Collector's Edition

Howard Shore fans have their pick of two new albums: Shore's eleventh-hour score to Edge of Darkness or Collector's Edition vol. 1, a collection of unreleased music. Both are about forty minutes of music. Edge sounds more like typical Shore: dark, atonal, and beautifully understated. But Collector's Edition is more appealing because the music on it, representing two unreleased scores and original compositions, is very different than the Shore music I'm used to. Shore promised that he will be releasing more volumes in the future, so it will be interesting to see what ends up on these albums.

Both are available as CDs or iTunes downloads, and I suppose you could just get them both if you're inclined to.

Dante's Inferno - The Comic Book

based on the epic video game

based on the epic poem

First Impressions

I had broken down and listened to the Dr Who and the Daleks compilation soundtrack for the two Dr Who movies (I should say the two Dalek movies) of the 1960s. I was throughly warned that it was very sixties type music, but having just listened to the thirty-plus minutes of Malcolm Lockyer's score to the first music, I have no regrets.

What I'm Listening To Now...

1. The double disc soundtrack to Biohazard: The Darkside Chronicles: This is an amazing soundtrack, which is a distinct improvement over the Umbrella Chronicles. The tracks go from operatic to eerie lullabies in no time flat. Some of the tracks are performed by an orchestra, still rare for video game soundtracks. Also, there's plenty of themes from previous games, now fleshed out with greater sound quality. With over 2 hours of music, there's a lot to listen to with this release. B+

2. Kylie: Live in New York. This online exclusive is a two hour recording of Kylie's recent concert in New York. A nice mix of old and new songs, it's a great treat for Kylie fans, especially the ones in the States. (Especially the price considering the amount of music involved.) It even comes with a booklet PDF for those of us who remember when things were printed on paper. B+

3. The reissue to John Williams's score to The Accidental Tourist. On the back end of his "Blockbuster Years," Williams took time to write music for this intimate film. His score revolves around two main themes that get a lot of use in the soundtrack. Unfortunately, the album is just a direct rerelease of the original album, with no added tracks. Though, there are linear notes on the score that are very informative. B-

In recent news, John Williams's "Black Sunday" score is finally being released. Given a chance, I'd like to listen to it.

Also, a limited edition soundtrack to TV's The Flash will be up for preorder next week. I will be first in line for that.