Customer Reviews

Danny Elfman: Music for a Darkened Theatre, Film & Television Music, Vol. 1

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Danny Elfman is the god of music, as far as I'm concerned. Even if you're not an Elfman fan, this album will still satisfy you. It was great hearing some of his earlier work, as well as songs I never knew he was responsible for. This album covers just about every range of music Elfman can do, from dark heroics in Batman, goofy fun in Hot to Trot, childish glee in Pee Wee's Big Adventure, and many others. It was also great to hear the Midnight Run songs in which Elfman got to combine his rock genius with his genius with an orchestra for a truly unique sound. This covers only a few of Elfman's greatest songs, but they are some of the tops, especially Back to School. Well worth the buy.

Great collection of the music of Danny Elfman. He's a really gifted composer; for proof, buy this album.

The CD gets kicking with the theme from Pee Wee's Big Adventure, which arguably contains Elfman's catchiest music. Then you've got some great themes from Batman, Dick Tracy, and Beetlejuice (which is, as Elfman says, a "roller coaster ride"). The next one is beautiful, which is the theme to Nightbreed. From what I've heard, the movie stinks. But the soundtrack is one of my favorites on this CD and truly sounds like it belongs in a film like Titanic or some big blockbuster.

The rest of the album are various odds and ends from different projects Elfman's been involved in, from The Simpsons to Sam Raimi's Darkman, from his bro's Forbidden Zone to Tales from the Crypt. It all ends off with the theme from Scrooged, which is actually pretty haunting.

A great buy. Really shows off Elfman's diverse talents in making movie music. He's one of my favorite composers composing today.

What a great CD. Danny's music is so original and inventive. this CD contains his pre 90's quirky, gothic music. it's all very well written and beautifully orchestrated. batman and darkman contain some really excellent long, dark, gothic cues that really take u away from reality. in my opinion no one, apart from howard shore, is as inventive and original as danny in the world of filmmusic. he far surpasses the repetitive works of williams or horner. buy this, and volume two, and keep supporting one of the greatest film composers of all time.ohh...and buy fellowship of the ring and two towers by howard shore....amazing work!

Danny Elfman emerged as one of the film and TV world's most exciting composers in the late 80s and early 90s. "Music For a Darkened Theatre: Film and Television Music Volume 1" is an anthology of some of his most memorable compositions from that period.

Elfman's work ranges from the playful ("Pee Wee's Big Adventure") to the majestic ("Batman") to the ethereal ("Nightbreed") to the goofy ("Back to School"). Especially enjoyable is "Nightbreed," with its inventive use of ethnic-sounding instruments and choir. His TV work on this disc includes the theme music for "The Simpsons," a masterpiece of energetic silliness. Other noteworthy selections include his music for the film "Wisdom," which contains interesting percussion effects.

Special mention should be made of Shirley Walker, who actually conducted many of these compositions. This CD is an excellent selection for fans of film and television music.

I first got this on cassette in the summer of '94 and listened to it every day, drawn by its thematic range and compositional depth. And that was just side-one.

Elfman pioneered the sound that drives today's movie adaptations of comic-books and darker-themed children's stories. Side-One kicks things off with a rollicking, hyper-cartoonish theme from the first Pee-Wee movie - the one where Pee-Wee searches for his beloved bike. Elfman's theme contains layers of different rides - on tightropes, highways, in the middle of a NASCAR rally - which rudely yet melodically crash into each other.

The Batman entry actually contains several pieces - the opening credits, the extended sequence in the cathedral and the climax - which show Batman's darkened extreme at its "Frank Miller" best. (Dir. Tim Burton couldn't sustain the mood in the next sequel, and the franchise took a turn towards the camp of the TV series with the next 2 movies.)

The theme for "Dick Tracy" is perhaps the most romantic on this disc, a quality that surpasses the theme's comic-book origins, but ends on an ironic note that's pure Elfman.

"Beetlejuice" (opening & closing credits) gives Elfman's childish ID a chance to stretch its legs, or in this case, slam-dance.

"Nightbreed" is an enigma wrapped in a dark mystery, and that's just Elfman's score. Elfman's work on this movie is as good as the movie wasn't, having a more powerful narrative than the script - easily the best track on the entire disc, one likely to exceed the movie in its dose of chills.

"Darkman" doesn't quite rise to the occasion, though the score may be hobbled by the movie itself, which seldom surpassed one of the many "Batman" clones of the early 1990's. "Darkman" (the movie, I mean) excelled as a parody of many comicbook staples (the wronged hero, the relentless villain, the scientific breakthrough with just one flaw), but not enough to escape being largely anonymous. Within those constraints, it's still a moving if scary piece.

When is Elfman not like Elfman? When he was in the mid-late `80's and scored "Back to School" (A Rodney Dangerfield vehicle) and "Midnight Run". Horns in "School" bring it closer to Elfman's over-the-top style, while "Run" sounds like a love-theme for the run-down, out-of-the-way parts of America that seldom appear in Elfman-movies. "Run" is a fun score for a fun movie - it's nothing like Elfman's previous work but it perfectly captures the on-the-road-without-a-map craziness of the movie.

To this day, I don't know why I never ventured to Side-two, but it's irrelevant. Even half this disc is worth it

this CD was the first CD i had ever heard for film music, and if it weren't for this CD i may have never gotten hooked. Although the songs themselves can be incoherent as a whole, every single track has it's own tinge of Elfman's brilliance. It first of all establishes Elfman as the ultimate master of any dark superhero themes (the most popular of which would be without question Batman, although other themes on this CD have the same texture and brilliance, but were merely overlooked.. i.e. Darkman). after this 5 or 6-song section, the CD generally moves towards his more fun and mischievous works, most of which cannot be obtained on any other CD, simply because a CD was never made for these obscure movies. while some have disputed that this CD is no good because it has nothing to bring the songs together, the fact still stands that this CD wasn't made on the thought processes of one movie, but of about 10 movies and 6 tv shows. take each track separately, and it becomes much more enjoyable, from the haunting timpanis of darkbreed, to the so-insane-it's-fun Pee Wee tracks. overall, a can't-miss CD.

I really enjoy listening to most of the movie themes on this CD. Most of the music has a 'dark' quality, like Batman and 'Tales from the Crypt'. Some of the music is 'goofy', like The Simpson Theme and the Pee-Wee Herman themes. These are some good examples of the wide range of Danny Elfmans musical styles. I can't wait to hear volume 2. - BEK. END

This cd highlights some of Danny Elfman's greatest orchestral scores that he has ever written,(pre-1990 of course,). Danny Elfman's style has changed over the years. In his earlier years,( Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, and Back To School,) his music consisted of cathcy and bouncy tunes, most of which are on this cd! In his more recent stuff, Sleepy Hollow, and the up-coming summer movie Planet of the Apes, his tone has been a tad bit more serious. But, it's all good! Even if you've never heard of Danny's work,(which is pretty impossible,) you'll love this cd! It's that good! You'll love this cd. I promise.

P.S. When you get this, listen to tracks 1,2,4,7,11,12,14,& 17! They're some of the best, even though all of them are perfect-o-mundo!

I was obsessed about getting this CD right from when I heard about it. I found it at the library and was so excited about it, and it didn't let me down. In fact, it was a lot better than I expected. It's a fun and creepy (strange mix, but it really works!) collection of Danny Elfman's film and television soundtracks. The first track, Pee Wee's Big Adventure, is probably my favorite. Also, I really like Batman and Wisdom. Batman is creepy and dark, and Wisdom is just weird, in the best possible way.
I'd recommend this to anyone who likes film music, or everyone who is even the tiniest bit an Elfman fan. It's amazing!

This CD was great and I really enjoyed it!Basically all the songs on there are just songs picked out from Danny's scores!They go from "Peewee's Big Adventure" to "Dark Man" to "Scrooged"!All over a great variety of Elfman's taste and what kind of music he does!Theres the dark kind,and the whacky kind,and the mysterious kind,and also the fun kind!Danny Elfman goes all over with his music,that's why there's so many different kinds music that he does,but never the less,no matter how wierd or how fast all of it changes,it's allways in that great kind of darkened spirited way or whacky spirited Danny Elfman way!It truly is a great CD even if you don't really like Danny Elfman's work you'll find it appealing and very interesting.Just to point out a few of my favorites there is "Batman" "Scrooged" "Beetle Juice" and "NightBreed"!You will be missing out if you don't get this CD!