Customer Reviews

Field of Dreams: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I remember sitting there, in a darkened lobby of a hospital room in Joliet, Illinois. My grandpa was dying of cancer in the next room and I was a sad sixth grader who needed some escapism, and fast. I remember watching Field of Dreams that day but, most of all, I remember the music and how it blended so perfectly with the film. It was the first time I ever cried during a film.

Call it a classic case of a young kid needing to vent a little, but I will always remember the relief that film brought to me. Years later I bought the soundtrack and with it came the memory of my grandfather.

The music on this cd is poetic and spell-binding. If you are on the verge of buying this cd, let me allow myself to give you the friendly push that helps you decide.

Even if you are one of those countless folks who considers Kevin Costner a bad actor, don't take it out on the musical score. This cd is a dream, pun intended. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Before James Horner got into the habit of wanting to repeat himself in his various scores, he penned this wonderful score. "Field of Dreams" has the ability to make one laugh and cry. It is both sweet and timid; it is both hearty and alive; it is both beautiful and complex. Every time I listen to it, weather it's booming to life in Track 2 ("Deciding to Build the Field") or meekly stepping out of the shadows in Track 6 ("The Drive Home"), I get swept up in the emotional weight that it carries. This is film score music at its best.

Horner uses a variety of musical instruments in this piece. Besides the standard orchestra, you've got guitars, harps, piano, what sounds like some sort of pan flute, wind machines, and an array of other musical instruments. I don't think I've ever heard a harp and a pan flute sound as lovely together as they do in Track 7 ("Field of Dreams").

The music succeeds best, in my opinion, when it is very restrained. The are times when the music appears on the verge of blooming into full-grown flower, but it always shuns away. Horner does an excellent job of creating emotion using very little.

Of course, for those that like more than just sweet fluff (I'm a sucker for the fluff), Track 5 ("Old Ball Players") will wet your appetite. This is just a very laid back waltzy jazz tune that any fan of jazz music, myself included, will love.

And we can't forget about Track 12 ("The Place Where Dreams Come True"), pretty much the heart and soul of the entire score. It is a nine-minute masterpiece that is a true testament to Horner's abilities to stir up emotions in the listener. This song makes the scene where Kevin Costner and his baseball father are playing catch. The scene itself is very powerful, but add to that Horner's theme, and you have to have a heart of stone not to get carried up in the moment. Every time I watch that scene I get the urge to run to my dad and ask for a game of catch. Doesn't matter if it's 30 degrees outside or if it's raining. That's what good movies and good music will do to a guy.

If you can't tell what I think of this score by now, then folks, you need to get your pulses checked. James Horner is a great composer, and "Field of Dreams" is every evidence of that.

Thank you, Mr. Horner for supplying the world with such a beautiful score. I wish everyone could appreciate the work you have done with it.

For anyone who enjoyed the movie, the soundtrack will take you back to that magical place. Much more than a baseball game with players from the past, Field of Dreams conjurs up tremendous emotion of longing to be connected with the important people in our lives. I for one cannot listen to this music (particularly "The Place Where Dreams Come True") without getting tears in my eyes. It is so moving and pure, I feel myself wishing for a game of catch with my grandfather, who I never got to meet. Each track has the ability to take you places your heart longs to visit, and feel the power of musical expression James Horner can produce. I was glad to see his music recognized with the Acadamy Award winning Titanic soundtrack.

I have to admit that James Horner's score for "Field Of Dreams" is touching. In fact the two main melodies are very catchy: one of them is first heard in 'The Cornfied' and the other one is heard in full in the title track 'Field Of Dreams'. I also like 'Old Ball Players', a very nice swing tune very reminiscent of the 40s or the 50s, orchestrated by the late Billy May (from the "Batman" and "The Green Hornet" T.V. shows in the 60s). In fact, this is a good album.
However, I gave it four stars because the score is sometimes too quiet for my taste. Tracks like the very 'Field Of Dreams', 'The Timeless Street' (which sports another interesting melody), 'The Drive Home', and 'Night Mists' sound too atmospheric that sometimes I wish I had my bed nearby.
Don't get me wrong, this is a Horner album that is worth listen to, especially because the album finishes with 'The Place Where Dreams Come True', a lengthy track that swells with marvel and reflection, with the two melodies I mentioned earlier joined together making us feel touched. The end credits also gives the album a great close with a medley of the major themes.
In the end, this is one of James Horner's finest works in spite of the aforementioned quieter tracks.

Totally amazing! I had the great fortune in live in California for a few years and now back in the UK, I am aware how different the Spirit of Place is back there to here. This soundtrack accomplishes something that no other music or other medium has done for me, touching my soul with this Spirit that I loved so much and want to touch every now and then, to remind myself it was real. The spectral (yet very physical) player asks as he disappears into the Cornfield: 'Is this heaven, or what?' Yes this movie says and don't forget it! The music is generally quiet with no razamatazz, in fact, the whole CD seems a meditation on the quietude of the warm, balmy night. This tone picture is of the heart of America where the Corn grows and the Spirit of America in this fantasy, fresh, clean and pure bubbles from its original source. The repeated piano motiv, gentle, leaving almost a question mark in the silence is answered by the stillness and the heat of the night. The use of pan pipes as the baseball spirits appear and disappear in the corn provide an eerie almost Native American taste, almost whispering to me that this special Spirit, the magic of transformation, if we could see it, could from this source; thereby answering my concern of its lack back home here. However, like this music in totality it is subtle and under played, it is impressionistic, leaving you the benefit of making your own inferences from its suggestion for it would tell others something totally different. The orchestration and arrangement throughout is spare, relying very much on a solo piano although the depiction of the certain scenes like the Old Ball Players have been given a period flavor with jazzy and blues overtones. However, the underlying feeling is of magic, of transformation, of transcendence that goes to the heart of the American Dream. With our hero in the movie we don't understand what is going on but we are aware that we are part of something much larger than ourselves and we just have to sit back and enjoy it, going along for the ride. It depicts Life as not threatening, but as warm and kind as Doc Moonlight's Memories of his lifetime of care in his Minnesotan Community show. The message comes down to something like: You can make it, you will achieve it, this is what can be done if you just believe in what you do and do what you believe in. This is what the movie and the music tells me and reminds me of ten years ago when I stood under those same skies, communing with the Spirit and listened to the quiet of the warm night and believed....

In the film, "Field of Dreams" Ray Consella steps out onto a magicall baseball diamond and is reunited with his estranged father. The two of them talk and share a game of catch--something that we all long for at least once with our fathers--as the camera pulls up and gives us a beautiful shot of thousands of cars coming into the driveway as the sun sets amist a quiet strike of piano. Our hearts are touched, and that tear hangs in the corner of your eye, but why? Was it because of the beautiful closing to a wonderful movie? Or was it because of that beautiful music that quietly lifted our hearts and spirits and created that almost electrifying tingling in the pit of our stomach? Well, the answer is both. But the movie itself wouldn't have been so inspired, and wouldn't have lifted our spirits so high if it weren't for the magical voices of James Horner. A magnificent composer in both action and dramatic scores, the music for "Field of Dreams" stands out as one of his most inspired musical scores ever. Enchanting as it is inspiring, the music gave even more heart to Mr. Robinsons brilliant baseball fantasy. Although it is very quiet and lacks the striking symphony found in most Horner scores, it still manages to uplift and delight you in a way no other score has ever. And it manages to throw almost everything, from poetic piano solos, and jazzy rhythms, to the beautifully enchanting "The Place Where Dreams Come True", into one inspired package that makes for an unforgetable and magical score that you'll want to listen to again and again. Horner is at the top of his game here, and still never ceases to amaze me. This is one of those scores that every music fan should have!

I am a long time fan of music and I have never heard a piece of music as good as this. James Horner has really outdone himself here. The music ties in with the movie so well that everytime I hear the music, I can remember the spot in the movie exactly. I especially like the ending when Kevin Costner is reunited with his dad and then the music begins to play with a slow soft melody. This is a great soundtrack and I recommend it to anyone who loves music as much as I do and also who loves baseball as well.

A dynamite soundtrack that will automatically bring all of the emotions of the film rushing back. You'll want to grab your ball glove and go play "catch" with your kid!

Stylistically, Horner borrows heavily from the American composing legend Aaron Copeland. Listen to the start of "End Credits" and you'll hear several bars that are straight out of Copeland's 1940 film score for "Our Town". If you like the FoD score, you'll also probably want to check out some of the Copeland classics like Rodeo, Billy the Kid, and Appalachian Spring.

When the ending hits and this incredible soundtrack plays, thats how you'll feel. Excellent maybe Horner's best!!!

I wonder if the two reviewers who said they were disappointed in this soundtrack watched the film? My guess is that they did not. The film was ENHANCED by the James Horner score and it would have been hurt by anything that was not light and subtle. It is a unique and amazing film and the score is a perfect match. By the way, the bigwigs at Universal nearly died when they heard it and then were equally stunned when they asked Horner for the written score and he had to admit that none existed!

WONDERFUL MUSIC!