by Paul Tonks
soundtrack -- n. / Pron. "sound ( trak"
1. The narrow strip at one side of cinema film carrying the sound recording.
2. The music that accompanies a movie.
3. A commercial recording of such music.
4. A bastardised phrase record labels use to sell you crappy songs that have nothing to do with the movie they're apparently associated with.
Oscars schmoscars. Looks like neither myself nor anyone else in the film music community have a real bead on what’s favoured critically or politically. For weeks the buzz stayed the same – Elmer Bernstein ought to win for FAR FROM HEAVEN, but Philip Glass might pip him at the post with THE HOURS. John Williams was next in the running for CATCH ME IF YOU CAN. Leaving Thomas Newman’s ROAD TO PERDITION and Elliot Goldenthal’s FRIDA easily at the bottom of the pile.
So Goldenthal wins?! Frankly, this baffles me.
I was more than okay with the idea of Goldenthal winning for the FRIDA song (“Burn It Blue”). But no – that of course (?) went to Eminem, who like a good many folk couldn’t bring themselves to attend. Goldenthal deserved the accolade far more for either MICHAEL COLLINS (which lost to THE ENGLISH PATIENT) or INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE (beaten by THE LION KING), but now this’ll be the movie he’ll be critically associated with. Ah well.
I say that I’m baffled, but in some ways the surprise doesn’t surprise me. To explain that, watch for an article here in a couple of edition’s time where I take you behind the scenes of the Award decision-making process…
This edition, I’ve decided to peel away the glossy veneer of what may seem like a peachy-keen mode of employ. The Soundtrack Reviewer’s lot in life is not as rosy as it might appear. Free CDs – yes. Early word on who’s doing what – yes. The occasional bit of back-slappery from an enthused reader – sure. But my friends, I have to tell you that some days this tiny niche (which has not so much been carved as gouged out of the industry’s hide) is nothing but an exercise in frustration and futility. As an extension to the personalised rants Archived here as Top Ten Guide to Soundtrack Review Terms and Ten Industry Developments That Haven’t Made A Composer’s Job Better, I bring you…
TOP TEN REASONS IT SUCKS BEING A SOUNDTRACK REVIEWER
NUMBER TEN
One of the biggest problems anyone reviewing a soundtrack album faces is the complicatedly un-co-ordinated timetable everyone’s working to. Because a score is more often than not completed and mixed at the last minute before a film’s release, that means an album mix is similarly last-minute. So for a record label to master, press and distribute an album to coincide with the film’s release is a small miracle. Some manage it. Many don’t. The knock-on effect is that the label rarely has a window of opportunity to promote the album. Getting review copies out in time for most journalists’ deadlines is a tricky thing. And you can forget it as far as printed press deadlines for monthly periodicals are concerned.
I frequently find myself cross-referencing between spreadsheets as to when something is due and when a review could be placed. More frequently I find myself stumped trying to make it happen. There’s no better system for any of this to work by. Ultimately the blame here lies with the fixed release dates imposed on the films themselves, which cause 11th hour headaches all round.
NUMBER NINE
There’s no way any studio would consider inviting (or agreeing to allow) you to attend a movie premiere screening based on writing a soundtrack review. It just isn’t done. Which perpetuates the worst Catch-22 aspect of the job for me, because my ideal situation is to only ever commit my opinion of a score in writing having heard it in its intended context. As a matter of principle, it’s something I’m frequently put on the spot over. Wherever possible I have stated in a review that it’s the album I’m talking about and not the effectiveness of its use on screen.
NUMBER EIGHT
About three or four years ago record labels cottoned on to the fact they could save themselves a few shekels by not always sending out finished product. I can now tell by the weight of a package in my hand whether or not I’m about to open a jewel case or a “Check Disc.” A what? This is a CD-R of the mastered album that usually comes in a floppy plastic wallet with a paper tracklisting. No art. No credits.
I’m sure in part this came down to the secondary market of promo discs that always did the rounds at “used” stores or began getting auctioned on Ebay. Perish the thought! It has in some cases helped out with item NUMBER TEN above, in that the music does at least reach the Reviewer as early as possible. The lack of art or credits often complicates matters when it comes to submitting the review however. So the label then ends up being pestered with questions and additional requests.
NUMBER SEVEN
Those questions and additional requests only get made if you can find the right person to talk to though. Since the mid-90s, record label buy-outs, mergers and general delegation have made tracking down the person looking after a particular soundtrack a regular nightmare. I’ve spent anything up to an hour being passed around internally within a company as the buck is repeatedly passed on. This isn’t the worst of it though…
NUMBER SIX
…because an even more troublesome growing trend is for a label to farm out soundtrack releases to independent PR companies. I won’t beat about the bush here. It’s rare a label representative has a clue what they’re talking about when it comes to film soundtracks. So at some level this was a good idea. Unfortunately, while PR companies may have the extra time to research where to promote the product, they too rarely have a clue.
Having a conversation with someone who couldn’t care less about the item you’ve spent ages trying to track down is annoying in the extreme. But I learned the need for patience in all this ages ago. Basically I just put the phone down and then tell them what I think of them when they can’t hear me. Yup – a real mature professional methodology is the only way to survive.
NUMBER FIVE
Usually when I’m chasing down a soundtrack, it’s all off my own initiative. The number of times I’ve actually been asked to obtain an album for review is very few. Those spreadsheets I mentioned before keep me on my toes, and then I do the rounds to find the album. And then go through a repeat process of explaining to the label rep who I’ll be submitting a review to.
Then of course it comes down to finding someone to actually take that review. Let alone pay for it. Most movie-oriented periodicals consider film music an insignificant aspect of filmmaking, and certainly not something they want to devote many pages to.
Thank Gawd for this Column!
NUMBER FOUR
An extremely rare situation is finding myself required to review the same thing twice. Whenever this has happened I’ve really felt ethically challenged. But more challenged as a writer, to see if I can communicate the same points of note without actually repeating myself. It can be done, it just tends to take forever to pull off.
This issue I’ve always closely linked with the next…
NUMBER THREE
Changing my mind later on. I don’t mean going polar opposites from love to hate or vice versa. But it’s quite common for a score or indeed a film to grow on or distance itself from me over time. The most likely influence in all this is seeing the movie, having had the album to review in isolation. Once I see the whole thing working in context, it’s very easy for me to appreciate the music to a higher or lower degree.
Last Column I commented on how PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE is an album I admire much more for having seen the movie. On the flip side, ATTACK OF THE CLONES was a classic case of having an album’s effect on me diluted by its use on screen.
The good news here is I’m always happy to admit a change in opinion. It seems a lot of film music fans have a real problem with doing this, and a worse problem with admitting to being wrong about something. I list it here as my NUMBER THREE because while I may not mind expressing an altered opinion, it always seems to encourage the wrong kind of reaction. I’ve tried repeatedly to explain my feelings about Jerry Goldsmith’s recent career. But no amount of self-deprecatory insistence on my part that I’ve warmed to some of his later scores ever seems to excuse me from dissing them in the first place. (For the record: after a well-reasoned recommendation I have come to a better appreciation of HOLLOW MAN. Nothing will make me sit through STAR TREKs INSURRECTION or NEMESIS again however!)
NUMBER TWO
The flipside of NUMBERs SEVEN to FIVE where tracking down something seems such an unnecessarily difficult task, is all the unwanted crap I get sent for review. See definition Number 4 in the Intro to “Soundtrack” up top. I’ve made my case against it straight back to the mailman.
Anything that comes with a Parental Advisory Warning. Anything that comes with a CD single. Anything that calls itself a Soundtrack “Inspired by” the film. Anything with a track list that takes an hour to read because of all the artist names that defy grammatical comprehension and “Feat.” an extended list of subsidiary artists. Anything that’s “More Music From…” Anything with Hugh Grant on the cover.
What should you do with ‘em?
“PULL!”
(Polite disclaimer: naturally I exaggerate. There have been surprises for each of these ‘categories’. Not the Hugh Grant one though!)
NUMBER ONE
So what’s the all-time worst aspect of reviewing Soundtrack albums? This’ll probably only be a very personal admission, but I hate the thought of people spending their money on my recommendation. It does all come down to individual taste, and I’ve had a few messages from readers who have bought something because I championed it. I can only shrug this one off really. At least it doesn’t happen very often. In fact, this dovetails into what would be the NUMBER ONE reason it doesn’t suck being a Soundtrack Reviewer. When I get messages to say that someone was delighted to discover something after my recommendation, there’s no greater reward for doing this job.
So with all this in mind, here’s my tiptop album of choice this time…
REVIEWS:
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HELLRAISER: THE CHRONICLES - Christopher Young / Randy Miller, Primetime TVPMCD809 ****
Christopher Young’s score for the original HELLRAISER stunned me back in 1987. I was getting my kicks out of schlocky horror flicks in the Eighties, but Clive Barker’s fetishistic nightmare really got to me. All the DTV (“Video Nasties” as we Brits were wont to call them) suddenly paled in comparison, especially with their endlessly droning keyboard-based scores. HELLRAISER’s own flaws haven’t aged well, but I believe the tone and pacing have endured. A great part of that is in the success of the music to wash seductively over you. One cue in particular (“A Quick Death”), has stayed with me as a perfect demonstration of what film music does best. It’s for a scene without dialogue and that needs to communicate a turning point in the thinking of a principle character. The music is insinuating and alluring at the same time – precisely the point of what’s going on inside Julia’s head at that time.
And then came HELLBOUND.
The late Eighties were the turning point at which I became hopelessly addicted to film music, and HELLBOUND was a major part of that. There’s so much going on in this score that it deserves a Column all its own. In just pairing these 2 scores together, this limited edition collection box set ought to be snapped up by anyone who’s unfamiliar with the scores. That’s not all however. The Chronicles of the title encompass the third movie too. Randy Miller’s HELL ON EARTH isn’t quite in the same league, but is a fine continuation of the established style and often makes interesting use of Young’s principle themes. Unfortunately, there this collection’s Chronicles ends. For the fanatic amongst us, we know there could have been more of course. At the very least, Daniel Licht’s BLOODLINE (IV) would have warranted inclusion.
After number IV there have been several too good for cinema sequels and somehow I doubt there’ll be a second volume encompassing these: INFERNO (V) by Walter Werzowa, HELLSEEKER (VI) by Stephen Edwards, DEADER (VII) which is due October next year and HELLWORLD (VIII) after that.
It should also be noted that Young’s HIGHPOINT, which was on the original GNP Crescendo release of HELLBOUND is not included. Despite any of that, this is the most interesting collection of a body of work I’ve seen attempted in a while, and certainly the best packaging job Silva Screen have ever done.
NEWS NUGGETS:
I ran a competition here for the new THUNDERBIRDS album (on the Silva Screen Album), asking who would be the ideal composer for the upcoming movie? The winning entries stated why they’d like to hear what Jerry Goldsmith, John Barry or David Arnold would do with Barry Gray’s classic Theme. I had other entries varying from Danny Elfman and John Williams to Brad Dourif and Sir Elton John (!) No one “guessed” the chap just appointed the gig, however. Hans Zimmer has apparently signed on. Whether this will be an all-Zimmer work (a rarity these days), or a composite of several composers working together remains to be seen. There was a point last year when Zimmer’s name was attached to STAR TREK: NEMESIS, and I for one was in favour of the idea. For similar reasons, I hope this project will bring something different out of the composer – this being the first time he’ll score a science fiction feature. Unless you count PEARL HARBOR.
ANNIVERSARIES:
We celebrate the following Birthdays:
Alan Silvestri (BACK TO THE FUTURE / FORREST GUMP)
- Born 26 March 1950, New York, New York.
Richard Rodney Bennett (MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS / FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL)
- Born 29 March 1936, Broadstairs, Kent, England.
Vangelis (BLADE RUNNER / CHARIOTS OF FIRE)
- Born 29 March 1943, Volos, Greece.
Luis Enríquez Bacalov (IL POSTINO / DJANGO)
- Born 30 March 1933, San Martin, Argentina.
Elmer Bernstein (THE GREAT ESCAPE / THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN)
- Born 4 April 1922, New York, New York.
Patrick Doyle (MARY SHELLEY’S FRANKENSTEIN / GOSFORD PARK)
- Born 6 April 1953, Uddingston, Scotland.
Christopher Franke (BABYLON 5 / UNIVERSAL SOLDIER)
- Born 6 April 1953, Berlin, Germany.
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