CD Review: CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS II soundtrack

By DANIEL SCHWEIGER 01/08/2013
CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS II soundtrack | ©2012 Activision

When so many kill-crazy videogame scores are basically comprised of rock guitars blasting over shock waves of electric percussion, it’s nice to have one mega-popular franchise offering far more than you’d expect from the usual musical campaign. Not that there’s any less of the shredding action stylings that have become as popular on consoles as theater screens. But it’s just how interesting Jack Wall makes the nearly 2 ½ hours of score offered on CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS 2 that merits attention, especially when divorced from the game’s bazooka-level sound design. A hardened warrior of such weapon-packed games as […]Read On »


COMMENTS (1)

CD Review: A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM soundtrack (1,000 expanded edition)

By DANIEL SCHWEIGER 01/07/2013
A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM (1,000 expanded edition) soundtrack | ©2012 Quartet Records

In the annals of musical comedy theater, few productions remain as joyfully historic as 1962’s A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM wherein WEST SIDE STORY composer / lyricist Stephen Sondheim and writers Burt Shevelove (“No No Nanette”) and Larry Gelbart (M*A*S*H) drew from the farces of the ancient playwright Plautus for a toga-switching, cross-dressing, door-slamming farce that showed Romans did indeed have a sense of humor when not weren’t staging far-less funny fights in the Coliseum. Hilariously adapted for the screen in 1966 by Richard Lester, the king of such antic English films as HELP! and […]Read On »


COMMENTS (0)

CD Review: HAWK THE SLAYER soundtrack (1,000 edition)

By DANIEL SCHWEIGER 01/04/2013
HAWK THE SLAYER soundtrack | ©2012 Buysoundtrax

There’s perhaps no finer smell of cult cheese then an 80s so-bad-it’s good sword and sorcery movie, a genre that Buysoundtrax seems to love above all other labels as they follow up THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER with this hilariously entertaining gem that started off that decade. But where Albert Pyun’s movie drew from the Hammer ranks by getting VAMPIRE CIRCUS‘ David Whitaker to compose a classically symphonic score, HAWK THE SLAYER director Terry Marcel had LUST FOR A VAMPIRE‘s Harry Robertson (who also produced the picture itself) melds disco with an orchestra for a score of immense guilty pleasures. […]Read On »


COMMENTS (0)

CD Review: HITCHCOCK soundtrack

By DANIEL SCHWEIGER 01/01/2013
HITCHCOCK soundtrack | ©2012 Sony Classical

If Gus Van Sant’s near frame-for-frame modern recreation of PSCYHO ranks as one of the most unneeded and unnecessary remakes of a classic ever, at least it allowed Danny Elfman the opportunity to do a slavishly spot-on re-performance of Bernard Herrmann’s infamous score in the new film HITCHCOCK. Now in supreme act of meta-composing, Elfman gets to go behind the curtains of the Bates Motel to musically unmask the “real” master of suspense and the tense production of his pet project, with a voice that echoes Herrmann’s as much as it does Elfman’s own penchant for blackly ironic comedy. Far […]Read On »


COMMENTS (1)

CD Review: JACK REACHER soundtrack

By DANIEL SCHWEIGER 12/31/2012
JACK REACHER soundtrack | ©2012 La La Land Records

If you’re thinking of the musical roller coaster excitement that filled last Xmas’ MISSION IMPOSSIBLE picture, then you don’t know JACK. JACK REACHER, that is. That’s because Tom Cruise means business as an ex-homicide military detective with his own brand of law. As a result, Joe Kraemer’s darkly intriguing score resonates with near-continuous, tightly-clenched brooding that plays like the wind-up to a gut punch. Pretty much absent from the big screen after delivering a noteworthy, cult score for his pal Christopher McQuarrie’s WAY OF THE GUN back in 2000 (not that Kraemer hasn’t been busy since on stuff like FEMME […]Read On »


COMMENTS (0)

Interview: SAVAGES composer Adam Peters goes from Echo and the Bunnymen to soundtracks

By DANIEL SCHWEIGER 07/19/2012
SAVAGES / ©2012 Universal Pictures

Oliver Stone may have started out as one of the cinemas great agent provocateurs. However, over nearly the last two decades, the frenzied abandon of Stone’s work has felt more long in the tooth than anything- just plain tired if you will. Yet if we were expecting Stone’s auspicious career to end with a mellow Hollywood wipeout, leave it to SAVAGES‘ border-hopping tsunami of sex, drugs and violence to mark the return of celluloid excessiveness’ Big Kahuna. And playing musical wingman to the wildly entertaining ride is another seasoned rebel named Adam Peters. A major force behind the raucous rhythms […]Read On »


COMMENTS (1)

CD Review: BERNIE soundtrack

By DANIEL SCHWEIGER 07/16/2012
BERNIE soundtrack | ©2012 Lakeshore Records

Having assembled such varied soundtrack compilations as DAZED AND CONFUSED and BEFORE SUNRISE, Richard Linklater slices another winning piece of musical eccentricity. In the true-crime case of BERNIE, it’s from the big plate of his Texan soil, carving out a slice of home-fried country as opposed to the city SLACKER indie rock section. Jack Black has a new Tenacious D. album out. And if his diehard fans enjoy the singer’s hell-blazing approach to the ways of metal, they might even be more intrigued with Black’s subversively holy stylings as an effete funeral home manager with both a heart, and throat […]Read On »


COMMENTS (0)

CD Review: MEN IN BLACK 3 soundtrack

By DANIEL SCHWEIGER 07/13/2012
MEN IN BLACK 3 soundtrack | ©2012 Sony Records

Who ya gonna call when it’s time to bust some illegal aliens? The answer of course for team Tommy and Will is Danny Elfman, who dons his dark sunglasses and suit to hit the trail with the Men in Black in MEN IN BLACK 3 soundtrack. That proves to be a real charm the third time out for this time-travelling entry that gives a huge, rejuvenating boost to the franchise after an unholy second film (not that Elfman’s music has ever been worse for the wear). Time travel’s the McGuffin that brings Agent J and K back to the 60’s […]Read On »


COMMENTS (0)

CD Review: STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE soundtrack (limited edition)

By DANIEL SCHWEIGER 07/12/2012
STAR TREK THE MOTION PICTURE soundtrack | ©2012 Paramount

In the blaze of Holy Grail soundtrack releases that just might finally represent the glorious supernova of physical CD’s, it’s easy to start taking one treasure after the other for granted. But when a title of truly momentous proportions is unearthed, it’s not only time to give thanks and bask at what might be the last best time in history to buy movie scores, but to also marvel at the power of music itself beyond trying to pick up the seemingly unceasing cascade of “bottle caps” – as Jerry Goldsmith liked to call the rewards of the insatiable collector mindset. […]Read On »


COMMENTS (1)

CD Review: CONQUEST 1453 soundtrack

By DANIEL SCHWEIGER 07/03/2012
CONQUEST 1453 soundtrack | ©2012 Movie Score Media

Turkish nationalism gets a powerhouse score from English composer Benjamin Wallfisch with CONQUEST 1453, who turns sultan Mehmet II’s invasion of Constantinople during that titular year into a first-rate, rah-rah epic that’s made his country cheer like never before at their cinemas. It’s a considerable step up in musical scale for Wallfisch from the idiosyncratic music he provided for the exceptional prison break movie THE ESCAPIST. With CONQUEST 1453, it’s all about bringing out the symphonic artillery, conjuring a siege of heroically mighty themes, raging brass, beating drums, a biblical chorus, and proud ethnic identity – music mighty enough to […]Read On »


COMMENTS (0)
  1. Pages:
  3. 1
  4. ...
  5. 17
  6. 18
  7. 19
  8. 20
  9. 21
  10. 22
  11. 23
  12. ...
  13. 28
Increase your website traffic with Attracta.com

Dr.5z5 Open Feed Directory

bottom round