:
(Compilation) Disaster flicks experienced a renaissance in the
mid-1990's, led by the super popular
. But like the Irwin Allen films of the 1970's, these
flicks featured two duds for each success, often leaving the soundtracks
for the films as one of the few redeeming elements of the production.
Taking advantage of the resurgence of disaster films was the
Varèse Sarabande label's series of re-recorded film scores
featuring Joel McNeely and John Debney conducting the usually dependable
Royal Scottish National Orchestra. The compilation took a remarkably
long time in the making, with recordings spanning 1997 and 1998 before
the finished album would debut in 1999. Commercially speaking,
Varèse was late in jumping on the
bandwagon, with
most other labels already doing so in 1998; the lengthy suite of music
from James Horner's critically and financially successful score came at
a time when most listeners had already grown tired of the score and had
moved on to newer favorites. While the label may have been attempting to
lure buyers using
, the true film score collectors sought
the album for the far more interesting suite from John Williams'
. The original recording for the best of Allen's
disaster films was a much requested item in the 1990's, but would not be
released on its own until Film Score Monthly finally solved that problem
not long after this compilation was released. In response to the
perception at the time that
might never
receive due treatment in its original form, Varèse producer
Robert Townson would commission the RSNO to perform twenty of the most
pivotal minutes of music from Williams' score for this album. The
performances of "Main Title," "Finale," and "Architect's Dream" are
adequate replacements here, saturated with the essence of Williams'
original grand, far-reaching scope (and constant foreshadowing of doom).
The opening titles in particular balances the orchestral power with the
percussive rhythmic elements quite well.
The remainder of the album is entertaining, with a few
more notable bright spots. The re-recordings of Mark Mancina's
Twister and David Arnold's
Independence Day are
exceptional, and it is refreshing to hear an orchestra perform a cue
from
ID4 other than the end credits suite that is overexposed on
other compilations. The flutes of the RSNO hit all of those vital high
notes in Arnold's bombastic work that have been mangled in other
recordings. The arrangement of the
Twister suite is also well
managed, and the trumpets and light percussion in the opening section
are appropriately dynamic. Jerry Goldsmith's
The Swarm is the
most interesting inclusion on the album; it's performed well and, like
The Towering Inferno, appeared on this album before a
comprehensive, official release was produced. One interesting aspect of
these scores that comes to light with these recordings is the fact that
the alien theme from
ID4, the bee's theme from
The Swarm,
and the fire's motif from
The Towering Inferno all share
similarities in progression; it would be difficult to hear the
connection between all of these ominous musical ideas without their
placement so close together. The performances for Williams'
The
Poseidon Adventure and
Earthquake are largely uneventful;
they aren't among Williams' better compositions, even in their title
themes. Varèse owned the rights to the original recordings of
Alan Silvestri's
Volcano and James Newton Howard's
Dante's
Peak (theme only) and
Outbreak, and could thus press a track
from each on this album. While none of the three is spectacular, and the
sound quality of the studio recordings is clearly inferior to the
extremely vibrant RSNO recordings, the sampling of these scores is a
generous move. Silvestri's "March of the Lava" from
Volcano is by
far the highlight of the three, though a RSNO suite performance of the
best ideas from that score would have been a treasure to find.
The pitfall of this disaster compilation album is the
over-zealous suite from James Horner's
Titanic. Re-recordings
from the award-winning score had been plenty in 1998, and Varèse
does not overcome the saturated market with their less accurate
presentation here. Despite being arranged for an 80-member choir and
replacing the synthesizers with pure orchestral power, the RSNO can't
bring this piece of music to life with anywhere near the same vitality
of the original. In fact, the lack of synthesizers makes the suite so
awkward that it's largely unlistenable, with the romantic atmosphere of
the composition badly absent. The chorus is overemphasized, either
because of poor mixing or just the awkwardness of a large, real chorus
employed instead of a soft, half-synthesized one. The RSNO also makes a
few obvious and painful mistakes, the worst of which is committed by the
brass section at about 12:25 into the suite. Overall, the album exposes
an interesting trend that has been much discussed by film score fans in
the years of these re-recordings by Varèse. On this album, the
selections conducted by Joel McNeely are so far superior to all the ones
conducted by John Debney that you have to wonder about differences in
their talents at these endeavors. McNeely's conducting of the RSNO has
received far loftier praise through the years than Debney's (some
believe that Debney's pacing changes single-handedly ruined the
ensemble's performance of the first two
Back to the Future scores
the same year), and this album continues to fuel that speculation. As
for the merits of this album, the outstanding performances of
The
Towering Inferno,
Independence Day,
Twister, and
The Swarm provide over thirty minutes of highly entertaining and
precise interpretations. The sound quality of these tracks is often
stunning as well. Fortunately, the
Titanic suite is positioned at
the very end of the album where you can kill it whenever it inevitably
begins to bother you.
*** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For Joel McNeely reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.38
(in 16 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.14
(in 8,429 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
For John Debney reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.33
(in 56 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.09
(in 49,879 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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