Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend
Jerry Goldsmith
" Baby does have a lot of charming delight, like only Goldsmith was able to do so masterfully. "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the limited release
In terms of projects, Jerry Goldsmith always had to box up against the inferior ones. Inferior to the great John Williams I mean. Or how else can you explain the following? John Williams: Superman, Jerry Goldsmith Supergirl. JW: Raiders of the Lost Ark, JG King Solomon's Mines. Even though Jurassic Park was composed years later, Jerry Goldsmith had to cope with Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend. I don't call this film inferior (the cuteness remains) but in terms of sheer popularity, Baby was no match for Jurassic Park. However Jerry Goldsmith remains ultra popular after all these years, and 3000 copies did rarely sell quicker than this one. Even his amazing The 'Burbs survived longer in the race to the inevitable "Sold Out"status, proving Goldsmith remains hot no matter what.
And that is easy to explain. In terms of quality, you couldn't fail with a Jerry Goldsmith soundtrack. Baby may not be his most devoted or sparkling work, it remains a Goldsmith work. It contains the thematic cohesion most albums seem to lack nowadays, it remains to present a standard of emotion, rhythm and innovation that made him a legend in the community. It's understandable that albums are sold out quickly when all of this is present.
Baby does have a lot of charming delight, like only Goldsmith was able to do so masterfully. In "The Sketch" he presents his main dinosaur theme; menacing, but the mood soon changes to Legend playfulness, this in "No Problem" presenting the jungle in "The Visitors". In "New Friends" Goldsmith establishes the tribal men with a typical quirky theme, fitting and playful for their behaviour.
It is however clear how Goldsmith composes by now. Establish a sound for the various characters, create a theme or motif for them and let them dictate the pace and the sound of their moments. As no other, he lays down that law in the big "The Family", showing off his grand and brilliant dinosaur theme in the manner Rambo presented its action with. In here the cute baby melody is presented for the first time, but how cute that one is all the same, Goldsmith's dinosaur theme is awesome and all over the place.
Alongside the excellent "The Family" stands the equally entertaining "Dad". Here the big noise of that mammoth dinosaur theme is for the protective Dad, who copes his heroic behaviour with his life. Nonetheless Goldsmith brings both the baby as the Dinosaur theme in a mix of the soft playfulness meets the darker urgent action music in the second part. It's packed with Goldsmith's benchmark sound and writing. Or as they say, music like you don't hear anymore nowadays. The percussive rise with the frenetic Wind and the Lion style and capturing emotional Rambo fanfares is proof of this brilliance.
The sad Baby version is "Tears" is the opposite of its playful escapades in "The Tent" and the lengthily "Dragon Breath". In here the baby theme receives a lot of air time, whilst growing into a more orchestral version portraying the growing bond between the humans and the long assumed extinct creature.
While this is a Disney feature, the level of violence and dramatic material is of no light standard in Baby: Goldsmith can toy with both genres in a wonderful mix. "The Jump" receives a lot of the action sound, harking back to the music he wrote for Rambo: First Blood 2. No matter what you expect, for Baby it is rhythmic, exciting and powerful. Forget then a bit the fantasy eeriness of such cues as "The Search" and "The Captives" and be ready for the finale.
I heard the bootleg, and nothing prepared me for what to come. How a clear recording can do wonders for the person listening, but the final action cues are a wonderful way to spend your afternoon with. In "The Family" and "Dad" the dinosaur theme laid down the law, in "The Jump" the pace was taking over the tone of the score. And in "Base Camp Assault" and "The Rescue" Goldsmith delivers the knock out finale. The first cue restraints itself to some outbursts of the action material, while percussive and woodwinds builds up the tension of the rescue. But in the second piece Goldsmith explodes with his Rambo fierce action music, the dinosaur theme dictates the tempo considering momma is calling the shots now. This is massive action music that is driven by a single theme, something today's action music is lacking a bunch of.
While the opening of "Just a Legend" opens ferociously, the continuation and finale couldn't be any better. The baby melody growing with assisting piano to its most wonderful performance yet, namely through a full string section. In the midst Goldsmith throws in the tribal theme alongside the dinosaur theme version that will make you wish you could rediscover a Goldsmith score every week. I praise myself lucky that we can still discover great film music nowadays, even if we have to dig deeper and harder in the past from now on.
How mere vibrant sound can alter your impression of a long lost legend. But Intrada Records went far and deep to recover Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend. In charming standards it's as cute as Legend and Poltergeist. In action thumping it lays the boundaries that fuelled the action writing in Rambo 2, Poltergeist and the tour de force Total Recall. Or how important Baby after all this time seems to be. Take it from me, the bootleg doesn't do this score justice at all. I praise myself lucky to have acquired a copy of this CD, this through the help of the wonderful people at Intrada, and a kind reader who made it possible for me to seek for an already sold out product. Thanks to have made the Legend Legendary again.
Tracklisting
1. The Sketch (0.49)
2. No Problem (0.40)
3. The Visitors (2.23)
4. New Friends #1 (1.13)
5. New Friends #2 (0.30)
6. The Family (4.00) Excellent track
7. Dad (7.05) Excellent track
8. Tears (1.21)
9. The Tent (2.50)
10. Dragon Breath (6.45)
11. The Search (3.06)
12. The Jump (4.28) Excellent track
13. The Captives (1.57)
14. Base Camp Assault (4.12)
15. The Rescue (3.33) Excellent track
16. Just a Legend (7.27) Excellent track
Total Length: 52.19
And that is easy to explain. In terms of quality, you couldn't fail with a Jerry Goldsmith soundtrack. Baby may not be his most devoted or sparkling work, it remains a Goldsmith work. It contains the thematic cohesion most albums seem to lack nowadays, it remains to present a standard of emotion, rhythm and innovation that made him a legend in the community. It's understandable that albums are sold out quickly when all of this is present.
Baby does have a lot of charming delight, like only Goldsmith was able to do so masterfully. In "The Sketch" he presents his main dinosaur theme; menacing, but the mood soon changes to Legend playfulness, this in "No Problem" presenting the jungle in "The Visitors". In "New Friends" Goldsmith establishes the tribal men with a typical quirky theme, fitting and playful for their behaviour.
It is however clear how Goldsmith composes by now. Establish a sound for the various characters, create a theme or motif for them and let them dictate the pace and the sound of their moments. As no other, he lays down that law in the big "The Family", showing off his grand and brilliant dinosaur theme in the manner Rambo presented its action with. In here the cute baby melody is presented for the first time, but how cute that one is all the same, Goldsmith's dinosaur theme is awesome and all over the place.
Alongside the excellent "The Family" stands the equally entertaining "Dad". Here the big noise of that mammoth dinosaur theme is for the protective Dad, who copes his heroic behaviour with his life. Nonetheless Goldsmith brings both the baby as the Dinosaur theme in a mix of the soft playfulness meets the darker urgent action music in the second part. It's packed with Goldsmith's benchmark sound and writing. Or as they say, music like you don't hear anymore nowadays. The percussive rise with the frenetic Wind and the Lion style and capturing emotional Rambo fanfares is proof of this brilliance.
The sad Baby version is "Tears" is the opposite of its playful escapades in "The Tent" and the lengthily "Dragon Breath". In here the baby theme receives a lot of air time, whilst growing into a more orchestral version portraying the growing bond between the humans and the long assumed extinct creature.
While this is a Disney feature, the level of violence and dramatic material is of no light standard in Baby: Goldsmith can toy with both genres in a wonderful mix. "The Jump" receives a lot of the action sound, harking back to the music he wrote for Rambo: First Blood 2. No matter what you expect, for Baby it is rhythmic, exciting and powerful. Forget then a bit the fantasy eeriness of such cues as "The Search" and "The Captives" and be ready for the finale.
I heard the bootleg, and nothing prepared me for what to come. How a clear recording can do wonders for the person listening, but the final action cues are a wonderful way to spend your afternoon with. In "The Family" and "Dad" the dinosaur theme laid down the law, in "The Jump" the pace was taking over the tone of the score. And in "Base Camp Assault" and "The Rescue" Goldsmith delivers the knock out finale. The first cue restraints itself to some outbursts of the action material, while percussive and woodwinds builds up the tension of the rescue. But in the second piece Goldsmith explodes with his Rambo fierce action music, the dinosaur theme dictates the tempo considering momma is calling the shots now. This is massive action music that is driven by a single theme, something today's action music is lacking a bunch of.
While the opening of "Just a Legend" opens ferociously, the continuation and finale couldn't be any better. The baby melody growing with assisting piano to its most wonderful performance yet, namely through a full string section. In the midst Goldsmith throws in the tribal theme alongside the dinosaur theme version that will make you wish you could rediscover a Goldsmith score every week. I praise myself lucky that we can still discover great film music nowadays, even if we have to dig deeper and harder in the past from now on.
How mere vibrant sound can alter your impression of a long lost legend. But Intrada Records went far and deep to recover Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend. In charming standards it's as cute as Legend and Poltergeist. In action thumping it lays the boundaries that fuelled the action writing in Rambo 2, Poltergeist and the tour de force Total Recall. Or how important Baby after all this time seems to be. Take it from me, the bootleg doesn't do this score justice at all. I praise myself lucky to have acquired a copy of this CD, this through the help of the wonderful people at Intrada, and a kind reader who made it possible for me to seek for an already sold out product. Thanks to have made the Legend Legendary again.
Tracklisting
1. The Sketch (0.49)
2. No Problem (0.40)
3. The Visitors (2.23)
4. New Friends #1 (1.13)
5. New Friends #2 (0.30)
6. The Family (4.00) Excellent track
7. Dad (7.05) Excellent track
8. Tears (1.21)
9. The Tent (2.50)
10. Dragon Breath (6.45)
11. The Search (3.06)
12. The Jump (4.28) Excellent track
13. The Captives (1.57)
14. Base Camp Assault (4.12)
15. The Rescue (3.33) Excellent track
16. Just a Legend (7.27) Excellent track
Total Length: 52.19