ack when the vinyl LP was the primary means of listening to recorded music, the total running time of a single platter was severely limited. As a result, when playing an album, film-score aficionados often rudely discovered they were hearing abridged or otherwise revised renditions of their favorite themes. The advent of the compact disc, which for technical reasons can contain significantly more information, offered at least a partial reprieve, although in some cases a few audiophiles found they liked the adulterated versions of their beloved cues better than the original compositions. A new two-CD collection devoted to the classic motion picture The Dark Crystal could potentially please both factions.
The initial platter presents the adventure's melodies as heard on the commercial soundtrack recording issued in 1982. Comprised of 13 cuts intermingling the movie's many memorable motifs, pieces like "The Power Ceremony" and "The Gelfling Ruins" suggest the menace and malevolence present within the film's fantastical setting, with such works as "The Pod Dance" and "Gelfling Song" harmonically hinting at the realm's more peaceful, pleasing aspects.
On the second disc, the entire score is presented via 28 unmodified tracks. "Jen Plays his Pipes," "Gelflings Meet/Dreamfast" and "Jen and Kira Love Theme" convey the honesty and simplicity of the heroes, Jen and Kira, just as "Chamberlain Is Attacked," "Garthim Are Dispatched/Jen on Aughra's Mountain" and "Kira Brought Before the Skeksis" solidly signify the malicious nature of their enemies. The 12-page booklet that comes with the package features a short synopsis of the plot, along with a brief biography of and interview with the composer, Trevor Jones, and a multitude of credits and acknowledgments.
Two is too much of a good thing
Whenever a soundtrack for a science-fiction or fantasy film is released, there always seem to be some individuals who are incensed that they're not getting every single note created for the picture. The Dark Crystal is a superb opportunity for these folks to discover, and hopefully better understand, that hearing each and every iteration of a theme often becomes too much of a good thing. It also proves that, despite the popular misconception that a movie's accompaniment should be sacrosanct, through judicious editing and arranging disparate tracks can be reworked, forming a condensed and far more fulfilling experience than that offered by an all-encompassing assortment of cues.
The first disc is a masterful compositional concoction. Alternately brimming with bright strings and brooding horns, "The Dark Crystal Overture" flawlessly compresses the tale's horrifying and happy moments, mixing the moving Gelfling and Mystic melodies with the dark, daunting Skeksis and Garthim motifs. A more down-to-earth approach is evident on "The Pod Dance," a buoyant, folk-infused ditty driven by drums and tabor pipes, with unassuming electronics adding an understated, otherworldly elegance to the climactic orchestral air of "The Great Conjunction."
Equally noteworthy moments are less evident on the concluding platter. Although the final cut, a 16-minute extravaganza titled "Gelfling Frightens the Skeksis/The Crystal Made Whole/Mystics and Skeksis/Fuse/Finale/End Credits," is terrific, many of the other pieces are inordinately choppy, ending abruptly or introducing themes that are later advanced—seemingly ad infinitum—on apparently disconnected numbers. The album's producers likely did not intend to do so, but, by juxtaposing different versions of the score, movie-music devotees can now recognize how, certainly for The Dark Crystal, less truly can be more.
