Please Release Me (let me go) - Part 2

A few more scores that could do with a little more of them legitimately available on disc:


Starship Troopers - Basil Poledouris

I'm sure Basil Poledouris would be thrilled to see the continued interest in his music since his untimely death a few years ago; the re-recording of Conan is a measure of the esteem in which his music is held. Great though the re-recording is, it's something of a shame the composer wasn't around to wield the baton himself. It's passed into film music folklore than the original release of Starship Troopers almost sent Varese Sarabande broke due to the enormous re-use fees on the score which was (I believe) recorded by two different LA orchestras. Of course, collectors still bitched. Typical. With the far more sane re-use fee arrangements of recent years an expanded disc seems a far more realistic prospect, plus sci-fi scores always do well. Here's hoping.


The Disney scores of Alan Menken & Hans Zimmer

It's never going to happen, Disney are far too precious about their properties to let some small minority group have their way when they can re-re-re-re-release their classic soundtrack albums with yet another shit pop arrangement of the spin off pop song. However, longer versions of Beauty and the Beast, Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Lion King would be rather splendid. The latter two, in particular, are missing considerable amounts from their official CD releases. Zimmer's music for The Lion King got him an Oscar (not that it really counts for much; looking at you Gustavo Santaolalla) but Zimmer only gets a miserly handful of cuts on disc. With any lucky we'll get a re-re-re-release with 46 new versions of the Elton John songs too. On second thoughts...


A Bug's Life - Randy Newman

An unlikely entry, I'm sure you're thinking, but some of the most delightful cues were missed off the official album. One reason (a hunch) is that they were dropped because of the choir (notably Building the Bird and the finale, All is Well which are both marvellous) and Disney didn't want to pay extra for those tracks. In any event, it stands as Newman's finest score for Pixar to date, a terrific, intricate, thematically rich, pseudo-western which deserves to be heard in its entirity.

The Nightmare Before Christmas - Danny Elfman

Another unlikely candidate. The obscenely expensive Elfman/Burton boxed set (which I should hopefully be getting in February 2011) contains extra tracks but is sold out and hardly a realistic prospect for the average fan. The existing release is beautifully presented, but a few more underscore tracks to give balance to the above average number of songs would be most welcome. Might be fun to have a bonus disc of orchestra-only versions of the songs too (same applies to the Menken scores too). Here's hoping.

Scrooged - Danny Elfman

OK, OK, I've never seen the film (but have it on my DVD rental list) but the suite on Music for a Darkened Theatre is a delight and it's probably the most high profile thing by Elfman never properly released. Indeed, it's quite possibly the only studio score he's done that's never had a proper release.

Megamind - Hans Zimmer & Lorne Balfe

Hurrah, it's the quarterly mildly disappointing Dreamworks CGI film. Now in 3D! Actually, Megamind isn't at all bad, indeed most of their 2010 efforts have been decent, particularly the wonderful How to Train Your Dragon. OK, I didn't see Shrek 11 (or whatever it is) but presumably that was fair to middling like the other Shrek sequels. Megamind gets the Hans Zimmer and "insert name of random composer here" treatment; this time it's Lorne Balfe who appears to be a regular Zimmer "additional music by", but who has now "made it" and gets his name on the album cover, like reaching the pinnacle of some unambitious film composer initiation ceremony. However, it seems he has had some reasonable level of impact on Megamind  since it sounds notably un-Zimmer like a lot of the time.

One striking thing about Megamind is that it's not really all that heroic (at least if you benchmark anything vaguely superheroic against Superman). True, it's about the "villain" but even when one imagines it should be heroic (the action), this doesn't really happen and it's all rather charmingly plinky plunky, seemingly driven by the characters rather than the action sequences. It has more in common with a pleasingly above average family comedy score (think Randy Edelman on a good day). This is most in evidence for Hal's Theme, which is delightfully perky and memorable enough, if not brain achingly catchy. Ditto for the Roxanne Love Theme, which sounds like Michel Legrand. That and a dash of Bondian brass in Ollo makes one wish they had perhaps gone all out on the retro aspect, but alas that doesn't quite happen. This isn't quite The Incredible, but Michael Giacchino is in another league.

Again, one must assume that Zimmer's usual tropes were slightly subsumed by Balfe in the action since it doesn't sound like Con Air (did Zimmer even write that? Probably not, but he might as well have done) or Crimson Tide or Gladiator. Spots like Stars and Tights or Crab Nuggets are predictably upbeat and not exactly complex stuff, but aren't heavy with Remote Control percussion or that weird synth brass sound that makes a hefty live brass section sound like Hans has done keyboard karaoke and drizzled the artificial sound over the recording like an over zealous mayonnaise dispenser. Megamind isn't amazing, but it could have been so much more generic and it's nice that it isn't. The old fashioned mix of pop tunes are clearly for artistic reasons rather than money given their age (unless the kids really are listening to Glibert O'Sullivan and Minnie Riperton these days and I haven't noticed).


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Please release me (let me go) - Part 1

2010 seems to have turned into a vintage year for re-releases, expanded versions, first time releases and the like but of course the serious collector always wants more, so here are my picks of the cream yet to be skimmed from the metaphorical milk of film music history. Hmmm. Here goes:

Hook - John Williams

It's John Williams, it's Steven Spielberg, of course it's going to be amazing (well, unless it's Always, I suppose). Hook may not quite have been the brilliant Peter Pan for the 90's Spielberg intended but it's still a solid family entertainment and is only deemed less successful by being less successful than his other films. It is, however, more financially successful than Schindler's List. Well, quite. Whatever one can say about the film, John Williams' music is a triumph; even by his standards, it's oozing with themes - about as many major melodies as the entire original Star Wars trilogy put together and that's pretty tuneful by all accounts. The original album is generously proportioned, but there is plenty which is more than worthy of appearing on disc, not least of all the marvellous end credits suite - remember them? They were good weren't they? End credits suites. Of all of Williams' otherwise released scores, this is the one that would surely benefit most from a complete release with some of the myriad alternate cues that are knocking around.

Sugarland Express - John Williams

It's John Williams, it's Steven Spielberg, of course it's going to be amaz... oh, wait, we've done that. Then again, when this one came out, nobody knew just quite how amazing. The theme from Sugarland Express has appeared on the odd compilation, but as the score that started the whole collaboration, it really out ought to be heard. Plus it has that nice Reivers vibe about it, which brings us onto...

The Reivers - John Williams

The original album is lovely and all, but it is missing the MOST EXCITING CUE. The horse race cue features on a charming 16 minute suite from one of Williams' more obscure self-conducted compilations (Music for Stage and Screen), but said suite also contains narration. I'm not totally against narration in itself and it's beautifully read by Burgess Meredith (who narrated the film) but it would be nice to hear it au nature. In fairness, I've not seen the film, but wouldn't be surprised if the horse race cue was expanded to more epic proportions for the suite, but it would still be nice to have the original cues out there.


Jaws 2 - John Williams
Is there much more score in Jaws 2 than the existing CD? Probably not a vast amount, but the follow up score to the classic original is pretty much every bit as good. I'm quite a fan of the film, it only really suffers in comparison and is plenty entertaining in its own right. You can bitch about the teenage cast all you like, but some of them do get eaten. So that's ok. The shark doesn't half look bad this time round either and the attacks are often every bit as scary and well crafted as in the original. Williams' music is a substantially different take on the material, with only the original shark theme remaining. The horror and action are deftly handled and somewhat more intense, but likewise the adventurous portions are brilliantly catchy with some especially fine music as the cast head out to see in sailing dinghies.

The Original Star Wars Trilogy - John Williams

Only joking. Although it would be nice if Empire and Jedi sounded a bit better. Compared to other scores from the same period, they are pretty hissy, muddy or simply a bit blah sounding at times. The best sounding, ironically, turns out to be the original. Blistering.


More idle proposals to come...

Home Alone (Expanded) - John Williams

Snow is falling, trains are cancelled, pavements are treacherous (those deceiving bastards) and Britain is more or less closed. What better time to frolic in the white stuff while listening to some delightfully festive John Williams? After the double disc release of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York a couple of years ago, La-La Land have furnished us with an expanded release of the original Home Alone score. In fairness, this release adds less new of note than Home Alone 2, but is still plenty welcome and reorders the score into film order and replaces some repeated material and non-Williams songs with previously unreleased music.

It's probably pointless summarising the music given that most Williams fans are already likely to own the original album; from the charming Somewhere In My Memory (even if the lyrics are a trifle treacly), the Nutcracker pastiche of We Slept In (although it appears in surprisingly small chunks), mock scary music for the villains and all the bells and celeste you could want. It's delightful hearing the composer having such fun.


Perhaps the only downside is reading the liner notes and feeling bad for Bruce Broughton who was originally set to provide the music but pulled out due to a scheduling conflict. I wouldn't trade in a Williams score for the world, but Broughton is a great composer in need of more recognition and a hit like Home Alone might have been just the boost he needed. Ah well. Detailed liner notes and splendid sound round out a great package.

The Danny Elfman/Tim Burton Boxed Set

I have this on order and hopefully will get it when it's released in February, although seem to have missed out on the signed additional disc they have produced as an apology for it being delayed from December 2010 (i.e. about now). Most annoying. Anyone else got the set on order? I'm also a bit baffled by the fact that it's both sold out and still for sale, anyone know what the deal is there?

I'll do some kind of summary review when I get it, assuming my credit card company and/or Warner don't make it too difficult for me to acquire...

If you've never heard of it, more info can be acquired here. Interesting, but not priced for the faint of wallet.

Tangled - Alan Menken

I have, it must be said, been listening to a lot of musical theatre of late. However, for all the Sondheim I've devoured, I still come back to Alan Menken's classic efforts for Disney more often than not, notably Beauty and the Beast which is still his high water mark. However, fairytales have been too subverted in the intervening years (Shrek, Enchanted and all that) for the kids of 2010 to take them in quite the same way (although my friend's 3 year old loves the classic Disney films as much as contemporary Pixar films, mainly through not being old enough to get Shrek etc) but Disney's CGI division have had another stab at a fairytale with Rapunzel. Sorry, Tangled. It's all about the hair...

As a stunningly unbiased fan, I couldn't wait to hear Menken's music for Tangled but... ugh... but. Hmmm. It's not that it's bad, as such, just, it's missing something. Whether it's expectations (i.e. I want another Belle or Be Our Guest or Something There) or simply that the producers didn't want the songs to dominate, the entries here are somewhat insubstantial and the tunes surprisingly unmemorable. Be Our Guest is memorable enough to drive you to drink, but only I've Got a Dream comes close to ingratiating itself, but it's the humorous lyrics of Glenn Slater that are most memorable. The other major song players, When Will My Life Begin and Mother Knows Best, suffer from never really taking flight. Mother Knows Best sounds far too much like Ursula from The Little Mermaid and When Will My Life Begin is too fragmented (two reprises, no less) to have the necessary impact.

I See the Light is a lovely ballad, and probably a shoe in for an Oscar nomination, but it's no Whole New World or Beauty and the Beast. Menken's underscore is perhaps the best of the album being typically well wrought with some delightful daring do in Flynn Wanted and the requisite romance and some folksy dance music in Kingdom Dance. It is almost a shame he doesn't score more non-musical films, his melodic sense (even in something like this where the tunes aren't as memorable as his best) wins out, plus he's not ashamed to score it a bit more like a cartoon. There's nothing wrong doing it like that, especially when the musical twists and turns are so expertly handled. Sometimes it's nice to have some Korngoldian intricacy instead of a modern, broad brush approach.

One reviewer of the film commented that Disney seem to feel obligated to make "princess" movies (compared to Pixar who go off in all sorts of interesting directions) and so are continuing this with Tangled. However, they want the knowing aspects of contemporary animated films in there too and it feels like they wanted songs, but nothing that will intrude too much; "if the songs are brief enough, the kids might not notice," kinda thing. They don't have to do much more than be pit stops for the characters to tell them a bit about themselves, rather than actually carry the story along. Yes, I'll blame the filmmakers for Menken coming up a little short on this occasion, but as with all the finest composers working today, Menken's less than top rate is still plenty above most composer's best efforts and still worthy of a recommendation.


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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 - Alexandre Desplat

I must admit that I was quite disappointed when Nicholas Hooper took over from John Williams and Patrick Doyle on Harry Potter scoring duties.  However, having revisited the first six scores, his work actually holds up remarkably well. It doesn't have the density or memorable melodies of either Williams' nor Doyle's scoring, but both of his efforts are still fine and his lightness of touch is rather refreshing after the portentousness of Doyle's Goblet of Fire (as it were). It was with some joy that greeted the appointment of Alexandre Desplat to score the two part film adaptation of the final book. And what a mild disappointment it is.

Is it me or is Desplat getting just a teensy bit dull these days? Five years ago he was a delightful new voice in film scoring and it all seemed very refreshing, but these days it's "oh this sounds a bit like The Queen or whatever other pretty waltz was in his last score." While Deathly Hallows isn't obviously like his other stuff (not even an hummable waltz), it just seems a bit blah. The first few tracks are well wrought enough and some of the action writing, Sky Battle, in particular, is pretty exciting, but his new melodic material is surprisingly ho-hum. Williams' own melodies get brief, occasional, but disguised glimpses. Like it or not, his tunes define the franchise and with so little of them there, the magical, musical Potterishness (for that is a real word) is somewhat absent. Desplat just doesn't replace or add to them in any particularly memorable way.

Clearly as a side effect of the more character-centric and somewhat low key middle to the film, the music follows suit. It's not bad character based underscoring and is undoubtedly appropriate to the surprisingly serious and laid back pace of the film; indeed the mid section seemed to incite no small amount of boredom in the OCD kids who saw it at the same cinema I did. It's also endlessly gloomy, again reflected in the music. On album, it all sounds good at the time (save for the few truly tedious bits of noodling) but never really goes anywhere and at 73 minutes, rather long. One situation I can honestly say I wasn't tempted to splash out on the deluxe release with extra tracks (although sod's law they are some of the best, but this seems unlikely). OK, that all sounds a bit harsh, but it's Harry Potter, it's Alexandre Desplat, I just expected more. Maybe Part 2's score will ramp up the ante. Maybe.

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Soundtrack Express Blog Reboot

Like all timeless franchises, Soundtrack Express needed a reboot after a period of reflection and a new creative team to turn every Batman and Robin into Batman Begins or Die Another Die into Casino Royale or Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (may as well have been for peas for all the entertainment value) into Superman... OK, maybe not that one. Therefore, after a period of reflection (in other words I stared in the mirror for some minutes) and a new creative team (OK, this part didn't really work out) I'm going to attempt to restart Soundtrack Express as a blog. Reviews will be short and pithy/pissy. I can't be arsed writing hours of gushing adulation when the score is clearly quite shit and/or mediocre so don't expect too much. I might even do a podcast. I probably won't since I'm a lazy bugger.