Please release me (let me go) - Part 4

This is fun! New things keep coming out of the woodwork, although it'd be nice to get some suggestions from one of my 9 loyal readers (assuming it's that many), so do e-mail them in to the usual address (whatever that is):


The Hunt for Red October - Basil Poledouris

Another Poledouris score that surely deserves more than the paltry 30 minutes afforded on the original album. Indeed, generally considered one of the composer's classic scores it seems oddly neglected. In fairness, it might help improve my view of the score as I never liked it as much as anyone else, but I wonder if the somewhat tinny sound on the original album doesn't help. With Robocop having had a couple of re-releases (seemingly adding one or two tracks at a time) and Conan being re-recorded, this and Starship Troopers definitely deserve the luxury, expanded treatment.

Killing Me Softly - Patrick Doyle

Despite sounding like a shoddy soft porn flick, Kiling Me Softly stars Joseph Fiennes and Heather Graham. It's not one of Patrick Doyle's best known entries, but it's a genuinely good score. The wise guys at FSM noted it for having some of the best sex music outside of Basic Instinct; indeed I've never quite got the hoopla over Basic Instinct (it is a great score, just not sure it's that great, sorry) and Killing Me Softly certainly has the same icy, erotic charge to it. On the flip side, it has an understatedly romantic main theme, which balances with the thriller elements. Doyle has a pretty good hit rate when it comes to getting his stuff on CD, but Killing Me Softly is definitely a gem that slipped through.

Spider-Man 3 - Christopher Young (with a little help from Danny Elfman)

For some reason, the producers of Spider-Man 2 decided to cause a shit storm when making the follow up to Sam Raimi's excellent first movie version (still surprising it took Spider-Man so long to get to the cinema) and pissed Danny Elfman off enough for him to walk, something he'd never done before and hasn't since. The replacement music by John Debney isn't bad, but it's obviously not Elfman. Mind you, John Debney's music often isn't obviously John Debney; there's two composers whose originality is separated by a vast gulf. As a result of this debacle, it was unlikely Elfman would return for part 3 so Christopher Young took over. Even if Young is a fine composer in his own right, it's surprisingly grating when his own material suddenly stumbles into the opening titles of Spider-Man 3 like a mad, old, drunk aunt at a wedding, before stumbling out again to leave Elfman's material finish the credits. The rest of Young's material is more expertly handled and his score is surprisingly entertaining, even if it's still not as iconic as Elfman's. Chances of a release are slim to zero given the contentious nature of the music to the series. Same goes for expanded versions of Elfman's first two efforts, but it would be rather jolly. With great music comes great responsibility. I'm pretty sure that's true.


Stuart Littles 1 and 2 - Alan Silvestri

Alan Silvestri is perhaps the greatest scorer of films starring mice alive today. OK, flippancy aside, he has done three mouse films; this, Stuart Little 2 and Mouse Hunt, all of which are delightful. Mouse Hunt could, perhaps, benefit from a little more than the 30 minute release it already has, but Stuart Little could do with a proper release. The original album has only a couple of cuts from Silvestri's score, a 30 minute promo has done the rounds and contains a perfectly proportioned sample from the score. Admittedly, the official album does contain the best cue, the Boat Race, a terrific piece of light hearted action/adventure scoring. Part 2 is more of the same, of course, but no less enjoyable, so even a single disc release of the best of both wouldn't go down badly. I mean, who doesn't love tuneful scores for a lovable mouse who has been adopted by Dr House? Who? I ask you.

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.