The Adventures of Conan:

Sword and Sorcery Spectacular

(Basil Poledouris)

Conducted by Basil Poledouris

Performed by the London Studio Symphony Orchestra and Voices

Orchestrated by Greg McRitchie

Produced by John J. Alcantar III, Ford A. Thaxton, and Gary Goddard

        Super Tracks Music Group
 

     Like most other self-respecting soundtrack fans, I love Basil Poledouris' score to the original Conan the Barbarian.  I mean, what is there not to love about the terrific themes and stunning chorus work? So it was with anticipation that I popped in this newly released music from Poledouris' "score" to the live-action stage show of The Adventures of Conan that appeared at the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park in 1983. Everything I expected out of this music was generally met with the exception of one major letdown. 

    Before I get to the main problem I had with this entry into the musical Conan history, I'll give a rundown of what this is exactly. The CD consists of two tracks, the first being the the audio (dialogue and a few sound effects here and there) of the original show, with the second track being the isolated score. Interestingly, the isolated score portion runs more than twice as long as the first track. Perhaps Poledouris scored a lengthy selection to allow those associated with the show to cut the score around the action and pick just what they needed. The dialogue track is really cheesy with plenty of over-the-top acting, and I was a little annoyed at not being completely able to follow what was going on. Also, the isolated score track is nicely mastered, but the dialogue track does contain a noticeable analog hiss to it. That's not a big problem really, since at least the isolated music portion sounds great. And that's what we're really interested in, right?

     The score itself bears all that would be expected of big orchestral fantasy music. It has everything from nice pastoral cues to rousing action sequences backed with a full chorus. The chorus is used really well, but I prefer the work in the original as opposed to this. The music pretty much runs the gauntlet of what was found in Conan the Barbarian, and the running time of sixteen minutes is just enough to do justice to the different sections.

     I have not yet reviewed Poledouris' sequel score, Conan the Destroyer, but from what I've heard, he doesn't really includes any of the themes from the original, but instead merely hints at them. Well, that leads in to the biggest problem I have with the music. It is really good, but I really wish he would utilize his some of his themes from the original score. One of the themes in here is reminiscent of a theme from the original, but that only served to annoy me because I wanted the music to swell into the theme that I've come to know and love. I don't know why Poledouris just wouldn't up and use his own previous themes again. Oh well, that's enough of my grousing.     

1 - The Adventures of Conan (8:03)

2 - Sword and Sorcery Spectacular (16:32)