This site was conceived as a side project by a "tekkie" friend of mine who suggested I use my journalistic experience to write about something I love. We bandied about some ideas before settling on this one - largely because I had collected movie soundtracks for much of my life and thought I could write about them. We wanted the site to be user friendly, well-written and reliable.
Over time, I hope to attract other writers keen to contribute to the site, who don't mind foregoing the financial benefits they may be used to in the short-term for something that may, or may not, be profitable further down the line.
The gradual demise of the cd format, re-emergence of vinyl, along with the expansion of blu-ray dvd and downloads translate to an ever-changing market place; despite this, most of us still buy cd's and dvd's and I hope that you will use the Amazon links on this site to buy online.
We have also included mini YouTube video links that accompany the reviews, so that you can listen to your favourite theme music while watching a related trailer or clip from the movie; because film is a visual medium, there seems no better way of presenting it.
Finally, a note on the type of soundtracks featured. Though purists generally view albums such as "Top Gun", "Flashdance" and others like them, as unworthy of coverage on a film soundtrack site, preferring instead to focus on orchestral scores, we have taken the view that these albums have earned their place based on their continued saleability and affection with a large section of cinema-goers. We wanted to reach as broad an audience as possible and have developed the site with this in mind, without forgetting those fans for whom composers such as Bernard Herrmann and Jerry Goldsmith, among many others, are considered on a par with the master composers. We hope you can find your best movie soundtracks on this site.
Enjoy it.
Misfits Soundtrack CD
Misfits.
1961, United Artists.
Alex North.
Ryko, CD, 1998, RCD 1073
Rating: 
Alex North’s highly engaging score, written to accompany director John Huston’s intelligent anti-western, is a surefooted mix of melodrama, jazz and even rock n’ roll. Celebrated playwright, Arthur Miller - who first met North when he scored Miller’s ’Death Of A Salesman’ - wrote the script, about three emotionally flawed ‘Misfits’, getting by at the tail-end of the old frontier. The movie, starring Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable, in their last movie roles, alongside Montgomery Clift, gave North the perfect opportunity to write for characters who went beyond the usual two-dimentional all-action no-brainers. The effective ‘Main Title’, brimming with human high drama, largely sets the standard, resurfacing in cues ‘Roslyn’, an energetic big band number written for Marilyn Monroe’s character and the understated ‘New Life’. While much of the score accents the character’s emotional lives, the fifteen minute ‘Round Up Suite’ provides a welcome taste of the film’s ranching backdrop in ‘The Chase’ and ‘Tension’ segments. Meanwhile, rock ‘n roll number, ‘Paddleball’ and the spirited ‘Reno Bar Dance’ are light and melodic without being lightweight. Highly recommended.
The Misfits Movie Soundtrack. Review: Tim Mowbray.
Track Listing:
1. Main Theme
2. Rendezvous
3. New Life
4. Roslyn (Misfits Theme)
5. Love’s Reverie
6. Love Idyll
7. Paddleball
8. Reno Bar Dance
9. Compassion/Compassion for Guido
10. Help
11. Round up Suite: Disagreement/Round-Up/Chase/Tension
12. Trying for Freedom
13. Resolved, Pt. 1
14. Resolved (End Title)
Sorry, no high quality YouTube clip exists. Will attempt to track one down.
The Agony And The Ecstacy Soundtrack CD
The Agony And The Ecstacy.
1965, 20th Century Fox.
Alex North/Franco Potenza.
Verese Sarabande, CD, 1998, VSD 5901.
There is currently no review for this title.
Cleopatra Soundtrack CD
Cleopatra (Special Edition)
1963, 20th Century Fox.
Alex North.
Verese Sarabande, CD, 2001, 302 066 224 2.
Rating:
Never before released on CD, Alex North’s beautiful, majestic score to Joseph L. Mankiewicz’ over-long but visually arresting, ‘Cleopatra‘, is like the film itself, a gargantuan event. This two cd set is packed full of memorable cues charting Cleopatra’s doomed quest for power, love and security: first from Caesar (Rex Harrison) and then Marc Antony (Richard Burton). Though fans of North’s work will recognise elements from his score for ‘Spartacus’ in cues ‘By Divine Right’, ‘Hail Antony’ and ‘Sea Battle’ among others, these sit quite comfortably alongside the wonderful and complex ‘Moon Gate’ and the melodic ‘Cleopatra’s Barge’ with its sweeping, seductive rhythm and drive, reflecting Cleopatra’s ambition to seduce Marc Antony on her arrival in Rome. From the grand and elaborate ‘Main Title’ to the most intimate of cues (’Antony and Cleopatra‘s Love‘), North is primarily concerned with the love triangle between the main protagonists and their various ambitions and desires; his use of exotic instrumentation (mandolin and harp) brings the luxurious to life, and a powerful percussive element conveys the sheer enormity of the events unfolding. While the film itself experienced many problems, including an inflated budget, multiple script re-writes and even a temporary change of Producer, North’s score is as perfect as the film should have been; a triumph from start to finish.
Cleopatra Movie Soundtrack. Review: Tim Mowbray.
Track Listing;
Disc One:
1. Overture.
2. Main Title.
3. Pharsalia.
4. Caesar to Egypt.
5. Caesar To Egypt.
6. Pompey’s Ring.
7. A Gift For Caesar.
8. Only Yesterday.
9. Epilepsy.
10. Great Library.
11. Moon Gate.
12. Taste Of Death.
13. Sympathy.
14. Coronation.
15. Fertility.
16. Alexander’s Tomb.
17. Calpurnia.
18. The Fire Burns/Son Of Caesar.
19. Caesar’s Departure.
20. Cleopatra Enters Rome.
21. By Divine Right.
22. Death In The Garden.
23. Caesar’s Assassination.
24. Requiem.
25. Farewell.
26. Entr’acte (Caesar and Cleopatra).
27. Hail Antony.
28. Isis.
29. Love Theme (Reprise).
Disc Two.
1. Cleopatra’s Barge.
2. Most Becoming.
3. Food.
4. Antony And Cleopatra In Texas.
5. Bacchus.
6. Antony And Cleopatra’s Love.
7. One Breath Closer.
8. Love And Hate.
9. Athens.
10. Cleopatra’s Ambition.
11. War.
12. Interlude/Sea Battle.
13. My Love Is My Master.
14. Two Heads.
15. Better Late Than Never.
16. Cleopatra’s Son/Antony’s Camp.
17. Never Fear.
18. Grant Me An Honorable way To Die.
19. Anthony’s Retreat/Transitions.
20. Dying Is Less Than Love.
21. Octavian The Victor.
22. Antony…Wait.
23. Epilogue.
24. Exit Music (Antony And Cleopatra).
There are currently no YouTube clips available, sorry!
