Dumb and Dumber To: A Worthy Sequel With Music to Match

So, the Dumb and Dumber sequel by the Farrelly Brothers was released last month, and a few days ago in the UK, and overall it was a worthy sequel.

Some critics were saying this movie was "unfunny" or simply terrible, but the opposite is true. This is a movie made for the fans, with great jokes and some hilarious scenes thrown in to remind you of the first one.

The music in this was surprisingly well done, considering that we live in a completely different landscape of music, technology and culture. The 90s have long gone and today's cynical culture of social media and generally hating on everything meant this movie was never going to satisfy everyone, but for genuine fans it satisfies.
This movie has brief moments were songs from the first movie are played, giving a sense of familiarity to the first movie. Further on, there are several Empire of the Sun songs which work great in this movie, and give it a great memorable sound.


There are no songs in this movie which distract or remove you from the story, and that is the great thing about this movie/soundtrack. It works perfectly.

Would it have been great to have Todd Rundgren return? Probably, but i'm guessing the Farrelly brothers went for a mixture of old and relatively new and it works great.

A great movie with a great soundtrack. Watch it for yourself and don't listen to the critics!

Red Bull Music Academy Tokyo Discussion - Harold Faltermeyer

A very interesting video from the Red Bull Music Academy in Tokyo has popped up, featuring a nice long discussion by Harold Faltermeyer about his music and film scoring career, touching on his most famous work such as Beverly Hills Cop, Fletch and Top Gun.

Faltermeyer discusses his early beginnings, and there is even a very rare video of him with his family performing and singing. A very rare video indeed.

A key highlight of this video is the discussions around his method of film scoring, and how some of his iconic scores were simply done by virtue of him being left alone to complete them.

The Running Man and Tango & Cash are scores which Harold completed when left alone to his creative freedom. The results are simply astounding, in particular his score for The Running Man, a true dystopian vision of the future which is more relevant now than ever.

Additional discussion is placed on his production work for popular artists such as Laura Branigan, and The Pet Shop Boys.

All in all, Faltermeyer says he is back in Hollywood and available to score movies and video games.
Let's hope the upcoming Beverly Hills Cop 4 movie producers have the guts to hire Faltermeyer and bring some much needed funky synth back to the movie world.

Kickboxer Complete Soundtrack & Score Release - Paul Hertzog - Perseverance Records

If you missed out on the previous Soundtrack score release by Perseverance Records a couple of years back, then you can grab this new updated version which now includes all the songs too.

The original release a couple of years back only featured the complete Paul Hertzog score, but this new release now features the entire collection of songs excluding 1 track "I Won't Stay" by Lucinda Ramseur, for which the original masters couldn't be obtained.  This song was on the original German CD release all those years back.

Here is the info from Perseverance Records.
Everything has been remastered and is in pristine high quality.

This release is differentiated simply by a blue coloured front cover, and nothing else. The original release was a red coloured cover.

Product Description

Paul Hertzog
This is the complete soundtrack, containing the original score as heard on our previous release, PLUS 9 of the 10 original songs from the ultimate Jean-Claude Van Damme movie that launched his career. Digitally remastered, with new liner notes by Gergely Hubai that explain in depth the difference between our two Kickboxer albums and the history behind one of the greatest soundtracks of the Eighties.
It features no less than THREE songs by 80's cult icon Stan Bush, as well as the beautiful ballad "Love is the Way", performed by Craig Copeland. This song was originally envisioned for the end titles, but was later dropped in favor of a more action-oriented piece.
We only had access to masters of 9 of the original 10 songs from the German CD. Therefore, the song "I Won't Stay" by Lucinda Ramseur has been omitted.
A special thank you goes out to Paul Hertzog, Stan Bush, Craig Copeland, Mike Piccirillo and David Chackler for making this release possible.
Limited to 3,000 units.

Track Listing
1 Streets of Siam 3:51 (performed by Stan Bush)
2 To The Hospital/We’ll See 1:15
3 Groceries 1:48
4 Very Stupid 0:45
5 Tai Chi 2:55
6 First Kiss 0:53
7 Stone City 2:33
8 Second Stone 0:52
9 Hospital 2:21
10 Palm Tree 0:30
11 Advanced Training 1:47
12 Ancient Voices 2:07
13 Mylee Is The Way 1:31
14 Warriors 0:44
15 Buddha’s Eagle 1:01
16 Kidnap 1:01
17 You’ve Done It Before 1:45
18 Downstairs 0:54
19 Round One 2:11
20 Round Two 1:36
21 The Hook 1:31
22 Round Three 1:31
23 The Eagle Lands 4:02
24 Never Surrender 4:38 (performed by Stan Bush)
25 Fight for Love 3:22 (performed by Stan Bush)
26 How Do You Keep Me Comin’ Back 3:34 (performed by Terry Wood)
27 Chack’s Stew 3:25 (performed by Jamboxx)
28 Roll with the Punches 3:38 (performed by Michael Logan)
29 Feeling So Good Today 4:12 (performed by Beau Williams)
Bonus Tracks
30 The Eagle Lands (album mix) 4:33
31 Love is the Way (original end title) 5:27 (performed by Craig Copeland)

Vince DiCola - Transformers The Movie Soundtrack Score from Intrada

This release has been a long wait, but Intrada have managed to bring out an official release of the classic Vince DiCola Transformers soundtrack score.

Plenty of synthesizers and familiar themes, this pretty much continues where Rocky IV left, and is a great soundtrack on its own.

This is a highly recommended release for any 80s or Synthesizer soundtrack collector.

Available here:

http://store.intrada.com/s.nl/it.A/id.8506/.f?sc=13&category=-113

Vince DiCola

Label: Intrada Special Collection Volume ISC 263

Date: 1986

Time: 78:13

Tracks: 25

Original soundtrack from initial big-screen animated treatment of The Transformers, numerous iconic battling robot characters spawned from Hasbro television mini-series that became wildly popular in subsequent syndication.

 

01. Unicron Attacks (2:32)
02. Moon Base 2 – Shuttle Launch (3:20)
03. Space Attack (:47)
04. Fishing (0:47)
05. Autobot/Decepticon Battle (4:17)
06. Prepare For Extermination (3:42)
07. Optimus Prime vs. Megatron (5:42)
08. Megatron Departs (2:06)
09. I Am Unicron (4:24)
10. The Coronation (2:03)
11. Moon Base 1 Destroyed (2:07)
12. Escape (4:46)
13. Closing In (4:53)

14. Crash Landing (2:07)
15. Twisted Planet (4:54)
16. The Wrong Way (2:00)
17. Destroy The Matrix (1:44)
18. The Trial (2:00)
19. Decepticon Attack (6:48)
20. Unicron Transforms (2:59)
21. The Matrix (1:45)
22. Attack On Unicron (1:00)
23. Reunited (2:26)
24. The Fight Continues (1:48)
25. Legacy (6:09)

 

 Original soundtrack from initial big-screen animated treatment of The Transformers, numerous iconic battling robot characters spawned from Hasbro television mini-series that became wildly popular in subsequent syndication. Cars, trucks, toy dinosaurs, you name it became behemoths of warring destruction. Vince DiCola, fresh off dynamic score for Rocky IV, brings sizzling modern up-tempo sensibilities to his electronic score for Transformers, melds driving energy with striking fully-composed quasi-orchestral themes, motifs. Exciting compositions result, with plethora of rhythms infused with composer's unique harmonic vernacular on display. 

 

DiCola, who gets start as session keyboardist, then moves into scoring with Staying Alive, sequel toSaturday Night Fever, connects well with with director Sylvester Stallone, lands mega-hit Rocky IV and captures attention of TV producers transforming Hasbro's small-screen robots into big-screen monoliths. Intrada CD presents first widely available release of score, courtesy Sony Music, first available as very limited "BotCon" editions in 1997 & 2001. Newly assembled and mastered from two-track digital masters, Intrada CD also features composer's "Legacy", originally written as six-minute powerhouse demo for producers during early stages of project. Intrada Special Collection release available while quantities and interest remain!

 

 

 

Tangerine Dream - Wavelength Soundtrack Score Remastered Release by La La Land Records

La La Land has released a limited edition of 1500 units of Tangerine Dream's classic score to the movie "Wavelength"

This comes fully remastered and complete, and is a worthy addition to any Tangerine Dream collector.

The sound quality is amazing, and La La Land have done a great job on this one, right up there with the recent release by Perseverance of the "Thief" score.

TRACK LISTING:

1. Alien Voices (0:20)
   
2. Wavelength Main Title (1:58)
   
3. �Desert Drive (2:04)
   
4. Mojave End Title (4:00)
   
5. �Healing (2:22)
   
6. Breakout (1:12)
   
7. Alien Goodbyes (1:49)
   
8. Spaceship (2:22)
   
9. Church Theme (3:42)
   
10. Sunset Drive (3:25)
    
11. �Airshaft (3:11)
    
12. Alley Walk (2:55)
    
13. Cyro Lab (2:20)
    
14. �Running Through The Hills (1:34)
    
15. Campfire Theme (1:26)
    
16. Mojave End Title Reprise (3:55)

Total Time: 38:35
LLLCD 1297

You can order your copy here:

http://www.lalalandrecords.com/Wavelength.html

Hold On - Corey Hart vs Keta Bill - Beverly Hills Cop 2

Those familiar with the movie Beverly Hills Cop 2 will notice that the soundtrack release has a glaring omission still not rectified to this day.

During a key scene involving the Playboy mansion, a notable synthesizer/guitar track is played titled "Hold On", which is sung by Keta Bill.

This song however was never released, and still remains unreleased to this day. Instead, a different version sung by Corey Hart was released on the soundtrack.

One thing people might not notice is that both versions of the song can be heard in the movie.  The Corey Hart version is indeed in the movie.

The Corey Hart version is heard faintly whilst the three lead characters are sitting in their car discussing their next move.

As to why the Corey Hart version was released and not the Keta Bill version remains a mystery.

The Corey Hart version is a slightly faster, more guitar driven version produced by Giorgio Moroder, whilst the other version is a more DX7 bass driven track along with its superior guitar solos.

Vintage Trailer Music Score - Jonathan Elias - Back To The Future & Explorers

These days, most movie trailers will either pick a generic Media Venture style score track with the obligatory big brass drone sound and plenty of choral voices.

In the 1980s however, there seemed to be a bit more mystique to the trailers, especially the teaser trailers.  There was no actual footage shown, and the music in the end was completely different to the styles used in the actual movies.

Some examples are Back To The Future and Explorers, both given teaser trailer music by Jonathan Elias.

Explorers ended up with a Jerry Goldsmith score, whilst Back To The Future ended up with an Alan Silvestri score.

A possible example of where Silvestri could have gone with an electronic score is by listening to "Flight Of The Navigator".

It would definitely have been interesting to have had a full electronic score for Back To The Future, but in the end the Silvestri score was perfect.

Jonathan Elias started off doing many trailer scores and these ones seem to stand out, as they are both similar and have a signature electronic arpeggiated sound very similar to the Tangerine Dream sound of the era.

Many have been mistaken such is the distinctive synthesizer sound, that its quite easy to mistake it for a Tangerine Dream piece, but these are both composed by Jonathan Elias.


These days Jonathan Elias does not like to discuss his 80s synthesizer score period (it seems he did not like it!), but he did give a few great scores such as Tuff Turf and Vamp amongst others.