: (Compilation) It was by total coincidence that this 1999
compilation was released within just a few weeks after the death of the
controversial and popular director Stanley Kubrick. While Silva Screen
may have appeared to be making an attempt to earn some quick money on
the event, the label had actually been working with Kubrick for a couple
of years to make this collection of music as accurate as possible in its
reconstructions. Kubrick himself had the opportunity to hear many of the
finale recordings within a month of his death. In the end, this single
CD compilation featuring the veterans of the City of Prague Philharmonic
functions as a tribute to the famed director and is reluctantly
acknowledged as such by Silva's producers. As for the music itself, to
say that Kubrick's choice of music for his films was bizarre is an
understatement. Though he used traditional scores by the likes of Gerald
Fried and Alex North early in his career, Kubrick took a sudden shift
towards classical and electronic artists in the late 1960's and early
1970's, adding yet another unconventional dimension to his already
strange films. Upon learning of the construction of this album by Silva,
there was an understandable amount of head-scratching from film music
collectors. Curiosity about what exactly would constitute the album
abounded; Kubrick used such a wide variety of styles that many had
doubted that a compilation of his choices could ever be made into a
coherent album. And, to a large degree, those concerns were completely
valid. The final product, though containing some fabulous individual
tracks, is disjointed as a whole, ironically making for an album true to
Kubrick's career. The best performance of the album could be for
Strauss' opening piece from
; Prague's
rendition is among the most impressive to be heard. The track from
is short, and those who purchase the album might be
left wishing for more of Alex North's music (including, perhaps, even
some of the rejected score he wrote for
The track from
A Clockwork Orange is a disgrace
to good music. The electronic recreation by Mark Ayres sounds like the
Disneyland light parade on drugs, with an absolutely mangled synthetic
arrangement of Beethoven's Ode to Joy. Conversely, the traditional
"Women of Ireland" piece from Barry Lyndon is a highlight of the album,
with a theme beautifully performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic in
full form. The
Full Metal Jacket tracks are both intolerable; the
themes by Abigail Mead make for poor electronic sound effects, and the
original recording of the "Surfin' Bird" song is suitable only for
trashy commercials or comedy enjoyment. The suite of music by Gerald
Fried is a pleasant surprise, though there isn't anything particularly
remarkable about his entries. The first and last Fried cues will be of
moderate interest, though the others fade into distant memory when
compared to some of the gut-wrenching cues presented elsewhere on the
album. The selection from Wendy Carlos' electronic terror from
The
Shining, though performed well here, provides only a glimpse of the
true horrors elsewhere in that score. Outside the context of the film,
the song from
The Shining doesn't fit at all with the rest of the
compilation. The lovely, grand theme from
Lolita is performed
with great passion and is another highlight of the album. The second
selection from
2001, the "On the Beautiful Blue Danube" piece,
becomes very tiring quickly, and after nine minutes, the final two cues
from
Dr. Strangelove are greatly welcomed. The Crouch End
Festival Chorus makes a very brief appearance on the rendition of
"Johnny Came Marching Home" used in
Dr. Strangelove's bombing
run. The original Vera Lynn performance of "We'll Meet Again,"
accompanied by piano, band, and chorus, is superior to the mix heard in
the film, and as a companion to the the fiery destruction of the Earth,
it's a fitting end to the album. On the whole, if you haven't seen these
Kubrick films, then it'll be difficult for you to truly appreciate many
of the cues. With that in mind, the album is clearly aimed at Kubrick
fans rather than the film score collectors that Silva typically targets.
The album unfortunately was pressed before a selection from
Eyes Wide
Shut could be included. What remains is as unstable as Kubrick's
career, and thus makes for a badly unfocused album.
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