Customer Reviews

Goblin, Volume II 1975-1980: Hits, Rare Tracks & Outtakes From Profondo Rossa, Suspiria, Contamination & Others

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3 star:		(2)
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This album offers a plethora of various (previously unreleased) outtakes, different versions and theme tracks from different films. This in itself is an interesting collection, albeit with a few negative aspects:

Many of the outtakes and variations have later been included on the re-releases of the various goblin soundtracks (e.g. "Profondo Rosso" and "Suspiria"). One track ("Il Resvegno del Serpente") is NOT a part of an original soundtrack but a "plain" Goblin track from their debut LP "Roller" (though it has been used as part of a soundtrack in the italian release of the film "Vampyr" later) - still, it has a very different feel to it than the other tracks and thus sticks out in an unpleasant way.

Furthermore, since some variations (e.g. tracks 3 and 4, "Deep Shadows", part 1 and 2,respectively) are slightly repetitive, it can become a bit boring to listen to the complete album in one go.

That is not to say the featured material were not interesting - far from it! However, the order the featured songs have been arranged could be optimized - well, what's a programmable CD player for?

Goblin were an italian progressive rock band who became best known for their scoring of numerous horror films,most famously for Dario Argento's(some say)best work.A casual listen might lead one to believe they were listening to an old Genesis album,but these songs worked behind scary scenes in movies.And very well,too!This volume has 6 great cuts from Profondo Rosso(DEEP RED),3 from Suspiria,1 from Squandra Antigangsters,2 from Contamination,and 4 from their rock albums(that were plundered for use in films as well).This is a great CD!

If you're a budding Goblin fan, this is not the album for you. I would recommend Vol. 1 higher because it has a sampling of just about every soundtrack they worked on. This centers on the "Profondo Rosso", "Suspiria", and "Contamination" soundtracks. While a lot of the "Profondo Rosso" tracks are great, especially "Death Dies", "Profondo Rosso", and the remix of the title song, "Suspiria" is not represented very well. The main title theme for "Suspiria" is on Vol. 1 and the tracks here are not very good. "Contamination" takes an acquired taste to appreciate, but "Connexion" is complex in its simplicity. Overall, this is for die-hard Goblin fans only, not for beginners delving into the world of Goblin.

Here's another good compilation of Goblin's music but be forewarned: the first cut Profondo Rosso is not an alternate take but the original version we all know and love which is on The Goblin Collection. Death Dies is also on The Goblin Collection so there is some repetition here (four other Profondo Rosso cuts are also included). For me, the main reason to have this CD are the three excellent tracks from the Cherry Five debut album which to the best of my knowledge isn't available on CD. Rounding off the CD are good tracks from Suspiria, Roller, Squadra Antigangsters, and Contamination. Overall, this is a good CD to have in any collection.

I like this CD very much but my favorite songs on the CD are tracks 1, 8, 15 and 16. Goblin is extremely talented. The extraordinary thing is that this group composes and performs there own songs. There music is quite unique. I have never heard anything like some of the wonderful songs they produce. If you like their style of rock and enjoy music in horror films by such great film makers as Dario Argento, you just may get a nice surprise listening to the music of Goblin. I love their music and recommend it to horror movie buffs.