ast year, Silva America issued The Science Fiction Album—Volume 1, the initial recording in a planned series of CDs showcasing distinguished SF movie music. Although subsequent installments have yet to appear, the company has since forged ahead with an analogous project simply called The Fantasy Album. Subtitled "Adventure and Fantasy Film Themes," this double-disc set—which seems to be a standalone release—recreates 28 symphonic works from more than two dozen well-known genre pictures.
The collection commences with tracks from a pair of recent productions: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, represented by John Williams'
impressive "Hedwig's Theme," and "The Fellowship" from Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Melodies from The Mummy, The Mummy Returns, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Conan the Barbarian, Dragonheart and The Witches of Eastwick are also included, with a separate portion of the platter collectively designated "The Fantastic Worlds of Ray Harryhausen." Concentrating upon films featuring special effects from the legendary stop-motion animator, this section highlights compositions from The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, Mysterious Island, Jason and the Argonauts, The Valley of Gwangi, The Three Worlds of Gulliver and The Golden Voyage of Sinbad.
A Gladiator "suite" opens the second CD, followed by numbers from Flesh and Blood, Willow, Highlander, Excalibur, The Thief of Bagdad, Legend and Raiders of the Lost Ark. A three-tune "Music From the Films of Tim Burton" segment focuses on various motifs from Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands and
Batman, with "The Mad Max Trilogy" offering a single "suite" devoted to Mad Max and Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior coupled with a two-cue sequence, "Thunderdome Fanfare/I Ain't Captain Walker," from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. For each picture, the 12-page liner notes furnish basic information on the music, along with various cast, plot and production details.
A genre music fan's fantasy come true
Take a cursory glance at any major record retailer's soundtrack section, and it's obvious that SF movie score compilations are commonplace. Although not altogether unheard of, similar projects dedicated to fantasy films are comparatively unusual, making this assemblage a genuine breath of fresh air. The appropriateness of a few tunes is debatable, and now and again there's a disappointing interpretation, but for the most part The Fantasy Album presents an agreeable assortment of both familiar and relatively rare cues.
Fiery horns, warm violins and a subtle chorus animate Dragonheart's "Main Themes," producing a sincerely stirring interlude, just as grand percussion and imposing brass enliven "Prelude/The
Balloon" from Mysterious Island. Played by The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra—who perform on all but one of the pieces in the collection—these works are superbly suggestive, magnificently capturing the excitement and fantastical atmosphere of each picture. "Overture/The Market
at Basra" from The Thief of Bagdad, the oldest composition on the set (the picture debuted in 1940), is also exquisite, utilizing a slithery flute and spirited arrangement to produce a frisky audio adventure brimming with mock Middle Eastern motifs. Other extraordinary cuts include a dynamic recitation of "Willow's Theme," plus a lengthy Batman "suite" that, through blaring trumpets and demonstrative strings, brilliantly intermingles majesty, mischief and mystery.
"'O Fortuna' from Carmina Burana," heard within the movie Excalibur and voiced here by the Crouch End Festival Chorus, is serviceable but unspectacular, just as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon/The Eternal Vow" fails to fully evoke the inscrutability and exoticism of the authentic rendition. While reasonably well executed, from a conceptual standpoint the suitability of the Gladiator and Mad Max selections is also questionable. Nevertheless, The Fantasy Album is, more often than not, delightful and dynamic, providing respectable readings of tunes from some truly phenomenal and fanciful films.
