Tom Scott's CONQUEST of the POTA has proven to be the gem of this Apes two-fer. I love the avant-garde approach that fits right in alongside the Goldsmith and Rosenman efforts. It's great how each composer adapted their individual style to the Goldsmith original. There's no doubt which movie series these scores come from. When I first got this CD eight years ago it was for the Rosenman theme for BATTLE that I loved, but it's the Scott work that I keep coming back to.
I'd even place it second after the Goldsmith, at least in terms of a stand-alone listen, since much of Scott's score was omitted from the film.
The strange thing is about CONQUEST is that I never knew it existed until the 1990s! I was only a year old in 1972, so I never saw this in a theater, and It never got aired on TV when I was a kid.
Tom Scott's CONQUEST of the POTA has proven to be the gem of this Apes two-fer. I love the avant-garde approach that fits right in alongside the Goldsmith and Rosenman efforts. It's great how each composer adapted their individual style to the Goldsmith original. There's no doubt which movie series these scores come from. When I first got this CD eight years ago it was for the Rosenman theme for BATTLE that I loved, but it's the Scott work that I keep coming back to.
I'd even place it second after the Goldsmith, at least in terms of a stand-alone listen, since much of Scott's score was omitted from the film.
The strange thing is about CONQUEST is that I never knew it existed until the 1990s! I was only a year old in 1972, so I never saw this in a theater, and It never got aired on TV when I was a kid.
I watched the 1974 Apes series in the mid-Seventies and in the late Seventies, the entire Apes film saga was broadcast on television. I watched them in black and white but the mood (part military, part avant garde, part ethnic: modernist totalitarian tribal soundscape) created by the music never left me.
I didn't know that there was a TV series until I realized those "new" movies that my local channel used to air in the early eighties were two episodes edited together as "movies": Farewell to the Planet of the Apes, etc. Yet CONQUEST was completely unknown to me. Maybe the dark tone and violence were too much a contrast with the rest of the series.
Anyway, Tom Scott's score is great stuff. And a score like his could've only happened in the late-60s/ early 70s time frame.
I love all the APES scores and will forever by glad that FSM got the Rosenman and Scott scores preserved on disc. I remember simply being ecstatic in '97 when Varese released the full score for the original plus that generous suite from ESCAPE. They have long been major favorites of mine. Just from viewing the rest of the films, I failed to fully appreciate the non-Jerry scores, but they are great in their own ways while still paying homage to the original score's instrumentation and style. Rosenman fits perfectly within the APES series, his daring & avant garde style fulfilling the same function as Goldsmith's but in a completely different manner. Scott's score has some fine elements for sure and while I do enjoy listening to it, I still rank it below the other four scores.
Now this is still ranked #5 out of five, so it's not too awful! I wouldn't expect many new composers to be able to compete with the pure awesomeness of POTA, ESCAPE and BENEATH...
I would totally agree with you Tom, I love these scores but would put Conquest 5th and I really enjoyed listening to them isolated on the blu rays. As for keeping in with the style set by Jerry, I was recently listening to intrada's cd of the TV series music and Lalo Schifrin also did a pretty good job of keeping the correct 'tone' in the music while keeping it in his own dramatic style. Well done to all the composers concerned.
FOOTNOTE: the last time I saw Jerry conduct was at the Albert Hall where he played his POTA suite. His introduction gave away (surprisingly) that he was more than a little pissed at not being asked to score the Tim Burton remake!
I love all the APES scores and will forever by glad that FSM got the Rosenman and Scott scores preserved on disc.
Agreed. The Apes scores were mostly a blind buy for me since I wasn't familiar with the sequel movies at the time (I've since bought the box set) and I *love* the music to these films!
Just got to watch the BluRay release of CONQUEST - for those interested, Scott's score is indeed intact. Goldsmith's cue is still used at the end of the picture, but what's surprising is that there was MORE that was used.
Recommend the picture, but I can see why they backed off - it could've caused riots on its own.
Speaking of APES, Lalo Schifrin, and the like... I noticed that Lalo "borrowed" from himself for his POTA TV series theme, the horn riff is used in several sixth season Mission: Impossible episodes. Just noticed that recently.
I would place Conquest fifth too! Although that places it last and evokes cries of 'the worst', one must consider two things. It's trailing an absolute classic score by Goldsmith (POTA) and a groovy sequel follow-up (Escape), plus a bizarro, bonkers and brilliant score by Rosenman (Beneath) and another corking sequel score by same (Battle). Taken on it's own, it's a great 70s score, very dark and brutal with some great jazz infusions and is a worthy addition to the series. Along with Beneath, it's the most challenging of the five and I'd like to add thanks to the labels who have made all the Apes score available on CD.
Saying Scott's score is the fifth of five is not an insult, considering how staggeringly creative the music in this film series is, with Jerry and Leonard at their peak. Tom Scott's done just fine for himself within the music biz, though I wish he'd done more scoring.
And have you heard the music from those 1970s POWER RECORDS recordings? The music's pretty darn good!
Oh, look at the time-- I'm late for "Simian Servant School"!
FOOTNOTE: the last time I saw Jerry conduct was at the Albert Hall where he played his POTA suite. His introduction gave away (surprisingly) that he was more than a little pissed at not being asked to score the Tim Burton remake!
Well, in the DVD commentary he did for the original PLANET OF THE APES a few months before his death in 2004, Goldsmith says he wouldn't have done the score for the remake, even if he'd been asked. Maybe he saw the dreadful thing, or at least heard how awful it was.
This is one of of the most played CD's in my collection along with Beneath. All five scores have an addictive avante guarde feel to them and a complexity ( or maybe elusiveness) that makes them addictive. Conquest may be more simplistic and far less polished, because Tom Scott is not Goldsmith or Rosenman, but the harshness and simplicity make it even darker and more effective.
One of my favorite films too. The dark revolutionary aspect of it really sums up the whole Apes philosophy of "man is evil capable of nothing but destruction".
This is one of of the most played CD's in my collection along with Beneath. All five scores have an addictive avante guarde feel to them and a complexity ( or maybe elusiveness) that makes them addictive. Conquest may be more simplistic and far less polished, because Tom Scott is not Goldsmith or Rosenman, but the harshness and simplicity make it even darker and more effective.
One of my favorite films too. The dark revolutionary aspect of it really sums up the whole Apes philosophy of "man is evil capable of nothing but destruction".
Remember seeing conquest with my late grandfather. Part of a summer of re-showing due to popular CBS movie airings. I'll never forgot what he said. People, the human race, are being killed and the audience is cheering and rooting for the apes.
Saying Scott's score is the fifth of five is not an insult, considering how staggeringly creative the music in this film series is, with Jerry and Leonard at their peak. Tom Scott's done just fine for himself within the music biz, though I wish he'd done more scoring.
And have you heard the music from those 1970s POWER RECORDS recordings? The music's pretty darn good!
Oh, look at the time-- I'm late for "Simian Servant School"!
Been listening to this today. I just love it. A lot of really great stuff on Conquest in particular, although Battle has some good moments - the opening march is pretty addictive.
I remember an almost identical thread started by Zooba about this subject.
Conquest is an over-the-top quality score. Apart from the beautiful Scott main titles it's worth remembering a very interesting rock-guitar solo piece (Deep Purple style) and a beautiful track named "Civil Disobedience" for percussion ensemble. The final battle contains a funny theme that resembles closely the Penguin's theme from Batman TV series. So I've always found the music for the finale rather bizarre.
If I were to rate the 5 POTA scores I would rank them thusly:
PLANET OF THE APES Goldsmith BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES Rosenman ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES Goldsmith BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES Rosenman CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES Scott
