Search - Randy Newman :: Ragtime (1981 Film Soundtrack)

He didn't win an Oscar for THIS?!?!?!?!

ewomack | MN USA | 10/26/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"How many times did Newman get nominated for an Academy Award? Five, six hundred? One year he even had three nominations for three different pictures ("A Bug's Life" for Best Original Musical, "Pleasantville" for Original Dramatic Score, and Best Song for "That'll Do" from "Babe: Pig in the City"), and went zero for three. AUGH! He actually and finally won one in 2002 (for "If I Didn't Have You" from "Monsters, Inc."). Upon hearing the "Ragtime" soundtrack from 1981 many may ask impolitely "WHAT!?! HE DIDN'T WIN ONE FOR 'RAGTIME'!??!?! I'M HEADING DOWN TO THE ACADEMY WITH SOME MANURE AND A CATAPULT!!!!!" An understandable reaction, because Newman's score for "Ragtime" is brilliant and extremely listenable even without all those thousands of moving pictures. It sounds like Newman. His style seeps from nearly every note. The piano sounds like Newman (it is Newman, isn't it? No credits inside the jewel case to testify). He composed and conducted every song except for the not-so-well known classic "I Could Love a Million Girls". There's even a song featuring Randy (Yeah! Just like on one of his non-film albums): "Change Your Way". It might have opened the movie, but a lot of people changed their minds, and Newman decided to keep it on the album anyway. "One More Hour" is a stunningly beautiful song based on the Main Title theme (and sung amazingly well by Jennifer Warnes - her name is buried somewhere in the CD booklet text). Most of the rest of the album contains incredible instrumental music. Lush strings, delicate piano. Sort of an early twentieth century feel (which makes sense since the movie was set in 1906). Good stuff.



Newman's first film score job was the 1971 movie "Cold Turkey" (the one with Dick Van Dyke trying to get everyone in town to stop smoking). "Ragtime" was, amazingly, only his second. Perhaps his rookie status kept the Academy from recognizing this one? Who knows? Maybe they were offended by one of his songs? That would make a great story (though sadly unlikely). Either way, "Ragtime" stands up today as a great film score or as great music to listen to all by itself (many say that the score is better than the movie).



As if the music weren't enough, Rhino (one of the best labels around) packaged everything with a thick CD booklet. This tells the story of the movie, the actors, the directors (Robert Altman almost directed), and lots of commentary by Newman (the blurb in the front cover is hilarious). Also included are pictures of Newman conducting and lyrics for two of the vocal numbers. And one bonus track, the demo for "Ragtime" (very similar to the one on "The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 1"). Newman fans will likely love every note (and rest)."

A classic album, a disappointing CD

qwerty | 12/24/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Like many others, I have been waiting for this amazing soundtrack to be released on CD since I got a player. I appreciated the movie itself more than some seem to have,and thought the performances were excellent, especially the late Howard Rollins as Coalhouse Walker. The main thing though, has always been the music, easily some of Randy Newman's greatest work. Listening to this album is a rich, multilayered experience, and the bonus tracks included here are a welcome addition.
So why only 3 stars?
The audio quality is almost incredibly bad. There is an entire layer missing in the higher audio range, and it's most noticeable on the piano pieces, which are the main feature of the soundtrack. My album is still in reasonably good condition, so I compared the two, to make sure I wasn't losing my hearing. I also played them for a second listener. She insisted that there were two different pianos being used. By comparison, the CD sounds as though it was played with the damper pedal on; flat, with absolutely no resonance or reverberance. If this is digital remastering, lose it.
I love the music, but was really disappointed with the results here."

Masterwork

qwerty | Philadelphia, PA USA | 06/21/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One only has to imagine the potential. Producer Dino de Laurentiis originally hired Robert Altman to direct the movie adaptation of E.L. Doctorow's Altmanesque novel "Ragtime". Following not too long after the triumph of his masterpiece "Nashville," Altman's dense sonic and visual style was perfectly suited to bring this multilayered, historical novel to the screen. Unfortunately, de Laurentiis re-edited Altman's "Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson," against Altman's wishes, and the resulting feud ended up putting Ragtime in the hands of the talented but horribly inappropriate hands of Milos Foreman. The movie was (and is) a major disappointment, a pale and unidimensional rendition of the novel. As fate would have it, however, this disappointing movie yielded one of the greatest movie scores of all time. Randy Newman's work for Ragtime was as stunning as Foreman's work was stultifying. Haunting, melodic, allusive and memorable, this is Newman's best movie work, and the best evidence ever that musical genius is genetic: Newman is the nephew of two of the greatest movie composers of the previous generation: Lionel and Alfred Newman. A giant accomplishment, Ragime's availability at long last on CD is nothing short of a major event."