TEPID EASY-LISTENING SOUNDTRACK
919917
MGM/Rhino seem to have a rule that listeners to their soundtrack series should not hear one word of spoken dialog or any other non-musical SOUNDS to distract them from taking in every single note played by the MGM studio orchestra.

Clearly the 5-star reviewers like this "easy-listening" approach but what about this movie's fans who want to be reminded what's happening on screen?  For instance would it do any harm to hear Ann Miller say "Go Boys Go!" with which "Too Darn Hot" begins?  Apparently it would.

In similar fashion tell-tale lines of dialog leading into almost every Kiss Me Kate song have been censored in case they might  bring up an image of who's singing the song. And in a movie revered for its dance routines even the lightest dance steps have been erased to ensure listeners can't visualize the intense physical activity of the 4 principal dancers in "Tom, Dick or Harry".

Bringing me to the third sequence in "From this Moment On" which is justly famous for being choreographed by Bob Fosse to suit his unique style of jazz dancing.  To establish the mood he wanted it starts with a very loud scream followed by the sound of rhythmic finger-snapping by Fosse and partner Carol Haney - before they spend a lot of time on or very close to the floor.

My question is why did MGM honchos decide to remove the scream and finger-snapping and thus deny CD buyers the opportunity to understand and enjoy the sensation caused by Fosse's revolutionary creation? Which of course launched his long Broadway career.

Without waiting for an answer the good news is the REAL soundtrack containing plenty of distracting dialog and dancing is still available on Amazon for $7.19.  To my ears is has more dynamic sound and was obviously put together by someone who wanted to capture the spirit and vitality of the original movie - as seen and heard in a proper movie theater sometime in the 50's - when MGM musicals ruled.
2867703
A few action thriller dissonant tracks, but most of the soundtrack is on the dramatic tranquil side, easy listening. Enjoyable to listen to while writing, etc.
2801475
Without retreading comments made previously by other reviewers, I would like to point out that these are not mearly songs, this is an original soundtrack recording of a musical.  As such, you can tap your toes or enjoy the beat, but unless you listen to the lyrics of the songs, you will miss their message and the role that those messages perform in the telling of the story.

The best song in the sound track is not, in my humble opinion, the much bandied "And I am Telling You" sung by Jennifer Hudson, but instead Hudson's "I am Changing".  It takes big lungs and a voice to sing "Telling You" but it takes skill and range to perform "I Am Changing" which starts off in a very intimate fashion and builds to a climatic finish.

But the soundtrack by itself does one other thing - exposing the weakness of "Deena Jones and the Dreams" without Effie.  Without Effie as anchor, the Dreams song book becomes a tuft frivolus cotton-candy: light, fluffy and unsatisfying.
3746956
I hate to say it, but this sound track makes it obvious.  Pokemon is dying.  You can tell 'cause of how the people who have rights to it are 'abandoning ship' so to speak.  THEY know that not as many people care any more, so they decided to save themselves a few bucks by TOTALY doing a half-(if not quarter) hearted job with the music of the 3rd movie.
  In the first movie the little begining show had 2 songs in it, Vacation and Catch Me if You Can.  The second had 1, Comin' to the Rescue (OK, 2 if you count Dance of the Bellosum).  This one had NONE, only some really, REALLY bad backround music that made me want to throw something at the movie screen.
  In the first movie they played Brother my Brother at such a perfect point, I almost cried.  In the second they didn't play any songs with words during the movie, but they had the toatally cool Lugia song at the end.  In this one there was NONE.  You could sense the absence of decent music too.  When they were fighting Molly's pokemon, I couldn't shake the feeling that there should have been a song or something.
  They did do one thing right, however.  They remixed the 3rd theme very well, and I'll probably buy this sound track just for that.  I just wish they had come up with more good songs, insted of just cramming in a bunch of songs from another CD to fill in the major void left by totaly gyping the 3rd movie of music.
159970
First off, know that this album is a CD-R and not a commercially manufactured CD. I actually wouldn't have made the purchase had I know this and feel that AMAZON could have better advertised this fact (they reveal this, not in the "Product Details" portion [where it clearly reads "Audio CD"], but, rather, in the "Editorial Reviews" section.) Unlike CD's, which can last a lifetime, CD-R media is not an acceptable, nor collectible, form of media for archiving music, as the product will definitely have a short shelf life and will, inevitably, decay with time.

This aside, David Newman has written a very competent score that is also much requested return of the composer to a more serious and dramatic side of his composing. Having been reserved to more comedic chores in the last decade, it is quite refreshing that we hear Newman get dark and gritty for a change. However, for all the fun that it seems like we are in for, seeing as the material screams for music that is bold, daring and dramatic, the composer appears to just barely get there. I kept waiting for the score to explode, but it feels as though that he has the breaks on throughout the entire score. This is unfortunate, as Newman has shown in the past, with such films as HOFFA, ANASTASIA and most recently the scfi epic, SERENITY, that he can write exciting and dramatic adventure scores. I must also add that I was surprised at how much this soundtrack didn't sound like Newman at all and lacks a lot of the personality that makes his music stand out. Sadly, and to this last point, THE SPIRIT feels more like the composer being hired to sound like someone else. Namely; Danny Elfman... which isn't a bad thing, but I would rather hear what David Newman would sound like scoring this film.

All in all, not a bad score, just not and exciting one. One could do a lot worse, but lets just hope that it leads to the composer doing more scores like this one. Just more exciting and original. :)
4657606
After Tupac died you could pretty much say that Deathrow Records died. They keep releasing soso albums rereleasing classic albums and putting out mediocre compilations and bad marketing schemes like Nu-Mixx Classics. They have fallen off big time with this soundtrack. The Good: Crooked I's Still Tha Row(Im glad Crooked I left. Deathrow didn't deserve a great Mc like him anymore than Aftermath deserved Rakim) is tight, Dysfunktional Family(The Theme) is also worth hearing. Spider Joke ruins what could have been a great retort to Snoop Dogg's Pimpslappd(Tha Row, Yall Hoes) with a crummy verse but Eastwood and Ganxta Ridd made it worthwhile and Hovy Baby(remix) is an pretty decent remix to the already spectacular Hovy Baby. These are the only tracks that are worth listening to. The Bad: Kurupt returns with the same secondhand flow he had when he left Deathrow with the tepid Im Back, Im A Gangsta sucks, We Ballin(sounds forced), 1 Call is dull, Get Off Tha Block suffers from lame hooks disease and Crooked I can do better than that. Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes(RIP) has a song on here under her alias N.I.N.A. which is not the best this gifted femcee can do called Too Hot 4 T.V. I Thought You Knew wouldnt have been all that bad until Eddie Griffin decided it was cool to try to rap(dont give up your day job fool). The Ugly: Who Wants To F*** Tonight is made even worser than it already was by a craptacular verse from Jarule, Ashanti's All My is so awful that the local radio station DJ who played it received death threats(IM NOT KIDDING!!!) On Tha Radio is hot garbage and gives people who never heard of Skip an unfair judgement of him as a rapper. Bottom Line: This is the worst soundtrack ever made(next the Ride Soundtrack). The movie that spawned it was okay even though Eddie Griffin was funnier in his younger days. The movie should be purchased by itself and pretend like there is no soundtrack for it!
3248050
So so plot, but wonderful Mancini soundtrack makes the ride better. Red Buttons is entertaining, and Elsa Martinelli is enjoyable watch. The rest of the cast is just bearable. Exploiting and mistreating animals for profit is a big downer plus everyone being a chain smoker is also a downer and makes it objectionable for family viewing.
2335372
Every so often, I go back and listen to old albums or movies that I bought but didn't like, in the hopes that I might change my mind and take to it.  I've just about given up on this DVD.  I'm watching it again now while I'm writing this, and still I'm kicking myself for spending money on it.

First, the physical quality of the DVD is very poor, enough that it only plays on one of my DVD players.  The disk has that purple hue to the data side that makes me wonder who's basement this was pressed in.  Spelling errors on the jacket only further the cheapness of the DVD (and not the good kind of cheapness Frank Zappa talks about).  I guess I should be happy the the label isn't falling off.

A person reading this review is probably a fan of better films in this genre: Koyaanisqatzi, Baraka, Chronos, etc ...  Fantastic imagery with a complementary soundtrack that is good enough to stand on it's own.  In Necesidades, there's very little that's musically interesting going on here.  Cheesy keyboard effects over a dance track that does nothing to enhance or even co-ordinate with the images shown, anymore than with the chapter/song titles.

The DVD description goes on about "contradictions in our needs", citing "pressure, chaos, and stress" as opposites to "relaxation, rest, and awareness".  Pure dribble, which appears nowhere in this film other than on the back of the CD.  Well, perhaps chaos, but not by intent as far as I can see.

My recommendation is to save your money, find some ambient soundtrack that you really like, and so and shoot your own film.  If you have anything remotely interesting to record, you'll probably do better than was done here.
940118
OK so it lacks edge.  Predictable? Yes, but who cares with the great soundtrack! Made me pull out my old "Flash in the Pan" albums!!!
1385645
If you thought that Prometheus would keep up with the excellent score from the first "Alien" movie, then sadly you are way off track.
This soundtrack has 25 tracks, each of them 1-3 minutes in length. Thats the problem, no piece really points out what Prometheus really is about. There is no good Leitmotiv at all, no track is worthy to be remembered. The tracks are too short, too weak. Usually short tracks should have a high musical intensity to compensate the amount of what can be put into longer tracks. Well, not on this soundtrack.
I listened to the trailer music and thought it would be on the soundtrack as well. The trailer music was far better than the finished product, to be honest it was the only reason I got interested in the Prometheus soundtrack anyway.

I often listen to soundtracks while surfing the internet, and it ranges from the Terminator synthesizer music from the 80s to the up-to-date themes from actual movies with good scores. If it is James Newton Howard, Hans Zimmer, Jerry Goldsmith, John Williams, James Horner, Vangelis, Alan Silvestri etc.. I like them all, and I adore their work. Soundtracks can be timeless if they are excellently done. Like Basil Poledouris and his work on "Conan the Barbarian" for instance, a timeless masterpiece, which makes the CD so expensive (over 50$ at the moment). They are talented in transporting feelings through music. The opposite is the case with Prometheus. I mean, I am in the internet and have the CD playing in the background, and it touches absolutely no feelings while listening. Nothing epic, nothing dramatic, nothing heroic, nothing melancholic. That is what I expect from a soundtrack, and that is why I am a soundtrack addict. Track 20 plays, and the next time I watched it was track 25. It makes absolutely no difference. That makes Prometheus the worst soundtrack I have purchased so far.

 I pre-ordered this soundtrack from Germany before release as I thought Ridley Scott would, as usual, hire an excellent composer, like he did before with Jerry Goldsmith, Vangelis or Hans Zimmer for instance. Though I never heard of Streitenfeld before, my expectations were the same like for other Scott movies, that might have been the mistake.  I am disappointed and I am now looking forward to the Dark Knight Rises soundrack.
Prometheus is not worth the purchase and next time when Ridley does a movie, I will not preorder the soundtrack. It seems Ridley has lowered his quality standards. Sadly.
1837436
I tend to buy movie soundtracks for music that I can toss into an iPod mix and enjoy with other tunes. This soundtrack has some great music, but nearly every track has voice over from "Ron Burgundy" trying way too hard to be funny; making this soundtrack completely unlistenable after the first play through. It would be an awesome album if the vocal tracks were separate from the music and you never had to listen to "Ron" ever again (unless you really wanted to), but the character voice over bleeds into the music. You have to suffer the same tired jokes and decreasingly funny quips every time you try to listen to this collection.

The songs are worthy of FIVE STARS, but the presentation absolutely destroys them. This may be the most disappointing soundtrack that I have ever purchased. DO NOT waste your money on this soundtrack; but buy these songs separately. Trust me.
835769
This soundtrack album was from the space-age Disney update of '20,000 Leagues Under The Sea', and was meant to attract the large fanbase that 'Star Wars' had pulled in just two years prior. But with it's muddled plot, juvenile dialogue, complete lack of regard for the laws of science, and unsatisfying ending, it failed to connect with viewers or critics. The one thing the film did have going for it was the romantic score by John Barry with it's grand, swirling, and mysterious main title.

The album itself is very short by today's standards, and some of the tracks seem to be repetitive reworkings of the main theme ( "Zero Gravity", for example ), but it's still an enjoyable listen. Some of the pieces are quite evocative, such as the somber "Six Robots", and the occasionally eerie "Into The Hole".

Although the movie has been re-released on DVD twice - once by 'Anchor Bay', in a deluxe box that contained all sorts of extra stuff, and once by Disney themselves - Disney has never seen fit to release the music on compact disc. There is a commercial CD available, but it is technically an illegal Italian bootleg from a vinyl album ( albeit a very good transfer ) paired with Barry's soundtrack from "Howard The Duck". It is very rare and difficult to find. I don't own the movie, and don't really care to, but if some company would release a proper CD from the original master tapes, I would be all over that puppy ( particularly if it was expanded with previously unreleased music from the film ).

If you are a collector, I would reccommend picking up a copy of the soundtrack. It's another score ( like Barry's music for the 1976 'King Kong' ) that transcends the film it accompanied.

UPDATE, 2011;

Thanks to helpful info from another Amazon customer, I am now the happy owner of the complete score on CD from Intrada records. As another review on this page details, this CD contains all the tracks found on the original vinyl album, and 20 minutes more in musical cues ( some of which were unused in the movie ), wonderfully restored and sequenced in film order. Also included as a bonus, is a rather nifty track titled "In Through... And Beyond". At first listen, it might sound as though this track is either a synthesizer demo for the Main Title, or someone's idea of a tribute cover version. It's actually a unique mixdown isolating only the layers of synthesizers in the End Title, and an fascinating retro listen to the unique sound of old analog synths.

The booklet details the incredible amount of research and effort it took to get these recordings out of the vaults and remastered to their original glory. If you are a fan of this score, you MUST reward the hard work and persistence it took to allow this wonderful score to see the light of day again, and buy this CD.
1889410
Whenever I listen to a new CD, somewhere in the recesses of my brain I'm comparing the music I hear with the best songs in that artist's catalog.  Unfortunately for Tom Petty, his catalog of work has some incredible high  points - it doesn't get much better than songs like American Girl, Refugee,  or The Waiting. His new release, "Echo," seems aptly titled, as somewhere  deep in the midst of its muddied mediocrity I can hear a faint echo of  those classic songs.  Tom Petty's at his best when he combines his rock  n' roll energy with catchy Byrds-like melodies to create anthemic rock and  roll tunes that you just can't stop humming.  I listened really hard to  this album five times, but I must sadly attest to the fact that most every  here is thoroughly forgettable - a big disappointment considering the hype  surrounding the album.  Especially disappointing considering that his last  release, the soundtrack to the film "She's The One," was his best album  since his '89 solo debut, "Full Moon Fever."
Like the soundtrack to  "She's The One," "Echo" reunites him with guitarist Mike Campbell and  keyboardist Benmont Tench, the heart of his backing band, The  Heartbreakers.  It also reunites him with co-producer and Rap industry  forefather Rick Rubin, who's production skills brought renewed vitality to  Petty's "She's The One" soundtrack, as well as to Johnny Cash's  Grammy-winning "Unchained."  In the end though, only great songs can make  for a great album, and neither Rick Rubin nor The Heartbreakers can help in  that department.
Most of the songs here start and end in the same place,  muddling through boring chord progressions that lack any sense of classic  Petty melody.  Mike Campbell, whose hook-laden guitar riffs and solos have  become a signature of the Petty sound, is listed as the lead guitarist -  but most of the songs are conspicuously absent of any lead guitar parts.  In the end, songs devolve into bluesy, dirgey rants that go nowhere.  Case  in point - the first single, Free Girl Now, a boring three chord stomp in  which Petty shouts throughout in slurred Dylanese (a frightening trend in  the classic rock world).
It's obvious from all the advertisements and  hoopla on VH-1 that Warner Brothers records is counting on this release to  rejuvenate sagging sales.  Petty and the band have already hit the road to  support the album in their first major tour in 5 years.  The heat of the  summer will be the true test- for what it's worth, I'll put my neck on the  line and wager that you'll be hard pressed to find a new Tom Petty song on  the radio this summer.
My recommendation - if you're a die-hard Petty  fan run out, buy this disc, and you'll probably find something you like.  If you really don't care about Tom Petty and just want to hear some great  music, look elsewhere for your music fix.  You won't be missing much.
3532786
Like many of the viewers who have already commented on this page, I knew I had to grab my hands on this CD the moment I left the theatre.  The credits which replayed the main theme was the icing on the cake.  My first disapointment was seeing that I would have to wait for almost two weeks to buy the soundtrack as it came out on July 22nd.  That in itself is downright puzzling as most movies now will even release the soundtrack before the movie even hits theatres.
Now after finally finding a store that had this CD, I knew my wait would be well worth it.  I couldn't wait to hear the main themes that sounded so unforgettable in the movies.
While the music on this CD is great, I could not help but be terribly dissapointed by what Walt Disney records put out to buysers.  If the music wasn't so amazing, I would consider getting a refund on the CD.  The organization of this CD has got to be the poorest quality I have ever seen on a movie soundtrack.  Its as if a six year old snuck into the studio, hit a lot of buttons that put random pieces of music together and the producers never caught it.
Not one title save for one or two has the correct music attached to it.  When seeing track #7 was "Barbossa Is Hungry" I knew the music would be when Ms. Swann found out that the pirates were cursed.  But no, on this CD you hear the main theme played.
The first track "Fog Bound" has a happy fiddle playing in the beginning of it, when there was none to be found in the movie.  Track #14 is titled "One Last Shot" which is in reference to Captain Sparrow using his bullet on Barbossa, which killed him.  Instead the music heard on this track is of the final few minutes when Jack escaped onto his boat and Will and Elizabeth kissed.
These are just a few examples of the terrible disorganization that appears on this CD.  To top it off, nothin is even in sequence.  The "Underwater March" which is track 13 comes after the music you hear in the final battle which is "Skull and Crossbones" on track 11.
The final kick in the but was the total track time on the CD, which is just a shade under 44 minutes.  Does Disney think we're that dumb to think there was just 44 minutes of music in a 2 1/2 hour movie?!  Music from two of the four major battles are missing, those being the fight between Jack and Will in the shop and the crew of the Black Pearl taking over the ship that Jack had stolen.
So lets see Disney, you leave 30 mintues of the CD blank, you give us music that isn't chronological, and you don't give accurate titles.  Essentially, you would have to see the movie about 15 times to know where the music fits in scence for scene.
Now after all is said and done, I am still giving it three stars because the music is that good.  The main theme in this soundtrack has got to be one of my 5 favorites of all time, and having over 100 soundtracks, thats a statement not taken lightly.  Sure it may sound like Hans Zimmer's "Gladiator", but c'mon, everything done by Zimmer sounds similar.  "The Rock", "Crimson Tide", "The Peacemaker", all sound nearly the same.  Gladiator joins the ranks of those three in some scences.  So why are we to think that one of Zimmers disciples Klaus Badelt isn't to do the same.  Harry Gregson-Williams, Trevor Rabin, and Badelt all have the same percussion dominant touch in their soundtracks, just as Zimmer did in his 1990's glory.
Sure it may sound repetitive, but if you enjoy that kind of music, who cares?  Don't you think Mozart, Beethoven, and Bach had music that sounded similar at some point?  That is a bad comparison, but each composer has his/her own style, so if you loved Gladiator, you won't be dissapointed in this music.
In closing, if you loved the music as much as I did, buy the soundtrack.  But be warned, there are a lot of problems with this CD which will downright annoy you.  But for those 10-15 minutes where you can clearly picture the scences in the movie, or when you hear that main theme playing, you'll know the money was worth it.
3196730
I love the 80's and was hoping for an experience with this film like that in 'Mama Mia,' which is fine silly feel-good bubblegum pop with a tissue-paper thin plot.  'Mama Mia' was mostly an excuse for enjoying ABBA again, because your hair's gray now and you don't care anymore that ABBA wasn't cool then and pretty much isn't cool now. I was disappointed in this film for a a number of reasons.  The young leads were fine and most enjoyable.  Catherine Zeta-Jones was tolerable as the moral-crusading former groupie of the mega popular rock star, Stacee Jaxx.  I always like Alec Baldwin and Paul Giamatti and they didn't disappoint as the club owner and the rock star's manager, respectively.  Stacee Jaxx was supposed to be, as I guess, a fusion of Axel Rose, David Lee Roth and Steve Tyler.  Tom Cruise did a fine job acting the part of the decadent decaying and brain-dead rocker.  His voice, however, wasn't there for the music.  To be fair, he sang remarkably well considering he doesn't do that for a living, and as far as I know hasn't ever done something like this.  It wasn't that the vocal delivery was bad.  The voice was just wasn't right.  He isn't a musician and being able to sing the notes doesn't make you one. He's also a highish tenor, which doesn't work with the music he was singing.  That's fine in Journey songs but not heavy metal anthems. The way I thought about his performance as Stacee Jaxx was similar to the way a lot of people who are serious musicians and singers felt about Anne Hathaway's perforance in Les Miserables: beautifully acted and sung with a lot of emotion, but didn't do justice to the music (if you really loved the music.)  Although it's not as common for rock singers to be given credit for having real musical chops, especially metal hair band rockers, the best ones really do have them and it's not an accident. Also the sight of almost-50-year-old Tom Cruise walking around very buffed out and shirtless pretty much the whole time was not as impressive at it might have been. At this point it's self-parodying in a way that I don't think it was meant to be, and made him look both dated and sad, when the emphasis was supposed to be on his being still viable as a hard-rocking sex god.  Trust me, the girls don't love Mick Jagger anymore because his looks are sexy (it's only because he's extremely rich.)  Axel Rose looks freakish since his facelift, David Lee Roth is old and balding.  Both are paunchy and plainly Past It.  Steve Tyler looks like a hairy pregnant pencil, with streaks of gray in his long thinning locks.  However, unlike the other two, he still 'has it.'  Pity Tom couldn't have emulated that quality, although I think that's what he was trying for.

Put your shirt back on, Tom, and SHUT UP.
443501
Dont get me wrong Cradle 2 The Grave had excellent action scenes but the plot was nothing nobody hasn't seen 100x before. Standout Tracks: X GON GIVE IT TO YA(vintage DMX track), GO TO SLEEP(obvious Jarule diss), WHAT'S IT ALL FOR, FOLLOW ME GANGSTER, STOMPDAS***OUTU(dope CNN/MOP match up), MY LIFE(great Foxy Brown track, should have been on Broken Silence), IM SERIOUS(another banger by Clipse), HAND THAT ROCK THE CRADLE and GETTING DOWN.  Filler: Joe Buddens delivers a commercial clunker on Drop, Drop, Do Something by Comp is garbage, Baby's won't be coming back is more reason to dislike him, Slangin Dem Thangs(corny) and Focus(YAWN). Bottom Line: Cradle 2 The Grave soundtrack is a lot better than the movie. Songs like Go To Sleep, My Life, Im Serious, X Gon Give It To Ya and Hand That Rocks The Cradle make this soundtrack a worthwhile collector's item.
4727225
This is great fun. It's also very odd, and not quite the kind of 1970s police film soundtrack you might be expecting; although a couple of tracks sound like Dirty Harry ("Blue and Green Talk", for example), it's mostly a weird but funky musical experiment. It's best listened to as one long single song, in which case it becomes a bit like Kraftwerk's "Autobahn", in that it's a series of variations on a single theme.

And what an odd theme it is. The main melody sounds completely random, and apparently it was created with some kind of mathematical process. Most tracks involve variations on a swinging brass beat in the background with this random-sounding melody over the top. It's a bit like Jerry Goldsmith's music for "Capricorn One" in its mixture of atonality and brute force.

Sometimes it slows down (the end of "Moving Again Blues"), sometimes it goes real quiet ("Dolowitz Gets Killed"), and sometimes it gets very loud (the beginning of "Money Montage"), but it's recognisably the same piece of music put through a blender. "Smoking More, Enjoying it Less" and the opening titles are the swinging-est, the end title is basically the opening title but not as good, and "Blue and Green Talk" is the most conventional-sounding 70s cop show track, with that wooden scraper thing that was all over the place at the time. "Dolowitz Takes a Look" is a bizarre mixture of aggressive brass funk and cocktail jazz music, and sounds like something from a weird spy thriller.

I can barely remember the film, which was a minor classic of its genre. It was a police procedural with a dash of caper film. All I know of David Shire is that he went on to do some of the music for "Saturday Night Fever". This soundtrack is nothing like that, and it's worth owning for the opening title alone, which swaggers like a magickist.