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Ed Wood: Original Soundtrack Recording

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For my dough, "Ed Wood" was one of the most enjoyable films of the '90's, and Shore's soundtrack is also excellent. While there are a few campy dialogue snippets from the movie, and a few moments of dissonant typical-50's horror sounds, overall this is actually a lovely piece of work. Mixed together almost perfectly are the Strange, the Beautiful, the Exotic, the Lounge, and the Comedic. If you liked the film, you can't help but like the disc. Even if you didn't see the movie, and even if you don't know who Ed Wood was, you probably will like the soundtrack. Shore dedicated this effort to the late Henry Mancini, who got his start doing horror music in the 50's..."Creature From the Black Lagoon" being one. This is fun, but it is also good music, well-performed. The real Ed Wood was inept and troubled, but he loved the movies, and he perservered in making them on his own no matter how many months it took and how incomprehensible they turned out. His life may not deserve a score this good, but the film they made about him certainly did.

This is my favorite soundtrack CD! There's the simultaniously campy and haunting mixture of theremin, endes matinot and conga drums. There's the bouncy beatnick jazz numbers. There are actual orchestrations of a lot of the library music cut-ups Wood scored his films with. There are amazingly poigniant pieces like "This Is The One" that beautifully evoke the mysteries of fate that made a star of Wood years after he died in abject poverty. And there are two well-chosen pieces by the whacked out Cuban mambo genius Perez Prado, and the best thing I've ever heard by Korla Pandit (who got this weird close-up cameo in the movie like a major star.) This really deserved an oscar, as did the film.

You already know how fantastic this film is, so now to the soundtrack... Composer Howard Shore has provided the perfect musical accompaniment to Tim Burton's B-Movie bio. Many of the tracks from this soundtrack sound exactly like the sort of music that Ed Wood may have chosen for his pictures if he had had the luxury of an orchestra. The main title immediately evokes the ghosts of cardboard graveyards and a genre of fantastic cinema the likes of which we sadly no longer see.

Many of the tracks feature dialogue from the film which I usually find intrusive on soundtracks, but not here. Criswell pops out of his coffin and welcomes you to the "SHOCKING story of Ed Wood Jnr!!!", later on, Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi inexplicably screams "Pull the string! Pull the string!!!!" as the orchestra swells to a creepy crescendo.

Complimentary to the thrills and chills original soundtrack is the music used as background in the club scenes in the film. Cuban mambo genius Perez Prado gets a look in with `Kuba Mambo' and Indian organist and turban-revivalist Korla Pandit plays some bewitching Hammond on his `Nautch Dance'.

Play it at Halloween, play it to scare the neighbours, but whatever you do, play it.

A great score! Perfectly coincides with the theme of 1950's sci-fi......Howard Shore captures this movie brilliantly.

Howard Shore continues to amaze. This is one of his very finest scores and seems especially indepted to Les Baxter, who actually wrote one of Wood's soundtracks (THE BRIDE AND THE BEAST). Shore has been quoted as admiring Baxter's work, and it shows here. Very much a loving homage, yet still a distinctively Shorian sound. Excellent!

This is an immensely entertaining soundtrack and a masterful homage to the kings of movie scoring. It also contains a few snippets of dialogue (including Martin Landau's amazingly accurate Lugosi saying "beware, take care;" "pull the strings!" "I have no home."). Movie fans and soundtrack aficionados will thoroughly enjoy this cd. Oh, and here's the complete track listing: 1. Main Title 2. Backlot 3. Mr. Lugosi/Hypno Theme 4. Beware 5. Glen Or Glenda 6. Eddie, Help Me 7. Elmogambo 8. Bride Of The Monster 9. I Have No Home 10. Kuba Mambo 11. Nautch Dance 12. Angora 13. Sanitarium 14. Ed And Kathy 15. Elysium 16. "Grave Robbers" Begins 17. Lurk Him 18. Ed Takes Control 19. Eddie Takes A Bow 20. This Is The One 21. Ed Wood [main title] total time: 43:58

Howard Shore's original score, supplemented by titles from mambo king Perez Prado ("Kuba Mambo") and mystic organist Korla Pandit (the whirling dervish "Nautch Dance"), neatly captures the absurdity of Wood's filmmaking and the circus of atmosphere of the times that surrounded it.
The orchestral pieces, performed by the London Philharmonic, are typical mood settings, augmented by the theramin of Lydia Kavina and Ondes Martinot of Cynthia Millar. The other-worldly sounds set the era by adding just the right touch of '50s horror film atmosphere. The small-combo pieces are built on latin percussion and jazz-changes reminiscent of late-50s exotica by Les Baxter and Martin Denny.

Snippets of dialogue help convey the film's tone, including Jeffrey Jones as the psychic Criswell, providing the soundtrack's introduction: "Greetings my friend. You are interested in the unknown... the mysterious... the unexplainable. That is why you are here. And now, for the first time, we are bringing you the full story of what happened. We are giving you all the evidence. Based only on the secret testimony of the miserable souls who survived this terrifying ordeal. The incidents, the places -- my friends, we cannot keep this a secret any longer. Can your heart stand the shocking facts of the true story of Edward D. Wood, Jr.?"

Martin Landau's oratories as Bela Lugosi ("Wait! Pull the string! Pull the string!" set to a grand orchestral crescendo) are sure to confound anyone who has not seen the film, but for those who have, they add a sad, nostalgic dimension to this recording.

It's an unusual task to write soundtrack music for a film about films. On the one hand, Shore wants to capture the flavor of Wood's filmmaking (and the soundtrack music that accompanied it), on the other, he must stay true to "Ed Wood" filmmaker, Tim Burton. The resulting soundtrack succeeds at both levels, plugging the listener into both Ed Wood and "Ed Wood."

Tim Burton's darkly comedic biography Ed Wood is one of my favorite films of all-time. It was a light-hearted tribute to an eccentric man who is considered by many to be the worse director in the history of film, Edward D. Wood, Jr. What made this movie so amazing (other than the constant thrill of watching Johnny Depp's eyebrows singlehandedly mug the camera for 2 hours) was Howard Shore's perfect accompanying score. When I first heard it, I assumed it was Danny Elfman just because he is usually Burton's composer of choice, but it is indeed Shore. While I think Elfman adds incredible depth to Burton's films, Shore's score for Ed Wood fits the movie and its content exquisitely.

Mixing elements ranging from traditional film music with the theremin-tinged haunted exotica sounds of 60s lounge acts such as Martin Denny and Les Baxter, Ed Wood's score truly captures everything the real Ed Wood stood for and tried to accomplish with his films. If Wood had access to major movie studio funds, this is more than likely exactly what he would have chosen as the musical backdrop to his b-movie masterpieces. The album also features short, subtle soundclips from the film itself and while normally this deters from the listening experience, here it seems perfect and only makes you want to view the movie again and again.

While every track is nearly flawless, some of the ones that truly standout are the "Main Theme, "Ed Takes Control" and "This Is The One."

The "Main Theme" to Ed Wood is perhaps one of the most original pieces of music ever created for a modern film. The Afro-Caribbean, Polynesian drumming mixed with the eerie sounds of the theremin not only make it haunting in the vein of 60s giallo scores, but also extremely kitsch in a mondo lounge, space age, tiki-a-go-go way. There are several variations of the themes used in this track throughout the film and score.

The triumphant fanfare of "Ed Takes Control" is used in the scene where Wood realizes he must not let anyone stand in his way of his dream and must march forward. Shore is able to capture this moment perfectly with militaristic-style percussion and a vibrant brass section representing Wood's sheer determination to not let Hollywood ruin his vision.

"This Is The One" is one of the more emotional as well as traditional pieces of the score. This is the Howard Shore that we all remember from Silence of the Lambs, M. Butterfly and The Lord of The Rings Trilogy. The use of the theremin here again is very subtle and unlike other tracks, where it is used in a kitschy way, here it is as beautiful as when Clara Rockmore performed her classical theremin musical variations around the world. This is also the track played during the ending where we learn of Wood's fate. This is a very melancholy moment in the film, and Shore captures the essence of this scene completely. I find myself looping this track over and over because it is too brief.

All in all, Howard Shore's score to Tim Burton's Ed Wood works perfectly as an accompaniment to the 1994 hit film but also as a tribute to not only Exotica but also, one of the most underrated instruments of modern time, the theremin.

Do I mean Johnny Depp? Tim Burton. No! I mean ED!

If you enjoyed the film as much as I did, you'll love this soundtrack. It starts with with Jeffery Jones monologue, as Ed's magician friend Criswell. The music reminds you repeatedly of the fine film--one of the funniest on record.

Then there's the other monologue. Who can forget, "Pull the string! Pull the string!"

If you have no use for Ed Wood, the film or the guy, this may not appeal to you. But, again, if you love the film like I do, don't miss out on this CD!