Search - Jerry Goldsmith, Kenneth Alwyn, Nic Raine :: The Fantasy Album

"successful formula from Silva spells Classic all the way"

J. Lovins | Missouri-USA | 09/24/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"History repeats itself with this latest compilation from Silva Screen "Fantasy Album:Adventure & Fantasy at the Movies", a heap of music to digest within the twenty-eight tracks. All beautifully arranged and conducted by Paul Bateman and Nic Raine with the City Of Prague Orchestra in full force...with the helping hand of David Temple (choir master) of the Crouch End Festival Chorus. A perfect blend from brew master James Fitzpatrick(producer) who has impeccable foresight and taste in film music. What I most enjoy about Silva, is the fact they always have the lesser recorded selections within the big picture...take for instance "THE SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD"(1958), "THE THREE WORLDS OF GULLIVER" (1960), "MYSTERIOUS ISLAND" (1961) and "JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS" (1963), all four composed by Bernard Herrmann who is in a class by himself, they'll never be another. But for my money the highlight picks are "GLADITOR"(2000), Hans Zimmer's recreation of the spectacle that was Romes, with man against man, man against beast and the armies that clashed and fell under the powerful story that unfolds within this suite from the film ~ "BEETLEJUICE", "EDWARD SCISSORHANDS" and "BATMAN", each from the films of Tim Burton still ring true within the realm of great direction and storytelling, this can only be topped by composer Danny Elfman who adds the frosting to an appetizing treat ~ "LEGEND" (1985), can faeries, goblins, woodland spirits mix well with the Lord of Darkness...only the legendary Jerry Goldsmith can conjure up a tune to drive the entire cast into a frenzy with "FARIE DANCE/REUNITED", this is the stuff nightmares are made of with a happy ending of course. With composers like Tan Dun, Randy Edelman, Danny Elfman, Jerry Goldsmith, Bernard Herrmann, James Horner, Maurice Jarre, Michael Kamen, Brian May, Jerome Moross, Carl Orff, Basil Poledouris, Miklos Rozsa, Howard Shore, Alan Silvestri, John Williams and Hans Zimmer...one can only hope this will last forever. Silva, I don't know how you do it, but keep them coming...gotta love it! Total Time: Disc One 71:43 on 15 Tracks & Disc Two 73:48 on 13 Tracks ~ Silva
SSD-1142 ~ (2002)"

Outstanding Fantasy Scores from Hit Fantasy Movies

T | RI United States | 04/04/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you're looking for some fantasy role-playing game backround music to play or just like mostly classical fantasy-esque music, this double CD contains excellent scores wrapped in whopping total of 140+ minutes worth of music.Classic music from your favorite hit fantasy and action movies are found all over this huge, quality collection. You'll hear suites and sounds from outstanding films like Lord of the Rings, Gladiator, Willow, The Mummy, Harry Potter, Excalibur, Conan, Highlander, Batman, Edward Scissorhands and more. A recent (2002) and impressive collection of musical scores, and by far the best CDs I've personally bought for fantasy themed music."

Nice release from Silva

tjguitar | 08/14/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As with most of the recent Silva America releases, Silva Screen has compiled older recordings from previous CDs and added some new material exclusively for this release. In this case, Silva has recorded music from The first Harry Potter and Lord of The Rings films, both Mummy films and Gladiator. I'm not sure what else is new, but combine these excellent tracks with golden age material from Hermann and Rozsa, and some Elfman (Batman, Edward Scissorhands) and Williams (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Witches of Eastwick) for good measure, you have a heckuva compilation.



The performance is first rate with only the Raiders March being a subpar track."