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FILMTRACKS.COM
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW 
Review of The Incredible Hulk (Joe Harnell)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... only if you still have a soft spot for the lonely piano
theme that usually accompanied David Banner on his quest for a cure to
his maddening problem, its melody prevailing as the lasting identity of
the concept.
Avoid it... if you expect that solitary theme for the scientist, as well as the pretty theme for his love interests, to be capable of carrying the otherwise badly dated action cues and disco music from the series.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
The Incredible Hulk: (Joe Harnell) Long before two
major feature films re-introduced the concept to a new generation in the
2000's, the Marvel character of "The Incredible Hulk" became famous in
the classic CBS television show. Offered in 83 episodes over five
seasons from 1978 to 1982, followed by three "reunion" movies from 1988
to 1990, "The Incredible Hulk" stuck to a successful formula in nearly
each typically hour-long story. Having overdosed on gamma radiation, the
scientist David "Bruce" Banner is an outcast who glumly hitchhikes to
avoid a tabloid reporter because, as we all know, if the scientist gets
mad, he turns into a buff, green giant in the form of bodybuilder Lou
Ferrigno. The entire point of the series was to follow the scientist's
plight to return to a normal life, but when CBS surprisingly cancelled
the successful show only a few episodes into its fifth season, no
satisfyingly conclusive episode was ever made possible. The later
television movies left no solace for Banner, either, the last entry
finally killing the character for good. Ratings for that conclusive
movie, understandably, were poor! Composer Joe Harnell was brought into
the production in part due to his involvement with the concurrent series
involving "The Bionic Woman," and he provide specific episodic music for
"The Incredible Hulk" that would eventually yield an Emmy nomination
after the cancellation of the show in 1982. Harnell's career is
highlighted by similar science fiction efforts of the era, though the
initial five years of "The Incredible Hulk," as well as its related
television films, represent a large portion of that career. As with the
scores for such series as "V" and "Alien Nation," fans of Harnell's
television music had been patiently awaiting an album of music from "The
Incredible Hulk," and, in 1999, one year after a lengthy release of "V"
in promotional form, the SuperTracks Music Group presented a full CD of
music with a variety of the most memorable material from the series. In
2008 and 2009, Harnell produced a number of promotional albums
re-issuing the 1999 product and adding a handful of others to flesh out
important episodic work.
With most of the essential cues from the show included on original, lengthy promotional release of 1999, "The Incredible Hulk" fans who grew up with show could finally enjoy a solid treatment of music from the series. Whether that music (or the series) fits your tastes is another matter, and Harnell's work in this case has aged rather badly compared to his other entries of the time. While retaining a certain orchestral sci-fi element that can also be heard in "V," both the era of the show and its deeper character development cause its music to have an entirely different feel. Harnell's use of the smaller orchestra provides for a generous amount of dramatic underscore for the shifting emotions on screen. Also present are subtle reminders of 1970's pop influence, with percussion, electric bass, and various rhythms often embedded within the music and exuding an occasional disco genre feel. It is because of these elements that the music really doesn't hold up as well several decades later. The album releases expose vast contrasts in style, especially on the products featuring fuller selections of music from individual episodes. The highlights of Harnell's music are the moments of solitary contemplation in addition to the remarkable love theme. The latter is provided in a concert-like rendition early on the original 1999 product and its 2008 re-issue, though the theme really flourishes with the female choral contributions of "The Wedding" from the famous episode "Married." Even better known from the show is "The Lonely Man Theme," a solitary piano idea for the scientist's transient movements that eventually was adapted as the show's title theme and has come to symbolize the character in memory ever since. On the other end of the dramatic scale, the moments of brutish Hulk anger, often accented by plain militaristic percussion that continues for extended sequences, are more difficult to grasp in context or out, mostly due to their harshly dissonant shades and incongruous applications of percussion. While sufficient in its basic purpose, the sparse recording depth of these sequences fails to really capture the threat posed by the character, leaving the intimidation factor up to Ferrigno's freakish physique. The original 1999 album for "The Incredible Hulk" was constructed with the idea of covering this wide variation in music from the series, and this product, along with its straight 2008 re-issue, will suffice as a decent representation of the show's music for most listeners. Three variants of the title theme are provided, including a (now frightfully obnoxious) "Disco Version" that was released on an LP single at the height of the show's popularity. Over twenty-five minutes from the pilot, which is arguably better than much of the material that would appear in later episodes, is followed by suites from a few of the best episodic scores, including "Married," "Prometheus," "The Secret Empire," "Homecoming," and more. A few of the episodes used music that also appeared in the 1979 series "Cliffhangers." The best of these episodic suites are by far the two cuts from the Emmy-winning "Married" episode, which include both the wedding and death scenes' accompaniment. A token farewell track from the pilot finishes the score music on the album with a reprise of the "Lonely Man Theme." The 2008 and 2009 episodic score promos, limited to either 1,000 or 1,500 copies each, expanded upon most of these short selections from the original album, including additional music from the pilot movie, "A Death in the Family," the pair of "Prometheus" episodes, the two "The First" episodes, "Homecoming," and "Married." The last of those albums, featuring "Homecoming" and "Married," is really the only episodic CD worth exploring by those not interested in collecting the entire lot. Interestingly, none of these albums contains any material from the episode "Triangle," which was the episodic score that earned Harnell an Emmy nomination from the series. Still, with 74 minutes of well-presented music, the original, rare SuperTracks album or its 2008 Five Jays Records re-issue (essentially both promos pressed on behalf of Harnell) will surely satisfy the majority of fans of the show or comic series. Due to the age in musical style and mono recording quality of "The Incredible Hulk," though, more casual fans of television sci-fi music might be better suited investigating Harnell's more lasting "V" music first. Sadly, the iconic theme for Banner in this show did not survive to define the identity of the character in Marvel's 2000's and 2010's modernization of the concept, despite some fleeting cameo references. ***
TRACK LISTINGS:
1999 Super Tracks/2008 Five Jays Albums:
Total Time: 73:59
* also heard in the TV Series "Cliffhangers" 2008 JoeHarnell.com JHCD-24 Album: Total Time: 67:12
2009 JoeHarnell.com JHCD-26 Album: Total Time: 64:36
2009 JoeHarnell.com JHCD-27 Album: Total Time: 48:55
2009 JoeHarnell.com JHCD-29 Album: Total Time: 69:12
NOTES & QUOTES:
The inserts of the promotional products include notes about the television show,
the subsequent TV films, and Harnell's career.
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1999-2024, Filmtracks Publications. All rights reserved.
The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from The Incredible Hulk are Copyright © 1999, 2008, 2009, Super Tracks Music Group (Promo), Five Jays Records (Promo), JoeHarnell.com JHCD-24 (Promo), JoeHarnell.com JHCD-26 (Promo), JoeHarnell.com JHCD-27 (Promo), JoeHarnell.com JHCD-29 (Promo) and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 11/15/99 and last updated 6/21/18. |
