Soundtrack from Thirtysomething (1987-1991 Television Series) [Soundtrack]

W.G. Snuffy Walden | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 18, 1991)
• Original Release Date: June 18, 1991
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Geffen Records
• ASIN: B000000OSD
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #78,652 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Main Title (Extended Version)

2. Begging For Sex, Part 2

3. Michael And Hope's New Baby

4. Another Country (Nancy's Illness)

5. Post Op

6. It Must Be Love - Rickie Lee Jones

7. Nancy And Elliot Take A Train

8. Michael's Dilemma

9. Elyn's Wedding

10. Come Rain Or Come Shine - Ray Charles

11. Life Class (Nancy's Museum Fantasy)

12. Second Look

13. Hot Butter (Miles Comes To Dinner)

14. Melissa And Men

15. The Go Between

16. Gary's Funeral

17. The Water Is Wide - Karla Bonoff

18. Main Title (Air Version)

Editorial Reviews

Rare sountrack. A must have for every Thirtysomething fan!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Slain! ... And I didn't even watch the show!, March 27, 2000

By 

R. Langdon "Scriptor" (Four Oaks, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Soundtrack from Thirtysomething (1987-1991 Television Series) (Audio CD)

What a great collection of music! I didn't even watch the show and could not tell you about even one episode; however, the music here is some of the best in the acoustic instrumental genre I've heard lately.

Reading some of the other reviews I saw words like "emotional" and "powerful" etc. I can vouch for the fact that the music alone can convey this emotion and depth of feeling even without knowing the scenes and stories it was set to originally. Also, I'm about 10 years behind in discovering this CD but it sure sounds timeless and definitely not dated to me.

W.G. Snuffy Walden is a very talented musician indeed. He is not only a good player, but he has such a feel and a passion for his instrument.

I heard from Windham Hill that Walden is due out with a solo effort in June 2000. I will definitely be looking for it to add to my collection.

For someone like me who does not normally go for soundtracks, I'd have to say that this one is a winner. It bears up under repeated listens and has as much to give in emotion and mood as it does in sheer musical quality.

If you like acoustic instrumental music ... really good acoustic instrumental music ... if you like to be moved and not just entertained ... then THIS ONE IS A MUST! ...

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars w.g. snuff walden's exquistie work for thirtysomething, November 13, 2002

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Soundtrack from Thirtysomething (1987-1991 Television Series) (Audio CD)

The episode was entitled "second look."

It had been one year since we learned Nancy had cancer and the doctors were going back in to make sure they had gotten it all. While Nancy was under the knife everybody else was trying to keep it together, but this proved impossible for Elliot, who had broken down in the men's room begging God not to take his wife, saying that he would do anything, give anything. Throughout this riveting scene, the music by w.g. snuffy walden provided a perfect musical counterpart to not only the specific action on the screen by the growing tension of waiting to find out what the news was going to be from the doctors. A simple piano theme that takes on an agitated complexity as it repeats and is repeated by other instruments, with the strings sweeping in and out of the theme. Then the theme becomes inverted before returning to a richer, deeper interpretation of the original.

If you saw that episode I would be willing to be you never forgot the music and that if you were blindfolded and listening to the tracks on this soundtrack album you would recognize this one immediately. It was a stunning bit of musical accompaniment and in the history of television. We can all name instrumental television themes we loved (e.g., ""), and recall songs that were used to great effect (e.g., "Sarah McLachlan's "Full of Grace" for "Becoming, Part II" on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"), but how many instrumental pieces stand out in your mind? "Laura Palmer's Theme" and "Dance of the Dream Man" by Angelo Badalamenti for "Twin Peaks" would probably be it, which is not a bad short list for walden to be on. My own real complaint about this album is that the mood of "second look" is quickly shattered by the jazzy riffs of "hot butter (miles comes to dinner)". Walden remains the one composer whose name I recognize and pay attention to when it pops up on "West Wing," "Once and Again," "Angel," "My So Called Life," "The Wonder Years," et al. It is not at all surprising that producers like Zwick & Herkowitz, once working with walden, keep employing him at each and every opportunity. Not bad for a guy who was one of the Squiggytones on "Laverne & Shirley," eh?

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Almost 20 years later...., April 2, 2004

By 

Alexandrea Musson "ChaiLatte2go" (Wyckoff, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Soundtrack from Thirtysomething (1987-1991 Television Series) (Audio CD)

Even the characters that I didn't care for at first: Elliot, Gary and Ellen, grew and changed over those 4 years and I wept with joy at Ellen's wedding, wept with sadness at Gary's untimely death and watched with pride as Nancy grew stronger, first through the separation, then in her own skin and finally battling cancer. Yes, even Elliot stepped up to the plate.

And then all in an instant, it was gone. Guess that's why I bought the CD back then, because, just as other reviewer's have said, the tracks will bring you right back to the episode.

My personal favorite track is "The Water is Wide".