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.
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.
Chinatown.
1974, Paramount.
Jerry Goldsmith.
Verese Sarabande CD, VSD-5677 Rating:
Written in just eleven days as a replacement score, Chinatown is an astonishing achievement, not least because Roman Polanski’s detective film noir was not the most commercial of ideas. Set in 1930s Los Angeles during a water shortage, Jack Nicholson plays J.J. Gittes, a private eye hired by a woman claiming to be the wife of the Los Angeles Commissioner for Water, to spy on her husband suspecting him of having an affair. After uncovering a plot against the Commissioner, Gittes then finds himself knee deep in a sex scandal and organised crime involving Mrs Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) and her powerful tycoon Father, Noah Cross (John Huston). From the atmospheric opening cue (‘Love Theme From Chinatown’), with its seductive trumpet solo, also used to great effect on ‘Jake and Evelyn’ and ‘The Wrong Clue’, Goldsmith’s score is highly evocative of the period and loaded with avant-garde eccentricity, particularly evident in ‘The Captive’. Standards such as ‘I Can’t Get Started’ and ‘The Way You Look Tonight’ were inserted to accent the period and are fine but remain fillers to one of Goldsmith’s best scores. Sublime. Chinatown Movie Soundtrack. Review: Tim Mowbray.
Track listing:
1. Love Theme From ‘Chinatown’
2. Noah Cross
3. Easy Living
4. Jake & Evelyn
5. I Can’t Get Started Bunny Berigan & his Orchestra)
6. The Last Of Ida
7. The Captive
8. The Boy On A Horse
9. The Way You Look Tonight
10. The Wrong Clue
11. JJ Gittes
12. Love Theme From ‘Chinatown’
Jaws.
1976, Universal.
John Williams.
Decca CD, 467 045-2 Rating:
John William’s first score for then budding director Steven Spielberg, with whom he went on to work extensively, ‘Jaws’ earned him an Academy Award and it is easy to see why. Horror, human drama, action and all out adventure feature heavily to fantastic effect. It is difficult to find examples of a score more pivotal to the success of a movie than Jaws. The original soundtrack, released in conjunction with the movie was (as many soundtrack albums are) a re-recording. This new edition includes cues from the original tapes which have been dug up and dusted off to celebrate the films 25th anniversary, along with extensive liner notes and an attractive digi-pack sleeve. ‘Main Title/First Victim’, combines the threatening two note theme with elaborate string and tuba arrangements to convey the approach of the shark and frenetic energy of the swimmer’s death. ‘The Shark Cage Fugue’ captures many of the action/adventure elements, key to the second section of the film, as does ‘Out To Sea’ and ‘The Great Shark Chase’. ‘Montage’ featured in the film as tourists flood into Amity during the fourth of July weekend is uplifting and energetic, themes that were further developed for Jaws 2. Jaws Movie Soundtrack. Review: Tim Mowbray.
Track Listing:
1. Main Title & First Victim
2. The Empty Raft
3. The Pier Incident
4. The Shark Cage Fugue
5. Shark Attack
6. Ben Gardner’s Boat
7. Montage
8. Father & Son
9. Into The Estuary
10. Out To Sea
11. Man Against Beast
12. Quint’s Tale
13. Brody Panics
14. Barrel Off Starboard
15. The Great Shark Chase
16. Three Barrels Under
17. Between Attacks
18. The Shark Approaches
19. Blown To Bits
20. End Titles
Other Versions Available:
Jaws Soundtrack LP
MCA, LP, 1975, MCAD-1660. 1. Main Title
2. Chrissie’s Death
3. Promenade
4. Out To Sea
5. Indianapolis Story
6. Sea Attack No 1
7. One Barrel Chase
8. Preparing The Cage
9. Night Search
10. Underwater Siege
11. Hand To Hand Combat
12. End Titles
