Search - Various Artists :: John Williams: Greatest Action Hits

Great composer, disappointing CD

Kevin Morrill | Kirkland, WA USA | 04/09/2000

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This CD attempts to capture music from some of Williams' greatest scores. However, it makes the mistake of lumping everything into just four monolithic tracks. Making it frustrating to skip to favorite movements.Although it's more expensive, I highly recommend "John Williams Greatest Hits 1969-1999" instead."

Is this guy kidding?

tjguitar | 07/02/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Roy Budd and the LSO play nice version of these classics Williams scores. I agree with the guy who said lumping them into big tracks was a bad idea...and I don't understand it either because this CD was released in the UK as Big Screen Adventure with the Superman and Star Wars seperated into tracks...and I think if you can find that, pick that one up instead, but you can pick this up here for under 5 bucks used, and its defintiely worth it. Roy Budd and the LSO give competent re-recordings of these Williams scores which is alot better than the synthesized drivel on a bunch of these budget albums. This one's a winner in my book. I especially like the Indiana Jones medley.



"

Actively Bad Interpretation of Marvelous Music

Roy Jaruk | Patterson, NY United States | 10/19/2003

(1 out of 5 stars)

"With a living composer conducting & recording his own music, it can be assumed that the composer knows what he is after and keeps after it until he is satisfied. John Williams recorded all the pieces on this album with the London Symphony. Roy Budd, apparently a noted pianist, took the podium and had a go at 'interpreting' the pieces in four suites taken from the movie scores for this recording.After listening to it, I fear he has no future as a symphony conductor.The Raiders of the Lost Ark Suite manages to take an inspiring march and suck the life right out of it. The Williams original brings to mind the orchestra strutting down the street in quick-time. Budd's version leaves the orchestra plodding down a muddy trail in the rain. His brasses are dull, the percussion uninspired, and the strings seem 'loose.' To get that kind of sound out of a major-league symphony requires an outstanding display of mediocrity.The Superman Suite's three parts also plod. Budd downplays Williams' use of instruments normally buried in the orchestral sound (bassoon, tuba, English horn) as soloists to point up the buffoonery of Otis (Lex Luthor's sidekick). The humor is absent, lost in the strings and the percussion in "March of the Villains." The "Love Theme" is not uplifting, but bathed in pathos instead of romance. And the "Main Theme," the one associated with Superman in flight, crashes and burns at the end of the runway becasue Budd seems incapable of driving the orchestra as firmly as the piece requires. How he manages to throttle the brass lines could be held up as an example of How NOT to Conduct A March.The Star Wars Suite, consisting of six themes from Episodes 4, 5 & 6, is sad. None of them are good (as I said, Budd can't seem to drive the orchestra when punch and snap are needed), but what he did to "The Imperial March" ought to be forbidden by law. That march as conducted by Williams inspires awe mixed with dread and fear - exactly appropriate for Darth Vader. As conducted by Budd, it paints a picture of tiredness and doubt in what the Dark Lord is doing. That might be the correct image for Episode 6; but remember, this march was written for The Empire Strikes Back, before Vader had doubts in the Empire, the Emperor and his own role in the scheme of things. Budd takes a darkly shining obsidian blade, blunts the edge and dulls the sheen to muddy brown.The only suite on the CD that is marginally acceptable is the E.T. Suite. Budd clearly favors string instruments; and as Williams gave the strings full play in that score, Budd proved unable to screw it up too much, apart from butchering the tempos and balance as he did in every cut on the CD.Bottom line: Budd should be paraded before the whole orchestra, his baton snapped in two, the buttons on his white-tie-and-tails cut off, and to the tune of "The Rogue's March" be escorted to the front door of the hall and thrown into the street. What he did to John Williams' music is unforgivable."