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This is a comments thread about FSM CD: The Yakuza
 
 Posted:   Aug 18, 2010 - 5:43 PM   
 By:   Jim Phelps   (Member)

It took me five years embarrassment, but I finally bought a copy of The Yakuza. It's hands down the best work I've heard by Dave Grusin and is now one of my all-time favorite scores. There's so much beauty in this one. "Girl and Tea" is one lovely cue! It gives me that same sense of wonder as John Barry's "The Wedding" from You Only Live Twice. It's also refreshing that Grusin focuses on characters rather than action. I recall this movie having graphic violence, which I didn't expect from a Sydney Pollack movie.

"Delicate", "Sensitive", "Contemplative", and "Atmospheric" only begin to describe this truly magnificent score. Grusin does put in some of his trademark "Love Funk", as in the End Title--one of Grusin's best main titles--that'll be ringing through my mind for days to come. There's that same type of sound 3 Days of the Condor, but I think of The Yakuza as Condor's more tasteful Asian cousin.

Thanks so much Lukas and co. for putting the time and effort into getting this one out; my appreciation comes five years after the fact, but hey...

I can't recommend The Yakuza enough. '70s fans, you need this!

I already posted this on an ancient thread, so I thought I'd better put it here...sorry if that upsets anyone.*


*Well, not really.

 
 
 Posted:   Aug 18, 2010 - 7:46 PM   
 By:   GoblinScore   (Member)

This is so freakin' weird - and goes to show that "we" ARE all somehow oddly
connected - this has been on my shelf to respin for weeks, and today, this eve,
I finally put it on again after a year!
Now these threads show up....must be a YAKUZA type of day.

I don't have any interest in Grusin' really, sorry, not my bag, but this one is
mellow/chill/introspective 70's bliss, amazing Redman/Burlingame notes -
must have, but don't expect lots of busy, slamming Goldsmith action-ostinati.

 
 Posted:   Aug 18, 2010 - 7:48 PM   
 By:   drivingmissdaisy   (Member)

I missed out on this one, but after hearing your great comments, sounds like I need to find a copy for sure.

 
 Posted:   Aug 18, 2010 - 8:04 PM   
 By:   Steve Johnson   (Member)

There is something so sublimly appealing about listening to this score in the purposeful solitude of one's home on a rainy Saturday afternoon...

 
 Posted:   Aug 18, 2010 - 9:23 PM   
 By:   Mr. Jack   (Member)

Terrific score for a terrific movie.

 
 Posted:   Aug 18, 2010 - 9:53 PM   
 By:   Dana Wilcox   (Member)

I missed out on this one, but after hearing your great comments, sounds like I need to find a copy for sure.

http://www.screenarchives.com/title_detail.cfm/ID/4546/YAKUZA/

It's a great one! Still available. One of FSM's best releases, IMO.

 
 Posted:   Aug 18, 2010 - 10:06 PM   
 By:   SheriffJoe   (Member)

Wholeheartedly agree!!! Superior score and superior presentation.

 
 Posted:   Aug 19, 2010 - 4:37 AM   
 By:   Jim Phelps   (Member)

I don't have any interest in Grusin' really, sorry, not my bag, but this one is
mellow/chill/introspective 70's bliss, amazing Redman/Burlingame notes -
must have, but don't expect lots of busy, slamming Goldsmith action-ostinati.


This score not selling out after five years--and I'm grateful it didn't before I got mine--is probably a case of a lack of "brand name" recognition coupled with a rather obscure movie. I've only seen it once, thirteen years ago, and the score didn't resonate with me then. Had this been a Goldsmith or Schifrin, I'm sure I would've perked up my ears upon seeing their names in the credits. It took me some time to warm to Grusin, but I'm glad I did.

 
 
 Posted:   Aug 19, 2010 - 8:21 AM   
 By:   Doctor Plesman   (Member)

Wholeheartedly agree!!! Superior score and superior presentation.

Totally agreed as well! One of my all-time favourites from FSM. And one of my most-played soundtrack CDs in recent years. Nearly on par with MARATHON MAN, BULLITT, THE OMEGA MAN and WAIT UNTIL DARK in every way.

Also, Bob Peak's cover art is as magnificent as his work always was - and the sound quality blows most recent scores away by miles. Highly recommended!!!

 
 Posted:   Aug 19, 2010 - 9:09 AM   
 By:   soop.broth   (Member)

This was a great discovery, made possible by FSM. I had never heard of the movie or the soundtrack... now it is one of my most played. Great, great music.

 
 Posted:   Aug 19, 2010 - 6:31 PM   
 By:   Steve Johnson   (Member)

Listened to this again today, every cue. Just perfect.

 
 
 Posted:   Aug 19, 2010 - 7:02 PM   
 By:   That Bloke   (Member)

Let me take a ticket and get in line with all the others to heap praise.

This is a good score and thanks to FSM for releasing it.

 
 
 Posted:   Aug 20, 2010 - 8:29 AM   
 By:   Graham S. Watt   (Member)

I love this score too. Such a beautiful release. On first listen I was very vaguely disappointed at the amount of low-key music for supposed action scenes, but I quickly came to terms with it. Now I think it works perfectly. There's a kind of sustained inner tension to those parts, not unlike what Jerry Fielding was doing, which on a casual listen just seems to be the composer treading water but which on repeated listenings is absolutely spell-binding.

 
 Posted:   Aug 20, 2010 - 9:45 AM   
 By:   Bill Carson, Earl of Poncey   (Member)


It is a good score.
and a damn good 70s movie.
Ken Takakura is superb.

 
 Posted:   Aug 20, 2010 - 11:16 AM   
 By:   Jim Phelps   (Member)

I love this score too. Such a beautiful release. On first listen I was very vaguely disappointed at the amount of low-key music for supposed action scenes, but I quickly came to terms with it. Now I think it works perfectly. There's a kind of sustained inner tension to those parts, not unlike what Jerry Fielding was doing, which on a casual listen just seems to be the composer treading water but which on repeated listenings is absolutely spell-binding.

I'm *so* glad that Grusin didn't go full-tilt boogie into the action sequences! I much prefer the emphasis on character. There's so much that's achingly beautiful and melancholy in cues like "Scrapbook Montage." In fact, if I were feeling particularly down and heard some of this stuff, I'd need to take out a prescription for this album... It's cues like "Scrapbook Montage" and the aforementioned "Girl and Tea" that are so captivating and powerful. Grusin knows to bring the tension too, as Michael Small-like passages abound in this masterpiece.

Why didn't you guys tell me before how damned good The Yakuza is? Have you no honor??? big grin

 
 
 Posted:   Aug 20, 2010 - 12:53 PM   
 By:   Doctor Plesman   (Member)

Why didn't you guys tell me before how damned good The Yakuza is? Have you no honor??? big grin

We don't have any honour at all - we are loving this CD for exactly five years:

http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=28856&forumID=1&archive=1

But we've planned to let you find out just this month. Didn't this discovery make your August of 2010 worth while alone?

 
 Posted:   Aug 20, 2010 - 1:52 PM   
 By:   Jim Phelps   (Member)

Why didn't you guys tell me before how damned good The Yakuza is? Have you no honor??? big grin

We don't have any honour at all - we are loving this CD for exactly five years:

http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=28856&forumID=1&archive=1

But we've planned to let you find out just this month. Didn't this discovery make your August of 2010 worth while alone?


Well, to be fair I have had the CD on my wish list for the past year and have been "courting" it for as long as it's been in the FSM catalog! Besides that, it "only" took five years; Point Blank took *seven*!

 
 Posted:   Sep 3, 2010 - 12:36 PM   
 By:   Jim Phelps   (Member)

"Shine On" (track 19 on the CD) is one glorious trip to 1974! I loooooooove the soprano sax and especially the electric piano; the latter is the definitive sound of that particular year. When listening to--and grooving to--Grusin's jazzy, funky masterwork cue, I feel as though I'm wearing a turtleneck sweater, maroon-leather jacket, tan slacks--slightly flared, of course--while having a drink in the darkest lounge in Tokyo. This is music that transports this music-loving dope to the Far East, courtesy Grusin Airways...

Outta Sight!

 
 
 Posted:   Sep 3, 2010 - 1:30 PM   
 By:   Miguel Rojo   (Member)

ordered this just a few weeks ago. due anyday. I know its great from the film.

 
 Posted:   Sep 3, 2010 - 1:44 PM   
 By:   SheriffJoe   (Member)

"Shine On" (track 19 on the CD) is one glorious trip to 1974! I loooooooove the soprano sax and especially the electric piano; the latter is the definitive sound of that particular year. When listening to--and grooving to--Grusin's jazzy, funky masterwork cue, I feel as though I'm wearing a turtleneck sweater, maroon-leather jacket, tan slacks--slightly flared, of course--while having a drink in the darkest lounge in Tokyo. This is music that transports this music-loving dope to the Far East, courtesy Grusin Airways...

Outta Sight!


Ya dig it, man! Yeah, baby. Play that funky music!

 
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