GHOST
Rating: 
Original Review: Maurice Jarre's Ghost is a very frustrating album because, when it's good, it's very very good and when it's bad it's awful. The good parts, of course, centre around the legendary ballad 'Unchained Melody' by The Righteous Brothers, which single-handedly made pottery popular. The original song, and the gorgeous orchestral arrangement which appears later, are both marvellously romantic, heartrending pieces, as is the final cue - 'Generique Fin' - which, for anyone who has seen the film, or for anyone who has loved and lost, virtually drips with emotion. The main problem is with the rest of the score which, for the most part, is actually rather nondescript. Jarre has adopted Wagner's leitmotif approach to scoring, and has written pieces for three of the main characters 'Sam', 'Molly' and 'Carl', a main title cue in 'Ghost' and one for the scene in which Sam finally convinces Molly that he is real in 'Ditto' but, like I said, these are on the whole not particularly memorable. 'Ghost' introduces the gentle main theme which is also heard in 'Molly', but finishes with a chaotic chase sequence and a peculiar synth piece which, although it worked well in the film, seems rather ill at ease with the rest of the cue and 'Sam's only highlight is a burst of a fanfare in the middle of a monotonous rhythmic piece. The most of the remainder is rather dissonant, with clangs and bangs and synthesiser effects interspersed with bursts of the Sam Fanfare and the Ghost Theme. The main reason for getting this would be for the Unchained Melody but, if you already have it, I'd suggest giving Ghost a miss.
Track Listing:
- Unchained Melody (written by Alex North and Hy Zaret, performed by The Righteous Brothers) (3:36)
- Ghost (7:24)
- Sam (5:33)
- Ditto (3:19)
- Carl (4:06)
- Molly (6:17)
- Unchained Melody - Orchestral (4:01)
- Generique Fin (4:16)
Running Time: 38 minutes 32 seconds
Milan (1990)
Music composed and conducted by Maurice Jarre. Recorded and mixed by Robert Fernandez and Shawn Murphy. Album produced by Maurice Jarre and Emmanuel Chamboredon.
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