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| This is a comments thread about FSM CD: The Illustrated Man |
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It's a very subtle work. As I remember them, the liner notes stated JG had about a year to mull over his input. In other words, it wasn't cranked out as fast as many he worked on. I really do think it shows. The film itself I haven't seen in yonks - it had something of a baroque feel to it. At the very least it comes off as atypical in style and execution.
There are some really great moments, such as the shock horror of The House Has Gone.
It's in the Leonard Rosenman school in some ways.
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Posted: |
Mar 25, 2012 - 10:03 AM
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By: |
ToneRow
(Member)
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As much as I dig Goldsmith, I can't stand "Illustrated Man"...
I remember listening to the audio samples and not being impressed. And I love Goldsmith's 60s and early 70s stuff. Maybe they picked the wrong tracks for the samples.
I'll have to listen to the entire thing before I decide to buy it.
THE ILLUSTRATED MAN is an interior score.
Unlike THE SATAN BUG or PLANET OF THE APES, which are highly rhythmic and depict physical action, THE ILLUSTRATED MAN reflects the psychological states of the characters (like an Alex North score for a filmed play). It is also a serial atonal score despite the lyricism of its main theme.
And that's not all. THE ILLUSTRATED MAN is also monothematic and, in the best sense of the term, minimalist. Almost all the musical material stems from its 4-note cell and its "theme & variation" approach gets filtered through a myriad of instrumental color combinations from within the chamber-like ensemble.
It may sound thin to some listeners and chock-full of non-sequiturs which seem to go nowhere, but THE ILLUSTRATED MAN has a lot going on within itself with respect to combining separate branches of academic music.
It's as if Jerry Goldsmith took an American South folk tune and minced it with Olivier Messiaen's serial-atonal colors, Morton Feldman's minimalism & a dash of early 20th-century neo-classicism.
There's also vintage '68 Moog, wordless female vocalise, echoplexed flutes, and the sitar!
THE ILLUSTRATED MAN's music is as kaleidoscopic and hallucinatory as the "skin illustrations" all over Rod Steiger's body. The only other score by Goldsmith which achieves this dreamlike merging between melody and atonality would be THE REINCARNATION OF PETER PROUD, in my opinion.
I am curious, Onya, what aspect(s) of this ILLUSTRATED MAN didn't attract you?
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Posted: |
Mar 25, 2012 - 10:36 AM
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By: |
OnyaBirri
(Member)
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There's also vintage '68 Moog, wordless female vocalise, echoplexed flutes, and the sitar!
OK, you piqued my interest.
I am curious, Onya, what aspect(s) of this ILLUSTRATED MAN didn't attract you?
Honestly, I can't remember. I will have to listen to the samples again.
But I will reiterate, as I have elsewhere, it is frustrating when these labels provide samples of only like 5 or 6 tracks out of 30 and then I have to go elsewhere to sample the entire score before I buy it. I don't know why they can't give you a sample of everything like Amazon does.
I will revisit. Thanks for the nudge!
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I like the movie and accept its flaws. There's a lot to love about it. The score...mmmm. Fantastic!
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I think Goldsmith had many sub-divisions in his score styles and ILLUSTRATED MAN exists in that place alongside things like SECONDS and CASSANDRA CROSSING. There is a warmth there, but it's icy cold. I know that makes no sense, but it's how I feel when hearing scores like that by him. There's melody. There's emotion. But it's somehow deathly and morose. No doubt Goldsmith meant it all the way. Whatever, it's damned effective and it lingers.
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There is a warmth there, but it's icy cold. I know that makes no sense, but it's how I feel when hearing scores like that by him. There's melody. There's emotion. But it's somehow deathly and morose. No doubt Goldsmith meant it all the way. Whatever, it's damned effective and it lingers.
It does make sense.
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This score is all over the map, dynamic-wise, style-wise, instrumentation-wise. It makes it a treat to listen to.
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SAE seems to be down to 5 copies. They might have a bunch more, for all I know. But just in case...now might be a good time to pick one up.
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hate to bump the thread up over this kind of question, but I bought a used copy and the bottom side of disc looks like it was burned. Worse, you can see alot of concentric circles which reminds me of badly burned cdrs. However, some text markings on the bottom suggest a factory made disc. Does anyone recall this, or can check their disc for me?
Just checked mine. Pristine.
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h Does anyone recall this, or can check their disc for me?
Mine does have an blank outer circle of about half an inch, where the recorded area obviously ends and the rest is flat shinier plastic. I compared it to The Traveling Executioner, a FSM disc sitting next to it, and it was the same. I guess they were just short CDs with extra space.
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Ah, great, thank you David for the confirmation....unless you bought your copy used. 
Oh, no, it was direct from FSM!
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