All Artists:Miklos Rozsa Title:King of Kings Members Wishing: 2 Total Copies: 0 Label:Rhino / Wea Original Release Date: 10/30/1961 Re-Release Date: 3/5/2002 Album Type: Original recording remastered, Soundtrack Genres:Pop, Soundtracks Style: Number of Discs: 2 SwapaCD Credits: 2 UPC:081227834821
CD Reviews
APPROPRIATELY AWESOME! A Magnificent score restored!
04/09/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Here, at last, is the legendary Miklos Rozsa's COMPLETE score to the 1961 biblical epic KING OF KINGS, beautifully restored and presented by the people at Turner and Rhino. Those of us who love this score were subjected to an LP in the 1960s that only contained a fraction of the score. When KING OF KINGS finally arrived on CD, there was more of the score available, but it all sounded dreadful. Now, the errors of the past have been rectified, and all the beauty and nuance of Rozsa's music is here, and thensome! There are cues included here that weren't even in the film itself (as released). This is a true treasure for anyone who loves great film music, with incredible sound (hard to believe this was recorded 40+ years ago) and a beautiful package that lovingly re-creates the original souvenir program that accompanied the old roadshow presentations of this epic masterpiece. Grab this one, and you won't be able to stop playing it!"
Thank goodness for meastering!
Lee Ann,music lover | Middletown, OH USA | 03/27/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I think was probably one of the last people to purchase the original deluxe edition of this disc in vinyl before MGM stopped making it. I paid about as much for it as I did for this wonderful new release.I even had the souvenier program that came with it. Only problem with the one in the new set is the very small print. Anyway, the newly remastered disc is a true masterpiece. I didnt realize how much music had been eliminated from the original recording,even though I purchased the video several years ago. I particularly liked some of the background information,which pretty much summed up my feelings about the movie being underappreciated for years. The same can certainly be said for this wonderous CD!
Bravo!"
TRULY IT IS A MASTERPIECE!
P. A. PACKER | gorokan, new south wales, australia | 10/02/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"...To paraphrase Lucius the Centurion. I actually wasn't that enthused about the idea of a new KOK. I thought I'd heard all the music through the previous Sony CD. I ordered this set mainly out of a sense of duty as a dedicated Rozsaphile---but boy am I glad I did. Not only is the sound vastly superior to the Sony, and without the latter's distortion, but there is so much more music here, and better sequenced, plus of course all the outtakes. This is just a brilliant set. Rozsa was a total genius, and this is music of stunning quality, all written for a film he freely admitted was not his favourite (though I personally feel it's vastly underrated). Just imagine how good the music might have been if he'd liked the film! But no, the truth is Rozsa simply gave his all to these historical projects because he loved history and wrote, when he felt the films were lacking, a score to the historical events of his imagination. Here I believe he created a worthy companion to Ben-Hur, something admirably different but worthy to stand alongside that magnum opus. Anyone who knows his film music will not rest until he has this set in his collection."
King of Kings is a fitting title
Joshua Kaufman | Cincinnati, OH | 01/07/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"There isn't much to be said that hasn't been said in the reviews below. Rozsa is one of those composers who could define the film with his score instead of the other way around, and this music does just that. There are themes abound, plenty of great brass writing, lovely wordless choir, and certainly lots of fast-paces action music to be found, all in great sound (though not quite as good as Ben Hur).
If there's any complaint, it's the price. But really, it's probably better to spend money on great music like this, than music for a movie that noone will remember in two years."