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.
Quentin Tarantino’s latest bombastic offering sets a group of Jewish/American soldiers loose in Nazi occupied France; the result is a violent and caricatured combination of historical (though, far from historically accurate) set pieces, in which the characters crash into, or merely skirt past each other. As with previous efforts, ‘Pulp Fiction’, ‘Jackie Brown’ et al, the soundtrack borrows heavily from other sources (Tarantino rarely commissions a composer to write a score for his films), with the likes of Billy Preston’s 1970s raucous funk rock, ‘Slaughter’ and David Bowie’s ‘Cat People (Putting Out The Fire)’, alongside film score music from Ennio Morricone and Lalo Schifrin. While ‘Inglorious’ may have trouble finding a market - it could be too off the wall for regular listeners, too familiar to soundtrack collectors - the diverse styles generally work well together and it at least brings Morricone’s atmospheric work to a wider audience, which, despite its shortcomings, makes it a lot more interesting than many of the film tie-in fodder on the market. Inglorious Basterds Movie Soundtrack. Review: Tim Mowbray.
Track Listing:
1. Green Leaves Of Summer (Nick Perito).
2. Verdict (Dopo la Condanna) (Ennio Morricone).
3. White Lightning (Main Title) [from White Lightning] (Charles Bernstein).
4. Slaughter (Billy Preston).
5. Surrender (La Resa) (Ennio Morricone).
6. One Silver Dollar (Un Dollaro Bucato) (The Film Studio Orchestra).
7. Davon Geht Die Welt Nicht Unter (From Die Grosse Liebe) (Zarah Leander).
8. Man With The Big Sombrero (Samantha Shelton).
9. Ich Wollt Ich Waer Ein Huhn (Willy Fritsch/Lilian Harvey).
10. Main Theme From Dark Of The Sun (Jacques Loussier).
11. Cat People (Putting Out The Fire) (David Bowie).
12. Tiger Tank (Lalo Schifrin).
13. Amico (Ennio Morricone).
14. Rabbia E Tarantella (Ennio Morricone).
The Exorcist.
1973, Warner Bros.
Various.
Warner Bros, CD, 1998, 16177-00-CD. Rating:
Unsurprisingly, given the disturbing subject matter, the soundtrack for William Friedkin’s film based on the novel by William Peter Blatty is a pretty unsettling experience; not least because Mike Oldfield’s ‘Tubular Bells’ has been omitted in favour of darker material. Though Lalo Schifrin wrote an original, rejected, score for the film, some of which is featured here, Friedkin instead opted for a selection of modern classical compositions from the likes of Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki and Austrian Anton Webern which are sometimes little more than barely audible sound effects outside the movie – disappointing considering this is a restored and remastered edition. ‘Beginnings From Wind And Harp’ progresses almost silently for nearly fifty seconds before slowly coming alive. ‘Polymorphia’, running to nearly twelve minutes covers the gamut from silence to staccato strings and clattering percussion and ‘Kanon For Orchestra And Tape’ offers much the same blend. Luckily, Henze’s ‘Fantasia For Strings’, which ran over the film’s end credits, offers up a powerfully dramatic finale (save Lalo Schifrin’s unused and ineffective offerings) to an interesting, if ill-conceived album. The Exorcist Movie Soundtrack. Review: Tim Mowbray.
Track Listing:
1. Iraq.
2. Five Pieces For Orchestra (Webern).
3. Polymorphia (Penderecki).
4. String Quartet No. 1 (Penderecki).
5. Beginnings From “The Wind Harp” (Bee).
6. Kanon For Orchestra And Tape (Penderecki).
7. Fantasia For Strings (Henze).
8. Music From The Unused Trailer (Schifrin).
9. Suite from the Unused Score To ‘The Exorcist’ (Schifrin).
10. Rock Ballad (Unused Theme From ‘The Exorcist’ (Schifrin).
Class Of 1984
1982, United Film Distribution Company
Lalo Schifrin/Alice Cooper Rating:
Mark Lester’s cynical, controversial high school thriller, stars Perry King as an optimistic new teacher who bites off more than he can chew when he attempts to discipline a group of sadistic social misfits led by Droog-like Stegman (Timothy Van Pattern). Alice Cooper penned the theme along with composer Lalo Schifrin. No official soundtrack album was released though the 7” single can be purchased online.
