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Review of The Towering Inferno and Other Disaster Classics (Compilation)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you seek thirty minutes of outstanding re-recorded
performances of The Towering Inferno, Independence Day,
Twister, and The Swarm.
Avoid it... if you're placing high hopes on the suite from Titanic or are discouraged by the lesser quality of the three original recordings thrown into the middle of the compilation.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
The Towering Inferno and Other Disaster Classics:
(Compilation) Disaster flicks experienced a renaissance in the
mid-1990's, led by the super popular Independence Day and
Titanic. 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 Titanic 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 Titanic, the true film score collectors sought
the album for the far more interesting suite from John Williams' The
Towering Inferno. 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 The Towering Inferno 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. ***
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 69:35
* Conducted by John Debney ** Conducted by Joel McNeely *** Original Soundtrack Recording
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert contains a lengthy note from producer Robert Townson that is easily among
the funniest commentaries he has ever written for an album... Highly entertaining.
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The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from The Towering Inferno and Other Disaster Classics are Copyright © 1999, Varèse Sarabande and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 4/4/99 and last updated 10/21/07. |
