Jerry Goldsmith Albums (83)
'Joyride: The Comedy CD the Entire Family Can Enjoy'
Release Date 1/1/2007
Tracks 12
See Album Tracklist and Review
'Caboblanco'
Release Date 2/21/2005
Tracks 12
Label Prometheus Editions
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'Looney Tunes Back in Action'
Release Date 11/11/2003
Tracks 21
Label Varese
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What The Critics Say
Jerry Goldsmith's score for Looney Tunes Back in Action reflects the film's animation meets live-action format with its playful but never quite over the top feel. Indeed, many of the score's cues are relatively restrained, such as "What's Up?" and "Another Take." The tracks that do build into full-fledged wackiness, like "Out of the Bag" and "Dead Duck Walking," manage to do so with a surprising amount of art and tension. A slinky, film noir-ish feel slinks through several of the tracks and electric guitars also wind through the music; both elements give the score some depth beyond the Carl Stalling-inspired whimsy that makes up most of the music. "The Bad Guys," with its playful nastiness and Western soundtrack influences, is one of the score's standout tracks, as are "Thin Air" -- a rock version of Stalling's famous "Powerhouse" -- and "Tasmanian Devil." A fun and often creative score, Looney Tunes Back in Action may actually be better than the film for which it was composed. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide
'The Traveling Executioner'
Release Date 9/20/2003
Tracks 16
Label Film Score Monthly
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What The Critics Say
The quirky black comedy The Traveling Executioner reunites Jerry Goldsmith with filmmaker Jack Smight, for whom the composer delivered one of his greatest scores, The Illustrated Man. Created in the wake of masterpieces Planet of the Apes and The Mephisto Waltz, The Traveling Executioner captures Goldsmith in arguably the most experimental chapter of his career, forging oddball Americana melodies with the idiosyncratic spirit of outsider art: blues, Dixieland, and even carnival music collide to form an evocative pastiche of the post-World War I Deep South. Perhaps no other Goldsmith score embraces so many musical approaches and sensibilities. It's a bit too much of a crazy quilt to succeed on every level, but The Traveling Executioner remains a delightful portrait of a cinematic master with complete confidence in his own powers. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
'Room 222/Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies'
Release Date 9/20/2003
Tracks 31
Label Film Score Monthly
See Album Tracklist and Review
'Rio Conchos'
Release Date 9/20/2003
Tracks 29
Label Film Score Monthly
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Jerry Goldsmith's music for the 1964 Gordon Douglas-directed Western Rio Conchos is a strange score for a Western, lacking any attractive central theme to bind together the material, much as the movie itself lacks a "hero" who one can identify with or root for. Instead, the music is mostly comprised of mood-setting effects passages, underscoring the dark doings of the plot rather than any broader, more accessible thematic arc to the movie. Some of what's here resembles the action cues that Goldsmith wrote for the series The Man from U.N.CL.E. The resulting music, despite some beautiful passages at times, is mostly very disjointed and will prove to be primarily of interest to Goldsmith completists, rather than to fans of great soundtrack music. The annotation is thorough, with the notes walking a fine edge trying to explain the shortcomings of the music. The producers have done a good job at remastering the monaural original source material and have augmented it with a series of short stereo mixes of the same material that have survived intact, and have also included Johnny Desmond's recording of the title song, which is almost a self-parody of the kind of Western theme songs that Frankie Laine used to record for movies. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
While by no means a classic on par with so many Jerry Goldsmith scores to follow, 1963's The Prize nevertheless remains a fascinating and vital effort significant for introducing some of the themes and approaches explored to greater success later in the composer's career. A brassy and dynamic work clearly inspired by the jazzy James Bond scores of John Barry, The Prize proves Goldsmith's flair for suspense and comedy, introducing such signature elements as bombastic timpani and lovesick violin. Even if his music hasn't yet achieved critical mass, there's no denying the formidable talent at work here. Film Score Monthly's expanded 2002 edition includes Goldsmith's 48-minute score in its entirety alongside close to half an hour of bonus material, including source cues by André Previn and Harold Gelman. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
When director Richard Donner faced dramatic recuts in a bid to salvage his troubled science fiction epic Timeline, he abandoned composer Jerry Goldsmith's completed score, citing his wish for a more intense and action-packed soundtrack. The film nevertheless bombed, and upon listening to Varèse Sarabande's belated 2004 release of Goldsmith's music, one can only wonder what Donner was smoking (not to mention where one might procure some of the stuff for personal use). One of the last scores written by Goldsmith in the months leading to his untimely death, Timeline certainly does not lack for adventure or bombast. An anything-goes effort employing heavy orchestration, myriad electronic effects, and dense percussion, it contains few if any new ideas but affirms the composer's consummate mastery of the action genre. Kudos to Varèse for making it available. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
