CD Reviews: Timerider and Goldsmith Compilation

Timerider *** 1/2

MICHAEL NESMITH

Rio 7528-2

16 tracks - 32:11

Timerider arrived in theatres in 1982, not long after the similarly titled (and much worse) Time Walker. Somewhat of a cult favorite today, the movie plays as a fairly routine fish-out-of-water time travel story with a strong cast and a clever set-up that never quite pays off. Cross-country motorcycle racer Lyle Swann gets lost during a desert race and ends up traveling back to 1875 courtesy of an experiment that just happens to be going on at the same time and place as the race. The twist on this premise is that Swann never realizes that he's traveled through time. He just thinks that the people he meets are weirdos obsessed with stealing his motorcycle.

Michael Nesmith produced and co-wrote the screenplay for Timerider and also composed the score, which has recently been released on Nesmith's Rio Records label (distributed exclusively through Nesmith's website, www.videoranch.com). It's a pleasant album that will appeal especially to fans of '80s electronic rock scores. Be warned, however, that instead of relying completely on synths, Nesmith scored the film primarily for a standard rock combo (electric and acoustic guitars, bass, drums) with electronic keyboards serving as an accompaniment. This decision actually helps keep the score from sounding as dated as it could have.

The opening track, "The Baja 1000," accompanies the film's opening POV shot of Swann racing through the desert. It's a straight-forward rock instrumental number that works (as does much of the music in the film) to help speed up what is essentially a pretty slow-paced movie. "Lost in the Weeds" introduces the action/motorcycle motif, a mostly synth-based lick that again sounds much more exciting than the images it accompanies.

Nesmith begins adding new layers and instruments to the score as Swann arrives in the past. Swann is still accompanied by his synth motif, but Nesmith begins to add touches of dobro and mandolin to the mix, a nice choice that gives the music an appropriately mixed feel as a man from 1982 meets up with Old West stereotypes.

Swann of course meets a beautiful woman, and Nesmith scores this scene with the first appearance of his love theme, a swirling arpeggio that is cleverly suited to the circular plot mechanics. (The same basic plot point would appear in The Terminator two years later.) The keyboards (played by David Mansfield) sound fairly outdated now, but were state-of-the-Casio-art back in 1982. Again, Nesmith's use of rock guitar to really anchor the score, with the keyboards serving a secondary role, turned out to be a real benefit to the score's listenability today.

The album sounds great, especially as it's 20-years old, and at just over 30 minutes, it doesn't wear out its welcome. The packaging is bare bones with no liner notes to speak of, but you'd do worse than take a chance on Nesmith's Timerider. It's a shame he hasn't had a chance (or desire) to score more films. I'd love to hear what he could do with a better movie.  -- Neil Shurley
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Goldsmith Conducts Goldsmith: Jerry Goldsmith conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra *** 1/2

JERRY GOLDSMITH

Silva Screen FILMCD336

12 tracks - 71:06

A 15th Anniversary re-issue of Deram's release The Soundtracks of Jerry Goldsmith with the Philharmonia, Silva's disc makes an interesting companion piece to last year's The Film Music of Jerry Goldsmith. However, while Telarc's disc was a studio recording of Jerry's concert with the LSO, this version was captured at the Walthamstow Assembly Hall. So, while you'd expect the sound to not be as good as the studio disc, this version actually captures the atmosphere of the event and is remarkably clear thanks to its HDCD/Dolby transfer.

This is an excellent aide memoire of the "Goldsmith Roadshow" that makes an annual global pilgramage between cities. And because the concert program changes very little, the content on the disc will be relevant to most concert-goers, regardless of what year they saw the concert, if ever. For example, 14 years separate the concerts on the Telarc and Silva discs, but they both have a core selection from Goldsmith's music hall repertoire. This comprises of the "General's Suite" (Patton and MacArthur), a movie medley (Chinatown, The Wind and the Lion, etc.) and a TV themes compilation (Barnaby Jones, The Waltons, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.).

Goldsmith movie concerts have almost become a rite of passage for the soundtrack aficionado. It's not so much "Have you ever been?" as "When did you first go?" or "How many times have you been since?" And because the themes and anthems are delivered by an orchestra that has presumably played the music many times before, that familiarity ensures bold performances from all sections of the orchestra.

Here's proof that Silva offers more than "cover version" compilations, and if you don't have a Goldsmith concert in your collection, this is an excellent place to start. If you've already got one, you'll have to decide whether the extra tracks are worth the difference. There's clearly a market for recordings of these live events; perhaps one day they'll release a disc of Jerry's irreverent concert banter and anecdotal commentary...  -- Nick Joy
 
 
 
 

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