Customer Reviews

The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad (1998 Re-recording)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The original soundtrack recording of this score has long been highly prized by collectors for it's uniqueness, imagination and brilliant orchestral color. It is Herrmann at the height of his powers. This 1998 re-recording by John Debney sparkles a little less vibrantly than Herrmann's original recording, but it is powerful and lovely none the less, and contains far more musical selections. Some of the tempos are a bit off, and some liberties were taken with the final selection, and a complete presentation of the entire score would have been preferable, but given the unavailability of that, this album is still very worthwhile - a delightful listening experience.

In the film world of fantasy there is an unparalleled match of two geniuses, working at the top of their gifts, Bernard Herrman, composer, and Ray Harryhausen, master animator,and they colaborated on three great fantasy films, Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, Jason and the Argonauts, and Mysterious Island. The first two films are classics.The energy in Seventh Voyage is great and evocation of the Arabian Knights marvelous; everything about this score is wonderful, fully matching the fabulous animation and action. No one creates atmospheres through music in movies better than Bernard Herrman. From clashing battle themes, love themes, exoitic dancing themes, genie themes, and even music to battle evil wizards and skeletons by. I have this score on LP, have always cherished it, and welcome the CD version,for in this film, all the flim's elements come together primarily through two other wizards, Ray Harryhausen, and Bernard Herrman. Some look to Herrman's scores for Vertigo as an example of his best work. But Herrman could write great music for any genre and for the Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, he scores another masterpiece. Miklos Rozsa wrote the music for The Golden Voyage of Sinbad and it is only average compared to Herrman's marvelous evocation of Arabian mythology, sounds, and adventure. A must buy for fans of film music.

Despite what some of the other reviews claim, this recording appears to be a performance by the Scottish National Orchestra conducted by John Debney using the original score to this movie. Perhaps some are noticing the faster tempo used in the treacherous "Battle with the Skeleton" music. . .or maybe the added prominence of the cast bell used during the "Cyclops" music. . .These things sound slightly different here than in the original motion picture.

Nonetheless, this is the majority of actual score of the movie. Of course it is TRULY Bernard Herrmann's work. . .some here perhaps do not realize how different BH could be from score to score. Journey to the Center of the Earth is completely different than Fahrenheit 451, which is absolutely different from North By Northwest.

I am a longtime fan and a freelance musician, so perhaps I can point out the truth in earlier reviewer comments about Williams and Herrmann. They are definitely related to each other. BH worked in an era when film scores were expected to routinely use the "leitmotiv" method to adhere to changes on screen. Thus, here in the 7th Voyage, we have a Princess's theme. . .just as there was a Princess Leia theme in Star Wars.

Herrmann also used both "classic", and more "modern" effects and harmonic devices for a very basic purpose (e.g. extensive percussion work for fight sequences or "barbaric" content. . . .static, "tritone" distant chords or clusters slowly alternated to establish no key whatsoever, but to keep a level of tension going) and with a sense of "staying out of the way". . .that the best scorers routinely exhibit. Williams does this too.

This is quite a dramatic score, since the movie features fantastic Ray Harryhausen clay animation figures. There is a dragon, a cyclops, a multi-headed bird, and chick. There is a dance of a "half snake-half woman". Herrmann uses percussion and brass to great effect here, yet the material is quite accessible to a wide audience.

I'd heartily recommend this, though I've got a vinyl recording here, of "The Fantasy Film World of Bernard Herrmann" which has a better performance of the "Battle with a Skeleton".

This should definitely be in your film score collection.

Chris Tune

Another five star rating for this album, which is one of the most sought after scores in film music today. This "Arabian Nights" adventure fantasy, is simply awesome and Herrmann is at his best. What the music does for this film is what composer Max Steiner did for "King Kong", makes this thrilling and beautiful film with it's fantastic characters believable. Ray Harryhausen fantasy film works because of Herrmann's brlliant score, which can readily be labeled a "Classic".

Varese Sarabande and Producer Robert Townson never cease to amaze the film score collectors, who are constantly clambering for more film music from the old masters. This present recording is the first extended presentation of the 133 page full score since the soundtrack album was compiled in 1958.

Total Time: 58:46 on 37 Tracks/Varese Sarabande VSD 5961 (1998)

As any film-music fan knows, this has long been considered one of Bernard Herrmann's two or three finest works and easily the best of his ingenious scores for the Ray Harryhausen fantasy films. Any version of it has been much sought after since the highly prized original Colpix soundtrack LP went out of print nearly 40 years ago. If Wagner inspired Herrmann's "Vertigo," surely Rimsky-Korsakov sat on Herrmann's shoulder as he composed this inspired romp through the Arabian Nights. By turns exotically fanciful, entrancingly romantic and bizarrely eerie, the writing amazes and the orchestrations (Herrmann's own) simply astonish. Unlike past reissues of the soundtrack, there is nearly an hour's worth of music here, virtually every note Herrmann wrote. and some of newly recorded music (like "The Genie's Home") is totally enchanting. Like other contemporary rerecordings of the Herrmann scores, this one dazzles sonically and, apart from a few tempo choices, one can't much fault the performances. However reverent the all-inclusive approach is, though, there is probably some material here that might have been pruned for the sake of overall musical cohesiveness. Regrettably, the original soundtrack is not available on CD, even though a fine stereo master (used on the Varese LP version) exists, so it's this or nothing ... and this will definitely do. Well-researched liner notes by Christopher Husted are a plus as well, though it is too bad the soundtrack album's original cover art isn't reproduced. Highly recommended.

This is an excellent performance and recording of one of Bernard Herrmann's finest film scores. The Royal Scottish National Orchestra performs it with such opulent beauty which is characteristic of this great film composer's work. Released by Varese Sarabande which dominate the market on film score recordings have presented this magnificent work in it's entirety using a 20 bit digital format to give one the optimum listening experience. This is one of the best technologies to present any symphonic work and the producers and recording engineers do it beautifully here. I personally have this CD in my library and I recommend it to anyone. MUST HAVE!

I decided to revisit this soundtrack after viewing my VHS copy of the film from which the music came. Because of my fondness for Herrmann, I actually didn't think that there would be that great a difference.

Man, was I wrong! While the music is definite Herrmann, the tempos and orchestrations on this recording truly fall short of the composer's original intent. Debney and company obviously didn't do their homework well.

This release reminds me of Mona Lisa reproduction that might adorn a diner's wall.

It "looks" like the real thing but everyone know's it's a fake.

I bought this on impulse. But what was the point? I already had the original soundtrack (one of the all-time-great film scores), conducted by the composer (or was it Muir Matheson?).

Boy, was I surprised. Not only is this the complete score, but the performance is livelier and more imaginative.

Strongly recommended.

This soundtrack rocks. Classic adventure music. Okay the movie had some weak acting, but what about Ray's monsters? The great music? Buy it now! Someone pressure Trevor Jones to have The Dark Crystal rereleased!

A great soundtrack that deserves a better treatment. If you are really familiar with this score, you'll agree that this version does not do justice to Bernard Herrmann. Many of the cues are off-tempo and downright ponderous (check out cue #19, The Cave).
The liveliness that distinguishes this score is virtually lost on John Debney's interpretation. Why wasn't the original soundtrack resurrected? Varese Sarabande did release a CD version of this album about 10 years ago; believe me, it's a magnitude better than this re-recording. I'm sure the master tapes are in the Columbia vaults somewhere (and in stereo!).
For a really faithful rendering of a Herrmann score, 'Jason and the Argonauts' conducted by Bruce Broughton, is simply magnificent. He should have done '7th Voyage of Sinbad'. Oh well, maybe next time....