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REVIEW ARCHIVES: 
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Police Story / The Last Run
Jerry Goldsmith
Prometheus/MCA

Last Tango in Paris
Gato Barbieri
Ryko/MGM

"Main Title (Deserto Di Fuoco"

"100,000 for Ringo"

"Due Ringos Del Texas"

"A Colt in the Fist of the Devil"

"For a Few Dollars More"

Spaghetti Westerns Vol. 1-4 /
The Legendary Italian Westerns
Various Artists / Ennio Morricone
DRG / RCA

Four volumes, seven CDs (three doubles, one single), more than 8.5 hours of music from more than 100 Italian westerns by more than two dozen composers. The Spaghetti Westerns series from DRG is a must have for fans of both the genre and Italian movie music — period.

Volumes one through three lassos music on the General Music (GDM) label, which was founded by several noted composers including Piero Piccioni, Armando Trovaioli, Luis Bacalov and the greatest spag western composer ever Ennio Morricone. Volume four corralls music from Beat Records.

It would be difficult to say which volume is the best, as each offers a wide variety of composers and many outstanding themes.

Too numerous to mention, suffice it to say that the selection of Italian westerns represented in this series ranges from the known (Django, My Name is Nobody, et al) and the fairly unknown (Tequila Joe, The Day of Fire, et al). Moreover, one isn't likely to find full scores for a vast number of these films on CD or original LP — at least not without paying high collector prices. It should be noted that the genre's most influential artist, Morricone of course, is under-represented in this series.

For a sampler of the essential Morricone western soundtracks (like music from the Dollars trilogy) one should pick up The Legendary Italian Westerns, which is volume two of RCA's The Film Composers Series, but frequently misidentified as volume two of The Legendary Italian Westerns.

Legendary is fine CD doesn't try to represent all of Morricone's western scores — there's nothing from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Duck You Sucker (A Fistful of Dynamite), The Big Gundown, My Name is Nobody, or many others — but it's still an impressive selection. Included are themes from two pre-Dollars westerns, Gunfight at Red Sands and Guns Don't Argue. Of the Dollars scores, only Fistful and For a Few are included here. In addition there are tracks from two Ringo films, Seven Guns for the MacGregors, Death Rides a Horse and Once Upon a Time in the West.

Between Legendary and the DRG series, one gets a pretty amazing overview of the spaghetti western genre. Inevitably, they serve as a primer for collecting some of the complete scores, some of which are available on CAM, Beat, Digitmovies and other soundtrack specialty labels.

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La Legge dei Gangsters
Piero Umiliani
Right Tempo/Easy Tempo

Piero Umiliani's La Legge Dei Gangsters is a soundtrack for a crime thriller starring everyone's favorite Euro-freak bad guy Klaus Kinski. It is also a showcase for Umiliani's jazzier side, featuring a few longer tracks where the players really blow. The disc also features a vocal standout on "Gangster's Song" — which also appears on Easy Tempo Vol. 6 — though the singer is sadly uncredited.

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"Prologo" from La Guerra Di Troia (MP3 edit)
"Esibizione e Vittoria Di Enea" from La Leggenda Di Enea (MP3 edit)

La Guerra Di Troia / La Leggenda Di Enea
Giovanni Fusco
Digitmovies

Digitmovies' sixth volume of Italian Peplum soundtracks pairs two scores by the relatively unknown Giovanni Fusco: La Guerra Di Troia (aka The Trojan Horse, '61) and La Leggenda Di Enea (aka The Avenger or War of the Trojans, '62).

"Peplum" or sword-and-sandal movies were fashionable in the late '50s and early '60s. They often starred Steve Reeves, who is best known for his Hercules movies, several of which are represented in this CD series. Indeed, Reeves stars in both of these "Trojan" epics.

Just like Reeves' characters, these Peblum scores are heroic, virile and rooted in classical tradition. They are reverberant with vibrant brass fanfares, sensual harp, mysterious woodwinds, and thundering percussion evocative of an age of antiquity.

Melodically, The Trojan Horse is stronger stuff and more identifiable than The Avenger. Heralding brass, pounding percussion and heavenly choir support a spare melody that practically sings "Behold — An Epic for the Ages."

What more could you possibly want from an Italian Peplum score? Ponderous moods befitting royal intrigue and treachery? Got 'em. Delicate passages for star-crossed lovers? Ditto. Music for pagan rites? Are you kidding me? It's all here. So, break out your breastplate and helmet. Here's your soundtrack — make that two of them!

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"Lialeh" (MP3 edit)

Lialeh
Bernard "Pretty" Purdie
Light in the Attic

The first ever black porno movie, Lialeh ('74) features a soulful score by legendary funky drummer, Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, and arranger Horace Ott. The movie itself is trash, though it does feature a on-screen musical performance (most likely a lip sync) by Purdie and company.

Aside from some laughably suggestive lyrics ("I'm all pink on the inside and all black on the outside") there aren't the usual porno movie elements here -- no moaning female vocal, no raunchy dialogue. The music, which is mostly funky and soulful with an occasional gospel infusion, is solid, but not Superfly by a long shot.

Historically, Lialeh is luridly interesting, but as a listening experience it is only mildly satisfying.

Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers
Epic

Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers is one of the classic hard bop groups of the mid 20th century. Driven by the awesome power of Blakey's drumming and accentuated by a who's who of jazz legends, the Jazz Messengers cut its share of classic sides (e.g. "Moanin'," "Blues March," etc.)

On Les Liaisons Dangereuses, the splashy modern French film production of the 18th-century satirical novel, Blakey and company (featuring Barney Wilen on sax) provide a sometimes sultry but often times hard driving jazz vibe to the proceedings. While titles like "Miguel's Party" and "Weehawken Mad Pad" may offer enticement to hipsters hoping to add savoir faire to their party mix, it's really an all or nothing deal -- you either like small group jazz of the '50s or you don't. If you do, you're in luck. A solid set.

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"Main Title"

"Interior Alien Craft"

Lifeforce
Henry Mancini/Michael Kamen
BSX Records

Soundtrack fans who know Henry Mancini by his lounge jazz scores for '60s romantic comedies like Breakfast at Tiffany's and Two for the Road or his crime jazz scores for Peter Gunn and The Pink Panther are likely to be surprised by his work on Tobe Hooper's Lifeforce (aka The Space Vampires, '85). In fact, they'll probably be baffled that Mancini was hired to score a sci-fi horror movie, period. The fact is Mancini's movie career began in the '50s at the Universal Music Dept. where he helped score such creature features as It Came from Outer Space ('53) and The Creature from the Black Lagoon ('54). By working on Lifeforce Mancini was simply revisiting familiar territory for a bigger budget b-picture.

Mancini delivered a dramatic orchestral score of symphonic complexity with electronic and choral accents. The main theme is memorable, riveting and propulsive with vigorous strings accompanied by heroic brass. Another highlight is "The Discovery" suite, which plays out like a classical tone poem over 16 minutes. Close your eyes while listening to this track and you can picture the images that accompanied it.

Sadly, what you hear on this fine disc wasn't heard the same way in the film, because MGM butchered it by cutting the movie by more than 20 minutes, which forced awkward edits in Mancini's score. The studio brought in composer Michael Kamen and sound mixer James Guthrie to provide additional music to make the film scarier and to produce electronic atmospherics that were laid over Mancini's music to disguise abrupt cuts. To his credit Kamen's music for the film is truly strange and disconcerting, with weird synth sounds and warped "wow" textures.

MGM has since released a restored edit of the film on DVD, and BSX's 2CD limited edition soundtrack(s) reissue performs a similar service. The first disc contains Mancini's complete original score and the second disc features Kamen's additional music as well as Mancini's original soundtrack album. The booklet provides the behind-the-scenes story with a generous selection of movie stills. BSX has done a thorough job of reviving Lifeforce, which is a must have for sci-fi and horror soundtrack fans.

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"The Killer"

The Liquidator
Lalo Schifrin
Film Score Monthly

Lalo Schifrin was just becoming a name in Hollywood scoring circles when he was sent to London on a mission: Score The Liquidator. The 1966 spy spoof, starring Rod Taylor as a reluctant assassin slash playboy spy, already had been filmed in '64/'65, but needed a score quickly to take advantage of the spy movie craze.

According to the excellent liner notes (based in part on an interview with Schifrin), the composer decided to steer clear of penning a Barry-esque Bond score in favor of something jazzier, but still with dramatic, action-packed sequences.

The original LP soundtrack has been a collectors' item for many years, but like so many soundtrack LPs of the '60s it favors pop-oriented source cues instead of orchestral score. Essentially, the LP features the main theme (sung by the inimitable Shirley Bassey), some night club lounge numbers and a couple of groovy action cues (like "The Killer"). Owners of the original LP release will be delighted to know that FSM's CD of The Liquidator restores the chronological score as it is heard in the film, effectively doubling the number of cues featured on the LP to include extended sequences where Schifrin's well known action scoring prowess is on full display.

Personally, I find Schifrin's lounge jazz source cues to be competant and classy but the least interesting tracks in any of his soundtracks. So, it's refreshing to finally hear the truly cinematic bits in their rightful place on the CD premiere of The Liquidator.

While the CD's producer and engineer team faced challenges in securing master recordings to put all of the pieces in place, collectors can be assured that even when tracks had to be taken from second generation sources the outcome is still up to FSM's usual high standards.

The Liquidator CD is a must have for Schifrin and spy soundtrack fans alike.

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A Man and a Woman/Live for Life
Francis Lai
United Artists

"The Rain"

"The Dome"

The Illustrated Man / Logan's Run
Jerry Goldsmith
Film Score Monthly

When one thinks of Jerry Goldsmith's sci-fi soundtracks the ones that spring to mind are undoubtedly Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Alien — two high profile projects. But let's not forget Logan's Run ('76) and The Illustrated Man ('69).

The Illustrated Man, which is based on a Ray Bradbury novel and stars Rod Steiger, was considered an interesting failure upon release. Undoubtedly, the score is the interesting part. Even Bradbury thought it outshined the film. Because the film is episodic, the score shows some stylistic range. At times it is melancholy and lyrical, and at other times it is sterile and electronic. It goes from tunefully impressionistic ("Main Title") to chillingly atonal ("Angry Child"). Goldsmith excels at atonality being a self-described serial composer. But his themes aren't so much austere as they are formal, and frequently haunting. The electronic bits are often subtle (like the use of an echoplex on woodwinds), but on tracks like "21st Century House" the electronics branch out to constitute most of the sound. In fact, his use of electronics anticipates his score for...

Logan's Run, which is a classic dystopian sci-fi film that was quickly forgotten when Star Wars arrived in theaters a year later. Set in a far-off future of domed cities, holographic entertainments and sex without love, it's a chilling morality tale with disco-era fashions and feathered hair. Goldsmith's score is among the most electronic scores to accompany a major movie of that era. For scenes inside The City, Goldsmith employs synths that gurgle, squeak and whoosh with atonal abandon. Elsewhere, particularly for scenes outside of the city, Goldsmith uses acoustic orchestration (strings, piano, woodwinds) to represent the natural world. The love theme and "The Monument" are a warm examples of sweet tonality in a score dominated by dissonant, brilliantly executed sounds. It's worth noting that FSM's expanded, chronologically sequenced remaster of Logan's Run outshines the previous reissues by Bay Cities and Chapter III Classics.

Again, FSM continues to deliver the complete package with extensive liner notes, excellent sound quality and full color illustrations.

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Logan's Run (Television)
Laurance Rosanthal and others
Film Score Monthly

Lolita
Nelson Riddle
Rhino

Rhino's reissue of the soundtrack for Stanley Kubrick's Lolita is a mixed affair. One gets Bob Harris' lush theme, Nelson Riddle's various cues ("Ramsdale (Arrival in Town)"), pop ambrosia ("Lolita Ya-Ya"), full on swing ("Quilty's Caper") and delirious dialogue ("Quilty as Charged"). The liner notes are extensive and well-illustrated with film stills and paparazzi photos from the theatrical opening (including one with JFK standing next to Peter Sellers and "an unidentified man" who is in actuality Don Ameche). Musically, Riddle's score tends toward lackluster (and in truth, it isn't very "groovy"), but the dialogue tracks make the package worthwhile, amply displaying author and screenwriter Vladimir Nabokov's dry wit.

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Loot
Keith Mansfield and Richard Willing Denton
RPM

"Main Titles - Toby Dammit"

LSD Roma
Nino Rota
El Records

Nino Rota is to Federico Fellini what Ennio Morricone is to Sergio Leone, or Bernard Herrmann to Alfred Hitchcock. To hear a Rota soundtrack is to immediately visualize Fellini's quirky characters and outrageous set pieces. In other words, Rota is the sound of Fellini's Italy.

That said, the title of this interesting and mostly Fellini-oriented Rota compilation is misleading. LSD Roma suggests an amalgam of psychedelia and classic Italy, but if you're having difficulty imaging psychedelic music by Nino Rota you can be forgiven. It appears that the title was more inspired by two of the films represented here rather than the music itself, which is stylistically similar to Rota's better known work (La Dolce Vita, 8 1/2, etc.)

Much of the program comes from a short Fellini film Toby Dammit from the '68 anthology feature called Spirits of the Dead. The short stars Terence Stamp as a washed-up English actor in Rome with a head full of acid to play the lead in a Vatican-financed spaghetti western about Christ. Oh yeah, he also must face the devil. Trippy, huh? Well, the score isn't particularly trippy, or rather is no trippier than any other Rota score. It's jaunty, energetic, delicate, care-free and comical. Rota lays down his trademark precise arpeggios punctuated by staccato exclamation points. Rota music often sounds like you're taking a ride on a carousel where there are little honking cars instead of horses — and Toby Dammit is no exception.

The second featured score belongs to Fellini Roma ('72), one of the director's relatively plotless films. Rota's music manages to capture the ancient city, its daily rhythms, its showy inhabitants, but this is even further removed from notions of psychedelia.

Also included are a couple of jazzy tracks from Eduardo De Filippo's crime comedy Shout Loud, Louder... I Don't Understand ('66) and a couple of ornate orchestral numbers for Lina Wertmuller's drama Love & Anarchy ('73).

So, if you can get past the title, or rather the expectation created by such a title, you may find yourself enjoying this mischievous collection of one of Italy's greats.

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"Part V" (MP3 edit)

Lucifer Rising
Bobby Beausoleil
Arcanum

Listen to Bobby Beausoleil's soundtrack for Kenneth Anger's legendary cult classic, Lucifer Rising, and you're likely to think it's little more than an intriguing bit of space rock. On the other hand, read the extensive liner notes for this 2CD soundtrack reissue and you're certain to think it's absolutely fascinating.

Consider for one that it was recorded in prison by Beausoleil's group the Freedom Orchestra (nice bit of irony there). Consider also that Anger fired Aleister Crowley aficionado and Led Zeppelin ringmaster Jimmy Page as the musical contributor for Lucifer Rising when the filmmaker first heard Beausoleil's creation.

Disc one of the set is the 43-minute soundtrack, which is stately, spacey and hypnotic. Disc two contains earlier incarnations of Beausoleil's music as played by his pre-prison bands, The Orkustra and The Magick Powerhouse of Oz, during the late '60s. It also includes a soundtrack session performed before an inmate audience at Tracy Prison in 1977 and '78.

The Lucifer Rising soundtrack originally received a very limited run on LP, so this reissue is most welcome. It's one of the most fascinating reissues of 2004.

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Luna Di Miele In Tre
Armando Trovaioli
CAM