Customer Reviews

Black Widow

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

 

 

A rare example of the nefarious "Creed Taylor effect" helping rather than ruining an artist. Here, Schifrin's flair for the cinematic riff meets disco for some thumpin' beats then heads for lounge classic territory. The results include rethinkings of "Quiet Village,"Tabu," & the "Theme from Picnic." There's a dance floor rendition of "Jaws" that honors both John Williams & Bill Murray, plus some Schifrin originals worthy of his soundtrack scores. The bonus cuts add value. Certainly belongs on your shelf next to "Dirty Harry" & "Mission Impossible." For true afficionados, also seek out & possess "The Cat," an 1964 LP with Jimmy Smith.

Bob Rixon, WFMU

Lalo Schifrin composed some brilliantly innovative soundtrack music in the 60's and 70's ....eg Dirty Harry,Bullitt,Mission Impossible and Enter the Dragon to name just a few!

When CTI recently re-issued a batch of their greatest recordings I was optimistic that the combination of Lalo + that CTI sound would be a sure-fire winner. However, the disco vibe now makes much of this album sound a bit dated. All is not lost, however, because amongst the bonus tracks is a cool rendition of 'Tabu' which alone makes this CD worth buying!

[The best of this crop of CTI re-issues may well be Idris Muhammeds'Power of Soul'which includes the wonderful track 'Lorans Dance', which still sounds as fresh today as ever!]

This is one of those albums that should never have been made... like Ethel Merman Disco Album.

Lalo Schifrin wrote some of the best music I ever heard. Like the classic (and out of print) The Dissection and Reconstruction of Music from the Past as Performed by the Inmates... and the beautiful Piano, Strings and Bossa Nova. He also wrote some classic film music like Bullitt and Music From Mission: Impossible (1966-1973 Television Series).

So it was with a blind confidence that I bought this CD.

But this is a horrible album where every song looks like an instrumental "disco" variation on THE LOVE BOAT theme. It has all of the 70's musical clichés you can think of. And this is not even great disco. I love disco. But this CD is trash.

I do not believe Lalo Schifrin wrote this album and I keep the disc in hope that someday I'll see some light from the sky telling me this was a packaging mistake.

As awful as awful can be.

...those being the Jaws Theme - which over stays it's welcome at the 2 minute mark or less, and an absolutely HORRID and tuneless rendition of Quiet Village.

The real winner here is the album closer, Dragonfly. That track could go on forever.

All in all, a nice slice of a forgotten, funky summer. A Kojak watchin', Lincoln Continental drivin', crevat wearin', cigarette smokin', fur struttin' summer. Enjoy!

Lalo Schifrin took time out of his hectic film scoring schedule to record this pop/jazz/disco classic. The high point is his reading of the "Theme from Jaws." After the obligitory "dum dum" of the main theme he launches into a frenetic barage of fuzz bass, wah-wah guitar, frantic flutes, and electric piano. It's more "Dirty Harry in the Water" than "Jaws." With expert remastering and repackaging this CD is worth your time. There's a whole Lalo Schifrin goin' on!

Lalo composed great soundtrack music for everything from 'Enter the Dragon' and 'Dirty Harry' to (of course) 'Mission Impossible.' He even made a number of commendable jazz records in the '60s. This is neither. Rather, it's a hopelessly dated collection of soulless disco garbage, lacking even one listenable moment. This is worse than watching the 'Love Boat' on acid, and by far the worst album ever released on the otherwise cool CTI label. Buy any Lalo record other than this.

A rare example of the nefarious "Creed Taylor effect" helping rather than ruining an artist. Here, Schifrin's flair for the cinematic riff meets disco for some thumpin' beats then heads for lounge classic territory. The results include rethinkings of "Quiet Village,"Tabu," & the "Theme from Picnic." There's a dance floor rendition of "Jaws" that honors both John Williams & Bill Murray, plus some Schifrin originals worthy of his soundtrack scores. The bonus cuts add value. Certainly belongs on your shelf next to "Dirty Harry" & "Mission Impossible." For true afficionados, also seek out & possess "The Cat," a 1964 LP with Jimmy Smith.

Bob Rixon, WFMU

The more you listen to this CD the more it grows on you until you're soon become compelled to hear it again and again. Somewhat too much electronic Lalo Schifrin and not enough of this great artist's real piano talent. Unsurpassed rhythm section. Better CD title would be more descriptive of content.

i've been waiting soooo long for this to come out in CD. i first owned it on cassette when it came out in 1976. not sure, but it got thrown out and i've regretted ever since. this is great music!