UP AND DOWN

RICHARD BAND

Rating:

Original Review: One of the film music world's greatest tragedies is the fact that too many excellent composers are never given an opportunity to shine, while their less talented contemporaries succeed as a result of sheer luck, and being in the right place at the right time. Richard Band is a composer whose work has never been, and will probably never be, heard by the masses, despite him being a hugely talented artist. Richard is the son of director and producer Albert Band, whose films for the independent Full Moon films have included such notorious classics as The Pit and the Pendulum, Parasite and Ghoulies. Almost by default, Richard became involved heavily in the work of the studio, which concentrated mainly on low-budget science fiction and horror movies. Film after film, Band stretched his limited resources to their limits, hiring respectable orchestras like the Royal Philharmonic when he could, and blending synthesisers into the mix when the budgets were tighter. Sadly, in the last ten years, not one of Richard Band's Full Moon features have been release theatrically in the UK.

Up and Down, a 2-CD promotional release from the Supertracks folks, is an attempt to redress the balance and generate interest in - and future employment for - Richard Band. Clocking in at 2 hours and 16 minutes, and with 88 tracks of music, this release is a delightful feast for anyone who enjoys exploring the film music world's periphery and seeing what exists out there beyond the mainstream. Of the twelve movies whose music features on this CD, I can safely say that I have seen precisely none of them. I think I might have caught about ten minutes of In The Doghouse while channel-skipping on cable TV once, but other than that my knowledge of any of these films remains completely non-existent. This is, of course, is not necessarily a bad thing, as it means that I can approach the music with no preconceptions about the quality (or otherwise) of the film it accompanies.

The first disc is headed "Drama", and concentrates mainly on Band's efforts in the genres for which he is best known: science fiction, horror and fantasy. Surprisingly, though, much of the music on this CD is not the blood and thunder one might expect, and is warm and thematic instead, belying the nature of the films whose titles include Dragonworld, Ghostwarrior, Robo-Warriors and Metalstorm. The 'Overture' which opens the disc is superb, fully orchestral and heroic, brimming with noble brass passages and lush string writing. The music from Dragonworld is worth a special mention, featuring as it does a searching, hopeful theme in the cue 'A Small Boy in Scotland' and going on to introduce some stylised Celtic textures and even a brief rendition of "Over the Sea to Skye" before concluding with a 'Bittersweet End'.

Other cues of note include the faintly European-sounding 'Montage' from Castles, with synthesised mandolins playing behind a soft string section; the gritty, guitar driven music from Walker: Texas Ranger, the stirring theme from the Waterworld CD-ROM game, and the rousing action cues of Robo-Warriors, especially the breathless 'The Battle'. Band's music from the popular TV series Hyperion Bay and Dawson's Creek is romantic and sentimental, replete with surging strings, acoustic guitars, cymbal rings and choral work. Band is not known for his romantic work, but he should be, as this is music as good as any I have heard in this style. Similarly, the 14-minute suite from the TV series Stargate SG-1 is a blast, mixing spacey ambiences and rousing action cues with snippets of David Arnold's sensational film score, while the promotional music for Buffy the Vampire Slayer is superb, mock-Gothic stuff with inventive vocal work and more than a hint of the Elfman in it.

The second disc is sub-headed "Comedy", and features music from various family movies and cartoons that Band has scored over the years. By all accounts, this is the music Band was eager to promote the most, as it is for his work in this genre that he is least well known. Lengthy suites from the movies In The Doghouse, Head of the Family, Prehysteria, Remote and Shrunken Heads (which he co-wrote with Danny Elfman) dominate proceedings, but the most interesting tracks are the thirteen ten second "bumpers" Band wrote for various Warner Brothers cartoon shows. These snippets cover the entire gamut of musical styles, from sweet and sentimental, to jazz and rock, to downright raucous, some featuring the famous Warner Brothes fanfare, but always with the spirit of Carl Stalling hovering above. Of the other cues, In The Doghouse can be categorised as comedy chase music with a rhumba beat, and the fact that the second cue from Dungeon Master has been subtitled "An Ode to Bernard Herrmann" should give the game away. However, the most amusing of all is the downright peculiar piece from Clayfighter, a CD-ROM video game which failed as a TV series pilot, but which features some highly peculiar but enthralling vocal work, especially in the cue 'Ooga Booga Man'.

From a collector's point of view, Up and Down is a great release: plenty of music, good sound, and excellent liner notes (including a note from Band himself). It is also worth mentioning that the CDs do not come in a regular CD case, instead being housed in a large plastic container more like a DVD box - an intentional choice on Band's part to ensure that it doesn't get lost in the piles of other promos sent to film companies on a daily basis. It would be marvellous is Richard Band got himself attached to a high profile project as a result of this promo, and it would be wonderful to see what he could do with a large budget, a sensible schedule and a large potential audience - especially when he can come up with things like this under less than ideal circumstances.

Track Listing:

DISC 1 DISC 2 Running Time: 136 minutes 01 seconds

Supertracks Promo RBCD-0102 (2000)

Music composed and conducted by Richard Band. Orchestrations by Richard Band and Steve Morrell. Stargate theme by David Arnold. Edited and sequenced by Richard Band. Album produced by John J. Alcantar III and Richard Band.

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