Ooo! More music!
_______
CD: I.Q. (1994) / Seconds (1966)
 
 
Review Rating:   Excellent
   
     
...back to Index
I
Label:
La-La Land Records
Catalog #:
LLLCD-1109
 
Format:
Stereo / Mono
 
...or start from scratch
A
Released:

October 15, 2009

Tracks / Album Length:

33 tracks / 69:29

 

 
   
Composer: Jerry Goldsmith
   

Special Notes:

20-page colour booklet with liner notes by Jeff Bond and Dan Goldwasser/ Limited to 3000 copies

 
 
Comments :    

The coupling of a late Goldsmith comedy with an early Goldsmith sci-fi thriller seems very odd, and the connection may be more corporate than thematic – both movies were released by Paramount – but they show the composer’s range, as well as the shift in style between his greatest experimental period (the late sixties) and his final years, where he wrote elegant, lush, and polished scores for films of varying quality (Dennis the Menace, The Sum of All Fears).

One could argue the two scores on La-La Land’s CD were too short to receive their own commercial releases in their day, but in reality it was probably a case where box office performance may have prevented the music from appearing on CD. Had Seconds been released on LP in 1966, it may well have been interpolated with dialogue or source music, or perhaps been reduced to theme samples coupled with ‘music from other great films,’ like the old MGM or Mainstream albums of the era.

I.Q. could’ve made it to CD (like the equally short Fierce Creatures) in 1994, but it would’ve competed against higher profile albums like Angie, Bad Girls, The River Wild, and The Shadow. (The irony? Each of those albums contained about 38 mins. or less of actual score, with some padded out with one or two banal pop songs.)

Fans of the composer’s gift for light, warm themes as well as a sense of nostalgia will find plenty of charm in I.Q. Cues like the gentle “The Watch” bear some similarity to the composer’s “Kick the Can” theme for Twilight Zone: The Movie, whereas his recurrent use of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” includes a number of sly variations using rustic fiddle, as well as a doo-wah fifties chorus. There’s also a flawless blend of chamber, synths, and contemporary pop styles through which Goldsmith weaves with typical dexterity.

I.Q. is a pleasant gem, and it stands out as one of the composer’s better efforts within the comedy/nostalgic drama realm (which includes Six Degrees of Separation, Matinee, and “Kick the Can”).

Seconds, on the other hand, is a jewel among the composer’s brooding, bleak works, and it’s been in top demand by collectors and fans largely because it’s the kind of wrenching music most record labels at the time wouldn’t have touched. (One need only note that it took 15 years before Tony Thomas issued Freud – inarguably among Goldmsith’s best works – on LP).

Although the use of organ and pulsing chords in the title music infer a grandiose fall from grace as well as horrible tragedy, the score and film are more intimate in the way they follow an old man’s desire to reinvent himself as a hunk, only to discover dissatisfaction with his idyllic life when the morality of his actions as well as a longing for his wife start to corrode his soul. When he breaks the rules of his agreement, his life is eradicated like a bug, and he becomes a non-person.

John Frankenheimer’s film is flawed in the way it tries to combine levels of disillusionment with self-loathing, giddy happiness, regret, and terror, but what sustains the film’s compelling drama is the central sadness of the lead character, which Goldsmith exploits through his opening organ theme as well as the delicate (and brutally painful) theme variation in “Quiet Isolation,” using harp and distant piano. The cue works because of its simplicity, and the way Goldsmith develops a progression of fear and misgivings though waves of hope (via the harp), worry (strings), and regret (piano) – the last emotion ultimately contributing to his doom because in seeing the effects of his decision on his ‘ex-wife,’ he realizes the main reasons for accepting a new life were selfish and loathsome.

Some of the atonal qualities in Freud are present in “Nightmare,” and there’s a great use of repeated string figures that form a nagging presence on the character, which Goldsmith accents through watery bass notes, and a return to his chilly fugue.

Most of the cues run around two minutes, and alongside extra cues taken from the film mix (with slight dialogue bleed-thru), the Seconds score tops out at a compact 20+ mins. It’s also a score that needn’t have been longer because in addition to music, director Frankenheimer liked to emphasize silence, dialogue, and sound effects in his work. The scaling back of score meant Goldsmith’s music only appears when necessary (an approach that’s even more stringent in Seven Days in May), and it’s more powerful because of its precision placement.

The lead character isn’t particularly sympathetic, and it’s often because of the score that he’s humanized; whatever inner turmoil is being wrestled with is rarely revealed by actor Rock Hudson, until of course the nightmarish finale.

Unlike the stereo crispness of I.Q., Seconds is presented in mono, yet that doesn’t take anything away from its power. La-La Land has mastered the elements by adding some depth without creating any phony stereo effects. The organ notes are profound, and the high notes from harp and strings are quite clear and clean from tape hiss.

Even though I.Q. is a perfectly laudable work, Seconds is the real gem in this important release. Now if only Freud would get the deserved stereo remastering and CD reissue it desperately needs…

 

 

© 2009 Mark R. Hasan

 
 
 
Bzzz-bzz-bazzz-brzzoom!
   
_IMDB Entry______DVD Review_______Composer Filmography______CD/LP Release History
   
_IMDB Detailed Entry_______________Composer Filmography/Discography at Soundtrack Collector.com ___________Additional Related Sites
   
     
Brrr-boooshi-bzz-bazzah!
   
     
   
   
   
   
     
Vrrfpt-Voot-Voot-Voot!
   
     

Site designed for 1024 x 768 resolution, using 16M colours, and optimized for MS Explorer 6.0. KQEK Logo and All Original KQEK Art, Interviews, Profiles, and Reviews Copyright © 2001-Present by Mark R. Hasan. All Rights Reserved. Additional Review Content by Contributors 2001-Present used by Permission of Authors. Additional Art Copyrighted by Respective Owners. Reproduction of any Original KQEK Content Requires Written Permission from Copyright Holder and/or Author. Links to non-KQEK sites have been included for your convenience; KQEK is not responsible for their content nor their possible use of any pop-ups, cookies, or information gathering.

   
     
__