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Posted: |
Apr 25, 2011 - 4:52 PM
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By: |
AlexCope
(Member)
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It's a Black Monday today as this Baxter score just arrived in Arkansas amongst sirens of tornado warnings and howling winds. Fitting underscore for a dreary day, but the sound on the other hand is the exact opposite. In fact I really don't think it could be any clearer. The music is full of bombast and shrill bursts of brass but the sound handles all the high, loud moments well, which is impressive considering the age.
That said I'm not sure who put the information for this release into iTunes, but I'm not sure this really fits the genre "Easy Listening." It's a pretty intense score, though there are some lush Baxter moments. The "Andre to the Castle" cue and "End Titles" are absolutely sumptuous. Still, easy listening it ain't. Evocative? Certainly. Expressive? No doubt. But pipe this music in a doctor's waiting room and you'll clear the place out.
The booklet itself is probably a Kritzerland best with its full page photos of stills from the film, but when you have striking images like that at your disposal, it pretty much does the work on its own.
I saw the movie for the first time a few weeks ago, and it was the best classic horror experience since I first discovered Val Lewton. A solid, straightforward story dripping with atmosphere and menace. I'll take a substantial horror movie like this one over recent stinger-heavy jack-in-the-box horror flicks any day.
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It's a Black Monday today as this Baxter score just arrived in Arkansas amongst sirens of tornado warnings and howling winds. Fitting underscore for a dreary day, but the sound on the other hand is the exact opposite. In fact I really don't think it could be any clearer. The music is full of bombast and shrill bursts of brass but the sound handles all the high, loud moments well, which is impressive considering the age.
That said I'm not sure who put the information for this release into iTunes, but I'm not sure this really fits the genre "Easy Listening." It's a pretty intense score, though there are some lush Baxter moments. The "Andre to the Castle" cue and "End Titles" are absolutely sumptuous. Still, easy listening it ain't. Evocative? Certainly. Expressive? No doubt. But pipe this music in a doctor's waiting room and you'll clear the place out.
The booklet itself is probably a Kritzerland best with its full page photos of stills from the film, but when you have striking images like that at your disposal, it pretty much does the work on its own.
I saw the movie for the first time a few weeks ago, and it was the best classic horror experience since I first discovered Val Lewton. A solid, straightforward story dripping with atmosphere and menace. I'll take a substantial horror movie like this one over recent stinger-heavy jack-in-the-box horror flicks any day.
I wonder who does put it in iTunes - certainly not me 
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*
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Posted: |
Nov 21, 2015 - 6:57 AM
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By: |
Graham Watt
(Member)
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Received this yesterday, wrapped in Lalo Schifrin's underwear, and it is EXCELLENT!! I must say, I thought I'd made a mistake at first (in fact, I did), because only after I'd clicked "order" did I realise that I actually have this music on LP (you know, the "suite" on the mis-labeled BLACK SABBATH, with the curly-headed Boris on the cover.) It never really struck me as top-notch Baxter, but this release makes it sound pretty fantastic.
To tell the truth, Baxter was always hit-or-miss for me. But amongst my favourite scores of all time are his (FALL OF THE) HOUSE OF USHER (a dream come true when it miraculously appeared, on Intrada) and PIT AND THE PENDULUM. Those scores are immensely brilliant. BLACK SUNDAY isn't quite as brilliant. The frequently fragmentary nature of Baxter's horror scores, the blaring brass stabs, the borderline "comedy music" (taken to extremes in some of his other, more tongue-in-cheek scores)... all of that can make for a stressful listen. Yes, BLACK SUNDAY has some of those elements, but when it's at its best it is fully reminiscent of his best work - some motifs are straight out of USHER, and I love those rapidly overlapping tone pyramids he does throughout. Oh, and Katia's theme is the same melody as the last track on Baxter's "Jewels of the Sea" album from around the same time! What's to complain about?
Verdict: Great.
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Posted: |
Nov 23, 2015 - 6:03 AM
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By: |
Graham Watt
(Member)
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DISCUSSION OPEN
Nice album cover, Last Child. Unfortunately, HELL'S BELLES is really not too much my favourite style of Baxter. I'm a kind of "half-Baxter fan."
How do people rate the Kritzy BLACK SUNDAY against other Baxter scores? I think it's my third favourite score of his, and second favourite CD. Number 1 would be HOUSE OF USHER, 2 would be PIT AND THE PENDULUM (unreleased), and 3 would be BLACK SUNDAY. I also very much like what was left of the TALES OF TERROR score.
Everything after that pales slightly against those masterpieces.
Oh, by the way, and without wishing to stir up trouble, I watched the Nicolosi-scored BLACK SUNDAY today again, AND the Baxter-scored one. Great film. But wow, Baxter's theme for Katia is rather dangerously close to the Nicolosi...
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I'm a kind of "half-Baxter fan."
How do people rate the Kritzy BLACK SUNDAY against other Baxter scores?
There's only 2 Les Baxter soundtracks that I like: An Evening with Edgar Allan Poe is my fave plus I was pleasantly surprised by Intrada's Black Sabbath (1963), which I had only gotten when Intrada announced that they were set to delete that from their catalogue.
Most of the other Baxter albums which I have disappoint me, including Black Sunday.
I prefer the original Roberto Nicolosi version much more.
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