Back to the Future III
Alan Silvestri
" Welcome to the Wild Back of the Future West "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the regular release
The third instalment of the successful saga, merely one year after the second one turns the whole concept back in time, way back in time. The wild wild west is now the place to be and Alan Silvestri can do his versatility honour, by creating some western themes that would become an ode to those that invented them. Of course composing Young Guns II in the same year is a lucky thing to give your western tunes a test drive, but I never doubted that Silvestri would fail. After all this is his sage, his musical legacy, his sound that made the Back to the Future films so legendary. And now the third one has given him the chance to do something different.
The fault or lack of the second score was to bring something new. It was all based on the original score’s strong points while bringing no new musical melodies or tunes. But now during each moment we can expect either the main theme of the saga, or the tune that represents the western era. The third soundtrack at least delivers you a total new work to discover, meaning the same ideas but aided through new different possibilities and a bunch of new themes.
We may start the album with "Main Title" but it is not the rousing opening we have come to expect. This version opens and presents us the love theme for Doc and Clara. Sadly the album is not presenting the order as heard in the film. Either way you like or dislike it, I don’t like it when the first full blown adventure piece is right after the opening, while this appears an hour later in the movie. For those interested, the correct order as it appears in the movie is listed below.
Silvestri's own western sound is great. Nothing disturbingly huge but just saturated enough in his style that it feels adventurous and fitting. The fun "Indians" and the heroic cowboy theme briefly in "We're Out of Gas" are proof of this. The "Hill Valley" (by now typical in stating we’re in Hill Valley all right) isn’t any different here.
While the order doesn’t prove it, the final moments of the movie are where Silvestri brings us excitement and speed. During his music you can almost feel the vibrations and the smell of the trains' steam. The song by ZZ Top isn't bad (and at least featured in the film) while "End Credits" has all of the score’s winning moments.
However, Back to the Future III hasn’t received the same kind response like the others received. Perhaps this because it does it differently (movie and score) but everything around it still feels like it is Back to the Future. The jokes, the characters, the small hints thrown together by Zemeckis and Silvestri, this is what BTTF sounds and feels like. And at least in the third, we could get some original ideas due to the difference in place and era. No matter if you like the music or not, the trilogy of the Back to the Future movies are a part of history. And Silvestri’s music is a part of that history. In Part I, Part II and Part III he could bring us adventure through a wonderful theme and a style that is his and his alone. The third just ads a little manure from the old wild west.
Tracklisting
1. Main Title (3.07)
2. It's Clara (The Train Part II) (4.35) Excellent track
3. Hill Valley (2.20)
4. The Hanging (1.43)
5. At First Sight (3.17)
6. Indians (1.11)
7. Goodbye Clara (3.01)
8. Doc Returns (2.54)
9. Point of no Return (The Train Part III) (3.48) Excellent track
10. The Future Isn't Written (3.36)
11. The Showdown (1.29)
12. Doc to the Rescue (0.56)
13. The Kiss (1.54)
14. We're Out of Gas (1.17)
15. Wake Up Juice (1.11)
16. A Science Experiment? (The Train Part I) (3.10) Excellent track
17. Doubleback: ZZ Top (1.19)
18. End Credits (4.00) Excellent track
Correct Order:
1 - 6 - 3 - 4 - 12 - 5 - 14 - 17 - 13 - 10 - 7 - 15 - 11 - 16 - 2 - 9 - 8 - 18
Total Length: 44.58
The fault or lack of the second score was to bring something new. It was all based on the original score’s strong points while bringing no new musical melodies or tunes. But now during each moment we can expect either the main theme of the saga, or the tune that represents the western era. The third soundtrack at least delivers you a total new work to discover, meaning the same ideas but aided through new different possibilities and a bunch of new themes.
We may start the album with "Main Title" but it is not the rousing opening we have come to expect. This version opens and presents us the love theme for Doc and Clara. Sadly the album is not presenting the order as heard in the film. Either way you like or dislike it, I don’t like it when the first full blown adventure piece is right after the opening, while this appears an hour later in the movie. For those interested, the correct order as it appears in the movie is listed below.
Silvestri's own western sound is great. Nothing disturbingly huge but just saturated enough in his style that it feels adventurous and fitting. The fun "Indians" and the heroic cowboy theme briefly in "We're Out of Gas" are proof of this. The "Hill Valley" (by now typical in stating we’re in Hill Valley all right) isn’t any different here.
While the order doesn’t prove it, the final moments of the movie are where Silvestri brings us excitement and speed. During his music you can almost feel the vibrations and the smell of the trains' steam. The song by ZZ Top isn't bad (and at least featured in the film) while "End Credits" has all of the score’s winning moments.
However, Back to the Future III hasn’t received the same kind response like the others received. Perhaps this because it does it differently (movie and score) but everything around it still feels like it is Back to the Future. The jokes, the characters, the small hints thrown together by Zemeckis and Silvestri, this is what BTTF sounds and feels like. And at least in the third, we could get some original ideas due to the difference in place and era. No matter if you like the music or not, the trilogy of the Back to the Future movies are a part of history. And Silvestri’s music is a part of that history. In Part I, Part II and Part III he could bring us adventure through a wonderful theme and a style that is his and his alone. The third just ads a little manure from the old wild west.
Tracklisting
1. Main Title (3.07)
2. It's Clara (The Train Part II) (4.35) Excellent track
3. Hill Valley (2.20)
4. The Hanging (1.43)
5. At First Sight (3.17)
6. Indians (1.11)
7. Goodbye Clara (3.01)
8. Doc Returns (2.54)
9. Point of no Return (The Train Part III) (3.48) Excellent track
10. The Future Isn't Written (3.36)
11. The Showdown (1.29)
12. Doc to the Rescue (0.56)
13. The Kiss (1.54)
14. We're Out of Gas (1.17)
15. Wake Up Juice (1.11)
16. A Science Experiment? (The Train Part I) (3.10) Excellent track
17. Doubleback: ZZ Top (1.19)
18. End Credits (4.00) Excellent track
Correct Order:
1 - 6 - 3 - 4 - 12 - 5 - 14 - 17 - 13 - 10 - 7 - 15 - 11 - 16 - 2 - 9 - 8 - 18
Total Length: 44.58