The Soundtrack Thread

I just love soundtrack CDs.  Some of them have such a power to bring you right back into the emotions of the film they are from. I own a bit over 1500 cd titles, and 1/3 are soundtracks or music based on a film or score.

I also find that many soundtracks I love come from movies I don't enjoy at all. "Krull" comes to mind. On the other hand, there are good films that have what I would consider (by my taste) horrible soundtracks. Now I'm thinking "Goldeneye".  

Anyway, I wanted to start this thread to discuss anything related to scores and music soundtrack recordings. One thing it may be good for is help inform other fans here about recent releases of hard to find scores and the such.  I only found out yesterday that "Star Trek III" had been given the expanded treatment by the Film Score Monthly label a few months back. There is another great score from a lame movie... 

What are some of the scores / soundtracks you people love or hate?

FF

I really like the Shadow of the Empire ST.

Not sure if this counts, but the Rushmore ST is pretty awesome.  I think I named my youngest son (Rushmore) after it.

Russia House, Man from Snowy River, Blade Runner, Transformers 1986... these are all of the first ones that come to mind.

I'll have to check out Krull.  But I do love GoldenEye (at least, the music in the movie... not sure I've heard a CD) and Fifth Element is also awesome.

Actually the first album I ever listened to was a soundtrack.

I owe that soundtrack a lot. It introduced me to music in the finest way. Nothing but quality Mozart music. I still listen to that soundtrack all of the time, and I still watch that movie all the time. I love it.

The Goldeneye score is great except for that awful end titles song.

Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, The Good the Bad and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West, Duck you Sucker, The Third Man, Taxi Driver, Chinatown, Vertigo, North by Northwest, The Wild Bunch, The Godfather.

The Bond scores are my favorites and I feel that David Arnold's modern interpretations leave much to be desired. They lack any of the punch and thematics of John Barry's originals. The best scores are for Thunderball and On Her Majesty's Secret Service. I also adore the score for The Living Daylights.

captainsolo said:

The Bond scores are my favorites and I feel that David Arnold's modern interpretations leave much to be desired. They lack any of the punch and thematics of John Barry's originals. The best scores are for Thunderball and On Her Majesty's Secret Service. I also adore the score for The Living Daylights.

The expanded Bond film scores released a few years back were a true God send. Like you, "Thunderball" is also one of my all time favorites. I love all the early Barry scores (1963 -1971) the most. The expanded OHMSS, Diamonds, Thunderball, and You Only Live Twice get played the most of any of my soundtracks.   But still, I wish they would find the lost tracks for "Moonraker", that is a very good latter score. By the late 70's, Barry's scores started to sound very alike from film to film. "Living Daylights" was a truly stand out score that greatly benefited from the expanded release it got a few years ago. The original soundtrack album was not a very good representation of the entire score. Too many of the themes were just repeated after every one or two tracks, and the LP format was much too short anyway.

"View to a Kill" still suffers from that very same problem. The album contains 15 cues, yet we only get 4 new themes repeated again and again on very similarly arranged cues. Just for example, the title "A View to a Kill" is repeated twice in vocal form and twice in almost identical instrumental form. Then we get a action theme that is slightly reminiscent of OHMSS, that is repeated in 3 cues with very little variation in style. The airship theme is also repeated 3 times. And don't forget the obligatory James Bond and 007 themes that sounds as if it could have been lifted right out of "Octopussy" and "Moonraker" sessions.      

Well anyway, here is a list of some of the soundtracks I listen to quite a bit:

The "Alien" films (all 4 of them)

Shaft (Anthology / Best of Shaft)

Apocalypse Now (original CD / Redux CD /Rhythm Devils - Sessions CD) 

Battlestar Galactica 70's series (The Stu Phillips 4-CD Anthology)

Planet of the Apes series (60's/70's) (All 5 Film soundtracks)

Dune (Lynch Film)

The Final Countdown

Dirty Harry Series (all 5 film soundtracks)

Vince Guaraldi's Peanuts Music (various cues from 1963-1976)

Jaws & Jaws II

Lost In Space (T.V. Show)

Rocky I,II,III

Fist Full of Dollars, For a few Dollars More, The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Superman I, II, III, IV

Star Trek T.V. (various soundtracks)

Star Trek Films (All but Star Trek IV)

Star Wars (Episodes IV-VI)

EyeShotFirst said:

Actually the first album I ever listened to was a soundtrack.

I owe that soundtrack a lot. It introduced me to music in the finest way. Nothing but quality Mozart music. I still listen to that soundtrack all of the time, and I still watch that movie all the time. I love it.

 That's the only Soundtrack (or music at all) I have to listen to at work.  It is indeed fantastic.

I like that "Batman Forever" score too. But I have not seen the film proper, so it's just some 90's action movie music, with no ties to Batman beyond the theme motif for me. And I know that theme only from the endless media promotions for that and "Batman and Robin".

The two "Conan" movies are played often at my house  I also like the score for Kull, but the movie sucked. 

Here is a strange but great one I like to put on when  the moon is full.

"Vampyros Lesbos", a soundtrack from a 1971 low budget horror-sexploitation film from Europe.

One of the more freaky tracks from this film's soundtrack was used in "Jackie Brown".

The Batman Forever score is great. Unfortunately all you can ever find is that songs inspired by the film CD.

They seemed to reuse much of the score for the abysmal sequel.

LALD was the first soundtrack I ever bought. The new expanded remaster is the best CD that I own.

That's when they experimented with different sounds and didn't sell any records. (this song and the Pop album) So they then went back to not experimenting in order to sell more records.

xhonzi said:

EyeShotFirst said:

Actually the first album I ever listened to was a soundtrack.

I owe that soundtrack a lot. It introduced me to music in the finest way. Nothing but quality Mozart music. I still listen to that soundtrack all of the time, and I still watch that movie all the time. I love it.

 That's the only Soundtrack (or music at all) I have to listen to at work.  It is indeed fantastic.

I always recommend it to people who want an introduction to Mozart. I think it is the best Mozart compilation on the planet.

STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER: LIMITED EDITION (2CD-SET)
LLLCD 1157
Music by Jerry Goldsmith
Limited Edition of 5000 Units
RETAIL PRICE: $29.98

Just got this in the mail today from SAE. I had no idea it was even out till I took a look at the SEA site. I'm glad I got a copy before they ran out. Once these things sell out from SAE, the asking price for them usually jumps to some outrageous amount from collectors.

This movie's soundtrack has always been a favorite of mine, and this new 2-disk edition is just pure greatness.  The original recordings have been superbly remastered, and the sound is crisp, clear, and punchy. The score was the best thing about the entire Star Trek V project, and I am glad it got the expanded release treatment from SAE just like Star Trek II and Star Trek III had. This cd is now my favorite of the newly expanded Star Trek soundtrack editions put out in the last few years.

The first disc (total time more than 73 minutes!) presents the full score as originally conceived by Jerry Goldsmith:

1 Nimbus III 2:01 (not used in the movie, this brooding track introduces Sybok's theme and creates an excellent atmosphere from which the musical journey unfolds)

2 The Mind-Meld 2:43 (introducing `mind-meld music' which would almost never be used in the movie, but replaced by the `heartbeat' effects we are familiar with)

3 The Mountain [Main Title] 4:53 (introducing the `Mountain' melody after the familiar Goldsmith `Star Trek march' has played out)

4 The Big Drop 0:26 (the full version, not heard completely in the movie)

5 Raid on Paradise 2:43 (including the `Enterprise music' from ST:TMP when we meet her again in Spacedock - actually, Goldsmith here uses his original, rejected variation of that 'Enterprise music', which is a nice touch)

6 Not Alone 1:11 (the first camp fire scene, with the `Mountain' melody voicing loneliness and friendship)

7 Target Practice 1:52 (the Klingons are back, along with their music from ST:TMP!)
8 A Tall Ship 1:43 (a few bold statements of Goldsmith's `Star Trek march')

9 Plot Course 1:46 (the lively anticipating cue on the Enterprise bridge introducing `mission' music)

10 No Harm 2:13 (the ghostly atmospheric music when Spock recognizes his brother and tells Kirk and McCoy the story of Sybok)

11 Approaching Nimbus III 2:59 (`mission' music, militaristic music, suspenceful music and the Star Trek march all sound as Kirk and his team prepare a ground assault and steer the shuttle to Nimbus III)

12 Open the Gates 3:01 (percussive action cue based on Sybok's theme)

13 Well Done 1:16 (Kirk, Spock and McCoy captured and led before Sybok)

14 Without Help 4:55 (Sybok is led to the Enterprise via shuttlecraft - we alternately hear Sybok's theme, Star Trek march, Klingon music and the suspense music that was introduced in track 11 `Approaching Nimbus III')

15 Pick It Up 2:31 (the `quest' theme is heard for the first time, in full force, and later Sybok's theme, to which it is directly related)

16 No Authority 0:30 (subdued Sybok's theme is followed by the `mind-meld music', not actually heard in the movie)

17 It Exists 1:47 (grand statement of Sybok's theme, when he explains his heading to the ship's crew, followed by the quest theme in suspenseful mode)

18 Free Minds 3:18 (wonderful atmospheric exposition of Sybok's theme)

19 The Birth 3:53 (the quest theme is heard in different guises as Kirk, Spock and McCoy are under the influence of Sybok and ultimately renounce him)

20 The Barrier 2:52 (heraldic statements of the quest theme alternate with fluid undulating orchestral textures reminiscent of the music for the V'ger cloud in ST:TMP, followed by the five-note Sha Ka Ree theme and a hint of Alexander Courage's Star Trek fanfare)

21 A Busy Man 4:41

22 An Angry God 6:57

23 Let's Get Out of Here [part 1] 3:42

24 Let's Get Out of Here [part 2] 3:07

25 Cosmic Thoughts 1:16

26 Life Is a Dream [End Credits] 3:57 (Including the wailing ram's horn, not present on the original 1989 album)

On the second CD is the original 10-track album (which had only 42 minutes of music) plus additional tracks (almost 17 minutes):

11 The Mountain [Main Title] (alternate, with different percussion etc.) 4:45

12 A Busy Man (alternate) 4:42

13 Paradise Saloon (source) 2:42

14 The Moon's a Window to Heaven (film version) 1:10 (with Nichelle Nichols singing)

15 Vulcan Song/Row, Row, Row Your Boat (Instrumental source) 1:33 (purely instrumental version)

16 Synclavier Effects 1:54

DuracellEnergizer said:

I love the score from Stargate (the movie, not the TV show). I get a thrill every time I listen to it.

That is a soundtrack I don't have. I'll need to check it out. I remember enjoying that score when I saw the film.