Search - Bt :: Music From & Inspired By the Film Monster (CD & DTS DVD)

Revolutionary

Arnold Rimmer | Salt Lake City, UT USA | 12/23/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"BT is a genius. He's one of the most innovative musicians of our generation, beginning as an architect of trance but never sitting still in one genre for too long. Somebody making movies noticed this, and let him do the score for the movie Monster. I hadn't seen the movie, but when I heard that he'd done the soundtrack I bought it immediately, sight unseen (so to speak). It didn't disappoint me.



First off, it's a two disc soundtrack. There's a DVD and a CD. The DVD is actually the primary medium for the soundtrack. It was composed for surround sound, and the DVD contains the soundtrack in DTS audio, as it was meant to be heard. It also has a stereo mix. It's about 2 hours long, which is another reason it was released on DVD, and it's pretty much a single work, with tracks fading into each other. Absolutely brilliant stuff. It's hard to believe it was composed by BT--it's not trance. It's very ambient, kind of like Eno, but with fascinating melodies and rhythms coming through often enough to make it more accessable than some other pure ambient music. It's played with real instruments, prominently featuring a hurdy-gurdy, but it has sounds and samples woven through it also. And the 5.1 is used to full effect, making it a completely immersive experience.



Of course, there's a CD with it as well. It contains a stereo mix of about half the tracks (mainly the more melodic ones), and it's great. Well worth the price of the disc even if you don't have the equipment to take advantage of the surround sound experience.



I'm getting a fairly hefty collection of soundtracks, and it's not often anymore that I'm really surprised by a movie score. This one did it for me. Just thought I'd share."

How a Movie Score Package should be presented as...

R. Ocampo | North America | 06/01/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the greatest musical score package I've seen. It is presented in two discs, a DTS DVD featurette (labled as Disc One) and CD (labled as Disc Two) . I was lucky to get the limited edition autographed copy for the same price, but that's the only difference.Disc One:
The best way to listen is of course in DTS 5.1 sound mix, but it can also be played as a normal DVD via PCM sound, which I don't recommend at all. I've switched between PCM stereo and DTS and the difference can't be compared as you miss out on the sonic quality and surround sound experience. The music score was actually mixed with DTS 5.1 as the artist has intended from the start so it's not like those DVDs that you buy afterward that was re-mixed to play under 5.1 surround, but the artist never thought to play it that way and the instruments are just all over the place. With this DTS mix, you get the whole feel as instruments creep from behind you right from track 1.Since this is an audio disc, the concentration is in the audio quality. However, as you play each track there are video stills from the movie to remind you of the feel and event from where the music was inspired from.As a DVD, there are extras such as Interview with BT and the Director, Patty Jenkins; Theatrical Trailer; Gallery; and even a Film Mixing Demo which gives you a glimpse of the three basic elements in a film sound - dialogue, music and effects - and which you can play altogether or separately in a snippet of the movie, Monster.Disc Two:
This is the audio CD part. Although there is a confusing DTS logo on the disc (which only states DTS entertainment), there is no DTS surround here. In this disc there are only 15 tracks (versus 24 tracks in Disc One). I guess the reason also is because of the limitation in size of an audio CD versus a DVD. The arrangement is the same based on the movie theme. After listening to the first disc, this disc suddenly became bland. Where there was music coming from behind, this is the plain two stereo mix. Nothing to listen to, just a compromise to bring on the road since only a few (high-end) cars come with a DVD player let alone a DTS-capable deck.A word of caution: if you're looking for BT's usual techno beats, this is not the album for you. This is a musical score inspired from the movie, Monster. However, this is still a good listen that presents itself as a ChillOut session which is still great to crank up or mellow down as a party/ambient sound. Enjoy!"

All I can say is:

D.M.K | Las Vegas, Nevada United States | 07/20/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have about 500 CD's of all types of music, rock, new age, electronicia, trance etc. etc. This is one of the best CD's I have heard in years. The movie was excellent and the score was incredible. I drive a lot in my profession and I listen to this CD and it makes a great background theme for life. I am very impressed with BT, in particular the work on this album. There are no weak tracks. I dont know what else to say to convey the power of this CD."