Customer Reviews

Dr. Who & The Daleks/Daleks Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. (OST)

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PROEM:

Early '70s... Bob Wilkins' CREATURE FEATURES... Saturday night... what a ritual... I was introduced to some of the most enduring SCI FI and Horror films of all time... I still recall being scared to death the first TWO times I saw NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, and more than intrigued, and a bit amused by ATTACK OF THE MUSHROOM PEOPLE... GODZILLA, GORT (from, you know, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL), Steve McQueen's favorite of his own films, THE BLOB... but wait... what's this? DR. WHO & the... how do you pronounce that? I recall Mr. "W" mispronouncing it as it was introduced... it wasn't "Daleks" with an "AY" sound, as in "DAY"... it was actually an "AH" sound... the kind you make when the doctor checked your tonsils with that stick thing.

What a ride Peter Cushing (Hammer Horror's finest actor was perfectly cast as the big screen Dr.) took us on... what's that? A police box disguised as a time machine (remember the series... the "CHAMELEON" circuit jammed, so it retained that shape throughout this unique show's run... Tom Baker attempted to fix it in LOGOPOLIS, and Colin Baker finally did in ATTACK OF THE CYBERMEN... it turned into a small pipe organ I believe)... subtle differences were there between the series and films... in the films "Who" was actually from Earth, yet in the series, he was a renegade Timelord from Gallifrey... not content to observe like his peers, he stole a TARDIS and fled the planet to help the less fortunate in the universe... in a sentence, this is my absolute favorite TV show of all time... like Mad Max, The Dr. is a rival for the ultimate "good" constantly taking on the ultimate "evil" (in both cases, the awful Daleks... mutants from an atomic war, confined to a travel machine, with all sense of conscience, morality, and compassion genetically engineered out of them by DAVROS... "EXTERMINATE")... little did I know that watching the two "WHO" films would convert me on such a scale.

NOW TO THE SOUNDTRACKS (and yes, the soundtrack of choice to begin the day is this one... perfect inspiration... a bit more: coffee from a DR. WHO mug to boot)... can you believe it? After all these years... you get both on this CD... the first by Malcolm Lockyer is extremely well done... Romantic era of music is a huge influence on his orchestral themes, with a bit of hip psychedelia thrown in (especially with the opening piece)... the music makes the usual emotional sweeps characteristic of the Romantic era... grandiose (I can still see the Thals with Ian and Barbara climbing that mountain), light hearted and playful (as when Susan is running through the petrified forest breaking branches off of the radiation scarred trees)... suspenseful, serious, and grave during the action sequences (the finale's battle is thrilling)... tension mounts and resolves all through the score as only a skilled composer can do...

AHHHH, the music for the second film has begun: DALEKS INVASION EARTH- 2150 AD... Bill McGuffie delivers a great score too, but with a bit more emphasis on action with percussion taking more of a lead role, as well as a jazz/swing flavor thrown in... some of the standouts include the "ROBOMEN's" theme... fabulous "march" feel to the piece... even without the visuals you can still see a squadron of the Dalek's "stormtroopers" coming at you with guns a blazin'... humor in the music abounds too, as with the sequence where Tom the constable is masquerading as a roboman as they're having "lunch"... the music captures the perfect sense of comedy with a "whacky" feel... as with the first film, the serious, sinister, shocking, and suspenseful sequences are perfectly depicted too... the musical sting when the group first exits the TARDIS packs a wallop...

AND WHAT A TREAT... you get a section of sound effects: the sounds of the TARDIS... Dalek City... KUDOS, BRAVO, EXCELSIOR to those who produced this CD... if that wasn't enough, the second score gives you the music MIXED with the sound effects... great sequence with the Dalek's spacecraft flying through the sky!

Well now, how to end this... any fan of Dr. WHO will want to acquire this, and anyone with an ear for expert soundtrack scoring will, no doubt, be impressed...

This could actually move the Timelords to break tradition, grab a TARDIS, visit one of Earth's CD outlets, and pick up a copy or two (like they couldn't buy it "online")... I used to have a bumper sticker that read "TARDIS EXPRESS... when it absolutely, positively has to be there BEFORE YOU MAILED IT!!!"

Balthazar says, acquire a copy for yourself, adopt silent mode, and attend with both auditory units ("check it out")...

Be well, and best wishes from the HIGH COUNCIL OF TIMELORDS...