Settling The Score

And now for a look at a sometimes neglected area of my CD collection: soundtracks. Many years ago, I was an avid listener and collector of soundtrack CDs ... in fact, that used to be the first genre into which my discs were organized: first came soundtracks, then jazz/classical, then comedy, and then rock/pop. That is, until about a year ago, when I reorganized my collection into almost the reverse order (rock/pop is now first), reflecting my change in interests.

I do still pay some attention to soundtracks ... although now it's mostly limited to listening to certain parts of a movie's score and thinking about whether or not I might be interested in buying the CD. (But, of course, there are the occasional no-brainers: I continued to buy all of the "Star Wars" movie soundtracks as they came out, no questions asked; and I still keep an eye on "Star Trek" releases in the Amazon.com listings.)

So, here now are my Top Ten favorite soundtrack CDs, with a few words about each. Grab some popcorn and enjoy!

Honorable Mention -- "The Black Hole" (1979, John Barry) -- The only reason this is an honorable mention and not actually in my Top Ten is a technicality of my own making: the fact that this score has never been issued on CD (I choose to only put official, commercially-released CDs in my Top Ten) ... strange, because not only is it by the composer famous for the James Bond Theme, but it was also the first digitally-recorded film score ever released on a commercial recording. Maybe someday, someone will come to their senses and make it available on compact disc (preferably in an expanded edition, since there was a lot of music heard in the movie that's not on the LP). For now, I'll have to do with my homemade CD.

#10 -- "Spider-Man" (2002, Danny Elfman) -- The music was one of the first things I noticed (and fell in love with) about this great movie. Danny Elfman has forged a second career arguably more prosperous than his previous one (as frontman of the rock group Oingo Boingo), and the consistent quality of his film scores should keep him working for a long time to come.

#9 -- "Tron" (1982, Wendy Carlos) -- Perhaps it's more of a sentimental favorite, but I love this score. Then again, Wendy Carlos was ahead of her time in what she did: taking orchestral music and processing it through computers, producing a synthesized equivalent for every organic note from the original source. It was, of course, a perfect fit considering the subject matter of the equally innovative (for its time) movie. Still way cool to listen to, even 25 years later!

#8 -- "Titanic" (1997, James Horner) -- An excellent movie, finely executed, and with a gorgeous score. In the early part of his career, James Horner wrote some good scores, but seemed to frequently copy some of their elements into his other works. But by the time "Titanic" came around, he had matured into a fine composer with a substantial breadth of moods and techniques ... a quality that "Titanic" displays prominently.

#7 -- "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" (1979, Jerry Goldsmith) -- I had a bit of trouble picking out the best "Star Trek" film score, but I should have known this one would be the logical (to quote a certain pointy-eared science officer) winner. First of all, it's where the signature "Star Trek" theme (now arguably more popular than even the theme from the original TV series) originated, plus it's by the legendary Jerry Goldsmith, one of whose scores I simply had to include in this list! There may be more entertaining "Star Trek" scores out there, but none more brilliantly crafted.

#6 -- "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut" (1999, Trey Parker & Marc Shaiman) -- Yes, "South Park"'s seemingly incongruous mix of crude gags, surrealistically irreverent humor, and enviously clever satire is an acquired taste, but if you were to take the songs out of their context (which, I grant you, might also require the removal of most of their lyrics) and evaluate them from a purely musical perspective, you would be left with a textbook example of the movie musical ... complete with fun dance numbers, rousing marches, the plaintive ballad, and even a medley reprising all of the above. The non-soundtrack "interpretations" section of the album I can do without (some of those are downright revolting), but the rest of the album is nearly on par with the great classic musicals of the '50s and '60s ... yes, it's that good!

#5 -- "Quantum Leap" (1993, Velton Ray Bunch, Scott Bakula, & Mike Post) -- This album shows how the types of music heard during the five seasons of the TV show "Quantum Leap" were almost as diverse as the array of characters and situations that its lead character, Dr. Sam Beckett, found himself leaping into week after week. From the terrific main title theme (as Mike Post's TV themes always are) to the chameleon-like music of Velton Ray Bunch (western action, creature-feature suspense, pastoral Americana, and even sweeping, feature-film-worthy drama), to the vocal talents of Scott Bakula (everything from hair-metal to Elvis covers to a Broadway medley), this is a thoroughly enjoyable album!

#4 -- "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" (1982, John Williams) -- Anybody who needs me to explain why this is in my top five has obviously never heard the signature "E.T." theme, one of the most instantly recognizable pieces of music in movie history. It's just a shame that we had to wait until 1996 before a remastered and expanded edition of the soundtrack became available and did Mr. Williams' score the justice it deserved. The original, three-minute edit of the theme isn't on here like it was on the original edition, but listening to "Escape/Chase/Saying Goodbye", the 15-minute suite that is heard over the climax and finale of the film (and from which the legendary "E.T." theme originated), is worth every second. It still gives me goosebumps!

#3 -- "Krull" (1983, James Horner) -- Every time I come across a James Horner compilation, I search its track listing for a selection from "Krull", and every time I am disappointed and puzzled by its absence. "Krull" is a criminally overlooked masterpiece, and one of the first true triumphs of Horner's career. Its soaring and majestic main title (or, barring that, its distilled rendition in "Ride of the Firemares") would proudly show its worthiness to be on all well-rounded Horner compilations, if it simply weren't so forgotten. And, hey, the movie is pretty darn fun, too!

#2 -- "The Star Wars Trilogy" (1983, John Williams) -- Okay, technically this isn't a "soundtrack", since it's neither from one specific movie or TV program, nor does it even consist of the original recordings. But, this was amongst the very first half-dozen compact discs I ever bought, these renditions are just as good as the originals, and I've always thought of the classic "Star Wars" Trilogy as a combined whole anyway (the films as well as their scores), so that's why it's on this list. Not only does it represent the first time that music from all three films was collected on one album, but it also debuted two "Return of the Jedi" cues that weren't on the original soundtrack: "Fight With the Tie Fighters" and "Darth Vader's Death". Varujan Kojian and the Utah Symphony Orchestra definitely do John Williams' scores justice ... so much so that Mr. Williams himself wrote a brief statement in the liner notes, expressing his glowing approval of the release.

#1 -- "Star Trek: The Next Generation - volume two: The Best Of Both Worlds, parts I and II" (1991, Ron Jones) -- As much as I love John Williams and the superlative scores from "Star Wars", this one edges it out as the soundtrack CD I treasure most. I love the episode, and love its music just as much. I've listened to it so many times that I know every note by heart. Ron Jones employed a choir of human voices processed electronically to represent the Borg in certain cues, and while the technique has been used several times since then, I've never heard it used with quite this much finesse. This is feature-film-caliber music, about as rich and bombastic as TV would probably allow it to get. Why Ron Jones hasn't cultivated a feature-film scoring career is beyond me ... as this recording shows, he's got more than enough talent.