laohu
01-08-2014, 10:38 PM
John Williams & Georges Delerue - Amazing Stories (1999, 320)
(http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/10/6l25.jpg/)
Tracks
John Williams
1. Main Title (01:08)
John Williams: THE MISSION
2. The Mission (00:32)
3. The Jinxed One (01:14)
4. Broken Landing Gear (02:05)
5. The Captain's Frustration (02:52)
6. The Parachute (03:02)
7. The Control Tower (01:11)
8. I'm Father McKay (01:25)
9. Good-Byes (02:22)
10. Jonathan Begins To Draw (06:02)
11. The Landing (05:12)
Georges Delerue: DOROTHY AND BEN
12. Twenty Three Thousand Dollars (00:53)
13. Wrinkles (00:46)
14. Be Quiet (02:36)
15. Ben Leaves (00:27)
16. Face Changes (01:16)
17. Dorothy (06:29)
John Williams
18. End Title (00:31)
Tracks 1-11 and 18: Music Conducted by Joel McNeely
Tracks 12-17: Music Conducted by John Debney
Time Sharing Ended
---------- Post added at 09:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:38 PM ----------
Amazing Stories: (John Williams, Various) A great concept with poor execution, the "Amazing Stories" television series of the mid-1980's was a model of wild inconsistency, and it was that variance that led Steven Spielberg's idea to an unfortunate end after only NBC's initial commitment of 40+ episodes over two seasons. Nobody would argue that "Amazing Stories" offered some of the best science fiction and fantasy television ever seen, but for every brilliant episode directed by one of Hollywood's greatest minds, there was a surprisingly stale dud. Such was the inevitable fate of an idea that allowed for each episode to contain a different director and crew; the quantity of episodes was the show's greatest weakness. Had the number per season been cut in half, with only the truly best entries offered, "Amazing Stories" may have survived several seasons longer. As the episodes have aged, though, the standout stories have continued to linger in the memories of viewers who were originally caught up in all the hype of the series' debut. Both the list of directors and composers contributing to the series were extraordinarily impressive. That list of composers alone includes most of Hollywood's big names today, some of whom obscure at the time. Spielberg had always insisted on a significant budget for the music of each episode, employing his usual partner, John Williams, for the title music and two scores for memorable episodes. The opportunity to write short scores (usually 15 to 20 minutes at most) with 45 or so studio musicians was too much fun for most composers to resist, and most standard director/composer collaborations extended to "Amazing Stories" episodes. The locations and ensemble of each episodic recording differed significantly; for the standout episode of "The Mission," John Williams utilized 66 musicians, an unheard of sum for the television medium at the time. In other cases, lesser known composers employed only their own array of synthesizers for the task, sometimes recording their work far from Hollywood. As you would expect, the sound quality of each episodic score was highly varied, as was, of course, the actual style presented by each composer.
In the end, most listeners still equate "Amazing Stories" with John Williams, and his impact on the series cannot be debated. Williams approached the project as though it was a feature Spielberg film, providing all the complexity of character typical to his work. His adventure writing for the series' title theme is as wondrous in tone as any of his major scores of the 80's. Demand for a recording of this theme on CD led the Var�se Sarabande label to commission a recording of the title music, as well as two episodic scores, by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra under the direction of Joel McNeely and John Debney. This 1999 recording may not have stirred up as much interest as the other recordings of the RSNO pressed by Var�se in the late 90's, but for many years it was the only souvenir on CD from the series. In the mid-2000's, Intrada Records would unlock the vaults containing all the master tapes for the show's actual music and produced, over the years of 2006 and 2007, three 2-CD anthologies of that material. This review will cover all three of those anthologies first, and will follow up with the Var�se re-recording at its conclusion. While Doug Fake at Intrada must have been delighted by his access to pristine master tapes for the entire series upon his efforts to produce the anthologies, his task of arranging all the vastly differing episodic scores into listenable packages must have been an adventure all in itself. The anthologies don't seem to have any particular scheme of arrangement in relation to composers or the recording or air dates of the music or episodes. In fact, the only distinction one could make about the presentation of the scores throughout the three Intrada products is that they were arranged to sell best, holding off on the two strong hour-long episodes' scores (by Williams and Alan Silvestri) until the third product. The Intrada anthologies offer nearly everything a listener could wish for from the series, though it should be noted that one of the two episodics by Danny Elfman and Steve Bartek, as well as music by the often underachieving Brad Fiedel, was left off of the sets. Additional Elfman material can be found on his "Music for a Darkened Theatre: Volume Two," however. The remaining scores missing from Intrada's albums were composed by names you likely won't find in the rest of your film music collection.
John Williams composed several different versions of the title theme, short bumper music at commercial breaks, and end titles. The first Intrada anthology from 2006 opens with the most famous version of Williams' title theme, recorded with the full 60+ ensemble from the recording session of "The Mission." From there, we hear Williams' score for the first (and famous) episode, "Ghost Train." Smaller in stature, the score resembles Williams' softer character scores of the 80's, with a surprisingly anti-climactic conclusion during the train's arrival. It is the only episodic score to utilize the title theme of the series, delicately weaving it into the score in full once and in short references throughout. "Alamo Jobe," the series' third episode, was the lone entry by James Horner. His music here is a curious cross between his standard 80's action motifs and the instrumentation that would be so prevalent in his The Mask of Zorro score (and sequel). With flavor from harmonica, acoustic guitar, and castanets, this episodic work would be among the most interesting to hear performed by a full ensemble. For "Gather Ye Acorns," series regular Bruce Broughton would create a very slight Americana tone led by harmonica and woodwind, with a jaunty rhythm led by piano highlighting the end. Two source cues, including some blazing rock music in "1985," interrupt the proceedings, but definitely wake you up. The engrossing, Emmy-winning episode of "The Doll" features an understated effort by Georges Delerue, another series regular. Strings, woodwinds, harp, and celeste eventually build to a lovely thematic statement during the episode's final scene of realization. Composer Billy Goldenberg was among the most active in the series, having worked with Spielberg in his early efforts of the 70's (before meeting Williams). For "The Amazing Falsworth," Goldenberg creates a chillingly dissonant score, with strange textures and manipulations revolving around a solo piano representing the story's primary character. David Shire, whose presence was also heard multiple times on the show, provided "Moving Day" with an interesting musical battle between the orchestral (earth) and synthetic (alien). While the final two tracks bring the best of these elements together, the sick alien march in "That's Alturis" is quite memorable.
While Delerue receives most of his attention for his other scores in the series, his work for "Without Diana" is superior. The last score recorded for the series, it opens with the great old swinging style of Delerue jazz and concludes with a lush and melodic series of thematic statements typical to the composer's romantic sensibilities. The often discussed "Mummy, Daddy" episode and score features an early Danny Elfman with the assistance of Steve Bartek in their prime era of creativity. It's vintage Elfman comedy, with a touch of Beetlejuice and Tales from Crypt in its crisp recording of percussive specialties. Highlighted by organ and harmonica, this thirteen minutes will be a delight for any Elfman collector. For Clint Eastwood's "Vanessa in the Garden" episode, Lennie Niehaus offers a conservative score more lushly robust than many of his more famous works. Concluding the first anthology set is Broughton's "Welcome to My Nightmare," a score much different from his other entries in the series. An awkward balance between Herrmannesque horror and keyboarded romance, it's easier to appreciate than it is to enjoy. The second anthology, released later in 2006, continued the same format Intrada presented on the first product. After a variant on Williams' title theme, the Joe Dante/Jerry Goldsmith collaboration continues with "Boo!" Coming at a time when Goldsmith was at the height of his synthetic endeavors, the composer turned down the usual 45 player offer and only used 13 to create a largely electronic score not in the ranks of his best. A standard, pretty family theme for woodwind and keyboard is really all that ties this score to Goldsmith's usual tendencies. An even smaller ensemble was employed by Billy Goldenberg for "What if...?" His chamber orchestra cues and synthetic keyboarding are overshadowed by one wild rock track. Delerue's overrated score for "Ben and Dorothy" features mostly strings and acoustic guitar. Its final few minutes are memorably attractive, but the score as a whole is too subdued for a solo listen. The first of two scores by Craig Safan on these sets exists for "The Main Attraction," the second episode of the series. For the anti-high school jock story, Safan uses a parody of a school marching band as his title theme and an equally comical parody of movie love themes for the nerdy ending.
Some very early work by David Newman is heard next in "Such Interesting Neighbors," a score with pieces removed from the aired episode. An electronic harpsichord provides decent sci-fi attitude, though the overall score is short on style. Bruce Broughton returns for "Thanksgiving," perhaps the highlight of the second set. Containing unique instrumentation for series, including the only use of small choir, the score offers significant creativity and beauty throughout. Opening the second CD of the second anthology is "Hell Toupee" by the illustrious David Shire. It's one of the better comedy entries, with several interesting motifs and funny synthetics, though the score was awkwardly recorded in mono sound for its first half and stereo for its second half, ruining its flow. Johnny Mandel's only contribution to the series is "One for the Road," with sparse constructs, but appropriately funny instrumentation in its employment of tack piano, banjo, and woodwinds for the episode's era. For the hysterical "Remote Control Man" episode, 80's cult composer Arthur B. Rubinstein creatively pulls inspiration from several places, including famous tv themes and his personal favorite from Wagner's classic work. John Addison, nearing retirement at the time, wrote two scores for the series' second season, including "The Griebble," an innocuous, pleasant, and upbeat orchestral comedy piece. In stark contrast to this style is Leonard Rosenman's highly layered orchestral battle cues, some overtly brutal, for "No Day at the Beach." Another highlight of the album, these cues unfortunately dissolve into mundane underscore in the remainder of his score. Thomas Newman had only been composing for a year when he offered his lone entry to the series for "Santa '85," a score that would foreshadow many of the composer's techniques in years to come. Already showing promise in his handling of percussion (which dominates these cues), Newman also leads with three pianos in performances of the episode's attractively heartfelt theme. The second anthology would conclude once again with Williams' "End Credits" music for the series, though a "Christmas Version" of his Amblin logo, heard in its original performance at the end of the first anthology, would be offered appropriately (given Newman's music just prior).
The third and final anthology set from Intrada opens with yet another variant of the opening title, this one containing slight synthetic effects. This set would contain both the outstanding hour-long episodes' scores (all other shows in the series were 30 minutes in length). The second season's "Go to the Head of the Class" would reunite some of the cast and crew from the still popular Back to the Future. With Robert Zemeckis directing, Christopher Lloyd acting, and Alan Silvestri composing, it's not surprising that one of the more frivolous motifs from the famous film --the ascending pairs of notes, usually led by piano-- makes a few appearances in this episode. This is one of the few scores in the series with its own theme, debuting with a menacing organ of religiously classical attitude in "Cemetery." Silvestri's work here is entirely synthetic, but he uses such a broad library of sounds that you hardly notice; the macho "Curse of Dolkite" cue, with its super cool rock rhythm in a spooky atmosphere, is a surprising highlight of all three sets. Snazzy sound effects litter the score, effectively mirroring the wild attitude of the episode. Following is Craig Safan's "The Wedding Ring," which adapts a 1946 song about Atlantic City into both song and score formats. It's paired with an engaging orchestral style of high comedy spirit for an entertaining result. Michael Kamen, who himself was not yet famous at the time, composed for "Mirror, Mirror," an episode with considerable score. It's highlighted by a fantastic opening horror sequence (not much of it was used in the episode, though) and an equally wild finish. The final entry by Bruce Broughton on the sets is for "Mr. Magic," for which he composed a series of rather obnoxious modern lounge band pieces. On the second CD, Billy Goldenberg's "Secret Cinema" is an extremely inconsistent piece for the cause of paranoia, ranging from orchestral simplicity to modern pop, and from to carnival music to synthetic horror. Television scoring legend Fred Steiner would lend his services to "Life on Death Row," with music consisting of mostly textured contemplation until a memorably grim finale for layered strings and percussion.
John Addison once again lightens the series with his jaunty and entertaining pieces for orchestra and electric harpsichord in "The Pumpkin Competition," a score among the best comedy entries. For "Grandpa's Ghost," the final episode of the first season, little known Pat Metheny provides very light electronic keyboarding for the tender episode. It's soothing, but underwhelming. Generally considered to be the best episode of the series (and featuring the most impressive cast at the time) was "The Mission," the first season's hour-long episode directed by Spielberg. To accompany the story of the damaged World War II bomber and the imagination of a belly gunner stranded beneath the plane, Spielberg allowed John Williams the full 66 member ensemble that would also record the title music for the series. Williams delivers with a score that is widely known to be the series' best, if only because the composer used his standard 80's style of action and drama in its most lush and full incarnations for the episode. Tense drama from Williams culminates to a spectacular final track that uses progressions with strong hints of marches to come in Inidana Jones and the Last Crusade before erupting into the kind of magically heroic explosions of theme that only Williams could convey at the time. Some of the cues Williams recorded for this episode were ultimately dropped from the show, though Intrada's presentation here, as with all the episodic scores, is complete. Because of the presence of both this pivotal Williams score and Silvestri's entertaining entry, the third anthology is easily the best of Intrada's sets. The first anthology ranks second, for it offers the other Williams score and the highlight from Delerue's contributions (in addition to the only Horner and Elfman representation). The second anthology definitely falls behind the other two, with Goldsmith's entry failing to muster much interest. All three sets are absolute masterpieces in production, however; Doug Fake has spared no expense in his efforts to provide an outstanding mastering and arrangement of this mass of music, with extremely detailed liner notes to walk you through most of the details. Sound quality is strong on most (the only disappointment comes with the mono recordings of part of Shire's "Hell Toupee").
Interestingly, however, the anthology sets don't tend to be viable as a continuous listening experience. They are the kind of sets that remind of the John Beal collection of trailer music from Sonic Images; each individual piece merits curiosity and could potentially entertain you. But the style of each episodic score varies so greatly that you will find yourself picking out highlights for your own collection of "Amazing Stories" music. In each case, they are an intellectual attraction, but for mainstream listeners, none of the single sets will likely be an option. That is, in part, why the sets are each limited to 3,000 copies and marketed to the hardcore film music collectors. More appealing to people with only a moderate interest in the "Amazing Stories" scores, and casual John Williams collectors in particular, is still the Var�se Sarabande re-recording from 1999. The production quality of this Var�se collaboration with the RSNO is equal to their others, with outstanding arrangements and sound quality. Joel McNeely conducts the Williams portions with precision, evoking the same magical zeal of the original recording. The availability of "The Mission" and the opening and closing titles guarantees the usefulness of this product, though the selection of the second score for re-recording is suspect. "Dorothy and Ben" was not Georges Delerue's best entry in the series, and while the episode may be better remembered by the mass populous, there are several other episodic scores from the series that would have made this a far better album. John Debney's conducting is adequate, but there isn't much outside of the closing minutes to remember. The Var�se album is the safest "Amazing Stories" product to recommend, whether you're an avid film score collector or not, because it offers the best Williams material and obviously boasts an impressive performance by a fuller ensemble in clear, digital sound quality. From there, the third Intrada anthology is the next step. The music from "Amazing Stories" will forever be remembered as one of the greatest collections of artistic minds ever put into the same production, and these albums from Var�se and Intrada together provide the superior treatment the series deserves.
(http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/10/6l25.jpg/)
Tracks
John Williams
1. Main Title (01:08)
John Williams: THE MISSION
2. The Mission (00:32)
3. The Jinxed One (01:14)
4. Broken Landing Gear (02:05)
5. The Captain's Frustration (02:52)
6. The Parachute (03:02)
7. The Control Tower (01:11)
8. I'm Father McKay (01:25)
9. Good-Byes (02:22)
10. Jonathan Begins To Draw (06:02)
11. The Landing (05:12)
Georges Delerue: DOROTHY AND BEN
12. Twenty Three Thousand Dollars (00:53)
13. Wrinkles (00:46)
14. Be Quiet (02:36)
15. Ben Leaves (00:27)
16. Face Changes (01:16)
17. Dorothy (06:29)
John Williams
18. End Title (00:31)
Tracks 1-11 and 18: Music Conducted by Joel McNeely
Tracks 12-17: Music Conducted by John Debney
Time Sharing Ended
---------- Post added at 09:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:38 PM ----------
Amazing Stories: (John Williams, Various) A great concept with poor execution, the "Amazing Stories" television series of the mid-1980's was a model of wild inconsistency, and it was that variance that led Steven Spielberg's idea to an unfortunate end after only NBC's initial commitment of 40+ episodes over two seasons. Nobody would argue that "Amazing Stories" offered some of the best science fiction and fantasy television ever seen, but for every brilliant episode directed by one of Hollywood's greatest minds, there was a surprisingly stale dud. Such was the inevitable fate of an idea that allowed for each episode to contain a different director and crew; the quantity of episodes was the show's greatest weakness. Had the number per season been cut in half, with only the truly best entries offered, "Amazing Stories" may have survived several seasons longer. As the episodes have aged, though, the standout stories have continued to linger in the memories of viewers who were originally caught up in all the hype of the series' debut. Both the list of directors and composers contributing to the series were extraordinarily impressive. That list of composers alone includes most of Hollywood's big names today, some of whom obscure at the time. Spielberg had always insisted on a significant budget for the music of each episode, employing his usual partner, John Williams, for the title music and two scores for memorable episodes. The opportunity to write short scores (usually 15 to 20 minutes at most) with 45 or so studio musicians was too much fun for most composers to resist, and most standard director/composer collaborations extended to "Amazing Stories" episodes. The locations and ensemble of each episodic recording differed significantly; for the standout episode of "The Mission," John Williams utilized 66 musicians, an unheard of sum for the television medium at the time. In other cases, lesser known composers employed only their own array of synthesizers for the task, sometimes recording their work far from Hollywood. As you would expect, the sound quality of each episodic score was highly varied, as was, of course, the actual style presented by each composer.
In the end, most listeners still equate "Amazing Stories" with John Williams, and his impact on the series cannot be debated. Williams approached the project as though it was a feature Spielberg film, providing all the complexity of character typical to his work. His adventure writing for the series' title theme is as wondrous in tone as any of his major scores of the 80's. Demand for a recording of this theme on CD led the Var�se Sarabande label to commission a recording of the title music, as well as two episodic scores, by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra under the direction of Joel McNeely and John Debney. This 1999 recording may not have stirred up as much interest as the other recordings of the RSNO pressed by Var�se in the late 90's, but for many years it was the only souvenir on CD from the series. In the mid-2000's, Intrada Records would unlock the vaults containing all the master tapes for the show's actual music and produced, over the years of 2006 and 2007, three 2-CD anthologies of that material. This review will cover all three of those anthologies first, and will follow up with the Var�se re-recording at its conclusion. While Doug Fake at Intrada must have been delighted by his access to pristine master tapes for the entire series upon his efforts to produce the anthologies, his task of arranging all the vastly differing episodic scores into listenable packages must have been an adventure all in itself. The anthologies don't seem to have any particular scheme of arrangement in relation to composers or the recording or air dates of the music or episodes. In fact, the only distinction one could make about the presentation of the scores throughout the three Intrada products is that they were arranged to sell best, holding off on the two strong hour-long episodes' scores (by Williams and Alan Silvestri) until the third product. The Intrada anthologies offer nearly everything a listener could wish for from the series, though it should be noted that one of the two episodics by Danny Elfman and Steve Bartek, as well as music by the often underachieving Brad Fiedel, was left off of the sets. Additional Elfman material can be found on his "Music for a Darkened Theatre: Volume Two," however. The remaining scores missing from Intrada's albums were composed by names you likely won't find in the rest of your film music collection.
John Williams composed several different versions of the title theme, short bumper music at commercial breaks, and end titles. The first Intrada anthology from 2006 opens with the most famous version of Williams' title theme, recorded with the full 60+ ensemble from the recording session of "The Mission." From there, we hear Williams' score for the first (and famous) episode, "Ghost Train." Smaller in stature, the score resembles Williams' softer character scores of the 80's, with a surprisingly anti-climactic conclusion during the train's arrival. It is the only episodic score to utilize the title theme of the series, delicately weaving it into the score in full once and in short references throughout. "Alamo Jobe," the series' third episode, was the lone entry by James Horner. His music here is a curious cross between his standard 80's action motifs and the instrumentation that would be so prevalent in his The Mask of Zorro score (and sequel). With flavor from harmonica, acoustic guitar, and castanets, this episodic work would be among the most interesting to hear performed by a full ensemble. For "Gather Ye Acorns," series regular Bruce Broughton would create a very slight Americana tone led by harmonica and woodwind, with a jaunty rhythm led by piano highlighting the end. Two source cues, including some blazing rock music in "1985," interrupt the proceedings, but definitely wake you up. The engrossing, Emmy-winning episode of "The Doll" features an understated effort by Georges Delerue, another series regular. Strings, woodwinds, harp, and celeste eventually build to a lovely thematic statement during the episode's final scene of realization. Composer Billy Goldenberg was among the most active in the series, having worked with Spielberg in his early efforts of the 70's (before meeting Williams). For "The Amazing Falsworth," Goldenberg creates a chillingly dissonant score, with strange textures and manipulations revolving around a solo piano representing the story's primary character. David Shire, whose presence was also heard multiple times on the show, provided "Moving Day" with an interesting musical battle between the orchestral (earth) and synthetic (alien). While the final two tracks bring the best of these elements together, the sick alien march in "That's Alturis" is quite memorable.
While Delerue receives most of his attention for his other scores in the series, his work for "Without Diana" is superior. The last score recorded for the series, it opens with the great old swinging style of Delerue jazz and concludes with a lush and melodic series of thematic statements typical to the composer's romantic sensibilities. The often discussed "Mummy, Daddy" episode and score features an early Danny Elfman with the assistance of Steve Bartek in their prime era of creativity. It's vintage Elfman comedy, with a touch of Beetlejuice and Tales from Crypt in its crisp recording of percussive specialties. Highlighted by organ and harmonica, this thirteen minutes will be a delight for any Elfman collector. For Clint Eastwood's "Vanessa in the Garden" episode, Lennie Niehaus offers a conservative score more lushly robust than many of his more famous works. Concluding the first anthology set is Broughton's "Welcome to My Nightmare," a score much different from his other entries in the series. An awkward balance between Herrmannesque horror and keyboarded romance, it's easier to appreciate than it is to enjoy. The second anthology, released later in 2006, continued the same format Intrada presented on the first product. After a variant on Williams' title theme, the Joe Dante/Jerry Goldsmith collaboration continues with "Boo!" Coming at a time when Goldsmith was at the height of his synthetic endeavors, the composer turned down the usual 45 player offer and only used 13 to create a largely electronic score not in the ranks of his best. A standard, pretty family theme for woodwind and keyboard is really all that ties this score to Goldsmith's usual tendencies. An even smaller ensemble was employed by Billy Goldenberg for "What if...?" His chamber orchestra cues and synthetic keyboarding are overshadowed by one wild rock track. Delerue's overrated score for "Ben and Dorothy" features mostly strings and acoustic guitar. Its final few minutes are memorably attractive, but the score as a whole is too subdued for a solo listen. The first of two scores by Craig Safan on these sets exists for "The Main Attraction," the second episode of the series. For the anti-high school jock story, Safan uses a parody of a school marching band as his title theme and an equally comical parody of movie love themes for the nerdy ending.
Some very early work by David Newman is heard next in "Such Interesting Neighbors," a score with pieces removed from the aired episode. An electronic harpsichord provides decent sci-fi attitude, though the overall score is short on style. Bruce Broughton returns for "Thanksgiving," perhaps the highlight of the second set. Containing unique instrumentation for series, including the only use of small choir, the score offers significant creativity and beauty throughout. Opening the second CD of the second anthology is "Hell Toupee" by the illustrious David Shire. It's one of the better comedy entries, with several interesting motifs and funny synthetics, though the score was awkwardly recorded in mono sound for its first half and stereo for its second half, ruining its flow. Johnny Mandel's only contribution to the series is "One for the Road," with sparse constructs, but appropriately funny instrumentation in its employment of tack piano, banjo, and woodwinds for the episode's era. For the hysterical "Remote Control Man" episode, 80's cult composer Arthur B. Rubinstein creatively pulls inspiration from several places, including famous tv themes and his personal favorite from Wagner's classic work. John Addison, nearing retirement at the time, wrote two scores for the series' second season, including "The Griebble," an innocuous, pleasant, and upbeat orchestral comedy piece. In stark contrast to this style is Leonard Rosenman's highly layered orchestral battle cues, some overtly brutal, for "No Day at the Beach." Another highlight of the album, these cues unfortunately dissolve into mundane underscore in the remainder of his score. Thomas Newman had only been composing for a year when he offered his lone entry to the series for "Santa '85," a score that would foreshadow many of the composer's techniques in years to come. Already showing promise in his handling of percussion (which dominates these cues), Newman also leads with three pianos in performances of the episode's attractively heartfelt theme. The second anthology would conclude once again with Williams' "End Credits" music for the series, though a "Christmas Version" of his Amblin logo, heard in its original performance at the end of the first anthology, would be offered appropriately (given Newman's music just prior).
The third and final anthology set from Intrada opens with yet another variant of the opening title, this one containing slight synthetic effects. This set would contain both the outstanding hour-long episodes' scores (all other shows in the series were 30 minutes in length). The second season's "Go to the Head of the Class" would reunite some of the cast and crew from the still popular Back to the Future. With Robert Zemeckis directing, Christopher Lloyd acting, and Alan Silvestri composing, it's not surprising that one of the more frivolous motifs from the famous film --the ascending pairs of notes, usually led by piano-- makes a few appearances in this episode. This is one of the few scores in the series with its own theme, debuting with a menacing organ of religiously classical attitude in "Cemetery." Silvestri's work here is entirely synthetic, but he uses such a broad library of sounds that you hardly notice; the macho "Curse of Dolkite" cue, with its super cool rock rhythm in a spooky atmosphere, is a surprising highlight of all three sets. Snazzy sound effects litter the score, effectively mirroring the wild attitude of the episode. Following is Craig Safan's "The Wedding Ring," which adapts a 1946 song about Atlantic City into both song and score formats. It's paired with an engaging orchestral style of high comedy spirit for an entertaining result. Michael Kamen, who himself was not yet famous at the time, composed for "Mirror, Mirror," an episode with considerable score. It's highlighted by a fantastic opening horror sequence (not much of it was used in the episode, though) and an equally wild finish. The final entry by Bruce Broughton on the sets is for "Mr. Magic," for which he composed a series of rather obnoxious modern lounge band pieces. On the second CD, Billy Goldenberg's "Secret Cinema" is an extremely inconsistent piece for the cause of paranoia, ranging from orchestral simplicity to modern pop, and from to carnival music to synthetic horror. Television scoring legend Fred Steiner would lend his services to "Life on Death Row," with music consisting of mostly textured contemplation until a memorably grim finale for layered strings and percussion.
John Addison once again lightens the series with his jaunty and entertaining pieces for orchestra and electric harpsichord in "The Pumpkin Competition," a score among the best comedy entries. For "Grandpa's Ghost," the final episode of the first season, little known Pat Metheny provides very light electronic keyboarding for the tender episode. It's soothing, but underwhelming. Generally considered to be the best episode of the series (and featuring the most impressive cast at the time) was "The Mission," the first season's hour-long episode directed by Spielberg. To accompany the story of the damaged World War II bomber and the imagination of a belly gunner stranded beneath the plane, Spielberg allowed John Williams the full 66 member ensemble that would also record the title music for the series. Williams delivers with a score that is widely known to be the series' best, if only because the composer used his standard 80's style of action and drama in its most lush and full incarnations for the episode. Tense drama from Williams culminates to a spectacular final track that uses progressions with strong hints of marches to come in Inidana Jones and the Last Crusade before erupting into the kind of magically heroic explosions of theme that only Williams could convey at the time. Some of the cues Williams recorded for this episode were ultimately dropped from the show, though Intrada's presentation here, as with all the episodic scores, is complete. Because of the presence of both this pivotal Williams score and Silvestri's entertaining entry, the third anthology is easily the best of Intrada's sets. The first anthology ranks second, for it offers the other Williams score and the highlight from Delerue's contributions (in addition to the only Horner and Elfman representation). The second anthology definitely falls behind the other two, with Goldsmith's entry failing to muster much interest. All three sets are absolute masterpieces in production, however; Doug Fake has spared no expense in his efforts to provide an outstanding mastering and arrangement of this mass of music, with extremely detailed liner notes to walk you through most of the details. Sound quality is strong on most (the only disappointment comes with the mono recordings of part of Shire's "Hell Toupee").
Interestingly, however, the anthology sets don't tend to be viable as a continuous listening experience. They are the kind of sets that remind of the John Beal collection of trailer music from Sonic Images; each individual piece merits curiosity and could potentially entertain you. But the style of each episodic score varies so greatly that you will find yourself picking out highlights for your own collection of "Amazing Stories" music. In each case, they are an intellectual attraction, but for mainstream listeners, none of the single sets will likely be an option. That is, in part, why the sets are each limited to 3,000 copies and marketed to the hardcore film music collectors. More appealing to people with only a moderate interest in the "Amazing Stories" scores, and casual John Williams collectors in particular, is still the Var�se Sarabande re-recording from 1999. The production quality of this Var�se collaboration with the RSNO is equal to their others, with outstanding arrangements and sound quality. Joel McNeely conducts the Williams portions with precision, evoking the same magical zeal of the original recording. The availability of "The Mission" and the opening and closing titles guarantees the usefulness of this product, though the selection of the second score for re-recording is suspect. "Dorothy and Ben" was not Georges Delerue's best entry in the series, and while the episode may be better remembered by the mass populous, there are several other episodic scores from the series that would have made this a far better album. John Debney's conducting is adequate, but there isn't much outside of the closing minutes to remember. The Var�se album is the safest "Amazing Stories" product to recommend, whether you're an avid film score collector or not, because it offers the best Williams material and obviously boasts an impressive performance by a fuller ensemble in clear, digital sound quality. From there, the third Intrada anthology is the next step. The music from "Amazing Stories" will forever be remembered as one of the greatest collections of artistic minds ever put into the same production, and these albums from Var�se and Intrada together provide the superior treatment the series deserves.