John Williams: The Phantom Menace, Saving Private Ryan * Jerry Goldsmith: The Mummy, The Thirteenth Warrior, The Haunting * James Newton Howard: The Sixth Sense * Danny Elfman: Instinct * Elmer Bernstein: Wild Wild West * Trevor Rabin: Deep Blue Sea * Michael Kamen: The Iron Giant * Don Davis: The Matrix * Chris Boardman: Payback * Stephen Warbeck: Shakespeare in Love * David Newman: Bowfinger Although this album contains music from Saving Private Ryan, it is essentially a 'year's best' anthology of film music from 1999. There is music from 14 films, each apart from Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace represented by one track. Unusually, the collection presents a mixture of original soundtracks and new recordings, these latter being conducted by Frederic Talgorn with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Chorus. The new recordings feature The Mummy, Saving Private Ryan, Shakespeare in Love and a five-movement concert suite from The Phantom Menace. This suite consists of 'Star Wars Main Title and Arrival at Naboo', 'The Flag Parade', 'Anakin's Theme', 'The Adventures of Jar Jar' and 'Duel of the Fates'. By far the finest are 'The Flag Parade', one of the genuine highlights of the complete score and a grand ceremonial in the Miklos Rozsa epic tradition, and the thrilling choral epic 'Duel of the Fates'. This finale offers a chorus of 150 voices and a sonic challenge to test the limits of most hi-fis. The sound is simply enormous, with a darker intensity than the soundtrack recording. It demands to be played very loud indeed. The problem is that the suite begins the album when it should really end it; it proves a hard act to follow. Happily Jerry Goldsmith's 'The Sand Volcano' from The Mummy can more than hold its own against the might of John Williams in full flow, but again, this is a new recording with large choir. Coming directly after, the original soundtrack of James Newton Howard's The Sixth Sense sounds unfortunately anaemic. This is not Mr Howard's fault, but rather a result of the sequencing of the album, for hat his music is essentially low key underscore and is inevitably overshadowed by the preceding epic set-pieces. There are several frustratingly short tracks. Those that are appealing leave one wanting more, such that this album may finally serve as a full-priced sampler: by themselves some of the pieces are so brief as to not afford satisfactory listening experience. Thus music from Instinct, Wild Wild West, The 13th Warrior, Deep Blue Sea and The Iron Giant only whets the appetite. Trevor Rabin is a composer I have never previously rated, but his cue 'Aftermath' from Deep Blue Sea certainly leaves me wanting to hear more of this particular score. 'Old Bagbad' from Jerry Goldsmith's The Thirteen Warrior is a delicate cue unrepresentative of the score as a whole, while the same composer's 'Home Safe' from The Haunting is only another incentive to buy the soundtrack album. Michael Kamen's The Iron Giant is tremendously muscular, while the 'Finale/Fe-Ex Delivers' from David Newman's Bowfinger seems an odd way to end the anthology. This is romantic comedy music, developing into a rousing heroic finish, the whole not so far removed from the style of John Williams under-rated Hook. We have Williams himself again, with the 'Hymn to the Fallen' choral end-title music from Saving Private Ryan, a piece which is appearing on compilations with considerable regularity. Also present is Don Davis' vibrantly percussive opening to The Matrix, while Payback likewise is represented by its 'Main Title', this time a piece of driving serial jazz-funk by Chris Boardman which starts well but never develops. This may be effective with the film, but becomes tiresome in isolation. That leaves a 7-minute suite from Stephen Warbeck's Shakespeare in Love, which begins with the finale and first part of the end title music (the best film music of last year), then jarringly cuts to a rendition of the main theme. The transition probably works if you're not familiar with the original, but doesn't if you are. The problem with this album is that virtually all of the scores represented are of sufficient quality that the original soundtrack albums are worth buying, such that these often too short extracts may just encourage you to do exactly that. Buy enough of them and the anthology becomes redundant, while as an album in its own right this collection is just too diverse, a patchwork less than the sum of its parts. The new recording of The Phantom Menace is well worth having, if only for 'The Flag Parade' and 'Duel of the Fates', while The Mummy and Saving Private Ryan neither add to nor detract from the originals. It is difficult to recommend a full price album for two otherwise unavailable recordings. As it stands, longer suites from fewer films would make a better listening experience. Star Wars and John Williams completists will want this album, though virtually any of the original soundtracks represented here would make a more fulfilling purchase. Note should be made of the unusual but not unattractive digital cover art (by Matthew Joseph Peak), which represents none of the films in particular, but has a science fictional feel oddly reminiscent of a 1970's UK SF paperback. Meanwhile the insert notes are by none other than FMOTW reviewer Paul Tonks. Reviewer Gary S. Dalkin	Reviewer Gary S. Dalkin Reviews from previous months Reviews carry sales links but you can also purchase from:
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