Customer Reviews

Missouri Breaks (3 Bonus Tracks On Japan-Only Release)

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The "American Western", a favorite among Hollywood film-makers and the audiences that flock to see them is still going strong. The director Arthur Penn takes a complex story shared with two major film stars Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson - "Missouri Breaks", a comedy mixing moods of chilling shocking violence. Penn who gave us - "The Left-Handed Gun" "Little Big Man", "Tom Horn", "Rancho Deluxe", provides identification with the criminal element - rangy horse thieves and downtrodden heroes. But the whole venture of cattle rustling, bounty-hunter, ranch, hired-gun, conflict, outlaws, tracking is pulled off, not by the director and stars...but by our favorite composer - Mr. John Williams.

Williams was between his Academy Award winning scores "Jaws" and "Star Wars", with "Missouri Breaks" - our composer writes a tuneful often sweeping treatment of the western-canvas - like his scores for "The Reivers" and "The Cowboys".

Of course the highlight - "LOVE THEME (FROM MISSOURI BREAKS)", sketched out by Williams with a gentle melody for solo guitar, chimes, electric harpsichord and harmonica - a bittersweet love song between Jane Braxton (Kathleen Lloyd) and Tom Logan (Jack Nicholson) interweave throughout the score. And the bonus tracks (Film Versions) is like finding a goldmine, your first impluse is to yell - "gold, gold, I just found gold".

Hats off to the people at Rykodisc - Ian Gilchrist (produced), Dr. Toby Mountain (art director/design/remastered), John Norman (original album engineer), Lukas Kendal (production assistant) and to John Williams (composer)...and for all you "film-score-buffs" and "Williams Fans"...this is a crowd-pleaser!

Total Time: 44:21 on 16 Tracks...Rykodisc RCD-10748...(1999)

If you'll see the 1976's Penn film,a bizarre western well acted for Mr. Nicholson and Mr. Brando,you can apreciate all the landscape of themes the old wise master Williams has reunited in his score:a mixture of irony,violence,humoristic relief moments and,in the middle,a nice quiet "leit motiv",the "Love theme",that remains in the memory of the audience for a long time.Available at last this is one of the less known works of the Boston Pops' conductor,but will be a pleascent surprise for his fans indeed.

As a rabid John Williams fan, I can never get enough of his original material. Although this is not one of his most popular scores, it does not disappoint. It reminds me of some of his other scores "The Cowboys", and "The Rare Breed", which, in turn, can remind one of Aaron Copeland's "Americana" style. If you are a fan of John Williams scores for Spielberg, Lucas, Hitchcock, Stone, and countless others, than pick this one up.

As a rabid John Williams fan, I can never get enough of his original material. Although this is not one of his most popular scores, it does not disappoint. It reminds me of some of his other scores "The Cowboys", and "The Rare Breed", which, in turn, can remind one of Aaron Copeland's "Americana" style. If you are a fan of John Williams scores for Spielberg, Lucas, Hitchcock, Stone, and countless others, than pick this one up.