The release of Alan
Silvestri's score to Cast Away presented a small problem. Out of
the entire movie, there was only 14 minutes of music (not counting the
Russian "source" music) which consisted of the same cue appearing twice.
Considering that it would definitely not be a good choice to attempt a
major release with that limited amount of material, Varese really had no
choice but to issue it compilation style.
The compilation clearly
states that it is a presentation of "The films of Robert Zemeckis, the
music of Alan Silvestri." I think this really keeps the whole compilation
more cohesive than if it had just been a collection of Alan Silvestri's
work. Of course, a lot of his career has been spent scoring the films of
Robert Zemeckis so this doesn't narrow it down too much, but it
does work for what it is. The material covers quite a wide range of styles
and it is all pretty good with the exception of Romancing the Stone
track. I just hate that cheesy sax music from the 80s, I really do. But
otherwise, the music on here is quite pleasing. The suite from Who
Framed Roger Rabbit might excite some people who would like to hear
the score without going through the pain of trying to actually grab a
copy, and the samples from the Back to the Future scores do a good
job of conveying the feel of those scores. Thankfully, Varese saw fit to
include the original recordings while going nowhere near the
re-recordings that they have released in the past.
Even with the nice layout,
this album seems more like a primer for those who may not have heard much
of Silvestri's music and would like to sample some cues before investing
in a bunch of different soundtracks. The only real selling point for this
CD for Silvestri fans would have to be the track from Cast Away. It
is a pleasant little piece of music that also includes a bunch of lulling
ocean sound effects. It is a very good track, though whether it is
worth the price of a full CD depends on how much you fell in love with it
in the film.
In the end, this is a good
compilation, but only recommended for purchase by those who have a reason
to. ***
