Customer Reviews

Watch The Skies

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Here is the perfect example of a great cd being buried in the dust bins. I was looking for the MEN IN BLACK theme and a friend suggested this to me. After looking at all my retail stores, I found it here on AMAZON. This album is FABULOUS! I wish I had known when it was released. It's got all kinds of cool stuff from long ago and today's films. If you're a collector, you've GOT to buy this. Too bad it's so well hidden, not showing up under the titles or composer names during searches on the website.

Now, I have to admit, I'm not exactly a fan of compilation albums, since most provide inconsistency between tracks, more often than not with sub-par performances and recording quality. However, Sonic Images releases a surprise under the title of "Watch The Skies"... Ranging from the classics of Benny Hermann's The Day The Earth Stood Still and Denny Zeitlin's Invasion Of The Body Snatchers to the more modern Roswell from Elliot Goldenthal and Independence Day by David Arnold. As a self professed Alien(s) junkie, my favorite piece overall would be the previously unreleased "Aliens - The Ride" [Richard Band]...It's nicely followed by Jerry Goldsmith's "End Titles" from Alien...The next few tracks of note come from veteran composer, John Beal, who's mostly known for his work writing exciting pieces for movie trailers. My first reaction to the two pieces he performs on this album, the main titles to Men In Black and Predator, was along Jack Nicholson's line in Batman: "Where does he get such wonderful toys?" I'd have to say that not only is John's performance of the pieces close to dead on accurate to the originals, but being totally synthesized, has me in serious envy of what is probably the best sample library in Hollywood, and most likely, the world... My next pick on this bountiful album for noticeable and generally cool pieces would be Contact, performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra....The final piece to highlight on the album is, remarkably enough, They Live, a collaboration between director-composer John Carpenter and Alan Howarth...

This is a good compilation album by Sonic Images, and hopefully won't be over looked by the casual listener or even die hard fan. They'd be missing a real gem."

That title pretty much sums up why this is one of the dopest cd's I've found hidden in the depths of my music store. John Beal plays MEN IN BLACK better than the original! who is this guy? I found him on The Snow Files and The John Beal Trailer Project and Heart of the Ocean. He's everywhere, but I've never heard of him anyplace but on these records.

Sonic Images have found their very own niche in the compilation album genre. Carefully chosen re-recordings... are mixed with music from original scores previously unavailable on CD. To this, the remarkable John Beal adds a couple of cover versions. The result is an album which puts the whole of the listening experience in the first place. WATCH THE SKIES has a very enjoyable structure and is very listenable from beginning to end....Two of the tracks on the album are electronic cover versions of originally symphonic scores. That concept can make anyone shiver running out for new earplugs, but hold your horses. The man responsible for these recordings is John Beal, who once again has done a simply flabbergasting job. He did a couple of tracks on the Horner compilation as well (COMMANDO and VIBES) and they came very close to the originals. The two cover versions he has contributed on WATCH THE SKIES are the main titles from Danny Elfman's MEN IN BLACK and Alan Silvestri's PREDATOR. Now, you can hear that these recordings are not acoustic if you listen closely, but when the MEN IN BLACK cue is up and running after its chaotic introduction the sound is as close to an orchestra you can come without having one. I don't know how this guy does it. It just sounds absolutely great. It probably has to do with John Beal being very sensitive when it comes to the nuances of the original compositions. And the "Beal Electrosymphonic Orchestra" is equally impressive in the PREDATOR cue. You can hear that the strings are synthetic, especially when they are in "tremolo mode", but the brass and percussive sounds frighteningly authentic. in fact, it's lots of fun to listen to these electronic versions and I am just amazed to hear what is possible to do with samplers, synthesizers, sequencers and stuff like that these days. WATCH THE SKIES is a good sci-fi compilation album. I appreciate the inclusion of previously unavailable material, the inclusion of alternative versions of familiar themes, and I sincerely appreciate John Beal's rousing cover versions.

"I paid particular attention to John Beal's performances of MEN IN BLACK and PREDATOR... I was a little skeptical at first thinking that these tracks might not sound right because I assumed that they were going to be played entirely on synthesizers. I listened to the tracks and was blown away. I thought that these were the best orchestral recreations on synth's I had ever heard.... I'm still amazed as I listen to those tracks right now. OUTSTANDING."

Thank you to whoever came up with the idea of putting this release out. Every cue is well recorded, interesting and a true collector's item. My own favorites are the classics, but there is a wonderfully fun track called Men In Black which is by Danny Elfman and performed by someone named John Beal. Doing some checking, I find Beal appears on a number of albums of film music. THANKS AGAIN to the producers of this album.

I bought this "Watch The Skies" album years ago for a few pennies and it still turns up in my listening from time to time. There are some selections here that you can't find anywhere else. Chief among them is the hauntingly beautiful music to the science fiction film "Species" from 1995. The composer is Christopher Young, who is a notable specialist in genre scores. Species is some of his best work. This is a mysterious theme mixing the tingling sounds of percussion instruments with an ethereal wordless chorus for 8 minutes in a prime minimalistic conception.

Among other things you won't find anywhere else... "Aliens The Ride", composed exclusively for a theme park attraction. The "Predator" theme can be found on a very rare score released by Varese Sarabande but here on this CD, you get the theme played by electronics capable of simulating a full orchestra. Chris Franke's music for "Tommyknockers" is also electronic and chiefly atmospheric. The most spectacular selection is the final track, the end credits music to "Independence Day" by David Arnold, a British composer who does a knock-out job of creating a very American sounding heroic score. The 9 minute track summarizes all the major themes of the movie with the chorus coming in at the end in truly over the top fashion. This is not the same performance as that on the official soundtrack. This selection as well as many others is played by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. If you can grab this CD for real cheap, it's a great purchase as far as compilations go. I'm not a fan of compilation albums in general however there were several never before released items here that captured my attention.

...as long as you get this CD. I ordered this because I saw it had Roswell by Elliot Goldenthal, but all the tracks have a mellifluous alien creepiness, and harmonize well. Play it outside when you have good seeing.