Intrada Soundtrack Forum

Hello...

Any chance to release this little known score by Richard Band (orchestral parts) and Joel Goldsmith (electronic parts)?

"Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype", directed by Charles B. Griffith, is not one of the best movies from 1980, but the music is really beautiful. Haunting melodies by the man who brought us "The House on Sorority Row".

If I'm not wrong, this is a Cannon Production, and Intrada has released other soundtracks from this company, and Richard Band is an old friend of Intrada...
May be a Signature Edition of 1000 copies?

Kindest regards,
Ángel

It would be nice to see this score released, but really it isn't one of Band's best in my opinion. The main theme is featured on
his "Film Music Over the Years" album. Interestingly enough, Band reused this theme, in a more ominous variation and
with different orchestration, in his score for The Caller (4:11 into the cue "Meltdown" on the Intrada album). At his best, Band is a brilliant composer. I wish he had done more orchestral works along the lines of MUTANT, THE ALCHEMIST, HOUSE ON SORORITY ROW, GHOST WARRIOR, etc. because when he wasn't ripping off other composers, his work in these films and others could be really fantastic. Especially his beautiful thematic writing. I still insist the End Title from MUTANT is one of the most beautiful, lively and exuberant pieces of music ever written for a horror film. Think Early Trevor Jones meets Georges Delerue - really inspired!

Trevor Jones meets Delerue! Great description

I have the Film Music Over the Years CD, and I must say that the Dr. Heckyl & Mr. Hype track is one of my favourites, although too short. I love the kind of orchestration used on that cue and its perfect musicallity. I haven't seen the movie for some 25 years or so, but I remember the music really impressed me. I could be wrong, but I think this score was highly melodic and thematic. In my opinion, among Richard Band's released scores The House on Sorority Row is his master piece.

Anyway, I'm happy to meet another person who knows about this early Richard Band soundtrack.

Cheers,
Ángel

Oh absolutely my friend, I love this guy to death when he's at his best. I do agree that HOUSE ON SORORITY ROW is a masterpiece through and through. Gorgeous main theme (and the music box theme is fantastic as well), complexly orchestrated action-horror material, etc. It's a shame that since around 1987-88 (I consider THE CALLER his last really interesting score), he's almost exclusively done awful, ear-raping synth scores (with a few exception here and there). It's also a shame that even during some of his best works, like MUTANT, he resorts to blatant plagiarism (in the case of that film, from John Corigliano's ALTERED STATES, vague similarities to Goldsmith's THE SWARM, and during the otherwise breathlessly superb "Mutant Onslaught & Finale" from Pino Donaggio's score to PIRANHA of all places - though Donaggio in turn could have been ripping someone else off). When he's writing his own original and melodic material, I really think Band was on par with the best. Shame he only had a few years of 'inspiration' in him it seems. If Horner-bashers were better versed in Band's music, they'd have a field day with finding all the material he emulated...

Back to the topic score though. I rewatched the film on IMDB (nice feature they have there) and the theme as heard on the album is stated several times, mostly with identical orchestration each time. I do agree that it's a nice theme, musically-speaking. The ensemble sounds small, but I guess that's more of a budget issue. I'd welcome a release, why not!

It *was* on their video BETA (hosted by Hulu) for a time but appears to be gone now.

Oy indeed. It's a pretty wretched film. On the topic of Mr. Band's music, I have a question for you, Roger, involving GHOST WARRIOR (two years too later, I know).
On Band's "Film Music Over the Years" album, the suite from that score sounds fantastic. Very lush, spacious recording with lots of reverb. Really favored the strings. On the Intrada album, the score sounds...drastically different. Sometimes entire sections of the orchestra are forced through just one speaker, a la mono, while a loud hiss will pour through the other speaker (the very opening of the cue "Human Antique" is a perfect example of this). The incredibly sweeping string rendition of the main theme heard in "Girl on the Move" (Mr. Band writing at his very best in my opinion) sounds like it was performed by an orchestra one-third the size of the one heard on the compilation album. It really doesn't sound like the same performance at all. Were the tapes in really bad shape or something like that? I noticed the same problem with the ALCHEMIST/ZONE TROOPERS album...the former score sounds incredibly tinny, flat and...small, for the lack of a better word...versus the original release paired with HOUSE ON SORORITY ROW (which is probably still my favorite Intrada album) where there was a very full, well-balanced mix that really maximized the ensemble's sound. Were Mr. Band's personal archives in poor shape for these particular scores? I'm so grateful you guys release his work and especially these two hidden gems, but it really diminished the impact of the music for me (and those not familiar with the superior releases elsewhere might have negative impressions of those scores because of this sound issue). I noticed that none of his other recent releases, like THE CALLER, THE DAY TIME ENDED or DUNGEONMASTER had this problem though. Any insights per chance? Again, not attacking Intrada, l love you guys and what you do to death. It just seemed the 're-mixing' on these two scores was really botched somehow.

Hi, here you have the rare Spanish version of DR. HECKYL & MR. HYPE poster art. It brings the fondest childhood memories to me.