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Currently On Cue:
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| 8/19/08
- | Patton: (Jerry Goldsmith)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
on the 1999 Film Score Monthly album if you seek the best source for the original film
version of the Patton recordings, as well as a superior work by Frank DeVol for The Flight
of the Phoenix.
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Avoid it... |
in Patton's original recordings if you prefer the outstandingly vibrant re-recording
conducted by Jerry Goldsmith in 1997.
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| Rating: | *****
Read the entire review
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| 8/17/08
- | Monte Walsh : (John Barry)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you seek proof that John Barry was more intent at times on forcing his own style onto a new
genre rather than truly adapting for it.
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Avoid it... |
if the reason you are curious about Monte Walsh's score is because you are a Western
collector, for Barry's output is far closer to his works in the drama and action genres.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 8/15/08
- | The Missouri Breaks: (John Williams)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
only if you are trying to complete a John Williams film score collection and are fully
prepared for perhaps his most eccentric and dysfunctional genre-bending effort.
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Avoid it... |
if the idea of 70's pop rhythms and instrumentation in conjunction with comical Western
honky-tonk elements seem like a recipe for disaster to you.
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| Rating: | **
Read the entire review
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| 8/14/08
- | Island of the Sharks: (Alan Williams)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you enjoy the expansiveness of John Barry's dramatic 1980's string writing and the rhythmic
flair of Jerry Goldsmith's 1990's jungle rhythms.
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Avoid it... |
if you easily become annoyed by scores that make no attempt to conceal the origins of their
influences, no matter how adept their adaptation of those styles.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 8/11/08
- | The X-Files: I Want to Believe:
(Mark Snow) - All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you're such a devoted fan of the franchise that even a faint whisper of what
once made the episodic Mark Snow scores so attractive will suffice for nostalgic
purposes.
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Avoid it... |
if you were hoping that Snow would, outside of the last moments of the score,
neatly wrap the music for the franchise into a coherent and impressive package.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 8/10/08
- | Inspector Gadget: (John Debney)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
only if you already suspect that you'd have a high tolerance for that catchy "Go, Gadget, Go!"
attitude, so perfectly captured and adapted by John Debney into one of his typically
hyperactive parody scores.
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Avoid it... |
if the phrase "Go go Debney score!" confuses more than it entertains.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 8/9/08
- | My Favorite Martian: (John Debney/Danny Elfman)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you seek probably the most engaging and creative orchestral and synthetic combination to
come from John Debney's wacky comedy writing of the late 1990's and early 2000's.
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Avoid it... |
if you despise the early children's and comedy styles of Danny Elfman, whose influence figures
heavily in Debney's work here.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 8/8/08
- | The Comancheros: (Elmer Bernstein)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you seek a predictably vibrant and bold Elmer Bernstein Western score, complete
with the usual brassy themes and optimistic string interludes.
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Avoid it... |
if the cheery atmosphere of many of Bernstein's themes for the genre detracts from
the sincerity of the arguably more interesting accompanying underscore.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 8/7/08
- | The Cable Guy/Fantasy Island:
(John Ottman) - Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you never had a chance to obtain either of the two scores represented on their
previous, individual promotional releases.
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Avoid it... |
if you already have the devilishly superior music to The Cable Guy and are
interested in this compilation promo only for "Fantasy Island."
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 8/6/08
- | Brokedown Palace: (David Newman)
- Expanded Review |
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Buy it... |
if you seek one of David Newman's most accomplished ventures into dramatic genres, with
uniquely intriguing instrumental combinations that cross cultures with surprising ease.
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Avoid it... |
if hearing David Newman write essentially a quintessential Thomas Newman score runs
counter to the flightiness that you expect and love from David's work.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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