Miracle Mile: Original Soundtrack From The Hemdale Motion Picture [Soundtrack]

Tangerine Dream | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 12, 1989)
• Original Release Date: May 19, 1989
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Private Music
• ASIN: B0000000J5
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #241,220 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Teetering Scales

2. One For The Books

3. After The Call

4. On The Spur Of The Moment

5. All Of A Dither

6. Final Statement

7. In Julie's Eyes

8. Running Out Of Time

9. If It's All Over

10. People In The News

11. Museum Walk

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dynamic percussive flamenco, January 5, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Miracle Mile: Original Soundtrack From The Hemdale Motion Picture (Audio CD)

In 1988, Tangerine Dream substantially slowed down with album releases and soundtracks. That trend was to persist in later years as well - and for a few reasons. First of all, the band was now a duo instead of a trio, and the main force behind soundtrack work was missing from the band. Another reason might be that Edgar Froese finally realized that there is an upper limit of compositional burden anyone can take. Previous years showed clearly that even if Tangerine Dream was to become a machine for output creation, it might just as well break, and as any machine, it does have its friction coefficient, and other limitations of physical nature. Whether or not it was in the remaining members' power to continue, is debatable, and best left for the listener.

The year 1988 brought us only two releases from Tangerine Dream (which is little only if compared to their output in previous years) - a studio album "Optical Race", and a soundtrack, "Miracle Mile". Released for public consumption a year later, the album provides us with some very good music, almost worth comparison with previous efforts from the band. Almost, but not quite. On the one hand the album contains watered-down themes resembling previous work on "Canyon Dreams", "Near Dark" and "Heartbreakers". A derivative work, but worth listening. Perfect examples might be 'One for the Books', 'Running Out of Time' and 'After the Call'. On the other hand, we have some unique and original tracks, which are consistently in the moody percussive rhythmic mode. A pleasure to listen, undoubtedly, but nothing that would set us on our knees. Good representative tracks that set the mood on this album are 'Teetering Scales' and 'All of a Dither'. Musically, these tracks do not contribute to the musical heritage of the band, but nevertheless represent solid, good soundtrack work. Proceeding further, we once again come back to slightly derivative work in 'Final Statement', 'In Julie's Eyes', and 'People in the News'. Good old times, one might say. However, time and again we scratch our heads with a powerful deja vu. Have we heard it somewhere already? This album would earn solid five stars if not for these mixed emotions. The cheesy ending, 'Museum Walk' leaves us a little too hungry as well.

Despite all these mumblings and grumblings, this is a must-have for all those who like solid electronic soundtrack work.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great movie; flawed soundtrack, December 14, 2006

By 

Arne W Flones (Ontario, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Miracle Mile: Original Soundtrack From The Hemdale Motion Picture (Audio CD)

One wouldn't expect a low-budget apocalyptic movie to feature a sound track of this caliber. No worries. This is not just any apocalyptic movie, this is "Miracle Mile", an outstanding exemplar of the genre. Done on a shoe string and filmed within a mile (or two) of LA's Miracle Mile (Wilshire Blvd near the tarpits, the museums, etc.). Never in either director Steve De Jarnatt's or the viewer's eyes, are things that simple. (No spoilers here.) Suffice it to say that this is one flick which needs more exposure for De Jarnatt's and Tangerine Dream's creativity in using their respective minimalistic canvasses to flesh out such a rich story.

Tangerine Dream is one of the big reasons why this film succeeds as well as it does. The last hour of the film runs roughly in real time, with events reaching the inevitable hair-raising climax. Tangerine Dream's music sets the pedal point for both the metaphorical and the very real deadline clock portrayed in the plot. At points the movie is all Tangerine Dream, with the action taking place in the background. But the story inevitably carries through and in the devastating end, there is a melding of the two.

Two quibbles, although one has been addressed by previous reviewers. First, the cuts on the album all fade out at the end. This is an unfortunately side effect of squeezing a 90 minute movie into a somewhat shorter audio CD. Still, having seen the movie multiple times, one misses the bridge music.

The other is a more serious flaw, but is easily fixed. That's the disorder between the cuts. This is explained to make the album sound more musically reasonable when listened to. Unfortunately, the producers neglected to consider who might want to purchase this CD. I want the CD to start with "Museum Walk" like the movie, and to build in tension throughout the album to the end, again like the movie. "Miracle Mile" soundtrack producers have twisted the order all around. It literally ends with the beginning. Wrong. Well, you can always program your player to present the tracks in their proper order, so this is a minor quibble.

Oh, and by the way. This is damned good Tangerine Dream. All the better if you've seen the movie. If you haven't, what are you waiting for?

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars tangerine dreams best soundtrack!, September 23, 2003

By 

Jeremy Boettcher "jeremy b" (ca) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Miracle Mile: Original Soundtrack From The Hemdale Motion Picture (Audio CD)

this has some of the most haunting and beautiful music ever. my favorites are if its all over and on the spur of the moment. if you have not seen the movie see the movie. but the music is excellant!