 |
| 11/6/09
- | Queen of the Damned: (Richard Gibbs/Jonathan
Davis)
- All New Review |
|
|
| |
Buy it... |
only if you are an enthusiast of the concept and are familiar with the distinct differences
between the original songs heard on screen and the gloomy, partially orchestral underscore for
the film.
| |
Avoid it... |
if you expect anything remarkable to emerge from this score, for its is largely an unmemorable
collection of orchestral dissonance and electronic textures.
| |
| Rating: | **
Read the entire review
|
|
|
| 11/4/09
- | Love Actually: (Craig Armstrong)
- All New Review |
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|
| |
Buy it... |
on the European compilation album if you seek a strong combination of the song and score
highlights that you heard in the film.
| |
Avoid it... |
on the American song compilation album if you appreciated Craig Armstrong's memorable score in
the film, in which case the composer's short but sweet promotional, score-only album should be
your target.
| |
| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
|
|
|
| 11/1/09
- | The Godfather Part III: (Carmine Coppola/Nino
Rota)
- All New Review |
|
|
| |
Buy it... |
if you are primarily in search of the vocalized portions of this soundtrack, including the
Harry Connick, Jr. song or the extensive excerpts from the opera "Cavalleria Rusticana" that
dominate half of its only album.
| |
Avoid it... |
if you expect any part of Carmine Coppola's original score to compete with the far more
effective and compelling thematic continuity that Nino Rota provided for the first two films.
| |
| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
|
|
|
| 10/29/09
- | The Godfather Part II: (Nino Rota/Carmine
Coppola)
- All New Review |
|
|
| |
Buy it... |
if you seek to investigate only one score in this famous franchise, a compelling combination
of the memorable themes from the first score with several powerful additions for the
continuation.
| |
Avoid it... |
if, like the first score, you expect to hear either a truly well-rounded work outside of its
primary set of themes or, for that matter, any definitive album release of the music.
| |
| Rating: | *****
Read the entire review
|
|
|
| 10/26/09
- | The Godfather: (Nino Rota)
- All New Review |
|
|
| |
Buy it... |
if you have fond memories of the classic Nino Rota themes that enamored and impressed
audiences with their ability to merge Sicilian tradition with symphonic romanticism for this
influential production.
| |
Avoid it... |
if you expect to hear either a truly well-rounded score outside of its primary three themes
or, for that matter, any decent album release of the score whatsoever.
| |
| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
|
|
|
| 10/24/09
- | Desperado: (Los Lobos)
- All New Review |
|
|
| |
Buy it... |
if you love the film and want a pretty competent (though not complete) representation of its
songs, limited score, and dialogue on album.
| |
Avoid it... |
if you expect this listening experience to be as tightly cohesive and consistently
entertaining as Once Upon a Time in Mexico.
| |
| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
|
|
|
| 10/22/09
- | Ocean's Eleven: (David Holmes)
- All New Review |
|
|
| |
Buy it... |
if you groove to the hip and cool, retro style of 1970's funk and jazz, a distinctive sound
that David Holmes resurrected very effectively for this equally suave production.
| |
Avoid it... |
if you're expecting to hear a retail album that emphasizes Holmes' original score, because the
product is so thoroughly dominated by dialogue and the source songs heard in the film that the
score is significantly obscured.
| |
| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
|
|
|
| 10/19/09
- | The Polar Express: (Alan Silvestri/Glen Ballard)
- All New Review |
|
|
| |
Buy it... |
on the regular commercial album if you desire the award-winning songs and a basic summary of
Alan Silvestri's conservative and predictable contribution to the fluffy holiday environment
of the film.
| |
Avoid it... |
on the "deluxe" commercial product unless you seek an overpriced board book and cheap jingle
bell; in terms of the score, avoid the promotional and bootleg albums unless you seek mostly
instrumental regurgitations of the songs.
| |
| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
|
|
|
| 10/16/09
- | Blade Runner: (Vangelis)
- All New Review |
|
|
| |
Buy it... |
on the 1994 Atlantic album or, if you're a devoted fan of the film, on one of the post-2000,
fan-engineered bootlegs for an adequate, but still unsatisfactory survey of the new age music
from a cult classic.
| |
Avoid it... |
on all of the albums if you expect any of them to give you a decent presentation of Vangelis'
original recording in consistent sound quality, for this highly overrated, largely ambient
work isn't worth the trouble.
| |
| Rating: | **
Read the entire review
|
|
|
| 10/13/09
- | The Piano: (Michael Nyman)
- All New Review |
|
|
| |
Buy it... |
if you can appreciate a crossover film score that merges the sensibility of classical piano
performances with Michael Nyman's own, distinctive orchestral structures.
| |
Avoid it... |
if you're interested in the score purely because of the hype generated by collectors of
classical music, for Nyman's music is impressive in its technical precision but, like the
film, lacks convincing warmth in a challenging environment.
| |
| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
|
|
|
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