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•	2001 Silva Album

Indeed, Barry's vision of Robin and Marian is more diverse in its instrumentation than Legrand's had been. Instead of the simple string approach, Barry carries the personality with the woodwinds, which better represent the era of King Richard and the location of Sherwood Forest. His statements of the love theme for the film vary in their intensity, and it is this often subdued nature of the music that causes the score as a whole to drag its feet. Even though it is more than sufficient for the film, the only truly charged performance of that theme is heard during the mass death scene at the end of the film, with previous performances meandering softly without much romantic power. Likewise, the music for action and escape scenes is often understated as well. Depending strongly on a solo timpani for two or three pivotal scenes of action in the story, Barry's score lacks the depth that you often heard in his more broadly conceived scores of the 1970's and 1980's. In these regards, Legrand ironically produced music for the film that Barry probably would have written in the late 1980's. Barry's hasty effort does have its moments, but it lacks the resounding bass and engaging energy that his scores often thrived upon to propel solo performances of his themes. Richard Shores' work for the film compensates by providing that action, but it stands out like a sore thumb compared to Barry's more melancholy approach. Barry himself believes that his score worked well in context, though he too will admit that circumstances surrounding the entire project were far less than perfect. Robin and Marian went on to lose money at the box office, and thus only a promotional LP record was offered in 1976 to film score collectors. A 1990 bootleg CD was produced from that 40-minute LP master, though it featured a dull, distant sound that compounded the problematic aspects of Barry's music. A 2001 re-recording of the entire score by Nic Raine and the City of Prague Philharmonic is superbly executed, and proved once again that Raine is the master of reproducing Barry's older works in electrifying surround sound quality. Prometheus Records took a mono safety copy of the masters and pressed a slightly longer, limited album in late 2008, sacrificing Shores' material for a few alternate cue takes by Barry. Overall, if you are interested in Barry's merely average work for Robin and Marian, seek it on the Silva label, for the re-recording begins to inject life into an otherwise dull atmosphere of light Barry romance.  ***   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For John Barry reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.85 (in 27 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.54 (in 28,653 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.