Customer Reviews

Jerry Goldsmith: 40 Years of Film Music

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As with most recent Silva America releases, this combines newly recorded tracks with music already in the Silva Screen back catalogue. This is the most comprehensive collection of music by Jerry Goldsmith ever released. In addition, it includes all the tracks from "Goldsmith conducts Goldsmith" and most of the tracks from "Omen: Essential Goldsmith". It more or less makes those CDs obsolete. Just skip those and get this one. If you already have those, this cD does have some newly recorded tracks just for this release. They are: QBVII, The Wind and the Lion, Airforce One, LA Confidential and The Sum of All Fears

Also the liner notes are excellent and informative. The City of Prague Philharmonic conducted by Nic Raine, James Fitzpatrick and Paul Bateman as well the Philharmonia and National Philharmonic conducted by Mr. Goldsmith himself bring one of the best compilations ever produced. period. I only wish they had included some music from Planet of the Apes and Supergirl.

Much like the John Barry, Dimitri Tiomkin and John Williams Collection, this latest release from Silva America " Jerry Goldsmith: 40 Years of Film Music", a four compact disc collection is a film collectors dream...Goldsmith creates visual moods for each film he scores...unmistakable arrangements overlay each cue in his distinctive style...Goldsmith's musical movements fit the story and must resolve rather quickly as each cue of the film passes quickly, as in "THE BLUE MAX"..."CHINATOWN"..."FIRST BLOOD"..."FIRST KNIGHT"..."THE HAUNTING"..."L.A. CONFIDENTIAL"..."MACARTHUR"..."MEDICINE MAN"..."THE MUMMY"..."THE OMEN"..."PATTON"..."POLTERGEIST"..."RUSSIA HOUSE"..."SANDPEBBLES"..."THE SHADOW"..."STAR TREK: MOTION PICTURE"..."TORA, TORA, TORA"..."TOTAL RECALL"..."UNDER FIRE"..."WILD ROVERS" and who could forget the magnificent themes from "THE WIND AND THE LION", which is one of my favorite all time Goldsmith scores featuring Sean Connery and Candice Bergen...Jerry has the ability to place emphasis with his music in a similar fashion as the late masters and composers of the classical genre...Goldsmith's use of strings, brass and percussion sets the mood and has the ability to make the whole scene come together...can't recall any other composer who had such complete control and the pulse of a scene and storyline as Jerry Goldsmith.

This Silva America compilation traces 40 years of Jerry Goldsmith film music, featuring selections by The Philharmonia Orchestra and The Philharmonia Orchestra with Goldsmith himself conducting...The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra with Paul Bateman, James Fitzpatrick and Nic Raine conducting...The Daniel Caine Orchestra (original sound recordings)...Crouch End Festival Chorus conducted by Nic Raine...wonderful and complete 57 symphonic suites on a collectible 4-CD-Set for all "movie music fans" to soak up and savor.

Most complete collection of Goldsmith compositions ever assembled...over four hours of themes and variations with full orchestra all individually wrapped-up into one neat package...Silva's collection covers all his major works and some lesser known but memorable cues...just the way "film-score-buffs" like 'em!

Take a bow Silva America, James Fitzpatrick (producer), Reynold da Silva (executive producer), David Stoner (release co-ordinator), Damien Doherty (artwork & design) and of course the one and only legendary composer of the millennium ~ Maestro Jerry Goldsmith (born in Pasadena, California on February 1929 and left us on July 2004 in Beverly Hills, Hollywood) studied under Hungarian composer Miklos Rozsa...we will miss you but your music lives on, thank you good friend Jerry Goldsmith.

Total Time: 4-CD-Set ~ Silva America 1183 ~ (8/09/2005)

Okay, this is a CD review, so the focus is on music, but I've got to say this first: this has got to be a contender for the ugliest cover art ever. I mean, come on...instead of a tribute to the composer, the cover looks like someone spilled a glass of merlot over a NASA photo.

Fortunately, bad cover art will not ruin good music. And I'd say about 75 percent of the music is good....which means this 4 cd set combines quality and quantity. Like other Silva compilations, the strength of this compilation is the variety. There are selections from the big releases (Star Trek, Omen, Rambo), but there is also a healthy dose of tracks from the smaller releases(Under Fire, Lionheart, The Swarm).

Two examples come to mind. Capricorn One and The Great Train Robbery are two movies that are not exactly household names today, but are dominated by two of Goldmith's finest main themes. The City of Prague Philharmonic come through with terrific renditions. And there are plenty of other strong performances...a few being concert versions conducted by Goldsmith himself. Suprisingly, "The Wind and the Lion" works, which is no small accomplishment given the ferentic original performance of "Raisuli Attacks".

It's not a complete success. A few of the performances fall flat, particularly some of the more inventive scores. Total Recall is just bad, mangling the performance with poor percussion and synthesizer choices to boot. Also a letdown is the Klingon Attack from the first Star Trek movie. The Prague Philhamonic attempt doesn't sound bad--it's just that once you've heard the original soundtrack's "blaster beam" with enough bass to rattle your teeth...well let's just say Silva's version is a little tinny in comparison.

But I shouldn't dwell on the negative. Overall, this is a strong sampler of Goldsmith's variety. There are plenty of quality performances here, and despite a few omissions (noticeably Planet of the Apes)this is a very good release from Silva.

This album beautifully illustrates the art that Jerry Goldsmith perfected. He created music that made many of the movies that we watched more memorable. Pieces were chosen that illustrated the scope of his talents and filled four CD's. Beautifully done.

Age has its value.... This sweeping collection of compositions brings back so many great memories. This collection shows how significant Goldsmith was for both the movie screen and the small screen. With such a grand collection, every reader can be assured that at least one movie or TV program they like or remember had Goldsmith's contribution. It was an amazing life and the collection well worth having.

However, as sweepig as it is, there are a few holes in the selection. "First Contact", one of the sweetest and richest compositions from the Star Trek is absent. "The Ghost and the Darkness" is missing and the "Medicine Man" music should include the theme song. By dwelling on several selections from the Blue Max, these were squeezed out. Three full and important movie themes got the axe.

However, all but "The Ghost and the Darkness" are readily available and not overly expensive as is the "Ghost" CD. This is a must have for the TV and movie music fan.

Before there was Hans Solo there was Napolean Solo, before ER there was Dr. Kildare. Jerry Goldsmith IS Sci-Fi. "Resistance is futile.. you MUST assimilate this CD collection."

Other reviewers may have deducted a star because the four-disc compilation omits some familiar Goldsmith movie compositions, notably a sample of his innovative score to '68's "Planet of the Apes."

Well, the release does not claim to be the "definitive" Goldsmith and at 4.7 hours long, there is enough of the legendary composer's work to satisfy even the most casual of fans.

Spanning Goldsmith's output from the 60's up until 2002, the album is representative of some of the composer's most familiar compositions, including snippets/suites from "Star Trek: the Motion Picture," "Alien," "Under Fire," "Poltergeist," the underrated "Boys from Brazil," the Emmy-winning music to the respective miniseries "QB VIII" and "Masada," as well as "The Omen," Goldsmith's only film score to grab an Oscar.

One of the album's pluses is the inclusion of Goldsmith's unused cues from Ridley Scott's fantasy "Legend," starring Tom Cruise. For most Americans, this is a find because the music was only used in the European version of the film.

The fact that Goldsmith, in addition to others, conducted some of his own creations, adding a dynamic that makes this a truly FIVE-STAR offering.

This is a good overview of some of the music from Jerry Goldsmith's best. However, people have mentioned that music from Patton is missing. I understand there is at least one track from Patton. I am very pleased that Poltergeist was included because that remains one of Jerry's all-time greatest movie soundtracks of all time. Many Goldsmith projects do not compare to the brilliant Poltergeist sequences. There probably should be even more Poltergeist music on this compilation of Goldsmith's work.

Glaringly missing, however, would be Jerry's wonderful score from the movie Coma, an often forgotten 1970s movie starring Genevieve Bujold and Michael Douglas. What is so distressing is that the Coma soundtrack is out of print and has been for many years. In the last 5 years, it was re-released on a double feature type of CD along with Goldsmith's music for Logan's Run. It also, however, has been out of print for some time. The Coma soundtrack was done with strings, piano, percussion and only an occasional wind instrument or synthesizer. No brass instruments were used in this score. It was brilliant at the time it was composed and nothing Jerry has done since quite matches either its uniqueness or its chilling, haunting moodiness. It made that movie truly frightening. Sorry to other reviewers who think I am finding fault, but not having any tracks of this on a Goldsmith anthology is truly a travesty. If it is not included in some kind of anthology, the fact that it is out of print makes it unavailable to people who would otherwise be able to hear this unusual but masterfully composed soundtrack. I would love to hear a rendition of "O.R. 8" or "A Lesson in Anatomy" from Coma in this compilation.

The other disturbing "missing" music in this anthology is, of course, the soundtrack from First Blood, the very first Rambo movie. Rambo 2 and 3 are in this anthology, but those soundtracks were so forgettable compared to his very first Rambo movie, I wondered why they were included at all. Jerry was always good at chase scenes, and First Blood is characterized by lots of running and hunting. Goldsmith brilliantly captures this on his music for First Blood. The music for that movie actually made the movie a lot better than it would have been otherwise. Other than that, this is a great anthology of this composer's work over the years.

I enjoy his music from the movies. Purchased the album to continue listening to the movie background music wherever I go.

There have been so many times when I thoroughly enjoyed the soundtrack of a movie I had gone to seen and checked to see who the composer was, I found the name of Jerry Goldsmith. I remember often thinking that guy could really compose some good music. Therefore, I got excited when I found this music compilation and couldn't wait to order it from Amazon.com. What I got was pretty much what I expected: over 280 minutes of great theme music from the movies and TV, some of which I remembered, but some completely new to me.

In all music from some 53 movies and television series is represented. In some cases, we get a musical suite or two or more selections from a given score but sometimes we must make do with only the main theme music. I would like to have heard more from the award winning or nominated Chinatown, Patton, Basic Instinct and Planet of the Apes (not included in this set) and perhaps less from The Blue Max, In Harm's Way, The Boys from Brazil or Star Trek®: Nemesis suites. Even so, there is plenty of good music. I would say 75 or 80 percent is thoroughly enjoyable and worth listening to again and again.

Highlights for me include stirring suites from The Wind and the Lion, Emmy winning QB VII, Star Trek®: The Motion Picture, Under Fire, The Sum of all Fears and Oscar® winning The Omen, as well as the main theme music from Basic Instinct, Capricorn One, Total Recall, The Waltons and Police Story. After years of wishing for it, I was finally able to add a representative Jerry Goldsmith album to my music library.

An outstanding recording,to be taken back in time ,when being absorbed in the sounds,and strains of strident musicand the softer passages,truly inspiring,melodies to tug at your heart.Great orchestral,performace,the percussion section must have had a ball.