plenty of
performances of the one here, and because this theme didn't appear on
his popular compilations, the belated Varèse Sarabande album of
Joe Versus the Volcano will suffice to meet your desire for yet
another sugary romance melody from the master.
Several cues highlight
Joe Versus the Volcano
with breaks from the standard Delerue romance formula, however. The sax
interwoven with the love theme in "Shopping Spree" is a success in its
contemporary tones, and the light rock of the rejected "Fishing" cue is
a welcome change, as well as the acoustic guitar performance in "Dinner
with Dee Dee," which finishes with a flash of gusto. Ironically, the
most notable use of music in the film itself is the humorous adaptation
of "Hava Nagila" and "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," arranged by
Delerue into the tribal chants of the native "Waponis" people of the
volcano island late in the film. Orchestrally, the most powerful
standout cue in the film exists for its only major action scene: the
typhoon sequence. As the storm ravages the ship and forces the main
characters to be marooned, Delerue explodes with a full brass statement
of a secondary "despair theme" of dramatic tragedy that was explored
less melodramatically in "Brain Cloud." The sheer size of this extended
cue, and the mastery with which Delerue creates the perfect "storm at
sea" atmosphere, elevates it beyond even the love theme on the album. It
is fitting that this cue was seemingly Delerue's favorite when scoring
the film; driving brass in the minor key build to one magnificent major
key crescendo, after which the love theme is performed in full. This cue
alone is worth the price of the album. The 2002 CD release had been a
project of love for the Varèse Sarabande label's Robert Townson
for some time, as he was a close associate and friend of Delerue.
Mounting requests from fans, along with the simple fact that
Joe
Versus the Volcano was the last of Delerue's great 1990's scores yet
to be released on album, eventually led to this "Masters Film Music"
release. How these "Masters Film Music" albums differed in intent from
the label's CD Club albums, which had been resumed just a year prior,
wasn't entirely clear, but the fact remains that
Joe Versus the
Volcano was also a limited pressing of 3,000 albums. Long after this
album inevitably sold out and became a top collectible, Varèse
expanded it slightly and cleaned up its sound for another 2,000-copy run
in 2016. For both Delerue collectors and general film music fans alike,
either album will not disappoint you if you enjoy his predictably strong
romance scores.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
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