Intrada Soundtrack Forum

October 02, 2001

The Man With The Golden Arm
Composed and Conducted by Elmer Bernstein
Spectrum Music 544 627-2
Total Time = 45:22

A landmark newly reissued from England. THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM was previously available on an early British CD, later as an expensive CD from Japan. Now it's back in the British catalog!

Before going further I wonder out loud. Why only imports, nothing domestic, on such famous American music by such a famous American composer? And in a truly American idiom!!!

Ah, what do major American labels care about good music.

Elmer Bernstein wasn't anybody famous when he started writing movie music in the early fifties. The products of his talent were pretty obscure. You have SATURDAY'S HERO and BOOTS MALONE and SUDDEN FEAR and STORM FEAR. You have sci-fi "classics" like CAT WOMEN OF THE MOON and ROBOT MONSTER. Things elevate some with Fox's 1955 VIEW FROM POMPEY'S HEAD.

Then, by luck or fate, Elmer Bernstein did two movies back-to-back, changing things forever. Both assignments were obtained through less than ordinary means, too. Otto Preminger liked to hire unknown composers and for THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM he picked Elmer Bernstein. Other "greenhorns" doing Preminger movies included Mischa Spoliansky, Duke Ellington, Ernest Gold, Jerry Fielding, Jerry Goldsmith and Hugo Montenegro.

The other major assignment was THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. It came by default. DeMille's composer of choice was Victor Young. When the aging composer became sick a replacement was needed. Again, Elmer Bernstein was in the right place at the right time.

THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM was pretty big stuff in 1955. Drugs, jazz, Preminger's taste for lurid subjects. Frank Sinatra had one of his great roles. The scene where he auditions, drops his drum sticks, tries again, fails. Wow.

But what stays with you after this movie is music. Dramatic music, powerful music. There are riffs for jazz players, for full orchestra. Music that tells a story. Jazz meets the symphony, both are front and center!

There are some great names on this one. Shorty Rogers, of course, played fluegelhorn, led his own band, wrote a lot of band charts. He's prominently featured here as player and jazz arranger. Fred Steiner orchestrated the symphony stuff. Shelley Manne plays drums. The album packaging lists a number of other great players, jazz and symphonic. It's truly an impressive roster. All the more baffling there's no American CD!

Bernstein's vernacular has little precedent. Here's a movie composer writing in essentially American idioms, shunning styles well established in Hollywood. Jazz wasn't really foreground movie music yet. What's more, Bernstein paved the way for subtle orchestral scoring, using players only as dramatically needed. No gushing violins when a solitary flute could say the same thing better. Radical technique at the time!

Drums start the score, trombones and trumpets follow. It's this big band sound that stays with you. How famous is the tune?

Little footnote here. During a break in recording STAR TREK V for Jerry Goldsmith, I heard a percussionist play a familiar riff on his snare. Within seconds, not one but two trombonists joined in with a triplet motif that starts THE MAN WITH A GOLDEN ARM. Right on cue, a trumpet player came in. Everything was spontaneous. That's a famous tune!

The main theme breaks into two distinct pieces. Both feature bass lines using triplet figures in low trombones. Both have a quartet of trumpets wailing above.

Triplets are a big part of this score. They're featured in both jazz group and orchestra. The most striking example comes with an agitated triplet figure that rolls, insists, finally boils over again and again. It's designed to reflect Frankie Machine (Sinatra) and his efforts to get the "forty pound monkey" off his back. He's a heroin addict, a drummer wannabe. He's the man with the golden arm.

Another fascinating element of the score comes with orchestration. The jazz passages screech, the trumpets wail. But there are other colors. Lots of solo passages for cello, flute, clarinet. Within his orchestral fabric Bernstein writes an unusually wide array of solo material. Because several characters remain pathetic Bernstein fashions a lot of lonely, winding ideas. There's a yearning string theme associated with Eleanor Parker, a gentler one for Kim Novak. There are trumpet solos for Frankie.

One magnificent sequence bears singling out. "The Cure". Frankie goes cold turkey. It's shown in grim detail. Bernstein has those agitated triplets. When things get desperate, he incorporates an unusual, striking device. The music starts, stops for a breath, hits again, grabs another breath. Bursts of orchestral fury punctuated by tiny silences. Unison trombones blare, string figures zigzag. Silence. More trombones. More silence. Drums go beserk. The orchestra takes over, culminating in one of the most chilling passages in movie music. French horn rips upwards, tuba punches through. It's a lengthy, incredible blend of image and music. When Bernstein finally allows solo violin to climb out of the despair, you know Frankie Machine has licked it this time.

This score has always been around. Justifiably so. It first came out in mono on Decca records, was issued again as an "electronically enhanced" stereo album, got reissued again and again. Like the earlier Japanese CD this new reissue uses the superior mono tapes over those annoying "enhanced" sonics of the re-issued Decca LP.

The recording, though bright in the high end, always displayed great clarity. Especially detailed are lower piano, woodwind parts. Low end remains punchy, particularly with pizzicato string bass.

Music like this never dates. It's music with power, genuine emotion. When you hit the right note you can catch feelings like this with music in any language

October 09, 2001

Jesus Of Nazareth
Composed and Conducted by Maurice Jarre
National Philharmonic Orchestra
Cinephile CMRCD 278 Total Time = 40:16

The Bible. Jesus. The greatest of all stories to tell. Film makers have tackled the subject since day one. By default, so have film composers. Results are all over the map. Some scores are personal, sensitive, others are epic. Some reflect on specific Roman times, others on universal, contemporary times. Some speak about God, some speak about man.

Maurice Jarre goes for broke.

Big surprise. He uses lots of musicians. Actually, Jarre does surprise. He avoids choir. No voices, no heavenly choir, nothing. His orchestra - the National Philharmonic - is augmented by Kitara, Santur, Shofar. Typical of the composer, there's an Ondes Martenot.

Jarre used the unique, gentle electronic sound of Ondes Martenot in LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, kept the sound close by ever since.

JESUS OF NAZARETH is a lengthy 1977 television project by Franco Zeffirelli. Robert Powell plays Jesus. True to form, various smaller roles are played by really famous people like Laurence Olivier, James Mason, Anne Bancroft, Rod Steiger, Anthony Quinn, others.

Maurice Jarre combines rich, passionate material with unusual colors. His large orchestra shares equal time with an array of soloists. Epic music crosses with intimate music. Locale, drama, inspiration. It's all here.

If there's a central element to Jarre's score it's reverence. Inspiration. Jarre roots his entire score in major keys. Themes, harmonies all emphasize major. The timbre's striking because no matter where Jarre works he has all these major chords near by. Listeners remain lifted, inspired.

His opening music ("Jesus Of Nazareth") presents the primary material. Following several strident opening chords, Jarre offers his main theme. Sort of. It's fascinating because the line is heard only on low strings in unison, without harmony of any kind. Just a lugubrious idea for cellos. A main theme? Major, minor? All unknown at this point.

The tune plays through, gives way to a second subject. Major keys enter, there's a tempo. A new melody soars a bit, brings in upper strings and woodwinds. It's the tune used most, associated with important events throughout the entire story. Here it's an introduction to the reverence in Zeffirelli's story. Of all the ideas, this one's the most liturgical.

It does eventually give way. What follows is really one of Jarre's most memorable ideas. The dark line for low strings heard earlier is back. But dark no more! The tune is identical, but it's been transformed completely by Jarre's pivotal device. Those major chords. There everywhere now! Each note of the melody gets some resounding major chord to illuminate it, brighten it.

"Annunciation" allows some of the unusual colors to unfold. The secondary theme eventually works into the music, becoming a highlight. Here Jarre combines his Ondes Martenot with a choir of low brass. Jarre's combination of color, shifting major chords in low brass, and reverent melody are moving.

A major musical point in the score occurs with "Three Kings". The journey is scored with a variety of solo colors from both ethnic and orchestral instruments. Quotes from the secondary theme enter, disappear. Activities increase until a burst of major chord splendor announces important things are happening.

"Salome" is an ingenious piece. The secondary theme dominates, transforms into wild music for Salome's dance.

Jarre uses his main theme sparingly. It's a powerful line, memorable, only needed at key moments. It comes back in low strings, almost disguised, during "Jairus' Daughter". A haunting use occurs late in "Jerusalem", where woodwinds first play alone, orchestra joins at the end.

"The Crucifixion" becomes the most dramatic part of the score. Serious, built around the main theme, much of it's scored for strings alone. Long lines, sparse harmony, an almost cerebral feel. Yet it does conclude, quietly, in Jarre's requisite major.

Jarre ends the album with "Resurrection". Dramatic music eventually gives way to a reprise of the main theme. Heard in the glorious sound of brass over resounding major chords, Jarre crescendos this theme to strong major key finish.

The score was originally available in two editions on LP. One featured Jarre's music, plus "The Beatitudes" sequence with Jarre's music perfectly blended with the voice of Robert Powell. The other version featured dialog throughout. Happily, it's the music version that has been issued on CD.

That said, two versions of the CD are available. One from Italy features the reading of "The Beatitudes" in Italian. The newer issue on Cinephile restores the Robert Powell reading.

That also said, BOTH versions of the CD feature a strangely edited version of the opening track! Following the big quote of the main theme on the original music LP, the secondary theme returns on woodwinds, drawing the cue to a gentle close. Both CD releases play to that final section, then cut off abruptly no sooner than it begins. Tape damage? Bad mastering? To hear the entire piece one will have to locate the original Pye recording from England.

But everything else is right with the CD. It's an important part of the biblical cycle of movie music. One of the most sincere, the most impressive.

Epic.

October 16, 2001

The Omen - The Deluxe Edition
Composed by Jerry Goldsmith
Conducted by Lionel Newman
National Philharmonic Orchestra
Varese Sarabande 302 066 288 2 Total Time = 49:23 2

Jerry Goldsmith wrote great movie music for nearly twenty years before winning an Academy Award. It took a 1976 horror picture to do the trick.

Horror movies were a staple of the B-movie industry from the beginning. Then ROSEMARY'S BABY happened. This time it was different. This was grade-A stuff. It was sensational. So now movies about Satan were in. There were great ones: THE EXORCIST. There were not great ones: BEYOND THE DOOR. People were possessed, animals were possessed, cars were possessed!

By the mid seventies it was time to pile on gore with the scare.

THE OMEN previewed to select audiences prior to national release. Few people knew what to expect. By the half way point I recall people being glued to the screen. When the decapitation happened people became unglued. This was scary, gory stuff.

People say the heart of Jerry Goldsmith's celebrated score is a beautiful love theme. Music for family, love music, everything that holds husband Gregory Peck and wife Lee Remick together. That's a way to go, I suppose.

But I say it's rhythm. All rhythm, nothing but rhythm. Everything else is secondary. Slow, deliberate rhythm, wild, ferocious rhythm. Rhythm on top of rhythm!

Every album to THE OMEN (including this new one) places the End Credit music at the beginning, the shorter Main Title at the end. Wise decision. Though similar, the longer version provides groundwork for everything, the shorter version a coda.

Chorus and orchestra combine. Goldsmith begins with low notes from both, adds piano on a secondary theme usually associated with aftermaths of scary things, struggles of conscience, so forth. Things slide downward, a bass line takes over. It's the bedrock for THE OMEN music. An unrelenting rhythm, deliberate, throbbing. It's almost entirely built from small intervals of seconds and thirds. Once established Goldsmith ingeniously combines his secondary theme in strings with very basic choral material. What's neat is the melody in chorus unfolds in a complimentary, but different rhythm. Throughout, Goldsmith uses this multiple rhythm idea. It does more than just add another layer. It allows the bass line to remain exposed throughout, a fundamental building block with characteristics of a melody unto itself.

Having played the original album endlessly we all need to shift gears here. It's not the warmth of "The New Ambassador" that follows, but the chills of "On This Night". Previously unreleased, this important music for strings, woodwinds and harp does introduce the love theme. However, it's in disguise. What's made prominent are cold harmonies, sparse scoring for strings. Only near the close does Goldsmith allow his love theme to emerge unscathed. The Thorn's wanted a baby, now they have one.

Robert Thorn (Peck) is "The New Ambassador". To Great Britain, in fact. As the family arrives, walks about, shares their love, Goldsmith gives his one and only full presentation of their theme. From this point on, Goldsmith interestingly focuses on fragments of the melody, other ideas, to carry the human story.

The movie takes little time in getting to the horror. Damien's fifth birthday is marked by terror. His reaction to a frightening dog confirms our notion all is wrong with this kid. Goldsmith goes after the scary parts, creates some of the most frightening music in film history. And the most imitated.

His rhythmic action set pieces are launched with another very important cue, also previously unreleased. As the family drives to an Episcopal church wedding, Damien reacts with horror. So does Goldsmith. Here his chimes and jabbing figures for low strings put things in motion. An ostinato develops between strings, woodwinds in rhythm and piano. Interestingly, Goldsmith reserves chorus for the climactic moment only, when all hell breaks loose. The damage has been done, rhythm has taken over. From this point forward, no matter where Goldsmith goes, throbbing rhythms hang close by. Jabs of chorus, dissonant strings, scary stuff.

Layers of activity are added to the propulsive idea quickly. As Kathy Thorn (Remick) drives Damien through the "Safari Park" monkeys go wild and attack. Naturally, so does chorus and orchestra. This cue is important because it moves the music literally from love theme to chilling horror material in a single three-minute span. In the midst is some fascinating dialog between orchestra and chorus as we see giraffes being spooked by the boy.

"A Doctor Please" opens with the secondary theme on piano, moves to serious string material. The tune trades equal time with sparse, cold harmonies.

Within no time Goldsmith heads back where listeners are wanting. The movie launches another action set piece, "The Killer Storm". By the time Father Brennan races to find shelter, Goldsmith and the storm have joined forces. There's no doubt where things are headed.

The largest set piece unfolds in a cemetery. Big surprise. It involves satanic dogs. Another big surprise.

It involves chorus and orchestra, of course. First low figures in voice and strings alternate with slices of shrill material, spooky glissandi, stuff like that. Revelations in the story occur. Then the dogs come.

Goldsmith signals the danger with a staccato figure for low trombones. In a masterful stroke, singers now enter not with their traditional basic melodic line but voicing instead a variant of the original throbbing bass line. Percussion punctuate. The dogs charge. Goldsmith unleashes his best piece, snarling right along with the dogs from hell. Horns and strings are added to the bass line, off the beat. Rhythm takes over. Add piano, bass trombone. Soon chorus, upper strings add more layers. In a stunning display Goldsmith attacks with what's surely the most terrifying, most "Omen-ish" music in the score!

Varese Sarabande continues an incredible series of expanded soundtracks with this new version of THE OMEN. Like TOTAL RECALL and ALIENS, their restored album comes with new packaging. Notes by producer Robert Townson reveal great understanding of the movie, the music, Goldsmith's methods. Seven previously unreleased cues add depth to the music. It's a project given obvious loving care.

The care pays off. For three fourths of an hour Goldsmith grabs you, snarls, terrifies.

Eventually he lets go.

The scares, however, remain.

October 23, 2001

The Final Conflict - The Deluxe Edition
Composed by Jerry Goldsmith
Conducted by Lionel Newman
National Philharmonic Orchestra
Varese Sarabande 302 066 289 2 Total Time = 62:40

THE OMEN wowed us in 1976. Jerry Goldsmith wrote a dynamite score that got an Oscar. Two years later, DAMIEN: OMEN II came out, chock full of gruesome stuff. More Goldsmith, more action. THE FINAL CONFLICT opened in 1981. Posters called it "The Last Chapter In The Omen Trilogy".

Wow! That got my butt in the seat!

I noticed posters didn't have THE OMEN officially in the title while I stood in line. That may have meant something but I didn't care. I was gonna see plagues, temples destroyed, oceans parted, floods and famine and all sorts of mayhem. Special effects galore! This was post STAR WARS and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS and SUPERMAN and STAR TREK and EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. There was nothing special effects couldn't do.

I should have cared.

The final confrontation, the ultimate combat, THE FINAL CONFLICT! Sam Neill putting up his dukes and shouting "Come out and face me Nazarene". Or something like that. I don't recall.

Not only that, but a decade later they came out with OMEN IV: THE AWAKENING. The fight wasn't over after all!

Since Goldsmith wasn't involved, nor any stars from earlier chapters, I didn't bother to catch the next chapter after the final chapter. Therefore I don't know who wins.

But with THE FINAL CONFLICT as my point of reference, I think Jesus wins.

On to the music. Jerry Goldsmith uses the optimistic conclusion as his own point of reference. Where the first two scores emphasized malevolent happenings, responding with hard, aggressive music for chorus and orchestra, THE FINAL CONFLICT was different. Surprisingly so.

Goldsmith still used chorus and orchestra. But the music was entirely new.

Emphasis was now on inspiration, faith, nothing less than the second coming. In fact, for several key sequences Goldsmith wrote expansive, sweeping choral music.

He had action set pieces to score, of course. But he moved away from ferocious rhythms that carried the first two scores. His foundation is instead a muscular idea working up and down within the limitations of a single octave. When heard it is almost always in unison or in octaves, on instruments in low registers. Since it plays for Damien, Goldsmith writes it in minor.

How Goldsmith tackles the ultimate conflict between good and evil is the heart of his music. Massive chord progressions, often thickly scored, permeate key sequences - "The Second Coming", "The Final Conflict". Ingeniously, Goldsmith builds his progressions from both major and minor chords. Even in climactic cadences he alternates between huge minor and major sonorities. Often he refuses to give one priority over the other. His musical syntax is literally good vs. evil!

Goldsmith is really the whole show.

With no introduction, he starts his score with the muscular Damien theme on unison French horns. The final conflict begins! The tune unfolds over rhythm, complimenting the earlier scores. But gone is any ferocity. Things are now mature, less hurried.

A major set piece is "The Hunt". While Damien's theme plays a role, it's a wild yelping of rapid triplets that keeps everything moving. Orchestral textures are extreme, from quiet oboe and muted trumpet to massive orchestral tuttis.

The finale affords Goldsmith the grandest moment of the score. In fact, it's one of the composer's grandest moments in nearly half a century of work! And it's finally available. Whereas many fans spent hours with the original Varese release many years ago, this new version makes enhancements. Included is the grand finale. "The Final Conflict". All nine minutes of it.

World-premiered is the fatal stabbing of Damien in the courtyard, his subsequent grumbles and challenges to his adversary. Goldsmith looses a barrage of orchestral fury, then reduces the music to a whisper. Included in this premier are crucial string clusters that grow, swell, slowly become a single tone. As horns and tympani emerge from the sound, everyone crescendos. Incredibly, it was AFTER this that the original album began the cue. While the massive choral and orchestral peroration was heard, the profound buildup to it was missing. Goldsmith's own final conflict! Finally available!

On screen Damien witnesses the triumph of God, stares up, then falls. Goldsmith uses the moment to unleash not dissonance but pure, massive chords. Strikingly, he still blends a medley of major and minor sonorities. As they grow he finally turns to the major, gives it prominence. Here, in his most spectacular display, Goldsmith allows French horn and trumpet to proclaim a busy new figure cutting through the wall of major chords. Upon completion, all winds down with a summary of the main Damien theme.

Robert Townson, working with Nick Redman and the complete session master elements, produced a stunning presentation. Literate notes, solid assembly, dynamic sound, new music! Besides the entire finale, this new edition premieres the complex, cerebral string music when Damien presses his hands against the crown of thorns on a statue of Christ.

While there was still another OMEN movie to follow, the story was over.

Jerry Goldsmith gave the final word on it!

October 30, 2001

The Illustrated Man
Composed by Jerry Goldsmith
Conducted by Samuel Matlovsky
Film Score Monthly FSM Vol. 4 No. 14
Total Time = 42:00

More Jerry Goldsmith. This month has produced no less than four Goldsmith albums. Keep 'em coming!

1969. A fertile period that saw stuff like PLANET OF THE APES (1968), THE CHAIRMAN (1969), 100 RIFLES (1969) and THE ILLUSTRATED MAN. Hot on their heels: 1970's PATTON, TORA! TORA! TORA! and THE TRAVELING EXECUTIONER.

Goldsmith has established himself by this point as the most creative voice in movies. Unusual techniques in orchestration, performance mingling with conventional ideas. If Goldsmith wanted to add darker edges to a western like 100 RIFLES he deleted violin, increased viola and cello. If he wanted to color the future with primitive overtones he had conventional instruments use unorthodox playing technique, creating a PLANET OF THE APES. (Of course, the ram's horn helped!) By running trumpets through an echoplex he merged reincarnation with war for PATTON. Muting trumpets and trombones for THE CHAIRMAN gave brass a unique buzz through an array of exotic percussion.

For THE ILLUSTRATED MAN Goldsmith assembled an orchestra minus trumpets and tuba, thickening woodwinds. Interestingly, many unusual colors were added, often in solo fashion, always very sparingly. Wordless female voice, alto recorder, guitar, sitar, mandolin, alto flute, bass flute (both flutes manipulated through an echoplex), plus electronics.

The score utilizes some of Goldsmith's most complex handiwork. While "serial" techniques are liberally drawn from, much interest comes from merging twelve-tone writing with impressionism, chromaticism, even classical ideas.

Very striking is a melding of transparent woodwind, string material with dense glissandi, trills, pizzicato effects. While lines are clear, harmonies are distinct, there's considerable activity rustling about. The effect is unsettling.

Goldsmith opens the score with one of the leanest examples of orchestral scoring ever composed. Female voice (without words) sings a complete statement of the minor-flavored main theme, unaccompanied. At the cadence, solo flute compliments with a bridge. Soon harp enters, gently assisting. When voice restates the theme, solo clarinet adds harmony. Finally oboe takes over with new material. Even when Goldsmith allows the orchestra to grow in size, solo colors abound. High violin, viola, harp, bassoon. It's also interesting how Goldsmith emphasizes open fifths, octaves, other clear ideas in his voicing. Everything's lean, economical, haunting.

Ray Bradbury's short story "The Illustrated Man" becomes a framing device for three additional short stories, filmed by Jack Smight. Rod Steiger, Clair Bloom, Robert Drivas star. Goldsmith neatly follows the general structure of the movie. A challenging atonal (and tonal) score complimented by the haunting main theme frames three additional musical segments. Ingeniously, Goldsmith relates everything with his main melodic idea.

Carl (Rod Steiger) seeks a skin artist named Felicia (Claire Bloom) he encountered many years ago, allowing her to illustrate his body from head to toe. He plans to kill her. He relates his personal horrors to fellow traveler Willie (Robert Drivas). Cues for this opening frame include "Main Title", "The House", "The Illustrations", "The Rose", all highlighted by "Felicia". Throughout, main theme and an abundance of busy effects combine.

"Felicia" follows the initial flashback to 1918, seeing Carl first encounter the signpost, the house, and the "skin illustrations". String trills and celesta begin. Bell tree gently rolls the years back. Under muted French horn and closely-miked bass clarinet, oboe and bassoon intone the theme. Oboe takes over, a secondary line appears, representing Felicia. In an amazingly complex score, this sequence remains the most consonant, pastoral.

Parents, troubled offspring, a realistic African "playroom". Much of "The Veldt" is scored for electronics alone. Through an array of snorts and bleats Goldsmith manages to remain "within bounds" by keeping his theme at hand. During "Quiet Evening" he quotes both main theme and secondary idea (ingenious since father and mother are also played by Steiger and Bloom). Further solidifying his formal structure, Goldsmith keeps open fifth intervals, octaves close at hand.

"The Rocket" is a rich blend of main theme and secondary idea. In further framing details, Carl and Felicia kiss, drawings continue. Goldsmith takes both tunes, now familiar, melds them in an embrace. It's a brief idyll. Felicia's rocket launches another short story.

Little music graces "The Long Rain". The main theme plays in high cello, angular, distinctly harmonized with additional cello parts, divided. Effects for flute (echoplexed) and percussion usher in the rain. Similar devices bring the rain to a close, this time adding a crescendo in the orchestra with a return to the theme in alto flute.

"The Last Night Of The World" is set way in the future. In subtle counterpoint, Goldsmith weaves amongst his atonal effects a setting of his main theme in classical manner, even voicing it in recorder over harp. No longer emphasizing minor, the theme includes a new extension emphasizing major. Bell tree serves as reminder of earlier times.

The framing story returns, draws the movie to a close. Carl finds the house he seeks gone, Felicia nowhere in sight. He quarrels with Willie. Violence erupts.

For this closing segment Goldsmith unleashes a frenzy of orchestral fury, punctuated by effects that include solo trombone, Eb clarinet in the upper register. Concluding his own framework, Goldsmith reduces everything to a brief quote of his main theme in the original guise of female voice.

Film Score Monthly presents the complete score prepared from original stereo elements. Sound quality, stereo imaging remains stunning. As described in meticulous, sometimes profound liner notes, orchestral parts were recorded on multi-track tape, electronic segments were originally recorded on mono 35mm film.

Producers Lukas Kendall and Jeff Bond have skillfully recreated the original film sequencing, including all complex overdubs, crossfades, so forth. Results are flawless.

This is an important release. Goldsmith created one of his richest, most personal scores with THE ILLUSTRATED MAN.

Bravo, Film Score Monthly.

Bravo, Jerry Goldsmith!