Customer Reviews

2001: A Space Odyssey - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1996 Reissue)

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Why cant they release a proper soundtrack this film? Almost every version I've owned has chopped the Blue Danube into 2 or 3 tracks, and they never get the full Star Gate sequencing right, always edited! This cd boasts "Music as it appears in the film", but the whole Star Gate sequence was incorrectly done. It jumped too quickly from Requiem to Atmospheres. In the film, the chorus reached its highest pitch as Bowman entered the Star Gate. On this cd, they dont come anywhere near this vocal climax. There is a good couple of minutes of music missing, specifically the segment when Bowman first goes into the Star Gate and the light show begins is edited out. The best version of this soundtrack was the 1990 CBS Special Products release which had the Blue Danube as one track, and the Star Gate sequence would have been perfectly done except that it didnt include "Adventures" (the dissonant music playing while Bowman is in the white room at the end.)Im so disappointed, you'd think with all the technology they have now, they could just record the Star Gate music sequence directly from the film so that it is done right! When they fix the Star Gate sequence, and put the complete Blue Danube back into one track I'll be happy. For now, I'll live with my cassette version on which I combined the 2 soundtracks to REALLY sound like the film! The 2.5 stars are 1 for the incredible music itself, 1 for the liner notes and for the inclusion of Adventures (finally!) on the soundtrack. Last 1/2 star for the sound clips and extra tracks, which were cool but really unnecessary. But, overall I am VERY annoyed with this package, because I have seen this film hundreds of times and this is NOT the music "as it appears in the film." Slightly false advertising. I just want justice done to this incredible soundtrack for once!!!!

Those patiently waiting for the definitive version of Kubrick's landmark "2001" soundtrack were sadly disappointed when this beautifully packaged but seriously flawed attempt was released. Far better than the sonically sorry snippets on the original MGM disc (which substituted a Karl Bohm/Berlin Philharmonic recording for the Herbert von Karajan/Vienna Philharmonic recording of "Zarathustra" owing, apparently, to contractual problems), this is sonically superior and is more complete. But the producers and writers have been very careless; some music cues are totally botched, most lamentably in the so-called complete "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite" sequence. Here Ligeti's "Atmospheres" starts several minutes before it should. Anyone even on casual terms with the film will notice the blunder. Notes aren't always correct either; the supplemental performance of the bogus "Zarathustra" from MGM disc, for example, is credited to the ensemble that performed "Atmospheres." Also, the lengthy dialogue tracks aren't helpful to anyone with a copy of the film and seem out of place here. How so much care could have been taken in some areas in the production of this disc and so little exercised in others is dumbfounding. One can only hope future editions will correct the flaws. Until then, to be totally satisfied, fanatics will have to get CDs of all the original performances heard here and mix them into their own definitive version of the "2001" soundtrack.

When "2001: A Space Odyssey", the movie, was being made, an original score was commissioned. It was never used, and the film is now unthinkable with one.

This score has so much going for it -- triumphant overtures ("Also Sprach Zarathustra"), gentle waltzes ("The Blue Danube"), and some chilling score ("Lux Aeterna") -- all of which make for an enjoyable and unique listening experience.

Seeing the film first might work, but you wouldn't have to; this soundtrack is brilliant and well-assembled -- if nothing else, the great Stanley Kubrick had an excellent ear for good music.

If you're as much a fan of the 2001 film as I am--to me the best film in the history of the medium--you'll love this! The earlier versions didn't have the music in order. And that's a sacrilege to the REAL 2001 fan. And the closing measures of "Blue Danube" in the earlier version were not the same ones as in the film. Even the fabulous "Atmospheres" in the "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite" sequence of the film in the earlier "soundtrack" didn't have the hodgepodge of voices, yelling, and nondescript syllables included on this CD as "Adventures (unaltered)" even after you hear the complete soundtrack version, with those syllables.

I've always wondered how Ligeti wrote music such as that in the soundtrack, i.e., how it could be written AS music, and I'll probably never know. Nevertheless it was haunting, perhaps "introspective," whatever one calls it, it was perfect for this, the nearly perfect film.

Oh, then there's the samples of the film's script to end the CD. Yes, they make it even better--especially for those of us in love with the film who can't watch it every week, like, say those old time fans of "Rocky Horror Picture Show."

If you love the film, get this.

I've read the other reviews and I applaud their insights to a magnificent soundtrack--2001 a Space Odyssey. I don't believe I can top the other reviews with any more scholarly details, but I can say this, I bought the original soundtrack in an 8 track cassette, and now I'm buying it again in a CD. Times change, but never a classic. I studied to 2001 when I attended college. Now I write books to 2001, and when I'm not writing, I listen to it just for the sheer pleasure.

I saw "2001" when it first came out. I must have been 11 or 12, and it made a BIG impression! I went right out and bought the soundtrack -- it was the first album I owned. It took until now, buying the CD after all these years, to realize just how brilliant Kubrick was in selecting the music of Ligeti to feature in the film. The Richard Strauss "Zarathustra" overture gives a superhumanly heroic tone, which is thoroughly undercut by the eerie, tragic "Atmospheres," "Requiem," "Lux Aeterna," and "Adventures." Ligeti rightly sued Kubrick for using his compositions without permission, but by now I hope he is philosophical, given the wide exposure he gained as a result. This particular CD version includes complete versions of "Lux Aeterna," "Requiem" and "Adventures," along with the shortened "L.A." and ALTERED "Adventures" used for the film. The soundtrack is great, though, overall. I'm not a Richard Strauss fan, but the "2001 overture" is great! And who doesn't like to hear Johann Strauss II's "Blue Danube" every now and again? Thank goodness Kubrick rejected the score he commissioned, and went with these classics instead.

This is supposed to be the definitive version of the soundtrack to "2001", Stanley Kubrick's landmark film. While the packaging is excellent, and the audio quality is improved, there are some problems.

First, the tapes for "The Blue Danube" have aparently deteriorated so badly that the sound could not be restored in places (there is harsh, rough quality to most of the music--especially noticable in some of the louder passages). Lux Aeterna retains the muffled quality that it's always had (there are apparently very few performances of anything by Ligeti, so this may be the best --or only-- version of that piece which one is likely to run across). The flaws are actually a tribue to the superiority of the digital medium; it faithfully reproduces EXACTLY what is input. One has to remember that '2001' came out over 30 years ago, a time when audio recording was a rather primitive technical and engineering discipline, when measured against today's methods and standards.

While it is superior in quantity, organization, and sound quality, to the original MGM disk, and superior in sund quality and quantity of material presented, to the Sony Special Products release, this CD package is not "perfect". In the "Jupiter and Beyond the Infitite" segment, the length of the pieces is different than that in the movie (word is that Kubrick was forced to cut almost 20 minutes from the original film, so this CD may actually be the "original" soundtrack, though it is not the final movie soundtrack).

While the original movie soundrack featured Herbert Von Karajan & the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra's recording of "Thus Sprach Zarathustra", the original MGM soundtrack LP featured another version, by Karl Bohm & the Berlin Philharmonic. The von Karajan version was banned by MGM because some Jewish executives believed von Karajan was a Nazi collaborator. Both versions are available here, though one is incorectly credited (to the Sudwesfunk Orchestra--the people who did 'Atmospheres').

Also included here, for the first time, is "Adventures", by Gyorgi Ligeti. It's the piece heard near the end of 2001, in the Louis XIV palace setting. While it is effective in the film, without the visuals, it is like most of Ligeti's work--unmusical and just plain ridiculous (suggesting that 'minimalism' is a euphemism used by art critics to describe works with no real content or form).

Personally, I think Ligeti must have laughed all the way to the bank when people actually thought his minimalist sound experiements were "music". They're not; taken as a whole, they're the aural equivalent of using chimpanzees to create paintings.

Finally, the CD includes all of the dialogue involving HAL-9000, the computer. Surprisingly, it is not all that "out of place" here, although its inclusion is a bit puzzling.

While this CD is flawed, I think that the flaws are minor, and can be overlooked by all but the most obsessive fanatics. What is of value is that this is the best available version of an extraordinary soundtrack to an extraordinary movie. Unlike most soundtrack CDs, this one can actually stand on its own merit as an audio work-of-art, separate and apart from the movie. It is not merely another trinket used to extract money from fans. Thus, even if one is not familiar with the film '2001', the soundtrack can still be appreciated.

Unlike most movies, '2001' must seen on a big wide screen. It simply doesn't "work" on video. Like "Lawrence of Arabia", 2001's cinematic scope is a broad as its thematic and historial sweep. Let's hope that MGM decides to re-release the full director's cut of '2001', with the full soundtrack, some time before the beginning of the next century.

2001: a space odyssey is an excellent soundtrack and if you loved the movie like I did than I highly recommend this soundtrack. In the movie all the songs they used were classical pieces which all sounded great and every single one of them was worth listening to.

The CD features all of the songs from the movie in the order that they come in and it features some of the same songs more than once like "Also Sprach Zarathustra" and "The Blue Danube".

"Atmospheres" is the overture song and is a great place to start the album with it's very soft horns that get louder throughout the song. "Also Sprach Zarathustra" is my absolute favorite song on the album. I love every second of it with it's loud horns and drums. This songnwas used when at the beginning when you see the opening credits, when the ape discovered that he could use the bone as a tool and when Dave Bowmen turned into the star child. "Requiem for Soprano, Mezzo Soprano, Two mixed Choirs and Orchestra" is a very haunting track with voices and an orchestra that sound very future like. This song was used when the monoliths were discovered and at "Jupiter and Beyond". "The Blue Danube" is a very nice beautiful song and it was used when the spaceship was traveling to the moon. "Lux Aeterna" is also a haunting track with some voices at throughout the song. It was used while the astronauts were traveling on the spaceship. The songs "Gayane Ballet Suite, "Jupiter and Beyond" were used when Dave, Frank, and the other astronauts were traveling on the Discovery with the new Hal 9000.

There is also some supplemental material which includes another version of "Also Sprach Zarathustra" which is done by the Sudwesfunk Orchestra instead of the Vienna Philharmonic. It also includes other versions of "Lux Aeterna" and "Adventures". There is also a track called "Hal 9000" which includes parts where Hal is talking with Dave and Frank.

I loved every part of this CD and I recommend it to EVERYONE who likes classical music and to people who loved 2001: a space odyssey!!!

One of the greatest things about Stanley Kubrick's magisterial 1968 sci-fi epic 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY is the cagey way he puts certain classical pieces to work in the service of the film. The soundtrack to this groundbreaking movie must almost certainly rank as the best use of classical music ever put to film, aside from Disney's original FANTASIA.

Thanks to Kubrick, no one can forget the imposing "Sunrise" of Richard Strauss' "Also Sprach Zarathustra" (as done by Herbert Von Karajan and the Vienna Philharmonic). Nor can anyone forget the scene of the wheel-shaped spaceport rotating to the strains of Johann Strauss' celebrated "The Blue Danube", or the Stargare sequence, which utilizes three works by Gyorgy Ligeti--"Requiem", "Atmospheres", and "Adventures." Although one can rightly complain about "The Blue Danube" being split into two sections on the CD, like the movie itself, the 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY soundtrack is essential listening for classical music buffs and movie music buffs alike. It comes vigorously recommended.

This CD is like a book you're enjoying so much that you can't put it down. It's almost like the whole movie wrapped up in one package. As I've said in the videotape review, the usual classical pieces are there. But if you think you know the Ligeti pieces from listening to the movie on your TV set, just wait until you hear them on your CD speakers; you'll be transported to another world.

Hal's Dialogue Montage contains all of his best moments in the film. I think that getting this CD has been worth it just to hear him sing "Bicycle Built for Two (Daisy, Daisy...)". It cracks me up whenever I hear it. All you musicians out there: if you want to have a good laugh, try accompanying Hal on your piano or guitar. You'll have a heck of a time trying to get the notes he's singing exactly right! Ha ha ha!