Customer Reviews

A Knight's Tale (Original Motion Picture Score)

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

 

 

A talent to be reckoned with ~ Carter Burwell...who has in such a short time given filmgoers a trip and a half through his music...reaching down in his big black bag on past achievements ~ "Raising Arizona" (1987), "Miller's Crossing" (1990), "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1992), "Rob Roy" (1995), "Fargo" (1996), "Conspiracy theory" (1997), "The Big Lebowski" (1998), "Being John Malkovich" (1999), "The Corruptor" (1999), "The Generals Daughter" (1999), "Book Of Shadows:Blair Witch 2" (2000), "Hamlet" (2000), "O Brother Where Art Thou" (2000)...I only mention a few from his over fifty scores composed since 1984.

There are stand outs ~ "ST. VITUS' DANCE (SMITHY MIX)", "ST. VITUS' DANCE (GROG MIX), "THE SHOWDOWN", bringing all the counterpoints and themes together, blending each with particular care...but the highlight has to be ~ "TO RUN OR NOT TO RUN", beautiful beyond all doubt, strings open with muted brass and the theme comes through like a ray of sunshine entering a group of trees, thundering percussion abounds giving each measure strength to behold, one of the best compositions I've heard from this composer who is rising to his place in the stars.

Entire album is a must have for any "film-score-buff", don't pass this up...you'll be missing an important part in the career of the composer extradinor' ~ CARTER BURWELL!

Total Time: 43:20 on 15 Tracks ~ Sony Music Soundtrax/Columbia CK-85947 ~ (2001)

After leaving this movie most people had the classic rock songs running through their heads. In particular Queen's timeless anthem "We Will Rock You."

I own and enjoy the song compilation soundtrack to this movie. The only problem I see with the approach they took for this movie is a lot of movies are going to try the same thing, when they shouldn't. The fruits of battle. Very similar to the Matrix. The action sequences were phenominal. But, people tried to ride the coat tails.

With such a good song compilation cd this score will unfortunately go unnoticed by many. Carter Burwell, (a master of scoring) penned a superb score that brings out the emotions of the scenes perfectly. It's much like Mark Mancina's score to Tarzan. It fulfills it's purpose.

Adding to the problem of recognition to this cd is it's late release time. But hey, I'm just glad it got released. A lot of Burwell's masterpieces have left on the rack. Mystery Alaska for example.

To sum up. Great album. A must own for all true score fans.

Mhalky Chris

A knight's tale is one of the best movies ever made in history. It has everything from action to comedy to romance, all which I love in a movie. The soundtrack lives up to the movie. This is one of the best soundtracks ever composed. All the songs on here are excellently performed. My favorite song would be Track #7- To run or not to run. Excellent emotional song, good love theme also. I recommend to soundtrack to all soundtrack collectors. Do not pass this one by, for this soundtrack is already hard to come bye, so if you seen the movies and loved the score get the soundtrack, i guarantee you will not be disappointed.

Carter Burwell, who provided the score for A Knight's Tale, had to come up with music that would carry the film through. After all, it is the score, not the rock music that is the heart and soul of a movie. With that in mind, he succeeds. The music is heroic and romantic with lots of great sounds in it. "Nemesis" kicks things off with dramatic, medieval music, which leads to an adventurous section with plenty of horns and driving percussion. "Cooked Patents" contains an electric guitar mixed with traditional instruments from medieval times. "A Lance Without Target" is another thrilling adventure track with the same music that existed in "Nemesis." "St. Vitus' Dance" is utilized in 2 different tracks with different mixes. The Smithy mix is much better than the Grog mix. The best theme in the score is the love theme, which is a mainly string oriented 10 note motif that is the heart and soul of the film. The best tracks that showcase this outstanding theme are "To Run Or Not To Run" and the best track, "Showdown", which reprises all the other themes into one almost 7 minute track. An added bonus to this score is dialogue from the film from Chaucer, played by Paul Bettany found in the last track, after the music dies down. The director of the film, Brian Helgeland, describes the music in this way: "Carter's music has got sixth sense. It goes a level deeper than it's supposed to. It doesn't play the emotion of the character, the emotion of the moment. It plays the psyche, the consciousness of the character. Carter's music psychoanalyzes the moment. But in our hearts as well as our heads." I couldn't have said it any better.

As I enjoyed the movie, I to some extent enjoyed the score. I preferred the soundtrack much better, but thought this cd was of equal quality, just not in my personal opinion. I believe that the score was well set up to follow the plots in the motion picture. I would recommend this for anyone who enjoys easy listening that is also exciting and partially up-beat.

If you are checking for a wonderfull soundtract you must get this. I listen this and it was so great that i'm listennung this songs alll day in the car, in my house, in school, even in the bathroom! You must have this cd at your own home. 5 stars!

This is such a fun CD. Mixes, jigs, electric guitar, choirs--what more could you ask for? Oh, and fanfares, of course.