Customer Reviews

Angela's Ashes: Music From The Motion Picture

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When I saw Angela's Ashes in the Theater a few years ago, I was so taken with John Williams' beautiful score that I rushed right out and bought the Soundtrack CD. I was VERY disappointed to find that about 80% of the Score is drowned out by the over-dubbing of dialogue from the film. If I wanted to hear film dialogue, I would get the DVD and play that. It's too bad that Mr. Williams' lovely music is forced to play second fiddle to an actor playing Frank McCourt, and the CD packaging says NOTHING about every track having a monologue over the music. (There is an import version of the CD that omits the annoying voice-over, but that didn't do me any good......I had already bought this version.)

Williams continues to surprise and amaze me everytime he writes a new score. This is no exception. This is the somber side of Williams, like Schindler's List, Presumed Innocent, and Seven Years in Tibet. If you like those, you'll like this one. If you're interested in the music, I recomend the Decca release (at Amazon.co.uk) because it doesn't have narration over the music like the US Sony release.

Wow. Angela's Ashes--wow. If you're looking for a "Star Wars" fanfare or something lively to pep you up for a good sprint, this isn't the CD to buy. But if you are looking for something beautiful and almost spiritually moving, this is perfect. It has a lot of similarities to "Seven Years in Tibet," "Schindler's List," and "Empire of the Sun," only with an Irish/American twist. It is so amazing how John Williams can make even the most saddening situations absolutely gorgeous. He definitely sees the beauty of them.

I haven't even seen the movie that inspired this soundtrack, and yet, the music is so powerful it touches and moves me every time I listen. When track #17 plays, I almost cry....and don't even know the circumstances of the moment. If you enjoy any of John William's before-mentioned soundtracks, I guarantee that you'll enjoy this one.

Forgive me is I blaspheme, but it is my opinion that Angela's Ashes stands out as Williams' greatest dramatic film score-yes, surpassing even Schindler's List. Never before has he achieved the emotional magic and personal tragedy that this story illustrates. I regret his history didn't delve into this genre more frequently.

Angela's Ashes isn't Star Wars, so anyone gravitated to it for that reason would no doubt be disappointed. A.A. represents the pinnacle of Williams' orchestral, string grandeur with moving, tragic themes that take the listener to the center of the story without seeming manipulative. This is simply beautiful music at its best.

This is not to indicate that the score is not varied, for it is and surprisingly so. There are fun, pizzicato string passages and light harp cues to evoke Frankie's innocence, but the listener always returns to the stirring passages of intense strings that tear into your soul. From beginning to end, the score-and the movie for that matter-is entirely listenable with passages that never bore, never become redundant, and always are developing one of the fabulous melodies that Williams has composed for this project. This score was nominated for an Academy Award, and as far as I am concerned it deserved to win.

Unfortunately, while the score is flawless, the packaging is far from perfect. As is the plague to many film scores, there is unwanted, unnecessary, intrusive dialogue that detracts from the listening experience and disturbs the music. There is no excuse for the inclusion of dialogue, and I condemn all Record Labels who persist in doing this.

Underneath the dialogue, however is one of John Williams' best-one of CINEMA'S best. This is a CD you can pop in the player and listen to, beginning to end, back to back, without hesitation, always finding something new and always being driven further into the music. Angela's Ashes rests, in my mind, as Williams' greatest, dramatic effort to date. It excels in the emotion, in thematic material, in grandeur beyond even what some might consider his more important, more ambitious projects. In short, you can't go wrong with this magnificent score.

This Sony release of "Angela's Ashes" contains voicetrack over the John Williams score. It is a matter of opinion whether this voicetrack is annoying. If you prefer to hear the very same original soundtrack score, but without voicetrack, order Decca 466 761-2. The album covers for both the Sony and Decca albums appear identical.

John Williams'latest score falls in the line of his calmer, gentler, and more classical category such as Schindler's List and Seven Years in Tibet. You won't find any brassy cues here but if you're a fan of John Williams, you will of course get this regardless of this review. The one point that takes a star away is the voice-over narration in the beginning of about every track. It takes away from every track, yet gives a little bit back in terms of seeing how the piece fits in with the movie. Just a reminder, this is one of those scores that is sad in tone but also a very well written one. Nominated for best score 1999.

The movie was good, but surprisingly it is the motion picture soundtrack which actually better serves the wonderful novel from which it was spawned. Moody, emotional and a pleasure to hear.

John Williams has produced yet another masterpiece with haunting melodies and rich harmonies. This is why I purchased the CD. I was sorely disappointed when I discovered narrations were included over the music. If you are a Williams fan who enjoys listening to his music, be warned that your reveries will be interupted by frequent narratives. Williams' music earns 5 stars; the narrations take the rating down a notch.

Let us hope that soundtrack producers will finally realize that if we want to hear the words, we will buy the movie. CDs are for music.

I love John Williams' film scores, and ANGELA'S ASHES is no exception -- however -- who needs the narrator popping into multipal tracks? As a purest who decries the glut of so-called "soundtrack" albums featuring over-produced singles you never heard in the film, this is just one more example of a poor choice. There is hope, however. I just read that the soundtrack with the narration was only released in English-speaking countries! If anyone has a line on where I can get the CD sans the narrator, please post it here or let me know at: MAD51103@AOL.COM Thanks.

Don't buy this terrible Sony release! The music is wonderful, but Sony decided to include some audio excerpts from the movie for the US release. When I buy a soundtrack CD, I want the actual music, not dialogue from the movie. - That's what videos are for!

Fortunately there is a solution. Decca released the same score in Europe WITHOUT the annoying dialogue. It can be obtained through some mail order services that mostly deal with soundtracks. - The Decca release is well worth the hassle!