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Superman |
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Music Composed by John Williams Conducted by John Debney Orchestration Reconstruction by Kevin Kaska and Brad Dechter with Don Nemitz, Frank Bennett, and Larry Dominello Produced by Robert Townson Performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Release Date: 1999
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The period of the middle seventies to the early eighties is what I like to refer to as the "golden oldies" period. This was a time when film music composition began to enjoy some true masters weaving their cues to some excellent movies that appeared during this era. Films like Star Wars: A New Hope, Alien, Jaws, and Star Trek: The Motion Picture spawned excellent musical scores by the likes of John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith. It is always a pleasure to be able to review a soundtracks from this period, and Williams’ score to Superman is no exception. The presentation that Varese Sarabande puts together for their release of an expanded edition 2-CD set of the score helps a lot. It addition to the entire score, there are some really nice concert arrangements of the different themes, excellent linear notes that include track-by-track analysis, and the 20 bit digital re-recording which gives the music the quality it deserves. I have heard of complaints from various sources who decry supposedly differing tempos to John Williams original, but it really doesn’t bother me if that’s the case because I don’t see it as being that big of a deal. The first CD starts off with a short prologue sequence followed by the main title, a stunningly bombastic piece of music that introduces the Superman theme. The next sequence involves music for the planet Krypton which just screams Also Sprach Zarathustra at me, which is actually kind of appropriate if you think about it. Williams also manages to sneak in a small homage to A New Hope with the first six notes of the Force theme in this track. The remaining tracks are more subdued, underscoring the events leading up to Clark Kent’s arrival in Metropolis. Things really start to pick up with the second CD immediately with The Helicopter Sequence. The action cues in Superman, run hot and cold. Some of them are really good, while others are more generic and rather formless. The first track starts off bland, but eventually picks up momentum when the Superman theme makes it’s first appearance. The Flying Sequence contains the famous love theme from the film without the dialogue voice-overs found in the original score release. The love theme is expanded on in the last track on the second CD which is an absolutely beautiful concert arrangement. The villain’s march makes its first appearance in The Truck Convoy, and a concert version of that theme also appears in track six. The Prisoner Yard and End Title is just totally awesome, with no short of thanks to the stellar sound quality on this release. Yes, this re-release is a tad pricey at over twenty dollars, but it’s worth every penny. The Superman theme has never sounded so good as it does on these CDs, and it is Williams at his best after all. This is an absolute buy for any soundtrack lover. ***** |
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Track Listing - CD 1 1 - Prologue and Main Title (5:21) 2 - The Planet Krypton (4:35) 3 - The Destruction of Krypton (5:27) 4 - Trip to Earth (2:38) 5 - Growing Up (2:05) 6 - Jonathan's Death (4:09) 7 - Leaving Home (4:46) 8 - The Fortress of Solitude (8:22) Total Running Time: 37:45
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Track Listing - CD 2 1 - The Helicopter Sequence (6:16) 2 - The Penthouse (1:50) 3 - The Flying Sequence (4:16) 4 - The Truck Convoy (1:54) 5 - To the Lair (3:56) 6 - March of the Villains (3:56) 7 - Chasing Rockets (5:12) 8 - Pushing Boulders (2:24) 9 - Flying to Lois (2:58) 10 - Turning Back the World (2:01) 11 - The Prison Yard and End Title (6:27) 12 - Love Theme from Superman (5:01) Total Running Time: 44:33
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