© 2009 BBC Warner DOCTOR WHO - THE KEY TO TIME Special Edition

CDs:

What iF Picks: 'DOCTOR WHO: SERIES 4' ONE OF THE TOP SOUNDTRACKS TO OWN FOR FEBRUARY 2009

Also worth picking up: THE CASSANDRA CROSSING, THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE, DARK RIDE, GOLD, JCVD, TAKEN, QUEST FOR FIRE and THE UNBORN

By DANIEL SCHWEIGER , Soundtrack Editor
Published 2/25/2009

1) THE CASSANDRA CROSSING

(c) 2009 Buysoundtrax

Price: $24.95

What is it?: Prometheus flicks out another long-awaited bottle cap from the Jerry Goldsmith collection, and the scent is pure action effervescence.

Why should you buy it?: When the maestro finally caught a ride on the 70’s disaster craze, his reward was a first class ticket on a plague-filled locomotive. And Goldsmith certainly caught the fever, cooking up one of his most deliriously over-the-top scores as strange wind instruments mix it up with the kind of Ostinato voodoo that Jerry did so well. Imagine RAMBO kicking ass on THE PLANET OF THE APES, and you’ll hear the full-throttle inspiration that the composer brought to this terrifically entertaining trainwreck.  

Extra Special: A second CD contains CASSANDRA’s original, long out-of-print album presentation, with the added bonus of hearing Anne Turkel singing “I’m Still on My Way” - sans instrumental backup. Strike up the band, quickly.


2) THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE

(c) 2009 Screen Archives

Price: $29.95

What is it?: Producers John Morgan, Anna Bonn and William Stromberg follow up their smashing re-do of Max Steiner’s SHE with one of the composer’s most rousing action scores, as Errol Flynn and his noble cavalry of 600 ride to their smashingly symphonic destiny.

Why should you buy it?: Given that it was Russian soldiers who made mincemeat of the noble Brits, it might be odd that The Moscow Symphony Orchestra has been recruited to pay new orchestral tribute to Steiner’s swashbuckling love letter to Hollywood, and historical bravery.  But political correctness be darned, as Stromberg’s capable baton musters his instrumental troops for furious battle, glamorous romance and percussive exotica, with the most ferocious bits sounding off like close cousins to Steiner’s work on KING KONG. But none of BRIGADE’s instrumental charges hits with the wondrous fury of its titular cue, nine minutes of clashing strings and brass that doubtlessly left a whole bunch of Muscovites gasping for breath and nursing sore arms.

Extra Special: Spread out over two CD’s, this freshly mustered BRIGADE confirms Tribute Film Classics as the label to beat when it comes to putting new life into the movies’ most beloved scores, lavish enthusiasm that’s also display with a terrifically informative liner note booklet.


3) DOCTOR WHO: SERIES 4

(c) 2009 Silva America

Price: $15.95

What is it: The third WHO album’s even more of a charm for composer Murray Gold, who’s been providing music for David Tennant’s Tardis since the show’s sensational reboot in 2005. And as the Doctor’s adventures grew even more cosmically ambitious in its fourth season, so did Gold’s stylistic time shifts. Now seven hours of score for this run gets distilled into 76 impressive minutes

Why should you buy it?: The wonderfully threadbare musical days of DOCTOR WHO are long over, as Gold’s work with the BBC orchestra (conducted by TORCHWOOD composer Ben Foster) bring a big screen majesty to our favorite Galifrean’s sound, from the stirring “Voyage of the Damned” suite (complete with heavenly voice and organ) to the cosmically eventful chorus and symphony for “The Greatest Story Never Told.” Even “The Dark and Endless Dalek Night” gets a Carmina Burana-worthy treatment. And when a wall of strings aren’t representing, the Doctor’s music changes with Gold’s rock grooves, medieval guitars, speed beats and the playfully out-of-tune pianos of Davros. It’s a continuous burst of creativity that’s pure Gold.  

Extra Special: A colorful accompanying booklet allows the composer to humorously break down the CD’s copious tracks for WHO fans, with an added print interview with Gold and Foster to boot.


4) GOLD

(c) 2009 Intrada

Price: $19.99

What is it: Elmer Bernstein was brought in by Bond editor-turned-director Peter Hunt (ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE) to help Roger Moore tap into his new 007 popularity, here strutting his suave stuff as a South African gold mine manager.  It’s a fun 70’s groove that’s made this into a cult soundtrack for Bernstein collectors, a funky gem that now gets a limited edition release by Intrada.

Why should you buy it?: Perhaps it’s because Bernstein’s scoring a non-Bond Roger Moore that GOLD ends up being more stirred than shaken, with many of the instrumental riffs given over to sensual nightclub stylings and lush, soaring melodies. But there’s still manly action to go around as Bernstein’s brass swings to the fore, as well as a lite African beat and native songs to dig in the African atmosphere.

Extra Special: Though he never had a shot at doing a Bond title, Elmer’s rousing theme song (with lyrics by THUNDERBALL’s Don Black) was the next best thing. To up the pseudo-007 ante, even Maurice Binder’s imagery would accompany Jimmy Helms’ powerhouse belting. Bernstein’s pop chops are also on romantic display, as his soothing tunes for Maureen McGovern and Trevor Chance help Roger Moore seal the deal- though you’ll have to get your own bell bottoms.


5) TAKEN

(c) 2009 Razor and Tie

Price: $18.98  

What is it: An aging operative gets a hip musical groove to tear France apart with while searching for his kidnapped daughter.

Why should you buy it?: Nathaniel Mechaly might not be re-inventing the BOURNE IDENTITY style of scoring international suspense with electronic pads and percussive loops. But the way that his music unleashes Liam Neeson’s mayhem is interesting for its overall subtlety, a suspenseful, sample-heavy sound that’s not to be messed with. Even nicer here are the emotional bits that play the father-daughter bond, affecting melody which gives daddy his license to kick beat-box ass.

Extra Special: A standout end credit song (by a vocalist named “Ghinzu” no less) has an elegant piano segueing to an uptempo rock guitar, socking home the score’s mix of family values and body-blow rhythms.  


Also for Your Consideration:

• DARK RIDE - Christopher Young’s twisted circus spirit (and main theme) possesses his orchestrator-turned-composer Kostas Christides, who pours on the malefic calliope music for this slasher-in-a-funhouse flick. While Chistides’ approach here might seem like a lite spin on Young’s HELLRAISER II score, his protégé shows his own way of creating a strikingly creepy score with distended harmonica riffs and eerily still melodies, all of which make this RIDE into an auspicious opening for a promising composer’s carnival from hell.
• THE GOLDEN SEAL - Though it was score overload that led John Barry to team with Dana Kaproff (WHEN A STRANGER CALLS) for this nature adventure, the two would certainly make beautifully bucolic music together, a collaboration that now gets an Intrada limited release. While Kaproff’s material is more than capable in its mixture of seal sunniness and bad hunter foreboding, there’s no mistaking the lush Barry touch, whose swooning melodies gives the titular mammal a grandeur worthy of DANCES WITH WOLVES, especially with the addition of a harmonica. Flipper would kill to get a score like this.  
  
• JCVD - Lalo Schifrin may have never scored a Jean-Claude Van Damme film. But you’ll hear the next best thing in Gast Waltzing’s fat brass sound, which mostly takes off the action maestro’s score for ENTER THE DRAGON - minus the Orientalisms. It’s a sound that’s in satirical synch with The Muscle from Brussels’ self-deprecating take on himself, as Waltzing’s swaggering, jazzy suspense buffs up an otherwise hapless action hero, who can only for Bruce Lee’s musical mojo after being caught in a bank heist.
  
• JUST BURIED - Whether it’s SIX FEET UNDER or THE LOVED ONE, there’s something about funeral homes that inspires composers to do their black-humored best. Now Darren Fung can add his promising brand of ghoulish quirk to the family plot with JUST BURIED, as he accompanies some murderous undertakers with every stylistic twist from Klezmer music to a thunderous orchestra, as well as a classical concerto that would have Joseph Haydn spinning in his grave. Fung also doesn’t forget to employ such macabre instruments as a harpsichord, dulcimer and (of course) a pipe organ to keep this score one lively corpse. 
  
• MAX AND HELEN / THE OASIS - You can contrast Christopher Young’s early way with haunted melody and experimental weirdness in this two-for-one Buysoundtrax release. First up is MAX AND HELEN, whose bells, lyrical strings and a ghostly female voice subtly convey the overpowering tragedy of The Holocaust. Next are the spinning sustains, tribal percussion and flutes of THE OASIS, which is exactly the kind of stuff you’d expect to hear as your water-hungry mind boils in the middle of the Mexican desert. Between these two scores, you’ll hear strikingly disparate examples of a composer’s burgeoning talent.
  
• QUEST FOR FIRE - Sure raging orchestras didn’t exist back in the days of one million years B.C. But that didn’t stop Philippe Sarde from composing the caveman equivalent of “The Rites of Spring,” an amazing score whose screaming brass, grinding strings and ancient ethnic instruments convey the horror, and beauty of surviving among mammoths, saber tooth tigers, and proto-humans. So be sure to pick up this beautifully re-mastered import from Universal France, which comes with additional music and hilariously frank comments from director Jean-Jacques Annaud about Sarde’s hubris- the kind of wild man creativity that made him one of the early 80’s best composers, and one who will hopefully return from France to Hollywood before the next ice age.
  
• TAKING CHANCE - You might be expecting another gloomily patriotic salute to the fallen of Iraq and Afghanistan as Kevin Bacon’s soldier accompanies a soldier back home for burial. Thankfully, composer Marcelo Zarvos defies those clichés here, creating orchestral music that’s more meditative than sad, more heartland than Middle East flashback. It’s a lush, lyrical mood that could even be called optimistic, as Zarvos mostly treads lightly on the unbearable emotions, Though I might wish these films took some kind of political stand, CHANCE is a score that soars by remaining off that tear-wringing soapbox.   
  
• THE UNBORN - The Jewish faith at long last gets its EXORCIST in this wackily entertaining possession flick, for which Ramin Djawadi contributes an uptempo, sample-heavy horror score. Though there’s lots of big, effectively crashing scares, it’s Djawadi’s smaller, melodic stuff that provides to be the creepiest, with a an echoing electric guitar, bell percussion and ghostly voice making the score’s more intimate moments play like a latter-day NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. About the only thing missing is a Shofar on the soundtrack, which just might show up if Jumby comes back for more mayhem that only the Kabbalah can control.
  
  

Find these soundtracks at these .com’s:  Amazon, Buysoundtrax, Intrada, iTunes, Screenarchives and Varese Sarabande 

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