With such lofty intentions, it was a shame Steven Spielberg's anthology series could rarely see a good idea through to a fully-rounded episode. This two-episodes-for-one deal demonstrates a couple that did work, although since the music was often better than the visuals that hardly matters! John Williams bookends each episode with his catchy title theme (included for completists), and as an often ...
This third instalment of the Ally McBeal soundtracks series, featuring performer Vonda Shepard, delivers another solid collection of emotive blues and country-inflected power ballads. The surprises here are the three tracks sung by the TV show's guest thespian Robert Downey Jr. If this soundtrack was intended to be a star vehicle, it's an old banger. Downey's contrived rasp, hardened vocals and ...
This 13-part TV adaptation of Defoe's classic story is one of the most comprehensive of the many versions made for large or small screen over the years. It was a huge success when broadcast on both sides of the Atlantic in the mid-1960s. One aspect of its appeal was the title theme, which was so popular it was released as a single. The "Main Theme" is an adventurous piece with a slightly ...
Somehow Debbie Wiseman makes her TV music budgets go a long way. For Absolute Truth, a study of the development of the Catholic Church, she aptly centres the score around the religious musical constant--a mixed choir. Their volume en masse rings at a powerful level, and--as introduced in the title cue--is the dominant voice in her instrumental palette. The strings and woodwinds ...