JOHN WILLIAMS; "Hook" (Epic Soundtrax). * * * 1/2John Williams is perhaps the best-known composer of movie music around today, at least in the eyes of the general public. And when he took up the baton for the Boston Pops Orchestra some years ago, it only served to raise his profile even higher.
Despite his Boston Pops activity, however, Williams continues to churn out an amazing amount of movie music each year - and recently announced he will soon retire from the Pops to devote even more time to scoring films!His latest is "Hook," which marks his 11th Steven Spielberg film, a revisionist take on "Peter Pan."
Though his music can sometimes be bombastic and inappropriately "big," I found "Hook" to be Williams at his best, complete with typical flourish in the sweeping, epic pieces and gentle subtlety in the softer cuts.
"We Don't Want to Grow Up" features a lovely piano solo that builds to a cute song about not growing up (with lyrics by Leslie Briscusse), "Banning Back Home" has a more "new age" approach to its use of piano, "Granny Wendy" offers a sweetly memorable theme, "Hook-Napped" is harsh, "The Arrival of Tink and the Flight to Neverland" is sweeping and wild, "Presenting the Hook" is appropriately goofy and there are a number of rousing, tuneful themes that give Williams ample opportunity to show off his considerable skills.
"The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration" is a sort of "best-of" collection of themes from the earlier 10 films Williams scored for Spielberg - "The Sugarland Express," "Jaws," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "1941," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial," "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," "Empire of the Sun," "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" and "Always."
Conducting the Boston Pops in this wide array of his compositions, Williams evokes memories of the movies as the numbers are played, and it's amazing just how familiar they are. "Jaws," of course, has taken on a life all its own - has any movie music been spoofed or referred to more? (Arguably, Bernard Herrman's screeching violins for the "Psycho" shower scene - but nothing else comes close.)
Still, the "Close Encounters," "Raiders" and "E.T." pieces are just as evocative and specific. Williams also gives new life to his rousing "March" from "1941" and his romantic "Cadillac of the Skies" from "Empire of the Sun."
"Hook" is a delightful addition to Williams' ever-growing catalog of music, but "The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration" is a must for fans.MOVIE SOUNDTRACKS:
"Rambling Rose" (Virgin Movie Music). * * * *
"The Man In the Moon" (Reprise). * * * 1/2
"Bugsy" (Epic Soundtrax). * * * 1/2
"The Fisher King" (MCA). * * *
The delightful score for "Rambling Rose" is by veteran film composer Elmer Bernstein, whose incredible list of credits includes "The Ten Commandments," "The Magnificent Seven," "Airplane!" "Ghostbusters," "The Grifters" and far too many others to name.
Despite all those classic film scores, in my estimation "Rambling Rose" is among Bernstein's best, with tunes that range from fiery to lilting to rousing to sentimental, all fitting to the film's moods and enjoyable on their own, making this album one that will be a frequent choice for yours truly.
There are even wonderful cuts of Ruth Etting singing "If I Could Be With You One Hour Tonight" and Louis Armstrong's version of "Dixie" to fill it out. My only complaint - why include two cuts of Armstrong's "Dixie"? It's good, but one is sufficient.
Also excellent in a similarly gentle, old-fashioned way is James Newton Howard's score for "The Man in the Moon," with a pretty title cut, lively pickin' and grinnin' pieces, sharp use of guitar and orchestra arrangements and a bevy of enjoyable tunes, all of which make for a very playable album.
As a big fan of Ennio Morricone, I'm aware that his quirky style is sometimes more suited to the movies he scores than the albums they inspire. And he's still probably best known for the haunting whistling that accompanied Clint Eastwood's "Man With No Name" in Sergio Leone's "Dollar" trilogy. (This, despite his having composed music for - believe it or not - more than 350 movies!)
But "Bugsy" is certainly one of his more accessible album efforts, albeit still eccentric and perhaps a bit too edgy for non-fans. Those who enjoy Morricone's work, however, should be pleased to learn that this soundtrack is most enjoyable on its own terms. It also includes the added treat of old standards by Peggy Lee, Jo Stafford and Johnny Mercer.
"The Fisher King," with music by George Fenton, is also good, but fans of movie music may be a bit irritated by the intrusion of periodic clips of dialogue from the film. Still, Fenton's music is worth ferreting out between those cuts and the songs and tunes by other artists. The latter, however, work well in the context of the album, including John Coltrane doing "I Wish I Knew," Harry Nilsson's whistling version of "How About You," Michael Jeter's hilarious take on "Some People" and "Rose's Turn" and Robin Williams quietly affecting version of the old Groucho Marx comedy song "Lydia the Tattooed Lady" (with an ad-libbed lyric or two).