Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review
(124 customer reviews) 115 of 115 people found the following review helpful
Differences between the Varese and Milan editions...,
March 7, 2006 tearsinraine - See all my reviews
This review is from: Conan The Barbarian: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Audio CD)
Basil Poledouris' score to Conan the Barbarian is one of the great powerhouses of film music and remains as one of my favorite film scores to this date.
The score is a perfect blend of melodic beauty and raw power with a huge orchestral sound and lots of wonderful choral passages that range from haunting and slow to in-your-face and over-the-top. I could go on forever on this score, but suffice it to say that I really can't think of a more perfect score than this.
As for the CD's sound quality...
The sound quality is definitely dated and isn't quite as crisp and clean as one would hope. However, what it lacks in sound quality, it more than makes up for in musical quality. I've purchased a number of albums containing re-recordings of Conan music and while the sound quality has been better, NOTHING has matched the emotion and power of the original film soundtrack.
Differences between the editions...
The 12-track Milan edition was...Read more
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Music for your inner barbarian,
February 9, 2001 This review is from: Conan The Barbarian: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Audio CD)
The musical score to "Conan the Barbarian" is truly one of the great achievements in fantasy/adventure film music. Basil Poledouris, who composed and conducted the music, brings a tremendous amount of passion and skill to his task. Equally passionate are the performances by the Orchestra and Chorus of Santa Cecilia and the Radio Symphony of Rome. This is big, bold, richly colored music with a lusty, savage vibe.The film follows the adventures of Conan, a well-muscled warrior played by Arnold Schwarzeneggar, as he battles his way through a mythic fantasy landscape. Poledouris brilliantly combines choral voices with a full orchestra to evoke Conan's world, with all of its beauty and danger. Particularly good is the percussion that spices many of the best tracks.As you might expect, there is a lot of chest-pounding, martial-sounding music on this CD. But there are also passages of sweetness and delicacy. Every track is excellent, but my particular favorites include the...Read more
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
I'm just a bit sad right about now...,
November 10, 2006 J. M. Davies (KCMO) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Conan The Barbarian: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Audio CD)
Basil Poledouris died on Wednesday? Wow. No more music from this phenominal composer. Conan the Barbarian is the one soundtrack that I just automatically pick out if I start thumbing through my CDs and I can't quite figure out what I want to listen to. It's just, well, always right. Powerful. Mournful. Hopeful. Playful. Soul-stirring. This soundtrack simply has everything anyone could want. I bought my first copy back in the mid 80's, and I wore it out. Yep, you can be as careful as you want, but nearly twenty years of playing a disc takes its toll. When I went to get another copy a couple of years ago, I discovered that they started at about fifty bucks, used, because they'd been out of print for so long. I don't think that I hesitated for more than about five seconds fore I bought the next one. Ahhhhh. Much better. The twelve songs on the Milan release (plus the intro by Mako) are nice (and cheaper), but the Varese Sarabande release, with the full 16 songs, was the...Read more
