Various Artists - 2001 A Space Odyssey Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 1996 Reissue (13 tracks) +Album Reviews

Why cant they get it right? (2.5 stars)

07/15/2000

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Why cant they release a proper soundtrack this film? Almost every version I've owned has chopped the Blue Danube into 2 or 3 tracks, and they never get the full Star Gate sequencing right, always edited! This cd boasts "Music as it appears in the film", but the whole Star Gate sequence was incorrectly done. It jumped too quickly from Requiem to Atmospheres. In the film, the chorus reached its highest pitch as Bowman entered the Star Gate. On this cd, they dont come anywhere near this vocal climax. There is a good couple of minutes of music missing, specifically the segment when Bowman first goes into the Star Gate and the light show begins is edited out. The best version of this soundtrack was the 1990 CBS Special Products release which had the Blue Danube as one track, and the Star Gate sequence would have been perfectly done except that it didnt include "Adventures" (the dissonant music playing while Bowman is in the white room at the end.)Im so disappointed, you'd think with all the technology they have now, they could just record the Star Gate music sequence directly from the film so that it is done right! When they fix the Star Gate sequence, and put the complete Blue Danube back into one track I'll be happy. For now, I'll live with my cassette version on which I combined the 2 soundtracks to REALLY sound like the film! The 2.5 stars are 1 for the incredible music itself, 1 for the liner notes and for the inclusion of Adventures (finally!) on the soundtrack. Last 1/2 star for the sound clips and extra tracks, which were cool but really unnecessary. But, overall I am VERY annoyed with this package, because I have seen this film hundreds of times and this is NOT the music "as it appears in the film." Slightly false advertising. I just want justice done to this incredible soundtrack for once!!!!"

A visually striking but musically botched job.

James M. Shertzer | Winston-Salem, NC USA | 07/02/1999

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Those patiently waiting for the definitive version of Kubrick's landmark "2001" soundtrack were sadly disappointed when this beautifully packaged but seriously flawed attempt was released. Far better than the sonically sorry snippets on the original MGM disc (which substituted a Karl Bohm/Berlin Philharmonic recording for the Herbert von Karajan/Vienna Philharmonic recording of "Zarathustra" owing, apparently, to contractual problems), this is sonically superior and is more complete. But the producers and writers have been very careless; some music cues are totally botched, most lamentably in the so-called complete "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite" sequence. Here Ligeti's "Atmospheres" starts several minutes before it should. Anyone even on casual terms with the film will notice the blunder. Notes aren't always correct either; the supplemental performance of the bogus "Zarathustra" from MGM disc, for example, is credited to the ensemble that performed "Atmospheres." Also, the lengthy dialogue tracks aren't helpful to anyone with a copy of the film and seem out of place here. How so much care could have been taken in some areas in the production of this disc and so little exercised in others is dumbfounding. One can only hope future editions will correct the flaws. Until then, to be totally satisfied, fanatics will have to get CDs of all the original performances heard here and mix them into their own definitive version of the "2001" soundtrack."

Hear the Chill of Deep Space

Kevin Alphonso | Canton, Michigan | 05/23/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"When "2001: A Space Odyssey", the movie, was being made, an original score was commissioned. It was never used, and the film is now unthinkable with one.This score has so much going for it -- triumphant overtures ("Also Sprach Zarathustra"), gentle waltzes ("The Blue Danube"), and some chilling score ("Lux Aeterna") -- all of which make for an enjoyable and unique listening experience. Seeing the film first might work, but you wouldn't have to; this soundtrack is brilliant and well-assembled -- if nothing else, the great Stanley Kubrick had an excellent ear for good music."

Fabulous..AND in order

Timothy P. Scanlon | Hyattsville, MDUSA | 12/28/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you're as much a fan of the 2001 film as I am--to me the best film in the history of the medium--you'll love this! The earlier versions didn't have the music in order. And that's a sacrilege to the REAL 2001 fan. And the closing measures of "Blue Danube" in the earlier version were not the same ones as in the film. Even the fabulous "Atmospheres" in the "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite" sequence of the film in the earlier "soundtrack" didn't have the hodgepodge of voices, yelling, and nondescript syllables included on this CD as "Adventures (unaltered)" even after you hear the complete soundtrack version, with those syllables.I've always wondered how Ligeti wrote music such as that in the soundtrack, i.e., how it could be written AS music, and I'll probably never know. Nevertheless it was haunting, perhaps "introspective," whatever one calls it, it was perfect for this, the nearly perfect film.Oh, then there's the samples of the film's script to end the CD. Yes, they make it even better--especially for those of us in love with the film who can't watch it every week, like, say those old time fans of "Rocky Horror Picture Show."If you love the film, get this."

Has to be one of the best soundtracks ever

Zach Bibeault | Minneapolis, MN | 01/21/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The soundtrack to 2001 A Space Odyssey (i have volume 2, which is a little different from the Amazon version) is probably one of the best soundtracks ever. It has a variety of pieces, from rousing (Also Sprach...), standard classical (Blue Danube), to chilling avant-garde (Atmospheres, Lux Aeterna).

1. (and 8) Also Sprach Zarathursta (5/5): I couldn't really take this seriously the first time I heard it in the movie because I had, before seeing the movie, played the shareware game Chicken Invaders which parodied it. But after seeing the movie two more times and listening to the cd all memories of it being parodical are gone, it's a short, rousing, and amazing piece of music that is always played at perfect times in the movie (especially during the scene where the ape learns to use tools).

2. Requiem (5/5): Undeniably creepy. The music of the monolith, nuff said.

3 (and 7): Blue Danube (4.5/5): Standard piece of upbeat and beautiful classical music that is perfect to underlie the scenes showing the space technology of the year 1999 in the film. You'll also notice that when this was playing there was nothing creepy going on in the film....

4. Lux Aeterna: (6/5): This is like something you'd hear when you're dying: played in the film as the space shuttle went to investigate the monolith discovery on the moon, it is the sound of fear, paranoia, uncertainty, and almost, death. Chilling and amazing, this is the stuff nightmares are made of.

5. Gayne Ballet Suite (5/5): Another more standard piece of classical to underlie the introduction of the Discovery mission, but is more ponderous and much darker than the upbeat Blue Danube. Great stuff.

6. Atmospheres: (6/5): Speaking of chilling and amazing. The first 2 minutes are played to a blank tv screen in the beginning of the movie, which really gets your psyche ready for the experience and, musically, tells the viewer basically what the feel of most of the movie is, creepy and mysterious. The rest is played during another blank-screen overture in the movie and the finale during the mindblowing wormhole sequence in the end. There are parts of this that send my whole back up in goosebumps and make my eyes tear with its viscerality. I'm serious, this is unbelievibly good.

Unbelieviby good soundtrack. But don't buy it just for the soundtrack, it's much more powerful to see the music coupled with the film's visuals and happenings. A kickass soundtrack and movie.

Best Tracks: Atmospheres, Lux Aeterna"

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