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Posted: |
Jul 2, 2022 - 7:55 AM
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By: |
McD
(Member)
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One question for McD. Have you got the chance to Meet Mr. Safan?
I haven't met him, no. I had no intention of bringing this up, but since you asked Tobias... I spoke to him on the phone in the late 90s. A bit of a sore spot, and another reason I feel like doing my bit for him here.
I had just left Uni, and was involved in a Cult TV magazine as it was being prepped for launch. First thing I wanted to cover was the 1980s Twilight Zone, and the music to it, and was told that sounded ideal. Safan called for about half an hour. He then posted the Remo Williams promo and another CD to me in the UK. Lovely guy.
And videotapes were arriving. Boxes of them. Complete series of Star Trek: TNG etc. I'm not a fan. It was a slog. The magazine would be starting with the most popular stuff, so for the first few months anything I wrote would have to be on Star Trek or The X-Files only (as I recall it anyway). Did I have any ideas? "The worst five episodes of Star Trek: TNG". Any other ideas? "The worst ten episodes of Star Trek: TNG." My mind was melting. I stopped watching the tapes, and soon stopped returning calls.
The plan had been to send Mr Safan the article and thank him for the discs at the same time, I guess. By the time I realised I had cut all ties, it was probably over a year later, and, well.... I've been racked with guilt ever since. Given the end result, I feel like I just wasted his time.
Of the unreleased scores by Mr. Safan which is the one(s) you would most love to get released?
The Revenge of Al Capone (1989)
Safan goes full-on Nino Rota. But... although I have a collection of VHS/DVDs of Safan material that's never been released on CD (and a Bluray in the case of 1983's Nightmares), I have no desire to try to influence anything. Dragon's Domain's judgement on this issue has been amazing. I'd rather have them surprise me. And I assume as they have released The Craig Safan Collection Vol 1, more material is likely.
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Posted: |
Jul 3, 2022 - 1:49 PM
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By: |
McD
(Member)
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#3 (of #30)
L.A. EX [2021]
Note For Note NFN9046 (2021) ***** (60 mins)
Best track: Planetarium Star Show
This is the 5th entry in Craig Safan’s remarkable comeback since 2015. Produced entirely by Safan during the pandemic, with soloists performing remotely, it’s a jaw dropping 16 track tribute to Los Angeles. Where he lives and (possibly) where he was born. Online sources and Safan himself (in another excellent booklet from Randall D. Larson) say he’s from L.A. But back in the 1980s, the biography said Texas. Hmmmm.
The CD begins with Safan himself scat singing. I was panicked for a few seconds. Maybe this album wouldn’t be up my street. But I love the scatting now. And in any case, 35 years on, Safan returns to my two favourite 1980s Twilight Zone tracks here. Definitely one for me.
Planetarium Star Show is Safan’s finest moment since 1986. It *appears* to be a reworking of To See An Invisible Man (Twilight Zone, 1985) with the stunning addition of trumpets. I don’t know for sure that’s the intention but it’s a close match in style and melody. And he definitely reworks Opening Day later on. If I was to guess, I reckon Safan didn’t actually have his own copy of these Twilight Zone scores before Intrada released them in 2016. Hence the recent rediscovery and reinvention.
I was sure Safan had frontloaded this by the time I was 8 tracks in. But the second half is even better. Summer Dreams is his riff on Opening Day, now more or less in the style of Confrontation (from Thief). It doesn’t top Opening Day (what does?) but it’s pretty great.
Muscles, Tattoos and Veins is even cute and hip enough to be a hit. The testosterone fuelled beats hit the spot, but it’s Kira Safan who puts it over the top. In a fake European accent, Safan’s daughter hilariously commentates on L.A.’s male physiques. It actually made me laugh out loud.
A stunning disc in every way which would take five times as long to cover properly. All 16 tracks are zingers. There might be 2 other Safan CDs I love over this one. But considering how and when this was made, the sheer breadth of invention, and how fully realised it is as a musical history of L.A... this is probably his greatest achievement.
The CD is available on Notefornote for only $11.99.
https://notefornotemusic.com/products/la-ex-by-craig-safan-cd-digital-bundle
TRIVIA: As of now, Safan’s website features a sampling of his favourite tracks. It includes (possibly by accident) an earlier version of Summer Dreams with different solos. An interesting listen, but he was right to take another pass at it.
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Posted: |
Jul 5, 2022 - 1:37 PM
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By: |
McD
(Member)
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#4 (of #30)
WARNING SIGN [1985]
Southern Cross SCCD1012 (1988) ***** (36 mins)
Invada Records INVT36CD (2014) ***** (57 mins)
Best Track: End Title
Warning Sign, Safan’s first time on CD, was magnificent even before it got a beautiful remastered expansion 30 years later from a bunch of English hipsters. An all-electronic one man show from a composer fresh off The Last Starfighter. It’s hard to believe it’s the same guy.
The film also looked like it might be ripe for rediscovery. An escaped virus causing a panic and a cover-up christened ‘The Big Lie’. I’ve finally seen it. After Safan’s sublime Main Title plays over classy shots of Utah crop dusting, it’s all downhill. The infected go from dangerously agile to lock-kneed Boris Karloff impersonators. It’s embarrassing. By his 2014 liner notes, Safan concedes this supposed bio-thriller was a zombie movie. Other than gazing at Kathleen Quinlan, gorgeous before she played ‘The Wife’ for 30 years, it’s only worth it for the music.
The score even has a different ending from the film. On screen, the good guys win, creating and mass producing an antidote in 20 minutes flat after finding someone immune from the virus. By Outbreak, they got it down to 15 minutes. In your face, Operation Warp Speed! But as the lovely main theme looks set to play us out, that sinister stopped piano intrudes. It’s not following the beat, not under any human control. It quickens until it takes over and we’re done. The virus wins. What a score!
Invada kept the original CD program, then added 20 more minutes of bonus cues. The extras are a revelation and I’d place them Top 10 on their own, no question. They plumped for all the action cues in 1985, but the atmospheric ones are superior. The music which would become To See The Invisible Man months later can even be fleetingly heard in The Sickies.
Safan had written a few great scores before this one. But it’s here the synclavier gave him his signature sound found in everything for the next four incredible years. Warning Sign gets my vote as the best work he ever did for a full length feature.
The CD (sadly a digipack) is still available just about everywhere.
https://www.invada.co.uk/products/warning-sign-original-soundtrack-by-craig-safan-cd-digipack
TRIVIA: The Invada Vinyl has exclusive additional liner notes. From a British soundtrack enthusiast. I don’t own a gramophone and have no interest in partying like it’s 1899. Still, if anyone knows what it says...
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Posted: |
Jul 7, 2022 - 11:58 AM
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By: |
McD
(Member)
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#5 (of #30)
SIRENS [2018]
Varese Sarabande 3020673608 ***** (55 mins)
Best Track: Melodius Discord
20 years ago in 2002 Craig Safan and film scoring parted ways and he went mostly silent. By 2017 there had just been three glimpses behind the curtain. Did he still have it? Hard to tell. We got an hour of Circus music in 2011, but it was techno. 40 minutes from new musicals were briefly online (long removed), but were nothing like his scoring. And Rough Magic (2015), was more sonics than music.
Then he was commissioned to score Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid in 2017, and a performance hit Vimeo. It was wonderful. Sirens dropped the following year. A concept album about Greek Mythology, it’s an amazing release from composition to production (Safan with soloists). Like the follow-up, L.A. Ex, it’s one great track after another and a sonic marvel. Yes, he still had it.
Every track is in consideration for ‘album highlight’. The one that might come out on top for most is the emotional finale, Icarus (to J.H.). Safan hasn’t spoken about the dedication. But it’s James Horner. Their biographies crossed several times, and Horner always seemed to go one better.
- Two L.A. natives who studied music in London. Safan earlier, but only Horner returned with the accent.
- Both hired to score Wolfen. Safan first, but it’s only Horner heard in the film.
- Both put the Titanic wreck to music. Safan beat Horner by a decade, but it was J.H. who produced the most successful score of all time.
I don’t know if the two men ever met but it’s a beautifully moving end to a stunning album. The CD is available from Varese.
https://www.varesesarabande.com/products/sirens-music-inspired-by-homers-odyssey
TRIVIA: And a brain teaser! Safan already had great cover art on his website before Varese took this on and produced something better (see above). But they missed a trick. The cover announces IN BLOCK CAPITALS this is INSPIRED BY HOMER’S ODYSSEY. But that isn’t the case for the whole album. Icarus isn’t from Homer. However, had this been written in lower case, it would have been accurate for every track. Let’s see if anyone can figure out why.
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Posted: |
Jul 9, 2022 - 10:05 AM
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By: |
McD
(Member)
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#6 (of #30)
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master [1988]
Varese Sarabande VS 5203-2 [1988] ***** (42 mins)
Varese Sarabande VLE- 9203 [2015] ** (54 mins)
Best Track: Corpus Kruger
I’m biased as hell here. After discovering Safan in The Twilight Zone, I would go into record stores and flick through the soundtrack LPs hoping to find something he had done. I nearly had a heart attack the day I found Elm Street 4 about a year later.
It was everything I hoped it would be. An all electronic affair, but a far larger array than used for Warning Sign, and far more varied. The score is grand, melodic, atmospheric, scary, complex and completely freakin’ nuts. Every track is based on a different musical idea. It would close the curtain on the incredible synclavier years, and he gives it everything. Far too good for the movie.
Which I‘ve just watched for the first time. It’s as bad as ‘4th horror installment’ suggests. But it *did* throw up one nugget. Safan’s score warbles several times where it doesn’t on CD. The extra tracks on the deluxe edition - sourced from film stems - warble horribly too. It seems this may have been intentionally-added anarchy in post production, rather than faulty prints. Somehow this crap made $50 million at the U.S. Box Office in 1988!
Strangely, Safan’s ascent in Hollywood ends abruptly right here, despite his other 1988 film getting a Best Actor Oscar nod. For wide theatrical releases, it was just a few more for Nick Castle and one more for Ramon Menendez after this (all terrible). Mind boggling. By contrast, a comparable composer at the time - Alan Silvestri - has scored 75 major theatrical films between 1988 and now!
The CD: The 1988 Varese CD is long OOP. It came back in 2015 as part of a deluxe Elm Street boxset with those warblesome extras. But in Safan’s section of the booklet, they printed the wrong liner notes under a misspelling of his name. ‘Craif’ had to sign this page during a big promotional event. But, on a positive note... maybe the labels involved (a few) felt like they owed him one, and the Safan renaissance kicks off bigtime. We’ve been spoiled ever since, so all is forgiven.
Safan’s account of this score appears in the book Scored To Death 2. It’s pretty good and also covers Wolfen and Nightmares (and the usual biggies).
https://www.silmanjamespress.com/shop/filmmaking-directing/scored-to-death-2/
TRIVIA: Renny Harlin would go on to make Die Hard 2. Safan’s first ever score (for an unreleased short called The Demon’s Daughter) was for John McTiernan, director of Die Hard. Neither hired Safan again. Everything could have turned out so differently.
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Posted: |
Jul 11, 2022 - 11:10 AM
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By: |
McD
(Member)
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#7 (of #30)
Southern Cross LXECD705 [1980s] ***** (25 mins, 32 mins with songs)
Intrada MAF7066 [1995] ***** (47 mins)
Intrada MAF7139 [2015] ** (64 mins)
Intrada MAF7171 [2022] * (64 mins)
Best Track: Into The Starscape
So, it’s Safan’s most loved score in 7th.
Inevitably for a sci-fi score at the time, this is firmly in the John Williams mould. Safan (and many listeners) note his approach is more Sibelius than Holst. Can’t speak for the Sibelius personally. I had planned to sample it before commenting, but Elm Street 4 was all the Finnish I could handle this week. Holst still features though, and is quoted directly at the end of Death Blossom.
It’s definitely one of the best scores of that era, and no matter how many times I hear it, I still feel like cheering right at the end. It’s such a shame Safan never got to do anything like it again.
Sonic issues aside, it’s debatable how much of this score you need to own. The first release feels like a highlight reel, and the second never lags, but also doesn’t feel like it needs a further expansion.
The two Safan songs are a huge loss though. Catchy 1980s productions with good vocals. A third Safan song by a female singer only pops up in a rare Safan compilation. The track was originally placed in the ‘Celine Dion’ spot over the end credits until they thought better of it. All three songs have truly awful lyrics with sci-fi allusions. Benson, Arizona these ain’t.
The songs are buried in the film. Which is decent enough, very derivative and surprisingly funny (with a villain too ridiculous for Flash Gordon). Director and composer are still hopeful of a sequel!
A book of the written score is currently in production.
THE DISCS: The first two releases are excellent. The next two are not.
1st Release: (1980s): 25 mins of score highlights - not a dull note - and good quality renditions of Safan’s two uptempo pop songs. So for Safan fans, it’s a must-own.
2nd release: (1995): 47 mins of expanded score only, with good sound.
3rd release: (2015): The whole score. I didn’t get this at the time as it was an expansion of an expansion with missing songs (and online forums claimed the sound was worse than 20 years earlier). I have it now. It’s dreadful.
4th release: (2022): A ‘do-over’ of their 2015 release. Intrada get absolutely everything wrong from bad printing (the spine is all over the show, and the booklet is twice as thick as last time and wont survive more than a few ‘flips’), the wrong artist is named in the Notes, and no one listened to the darn thing again. Full of glitches where better sounding files were easily available.
Stick with the 1985 or 1995 releases.
TRIVIA: One of the French Horn players (per the liner notes) is Brad Warnaar. He would become Safan’s main orchestrator for a decade after this, replacing Alf Clausen who is on orchestrator duties here.
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My favorite Safan score, and IMO his magnum opus. But what audio glitches are you talking about on the 2CD? I don't remember anyone mentioning them before...
Yavar
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Ah, so not something you consider to be in Intrada's control?
Yavar
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Posted: |
Jul 17, 2022 - 2:50 PM
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By: |
McD
(Member)
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#9 (of 30)
LADY BEWARE [1987]
Scotti Bros D32Y0128 (1987) **** (16 mins, + 5 songs)
Dragon’s Domain DDR748 (2020) ***** (46 mins, no songs)
Best Track: A Sad Phone Call
After his work on the Twilight Zone, I would have been itching to hear Safan do a thriller. In 1987 he did two, this and The Stranger. Lady Beware is the superior, and the only one so far to be released. It’s another moody synclavier classic, this time with added strings which just bolster the atmosphere even further.
The 2019 expansion is a revelation, but I have to admit I don’t love all of it unconditionally. I haven’t done so, but you could prune several percussion-heavy tracks to maximise the listening experience. Such a thing would be a few places higher, and something I intend to get around to. One of his synclavier settings sounds retro too, even for 1987. If I had tried to date this, I would say Summer of ‘85 at the latest.
But don’t get me wrong, this is Safan at the top of his game and a marvellous release. This score should be part of his legend. Especially as it's treated so well in the film. The songs are limited to one 10 minute sequence around the middle, and Safan is turned up to the max for the rest of it.
The Film: Finally, one which makes me love the music even more. This is the Rocky of Department Store Window Dresser movies. And I got a fanboy kick out of seeing actor Cotter Smith and Safan back together. Diane Lane’s window displays are genuinely exciting (seriously), as is she, and it’s wonderfully atmospheric and erotic from start to finish.
There’s one huge flaw though. For a film about attraction, it doesn’t follow the basics. Diane Lane’s stalker is at her store, her bus, her train, her house. There’s even eye contact... the problem is he’s chiseled to the eyeballs. She would have clocked him each and every time but never does. Open Water had the same problem... every man on that boat would have been hyper-aware the stunning blonde had not come back onboard after the dive. But hey, I really enjoyed this film, which actually lives up to that CD cover art.
ON DISC: Lady Beware has been released twice. First, a 1987 Japan-only CD with 16 minutes of score and 5 songs, none of which had any credited Safan involvement. And then 46 minutes of score only from Dragon’s Domain to their usual exceptional standard. It’s limited to 500 units and still available:
https://buysoundtrax.myshopify.com/products/lady-beware-original-soundtrack-by-craig-safan-cd-comes-with-digital-download-24-bit-wav-mp3-digital-pdf?_pos=1&_sid=19a86e0d5&_ss=r
The LADY BEWARE THEME Credit Mystery - Warning: For Hardcore Pedants Only
I thought the original release was completely redundant when Dragon’s Domain’s amazing expansion appeared...
...until the movie End Credits. Safan is listed as co-producer on the song Lady Beware by David Hallyday, son of ‘The French Elvis’ Johnny Hallyday. This contradicts the 1987 CD - the first thing I ever bought on Ebay but never listened to the songs. No Safan, no point. But now I have, and there’s suddenly a credits problem.
The song Lady Beware and the score track Lady Beware Theme are musically identical. Safan either wrote neither or both, not just one, per the CD credits. This ‘Lady Beware Theme’ is notably relegated to Track 4 and given the new title A Glass of Wine and a Bath’ by Dragon’s Domain. The excellent set of new liner notes don’t mention Hallyday at all, and skips over the track in the score breakdown (Hallyday’s producer is credited as ‘Music Consultant’). Still, the cue they elevate to main theme is the more accurate pick.
So, did Safan or Hallyday write that theme? It seems certain listening now that the track began life as a song. Safan wrote the theme song for The Stranger the same year, but it’s no closer in style than the other Hallyday numbers. So the final word goes to the credits. Film music credits aren’t as fought over as song credits. And there is the matter of adding Safan as song co-producer (but not writer) in the film - where the song is never heard! Yet it was supposed to be. Diane Lane plays a cassette and takes a bath. In a rare moment of sanity, the producers went for Safan’s much sexier version.
I reckon, everything considered (but especially that film credit), the ‘Lady Beware Theme’ is likely Hallyday’s.
TRIVIA: Safan would, with his very last score, get to do one more thriller with Time of Fear (2002). It sounds like a deeper exploration of a cue from this year’s The Stranger and was easily the best work of his last decade. It will turn up in the Downloads Ranking as it’s available in a different guise. I think I’d rank it evenly with this one.
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Posted: |
Jul 17, 2022 - 4:15 PM
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By: |
GoblinScore
(Member)
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Adding love to this series, McD - great job (and thanks a mil to KMG for a shout!), and getting me to replay my Safan-alogue.
I still hope for a Nightmares album one day, brilliant stuff.
Met the man at a Hackman FFM, and got hollered at by a handler since I took to long chatting - very affable and kind soul, Safan, grateful I had a few minutes with him to talk.
Odd, but cool, to see Warning Sign & Freddy 4 loved on here - two of my faves, but typically maligned by most. See past the samples people....some intelligent and accessible writing happening here.
Chairs
...and you are really swaying me on these WTF concept albums that, despite the name, I had no clue about. They all sound bloody interesting now.
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Posted: |
Jul 19, 2022 - 1:47 PM
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By: |
McD
(Member)
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#10 (of #30)
Phantom of the Opera [2019]
Intrada INT7169 (2022) ***** (77 mins)
Best Track: The Chandelier
15 years after his last film, Safan was commissioned out of the blue to score Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid (1921) in 2017. The Phantom of the Opera followed two years later. Both films with their new music are online.
The danger in scoring a popular silent is many fans already have definitive music in their heads. In this case, some said Safan would never top Roy Budd (it might be a great score, but the bit I dipped into was lifted wholesale from Elfman’s Batman). I felt the same about James Bernard’s stunning work on Nosferatu (1922). Then saw the film with Art Zoyd’s abrasive electronica. A different ball game, but it still worked wonders. They both have their place.
As does this. 77 wonderful minutes, it’s a fast-paced monster of a score. My personal highlight is the opera singer coming in for Gounod’s Faust (as performed on screen) then being dragged into the score proper. This is just wonderful stuff.
For full appreciation watch the movie. It’s great, especially that Lon Chaney reveal and the colour sequence (which wouldn’t have worked a fraction as well in B&W). One of Safan’s ambitions is to see this on DVD/Bluray. I hope that still comes off.
The liner notes - by Safan himself - are good, but only document his journey til 2019. The recording of it in 2021 isn’t mentioned. Produced in lockdown, manipulating the parts using synths and soloists recorded remotely, this is a different breed. Some claimed to hear and dislike the new sound. I’ve listened to both the full orchestra live and Safan’s back-to-back more than once. The new one is cleaner, tighter, as detailed, and every bit as good to my ears. Like many corners cut during lockdown, it could become the new normal.
Safan isn’t taking an easier path as he gets older. This and L.A Ex are by far the most complex projects/recordings of his career. And they’ve been mainly a one-man show. Take a bow, that fella.
The CD remains in print:
https://store.intrada.com/s.nl/it.A/id.12576/.f?sc=16&category=23402
The Film with Live Score (2019):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UjSz3IzDpA
The Film with Recorded Score (2022):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6hQdKX4tZY
Note: Safan actually recuts these films for length and pacing before scoring them!
TRIVIA: The amazing second act continues... his third silent movie commission is for Buster Keaton’s The General and it debuts August 4 2022 at Marina del Rey.
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