Search - Jerry Goldsmith :: The Omen: The Essential Jerry Goldsmith Film Music Collection (Film Score Anthology)

Cover Versions at Best, Blatant Incompetence at Worst

René van Os | Beek & Donk Netherlands | 06/12/2000

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Being a Goldsmith fan myself, I regret having to disagree with 3 customers who were pleased with this compilation CD. I myself was surprised by how poorly some renditions on these CD's sounded. While I am sure all care was taken to be honest to Jerry Goldsmith's original music, I cannot help but mention that these recordings abound with dislocated musical phrases that form new and rather incoherent themes, poorly executed orchestration (the Total Recall and Rambo themes are downright apalling)and a lot of themes with wrong tempo's and off the mark percussion. I may be a purist, but recently having heard Jerry Goldsmith conduct his own music in London's Barbican Centre, I cannot give Nic Raine more than 1 star. I would even be willing to sell this CD-set to whomever would be interested, as I have most of the originals on this set and I am not very likely to play this one ever again. I am very sorry to be this negative as I know it is difficult enough to perform Jerry Goldsmith's music at all but I recommend serious fans to skip this one and go for the originals, even if they are harder to find and more expensive. Believe me, the originals are DEFINITELY worth it."

Not the soundtracks

René van Os | 12/05/2001

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Goldsmith is great, of course, but be warned: this is not a collection of his soundtracks, as advertised. It's an "interpretation" (according to the liner notes) by a Czeckoslovakian orchestra. Not a bad orchestra, all in all-- but just know this CD is not what it appears."

A Good Sampling of Goldsmith

R. J. Teed | Dearborn, MI United States | 04/08/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Although this cd contains an extensive amount of music(138 minutes, 28 tracks), less than half of this music was recorded exclusively for this cd. The other tracks can be found on other various Silva Screen compilation cd's. The selections that are new to this cd are from MASADA, UNDER FIRE, BASIC INSTINCT, BABY, THE BLUE MAX, BOYS FROM BRAZIL, and THE SHADOW. This is still a good cd and for a good price. The sound quality is great and the orchestra performs the pieces well for the most part. I actually prefer this version of CAPRICORN ONE(track one) to the original soundtrack. Its not easy to recreate Goldsmith's sometimes complex writing and style. The UNDER FIRE suite is almost worth the price of the cd alone, especially since the original cd is hard to find and very expensive. Other out-of-print or not available music on this cd is from THE SWARM, THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY, BOYS FROM BRAZIL, BABY, TWILIGHT ZONE, and MACARTHUR. A curious omission from this cd is ALIEN, which was recorded for another Silva Screen compilation(Space and Beyond). There were great scores that were left off this cd. POLTERGEIST, THE SAND PEBBLES, THE WIND AND THE LION, THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS, RUDY, and LIONHEART all deserved to be included as were a few others. A western suite would have been good too.Their renditions of TWILIGHT ZONE, STAR TREK, THE OMEN, and POWDER are sluggish, playing at slower tempos than the originals. Also music from TOTAL RECALL and RAMBO II sounded funny without the original electronic effects. But tracks like MASADA, GREAT TRAIN ROBBERRY, CAPRICORN ONE and UNDER FIRE are right on and do justice to the original scores. If you don't plan on collecting Goldsmith cd's(there are over 100 and counting), this is a good sampling of his music but barely scratches the surface of Goldsmith's extensive body of work."