Edward Scissorhands: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

 (96 customer reviews)

So far this is the best I've heard from Danny Elfman and I'll be stunned if I ever hear him do better.This is a most magical, sad, fun, beautiful, touching, wintery experience. A musical journey. This is one of those rare and special times where the score of the movie carries it along and punctuates it in such a way that the movie could be seen as, on one significant level, a story told in pictures and music. This is a score without which the movie would be just inconceivable.Danny Elfman is the perfect musical counterpart to genius Tim Burton. This music like Tim Burton's movies has the truly unique ability to convey the dark and the cold and the tragic in a way which is tender, melancholic, hopeful, innocent, heartbreaking and magical, rather than evil.Every track is wonderful. The instrumentation and the use of magical, "wintery" choruses create a fantastic feel. The Introduction is so sweeping and inviting, Storytime beautifully conveys the opening context...Read more

My first exposure to any form of "Edward Scissorhands" was hearing "The Grand Finale" on one of Danny Elfman's compilation discs. I must admit, I was reduced to tears only a minute into it. The sense of melancholy tragedy and childhood sweetness blended together in the cue is nothing less than heartbreaking, even outside of the context of the film. The score is worth getting for that one track alone, but there is much more here to enjoy as well. Elfman runs the full range on this ablum, from goofy to dramatic to bittersweet, all building up to that spectacularly devastating finale. I've been listening to scores for years now, but I have yet to encounter one which has such profound emotional impact (especially if you've seen the film). I guess I'm just a romantic at heart, and that's right where this music hits you.

Self-taught Danny Elfman says to the effect that the one thing he *loves* is sad music. His film music has a haunting, dark quality to it, but it's not so much sad (not as in lamenting) as it is poignant. And unless there's something else more poignant running through Elfman's head that he hasn't written down yet, the score to *Edward Scissorhands* could be the one complete statement of his love. The music here reflects the musicbox innocence, the snowy purity, and the dark mystery, as well as the quirky humor in some of the jazzier, big-band arrangements that helps move Burton's film along. The themes here are melodically simple, and, like Horner's score to *Glory*, which also uses very simplistic themes, the boys choir helps give the music a delicate color of beauty. With strings and celeste unfolding the harmony, Elfman's score is not only a perfect match with the atmosphere of the movie, but stands as enchanting absolute music.