It seems like Ennio Morricone compilations are more frequent than train robberies in the Old West. Of course, one could argue this isn’t a bad thing. The Italian maestro proudly stands alongside Bernard Hermann (Taxi Driver), John Barry (James Bond) and John Williams (Jaws) as one of the greatest film composers of all time.
Morricone is arguably the most innovative of the bunch, often sidestepping harmonic conventions to create some of the most extraordinarily dark and peculiar palettes that combine wah-wah spiked ‘60s psychedelia, tense ‘70s funk, free form jazz, bombastic church organs, and smartarse avant-gardism.
His name is synonymous with Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Western trilogy. His score not only provided the identity of Clint Eastwood’s central character but encapsulated the turmoil and violent opera of those times. He and Leone in effect provided us with the truth to John Wayne and director John Ford’s patriotic lies.
They say:
Film Score Monthly: “If there is a Morricone compilation out there that is number one, it’s this one.”
CD News: “Essential listening for any self-professed movie fan.”
We say:
This is the compilation Morricone fans have been waiting for; a nicely packaged three disc set loaded with more rounds of ammunition than The Man with No Name.
Sure, the usual suspects are here: the catchy ‘Chi Mai’, the haunting ‘Nuovo Cinema Paradiso’, and the iconic ‘Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo’, which all pull at the emotions like rope around an outlaw’s neck.
But it also contains material you wouldn’t usually come across, such as the gorgeous sweeping string and oboe melody of ‘La Califfa’, the stirring ‘Oceano’, and the incongruous ‘Gli Intoccabili’, the latter of which revels in its hyperactive fusion of jazz and funk driven under a bed of strings scored without vibrato.
Only the absence of tracks from the Battle of Algiers and the glorious Vergogna Schifosi stops this from being the ultimate collection. But for now it’s the best we’ve got. So dust off your poncho, put on your boots and, err, mount that horse. This is the stuff of legends.
Like this? Try these:
Bernard Hermann – Taxi Driver
John Williams – Greatest Hits 1969-1999
John Barry – Collection
RELEASED
26th June
LABEL
Edel
POSTED...
Thu 22 Jun 2006 at 7:26am
