Intrada Soundtrack Forum

12/3/08

I speak today in frustration at a new CD. The target of my wrath is 24: REDEMPTION. I try not to be overtly critical of stuff. It's just not my nature in general. If I don't like an album I file it away and move on. But not this time. My explanation follows.

I watched the show on DVD last night. I'm a big fan of the series but I've never been big on the music. They use a lot of it and it services the action well enough but it's just not my chocolate. For military & government action like this give me Goldsmith, give me Horner, give me Broughton, give me someone who sounds like any of those guys, whatever. Just not wall-to-wall electronics. So be it.

So back to REDEMPTION. I realize people who watched the broadcast didn't get to enjoy this but the "End Credits" are played as a typical crawl at the close of the DVD. The score up to this point has been what Sean Callery always does which is just what I've mentioned above. Service the action.

So the credits are rolling for a few minutes and we have the best cue of the entire series so far! A terrific take on the main theme with an upper brass extension that's never been used before. After six seasons of the show, we finally get a full-bore rendition of the theme! Snippets of it have been playing for years but never like this.

Ironically, the theme is really quoted in disguise just once during REDEMPTION - which was a bit disappointing but probably had to do with scoring decisions, appropriateness and so forth. But the credits roll and I finally get a piece of music from the show that grabbed me and made me want to hear it again. After many years, it finally happened.

So, though I'm way behind on playing new releases and tossing capsules up on our site, I ripped the shrink-wrap off this one first thing this morning and played it with anticipation... and anxiety. Nothing on the track list suggested the credit music would be there but of course it would. Why on earth would anyone release this soundtrack and not have the theme?

But someone did exactly that!

So the entire 55-minute album plays with the trademark serviceable stuff and then just peters out. Literally. No end credits! No theme!

I can't claim to know why this omission was made, of course. Since I don't play the previous albums from the series I'm not familiar enough with them to know if this piece is simply drawn from an earlier album. Feel free to email me with a heads up if this is the case and I'll be tickled! Otherwise, as a listener I can sure make this claim... I was robbed!

12/5/08

Who says manufacturing is down in America? New CDs are everywhere! Anyway, we're doing our part to help make December a crowded month. Already in stock are the John Williams scores for HOW TO STEAL A MILLION and BACHELOR FLAT as well as the (now sold out) KILLER ELITE. Also arriving early is our 9 TO 5, which just started shipping. And coming up for Tuesday, December 16 are at least three more limited CDs as well as our pending soundtrack for THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX. Whew!

With the Christmas holidays fast approaching and new releases up the wazoo coming in from every label... the hamsters in our mailroom are pleading for mercy. So please be patient while they process your orders as fast as they can.

In fact, several new releases won't even be in stock until very close to Christmas. And Jeff reminds me there are no spare sleighs or reindeer around here... just a bunch of hamsters getting plenty of exercise!

12/13/08

If you've got any money left after gift buying and other stuff for the holidays, we'll keep you busy next week with new CDs worth considering. Maybe you can even put 'em on your own gift lists!

We've got new Intrada CDs both limited and not arriving for Tuesday the 16th. Two Signature Editions appear, each having 1000 copies to go around. The Latin-flavored one with absolutely gorgeous cello solos over guitar comes highly recommended. (The picture may not be a headliner but the composer sure is.) The other Signature title spells horror of the scariest kind.

We've also got a new Special Collection title to offer: Volume 86, with 3000 copies to spread around. This one's been asked for ever since the movie appeared in the eighties. After some twenty years or so, it's finally available for the first time ever. All of it, from the long and frightening set-pieces down to the smallest composer-written source cues. Everything.

And our CD for THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX arrives just in time for you to enjoy the score before the Christmas day opening of Universal's animated feature in theaters. We've got sound samples up now so you can hear a few moments of what William Ross has to offer. It's impressive.

12/24/08

Today is the eve of what many celebrate as Christmas. For others, it's less about meaning than tradition. For still others, it's just a time for long lines, traffic jams and holiday music. But for just about everyone, it's a beautiful time - with bright lights, green trees and festive decorations everywhere.

In my family, it's a meld of religion and tradition, Catholicism and agnosticism. Mary Ann keeps it meaningful, I play all the music. Our two girls look forward to giving and receiving... mostly receiving. What a surprise.

Disneyland's on our route this year. Yep. Long lines, traffic jams and holiday music everywhere - but it'll all be warm and fuzzy with pretty light displays and decorations everywhere.

Jeff's family will be spending the holidays in San Francisco with relatives. George will stay here in the Oakland hills while Roger will be traveling far away from them. Joe and his boys will be monkeying with new cameras and computers, leaving just Wendy and Steve to make sure the mail won't pile up too much. And everyone will be back in their seats by Friday, January the 2nd.

Of a whole new year.

Soundtracks will continue to reign - and rain - supreme. There are more titles now to choose from than ever before. Thanks to the "historic rates" policy with the AFM and major film studios letting their property collect revenue rather than dust, us movie music fans are in great shape. Sure - we won't always admit it - but we're really lucky people. What we're getting on CD, what's coming up ahead... it's a great time to love this stuff.

You'll be getting things in 2009 that you never imagined possible. But remember us as the guys who brought you definitive CDs for ALIEN and THE WIND AND THE LION and THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL and BABY and SILVERADO and TOMBSTONE and AMAZING STORIES and RAMBO III and good stuff by John Barry and John Williams and Jerry Fielding and Hugo Friedhofer and Alfred Newman and Alex North and Elmer Bernstein and Maurice Jarre and Georges Delerue and Ennio Morricone and Henry Mancini and whoever... and keep on imagining.

May these last few days of 2008 bring you joy and peace and meaning and merriment!