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The Silva Screen Records'
catalog includes a lot of soundtrack compilations, and usually I don't pay
too much attention to them. For veteran score collectors these releases are
redundant at best, besides the fact that they are, in its vast majority,
re-recordings with some significant differences from the original
performances. This said, The City of Prague Philharmonic is a terrific
orchestra and, at October 26th, the label will release a 4-CD box set called
The Definitive Horror Music Collection
- well, being a horror fan myself at last they caught my attention.
This new 60 tracks release
features themes and suites
from
Horror movies and TV shows spanning 90 years of Cinema, from the 1922 silent
Nosferatu all the way
through to the 2009 release Drag Me To Hell. In
between we have genre classics like The
Shining, Halloween,
The Exorcist, Suspiria,
A Nightmare On Elm Street and Poltergeist.
There are orchestral (the vast majority performed by The City of Prague
Orchestra conducted by Nick Raine and James Fitzpatrick) and electronic scores
(various performers) galore, and it seems to me that a
good portion of the recorded material was extracted from pre-existing
compilations albuns. Anyway the sound quality of the digital recordings
shines.
The orchestral
performances are, at the most part, very good, especially in recent pieces
like the excellent Drag me to Hell
(Christopher Young) and Cloverfield
(Michael Giacchino).
For
new score addicts though, this collection is a good introduction to the work of
masters like Franz Waxman (Bride of Frankenstein),
Bernard Herrmann (Twisted Nerve),
Elmer Bernstein (Ghostbusters),
Dimitri Tiomkim (The Thing From Another World)
and James Bernard (Hammer's Dracula
movies),
and even fan favourites John Williams (War of The Worlds),
Jerry Goldsmith (Poltergeist), James
Horner (Aliens), Alan Silvestri (Predator)
and Hans Zimmer (The Ring). But
there's more.
Additionally
we have here a
nice pack of John Carpenter's memorable electronic themes, Chris Young's
Hellraiser scores, music from cult
films like Phantasm and Duel
(here a rare excerpt from Billy Goldenberg's score for the first Steven
Spielberg film), a couple of themes from highly popular TV shows (Buffy
The Vampire Slayer and Dexter),
and... well, the track listing speaks for itself:
CD1
1. Drag Me to Hell - End Titles - 7:16
2. Twilight - Edward At Her Bed / Bella's Lullaby - 3:33
3. Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in) - Eli's
Theme 2:42
4. Cloverfield - Roar! - 5:36
5. Sunshine - Adagio in D Minor - 4:27
6. Zodiac - Graysmith's Theme - 2:56
7. Dexter - 1:44
8. Pan's Labyrinth - The Labyrinth - 4:03
9. King Kong - Suite - 13:47
10. War Of The Worlds - Suite 7:29
11. Saw - Hello Zep - 3:01
12. 28 Days Later - In The House-In A Heartbeat - 4:21
13. The Ring - This Is Going To Hurt - 2:51
14. The Mummy Returns - Main Theme - 5:25
15. Hannibal - Vide Cor Meum 3:03
CD2
1. The Mummy - The Sand Volcano / Love Theme - 2:55
2. Sleepy Hollow - End Titles - 3:13
3. The Haunting - The Carousel / End Titles - 2:55
4. The Sixth Sense - Malcolm Is Dead 5:22
5. Buffy The Vampire Slayer - 1:06
6. Village Of The Damned - March Of The Children - 6:35
7. Bram Stoker's Dracula - The Storm - 4:24
8. Army Of Darkness - Prologue and Building The
Deathcoaster - 4:32
9. The Witches Of Eastwick - Dance Of The Witches - 4:37
10. Predator (Edit) - 3:59
11. Hellraiser Suite - 5:55
12. Hellbound: Hellraiser II Suite - 8:44
13. They Live - 3:25
14. Aliens - Prelude / Ripley's Rescue - 5:55
15. Ghostbusters - Main Theme 3:14
CD3
1. Nightmare On Elm Street - Main Theme - 4:16
2. Christine - Bad To The Bone - 4:56
3. Poltergeist - Main Theme - 4:21
The Thing -4:31
5. Halloween II - Main Theme - 4:33
6. The Fog - 4:00
7. Dressed To Kill - The Gallery - 6:04
8. The Shining - Music For Strings, Percussion and
Celesta (excerpt) - 7:02
9. Dracula - Main Titles & Storm - 4:56
10. Phantasm Main Theme -4:00
11. Alien - The Nostromo / End Title - 3:46
12. Halloween - Main Theme (Mix 1) - 2:39
13. The Fury - 2:55
14. Suspiria -6:05
15. Exorcist II: The Heretic - Regan's Theme - 2:40
CD4
1. The Omen - Suite For Choir And Orchestra - 3:56
2. Young Frankenstein - Transylvanian Lullaby - 4:09
3. The Exorcist - Tubular Bells - 6:02
4. Duel - The Café / Truck Attack - 5:09
5. Taste The Blood Of Dracula - The Young Lovers / Ride
To The Ruined Church - 6:27
6. Rosemary's Baby - Lullaby - 2:42
7. Twisted Nerve Suite - 5:35
8. The Devil Rides Out - The Power Of Evil - 2:04
9. Dracula, Prince Of Darkness - Suite - 5:07
10. The Haunting - The History Of Hill House - 4:36
11. Dracula - Main Title & Finale - 7:30
12. Horrors of the Black Museum - 3:34
13. The Thing From Another World - Main Theme - 2:06
14. Bride Of Frankenstein - Creation Of The Female
Monster - 8:43
15. Nosferatu Overture -
3:03
As you see, it is debatable whether this
collection can be considered definitive. But it is undeniable that there are
almost 5 hours of great music in this set for horror and film music fans to
enjoy. |
