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Posted: |
Dec 29, 2011 - 8:16 PM
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By: |
ToneRow
(Member)
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SPECIFICATIONS: THE CRITERIA ARE BASED ON THE FOLLOWING AXIOMS: THE RICHNESS OF THE ORIGINAL RECORDING, THE INTEGRITY OF THE INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC, THE LEVEL OF INNOVATION, THE PACE OF THE CORPUS, THE ELEMENT OF SURPRISE, THE COLOR OF THE INSTRUMENTS USE, THE CROSS-REFERENCES.
While agreeing with your overall focus, Mr. Rucki, that the finest film music compositions occurred during the 1950s, 1960s, & 1970s, I'm interested in learning about why a number of soundtrack albums released during 2011 (which contain scores from these decades) fail to appear on your list regarding the criteria you've specified.
For example, "Summer And Smoke" is my favorite Elmer Bernstein soundtrack, and "Men In War" is amongst my 'top 5' Bernstein scores. Naturally, I agree with what you had written about these titles.
However, Kritzerland also re-issued the LP programs of Bernstein's "Drango" and "Kings Go Forth", as well as offering us 2 other items of prime Bernstein never before released: "Fear Strikes Out" with "The Tin Star".
Is the reason why these other titles don't appear within your article because you have an issue (or issues) with these sound recordings, or the integrity of the music or the instrumental colors?
Kritzerland also released CDs of others with similar vintage, like Alfred Newman's "The Counterfeit Traitor" and "Black Sunday" by Les Baxter. Should readers of your article deduce that the omission of Newman's "Traitor" is due to its lack of innovation according to the criteria?
"Robinson Crusoe On Mars" by Van Cleave gets highlighted in the article; yet, 2 more of Van Cleave's soundtracks received premieres during 2011 (and by FSM as well) without a mention of either of them in the 1950s category.
What about the 3 CDs from the MMM label, which offer significant contributions to the discographies of Heinz Roemheld and Herschel Burke Gilbert?
So far, only Hollywood movies and American composers have been mentioned.
Without doubt, there's other notable 2011 CDs deserving of citation, but they may be absent from the article due to the CDs being produced outside of the U.S.A. and/or them being soundtracks from non-English language cinema.
An "element of surprise" awaits those folks uninitiated with the film music of Piero Piccioni, for example. Whether scoring Francesco Rosi features such as "Salvatore Guiliano" (1962) or "Hands Over The City" (1963), or an obscure item like "Il Monaco" (1972), Piccioni demonstrates a high "level of innovation" with "color of the instruments" yielding an "integrity of the instrumental music".
Had Piccioni music such as this ever surfaced in a Clint Eastwood movie, Piccioni might be praised in the same breath as Jerry Fielding and Lalo Schifrin.
Fans of Ennio Morricone may wonder why none of his music received coverage within this article while a few John Barry soundtracks did.
There's more innovation and color in Morricone's 1975 "Moses" (released March 2011 on the Legend label) than within "The Knack", for instance.
Speaking of the Italian Legend label, they released in May 2011 what is likely to be the most comprehensive version of "The Bible" by Toshiro Mayuzumi that will ever exist.
"The Bible" was initially released on vinyl record in 1966, plus it also received an Academy Award nomination for best score.
This 2-CD Legend album, with its 2+ hour duration, triples the amount of music!
Certainly a release like this deserves a review.
Although the Legend album has variable sound quality culled from different sources, it's nevertheless important in presenting the entirety of Mayuzumi's large musical canvas.
Lengthy passages (which were never on the original LP) showcase much more of Mayuzumi's impressionistic and dissonant music than ever before. Tracks such as "Forbidden Fruit" and "Banishment From The Garden" demonstrate masterly incorporation of 12-tone techniques into the musical fabric.
With no shortage of innovation and integrity within this "Bible", one is not sure why it is absent (like many others) from this overview…
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Posted: |
Dec 30, 2011 - 7:26 AM
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By: |
Rollin Hand
(Member)
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While agreeing with your overall focus, Mr. Rucki, that the finest film music compositions occurred during the 1950s, 1960s, & 1970s, I'm interested in learning about why a number of soundtrack albums released during 2011 (which contain scores from these decades) fail to appear on your list regarding the criteria you've specified.
The title of the blog is explicit enough: it's a selection. It's not exhaustive at all.
A selection is subjective—and sometimes, elitist: notice the taste for Schifrin and Herrmann—, and relies on biases (like knowing the film, the decade, the composer or the music department, the musical leaning, enjoying the samples). It also reflects how you feel at an exact moment and it is an introspective and cerebral affair in the very end. Besides, you can't buy them all: it's economic and a choice.
On the whole, I'd like to have an overview of a year in vintage soundtracks.
I am very fond of vintage Hollywood but I'm not a completist on all composers. Even, a composer whose work and continuity I admire can write an uninteresting piece during an exciting era. It's very uneven due to the nature of the profession. Keep in mind there were many conventional or dull scores during "these" three decades.
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With no shortage of innovation and integrity within this "Bible", one is not sure why it is absent (like many others) from this overview…
-----
Because Thomas was expressing HIS opinion not ToneRow's 
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Good to see your reviews, Thomas. There was very little feedback on the appropriate thread about KILLER BY NIGHT when it was first released, and that kind of surprised me because I know that Quincy Jones is hugely loved. I'm a sort of instinct buyer anyway, so I don't NEED people to tell me that something is good before I place an order, but you've helped to make me push this to the top of the "to order" list. Quincy Jones was a master of innovative modernistic mood scoring, which is a facet often overlooked when we tend to focus on the funk factor alone. And the Johnny Williams won't be ignored either.
I think I'll get HARRY IN YOUR POCKET too.
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Posted: |
Dec 31, 2011 - 11:09 AM
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By: |
Rollin Hand
(Member)
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Good to see your reviews, Thomas. There was very little feedback on the appropriate thread about KILLER BY NIGHT when it was first released, and that kind of surprised me because I know that Quincy Jones is hugely loved. I'm a sort of instinct buyer anyway, so I don't NEED people to tell me that something is good before I place an order, but you've helped to make me push this to the top of the "to order" list. Quincy Jones was a master of innovative modernistic mood scoring, which is a facet often overlooked when we tend to focus on the funk factor alone. And the Johnny Williams won't be ignored either.
I think I'll get HARRY IN YOUR POCKET too.
HARRY is "the" vintage release of the year 2011: don't miss it!
Here is a teaser for Jimbo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9hOz1Z3iAQ
And don’t forget Harry’s rules: “We travel first class, best rooms, best clothes, best food. Everything strictly the best”.
And above all, Harry’s law: “Harry never holds. Not for a minute, not for thirty seconds.”
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