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First
Impressions
October
1999
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October
19, 1999 |
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The
Thomas Crown Affair
by Bill Conti
FIR - 7/10
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(Pangea/
Ark21)
While this is a
remake-film, the soundtrack is certainly no re-hash. Bill Conti
takes a rather fresh approach for this rich, American, james bondish
film. His playful use of piano is quite a welcome diversion from the
onslaught of rehashed scores from the Summer of '99 (Black and White X
5, Glider Pt.1, 2). Conti infuses a jazz element to his score
that helps to establish the elegance, class, and coolness of the film (Cocktails,
Meet Ms. Banning). There are a few noticeable omissions as
far as score, but a adequate amount is supplied by Pangea. The other
songs on this soundtrack release are fine. Unfortunately, they appear
first on the CD- something I never like to see or hear. In any case,
they fit the film very well and are easy to listen to along with the score
tracks. Windmills of Your Mind is a great song, redone, at Pierce
Brosnan's request, by Sting. At times, it even sounds like Sting.
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20,000
Leagues Under the Sea
By Mark Snow
FIR - 7/10
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(Prometheus)
After listening to Arctic
Walk from The Snow Files, I just had to pick up this score. Ah,
but one track does not a good score make! While Artic Walk contained
stylistic elements of Horner's scores for Star Trek 2 and 3 and even a bit
of John Williams, the rest of the score lacks the same sweeping passion.
Instead, there tends to be a bit of a darker, suspenseful edge to the
other tracks. The score is not a bad score, by any means, it has
merely failed to meet my expectations as set by Arctic Walk. Other
notable tracks are Departure (track 5); Not Man Made/ Fight on the
Ship (Track 7);and Exploding Torpedoes (Track 18)
In any event, no other track matches the beauty of Artic Walk.
In most cases, there is a much darker atmospheric tone created by
Mark Snow. Of course, such a
sound is nothing new for Snow and could be said to be his specialty.
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September
4, 1999
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Greatest
Science Fiction
Hits IV
by Various/ Neil Norman
FIR - 6/10
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(GNP
Crescendo)
This rather odd compilation of sci-fi themes (Hey! What is The
Wild Wild West doing in here?) is full of the familiar and the once
forgotten. Neil Norman and his orchestra do an adequate job of
performing Williams' Amazing Stories theme and likewise The Lost
World. Other enjoyable cues are: Stargate: SG1, and Saturn
3. There are a few other interesting tracks such as Star Trek
Encounters, a sort of Mecco meets Star Trek medly and the theme from
Airwolf. Many, but not all, of the remaining themes leave me
scratching my head as to their inclusion as one of Sci-Fi's
Greatest. Oh well, it is the fourth volume after all. The
liner notes are fairly detailed with several pics of the conductor with
various famous composers. Crescendo has always produced high quality
recordings and this release is no exception.
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Star Trek: The Next
Generation Music from the Episodes
by Jay Chattaway
FIR = 7/10
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(GNP
Crescendo)
"Space, the final frontier..." No better way to
start out this compilation of music from the TNG series. Some of the
best moments from the best episodes are included here. I was
most thankful for the inclusion of the theme from "The Inner
Light," one of the all time best episodes. This quiet little
theme played by flute and piano is marvelous! Jay Chattaway's music
is greatly under-appreciated. Whether it was his work for Deep
Space Nine or the episodes of The Next Generation, his contribution to the exploration of
humanity through the vehicle of the Star Trek universe is
undeniable. This release helps to prove that point as the images of
the various episodes may come flooding back to your memory as you listen
and if not, you still are able to easily perceive the environment for
which the piece was written.
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