Innerspace
Jerry Goldsmith
" The Jerry Goldsmith machine: zero defects "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the limited release
There are several collaborations between composer and director that have always clicked. For Jerry Goldsmith, one of the clicks came when he was scoring a Joe Dante movie. Whether for monsters, neighbors or soldiers, Goldsmith was always inventive with the material presented to him. That can be said about one of the most requested soundtracks ever as well, namely Innerspace. And while small is the keyword of the story, nothing small comes out of Jerry Goldsmith's chip.
We've said the magic word. Yes, Innerspace finally makes it to the release most were craving for. There was about 25 minutes of music already available on the song soundtrack of the movie, but we fans demanded more. This especially came noticeable when a certain complete bootleg was put on the black market, giving you a taste of the whole deal. This taste was icky due to the sound quality, yet nostalgic enough to keep harassing the labels. And so La-La Land's release couldn't have come at a better time. With Back to the Future (Deluxe) and Innerspace (Complete), we fans have received several of the most requested scores of all time in a mere couple of weeks.
But why was it so requested? Well because most of you knew it in the context of the movie, and most remembered that it came during a period Jerry Goldsmith could do no harm. And that's exactly it. In that period, Jerry was wild, creative, daring, FUN. And for some, it was as fun as trying' to land a crippled F-14 with a stubborn nose gear on the deck of a rolling flat-top in zero visibility.
Now Innerspace may begin awkward for some, but once you see it interfacing it with the visuals, you know Jerry got it right. And so "Main Title" begins with a statement of the main theme. This theme is heard noble in "State of the Art / The Charge", resolving in "Out of the Pod" and electrifying in "No Red Lights", with of course many many statements along the way.
In "Take Him Home / Broken Toe", we have the lovely love theme for Tuck and Lydia (and Jack and Lydia), and this is reprised in "A Close Look" and lovely as hell in "Where Am I?", "The Womb" and "Disengage". Besides the 2 most distinguishable themes, there are still a couple of others you'll want to remember. We have an environment theme that crops up from time to time, at the end of "State of the Art / The Charge", with Poltergeist mysterious like quality in "Optic Nerves" and elevating the action to an amazing main theme statement in "No Messenger".
And then we haven't even mentioned the most awesome theme of the disc, at least the one that will bring back the biggest comical feelings of the movie. I like to call this the "There's nothing like a good cigar. Eh? Partner?" theme, or the Cowboy theme in short. Typical Goldsmith in style, creativity and dare, it unleashes a few laughs in "The Cowboy" and "No Red Lights", and a lot of excitement in "Transformed". Don't know why I never noticed this before, but it shares some resemblance to the western theme of The 'Burbs.
But wait, there is more. There are returning moments like Mr Igoe's synth motif, which is placed inside the music every time he makes an unwanted experience on screen. For instance in "Hold It", which isn't exactly the best track. But Mr. Igoe's motif becomes a part of the action when we see him being put inside Jack Putter, this in "The Womb" and the absolutely riveting show stopper "Stop the Car".
Yes, thank god Innerspace isn't without those adventurous moments. Because in those moments, Goldsmith delivers us his unmistakable action / adventure sound. "Gas Attack" is a plain 80's nostalgic delight, the brief but fun "No Pain" is a very welcome addition and the adventure ride is "For the Money / A New Man", which has a couple of main theme statements the Goldsmith fan will be proud of. And besides have you noticed how Goldsmith delivers the build up to the excitement (1.25 - 1.35)? Pure Goldsmith class baby.
Yet besides all these beloved moments, there is indeed some stuff that's harder when taken out of context. Despite not being used completely in the film, the nightmare dreams with the atonal synths and saxophone in "Tell me About It" and "Woman in Red" doesn't really work. And yes, there are some moments that could have been deleted in the begin and middle of the disc. But the end surely delivers all the promising stuff. Which brings me to this ...
Doc, I'm cured!
Varèse, not a chance!
And "needs to be released list", thank you! And you can quit.
Yes, it was La-La Land Records to the rescue all right. In a mere 2 weeks we score fans have received 2 of the most requested scores of all time. Being perfect in sound quality and detailed in presentation, Innerspace never sounded any better. And yet, Innerspace isn't without its faults. I can understand when some people call the 25 minutes score of Geffen Records a better representation of the music, because clocking out at 75 minutes, the music is definitely stretching it a bit too much. But of course the Geffen release didn't contain a couple of tracks people were craving for, making La-La Land's album a must nonetheless. And if we throw some 15 minutes out of the window, you still get one creatively daring, atmospheric delightful and exhilarating ride, small enough for your Christmas request list, big enough to hear Jack say ...
Did you hear that?
Hear what?
You didn't hear that then?
Noooo, I'm sorry, I didn't hear anything. Are you feeling all right?
Would I be in a doctor's office if I was feeling all right?
Oh my god. Somebody help me. I'm possessed!
Well, I guess we are all possessed from now on ;-)
Tracklisting
1. Main Title (2.15)
2. Take Him Home / Broken Toe (1.48)
3. Tell Me About It (2.17)
4. State of the Art / The Charge (6.55)
5. Gas Attack (4.52) Excellent track
6. The Injection (2.12)
7. The Hand / Fat Cells (1.00)
8. Woman in Red (2.36)
9. What Is It? (1.09)
10. Optic Nerves (4.00)
11. Take It Easy / It's True (2.18)
12. No Messenger (2.41) Excellent track
13. No Pain (1.57)
14. User Friendly (1.40)
15. A Close Look (1.34)
16. The Cowboy (1.00)
17. Hold It (3.42)
18. For the Money / A New Man (3.39) Excellent track
19. How Do I Look? / Save It (1.45)
20. Transformed (3.02)
21. Retransformed (2.52)
22. Where Am I? (2.12)
23. The Womb (4.39)
24. Fair Exchange (2.05)
25. Stop the Car (5.58) Excellent track
26. Out of the Pod (3.55)
27. Disengage (3.00)
28. No Red Lights (1.18)
Total Length: 78.29
We've said the magic word. Yes, Innerspace finally makes it to the release most were craving for. There was about 25 minutes of music already available on the song soundtrack of the movie, but we fans demanded more. This especially came noticeable when a certain complete bootleg was put on the black market, giving you a taste of the whole deal. This taste was icky due to the sound quality, yet nostalgic enough to keep harassing the labels. And so La-La Land's release couldn't have come at a better time. With Back to the Future (Deluxe) and Innerspace (Complete), we fans have received several of the most requested scores of all time in a mere couple of weeks.
But why was it so requested? Well because most of you knew it in the context of the movie, and most remembered that it came during a period Jerry Goldsmith could do no harm. And that's exactly it. In that period, Jerry was wild, creative, daring, FUN. And for some, it was as fun as trying' to land a crippled F-14 with a stubborn nose gear on the deck of a rolling flat-top in zero visibility.
Now Innerspace may begin awkward for some, but once you see it interfacing it with the visuals, you know Jerry got it right. And so "Main Title" begins with a statement of the main theme. This theme is heard noble in "State of the Art / The Charge", resolving in "Out of the Pod" and electrifying in "No Red Lights", with of course many many statements along the way.
In "Take Him Home / Broken Toe", we have the lovely love theme for Tuck and Lydia (and Jack and Lydia), and this is reprised in "A Close Look" and lovely as hell in "Where Am I?", "The Womb" and "Disengage". Besides the 2 most distinguishable themes, there are still a couple of others you'll want to remember. We have an environment theme that crops up from time to time, at the end of "State of the Art / The Charge", with Poltergeist mysterious like quality in "Optic Nerves" and elevating the action to an amazing main theme statement in "No Messenger".
And then we haven't even mentioned the most awesome theme of the disc, at least the one that will bring back the biggest comical feelings of the movie. I like to call this the "There's nothing like a good cigar. Eh? Partner?" theme, or the Cowboy theme in short. Typical Goldsmith in style, creativity and dare, it unleashes a few laughs in "The Cowboy" and "No Red Lights", and a lot of excitement in "Transformed". Don't know why I never noticed this before, but it shares some resemblance to the western theme of The 'Burbs.
But wait, there is more. There are returning moments like Mr Igoe's synth motif, which is placed inside the music every time he makes an unwanted experience on screen. For instance in "Hold It", which isn't exactly the best track. But Mr. Igoe's motif becomes a part of the action when we see him being put inside Jack Putter, this in "The Womb" and the absolutely riveting show stopper "Stop the Car".
Yes, thank god Innerspace isn't without those adventurous moments. Because in those moments, Goldsmith delivers us his unmistakable action / adventure sound. "Gas Attack" is a plain 80's nostalgic delight, the brief but fun "No Pain" is a very welcome addition and the adventure ride is "For the Money / A New Man", which has a couple of main theme statements the Goldsmith fan will be proud of. And besides have you noticed how Goldsmith delivers the build up to the excitement (1.25 - 1.35)? Pure Goldsmith class baby.
Yet besides all these beloved moments, there is indeed some stuff that's harder when taken out of context. Despite not being used completely in the film, the nightmare dreams with the atonal synths and saxophone in "Tell me About It" and "Woman in Red" doesn't really work. And yes, there are some moments that could have been deleted in the begin and middle of the disc. But the end surely delivers all the promising stuff. Which brings me to this ...
Doc, I'm cured!
Varèse, not a chance!
And "needs to be released list", thank you! And you can quit.
Yes, it was La-La Land Records to the rescue all right. In a mere 2 weeks we score fans have received 2 of the most requested scores of all time. Being perfect in sound quality and detailed in presentation, Innerspace never sounded any better. And yet, Innerspace isn't without its faults. I can understand when some people call the 25 minutes score of Geffen Records a better representation of the music, because clocking out at 75 minutes, the music is definitely stretching it a bit too much. But of course the Geffen release didn't contain a couple of tracks people were craving for, making La-La Land's album a must nonetheless. And if we throw some 15 minutes out of the window, you still get one creatively daring, atmospheric delightful and exhilarating ride, small enough for your Christmas request list, big enough to hear Jack say ...
Did you hear that?
Hear what?
You didn't hear that then?
Noooo, I'm sorry, I didn't hear anything. Are you feeling all right?
Would I be in a doctor's office if I was feeling all right?
Oh my god. Somebody help me. I'm possessed!
Well, I guess we are all possessed from now on ;-)
Tracklisting
1. Main Title (2.15)
2. Take Him Home / Broken Toe (1.48)
3. Tell Me About It (2.17)
4. State of the Art / The Charge (6.55)
5. Gas Attack (4.52) Excellent track
6. The Injection (2.12)
7. The Hand / Fat Cells (1.00)
8. Woman in Red (2.36)
9. What Is It? (1.09)
10. Optic Nerves (4.00)
11. Take It Easy / It's True (2.18)
12. No Messenger (2.41) Excellent track
13. No Pain (1.57)
14. User Friendly (1.40)
15. A Close Look (1.34)
16. The Cowboy (1.00)
17. Hold It (3.42)
18. For the Money / A New Man (3.39) Excellent track
19. How Do I Look? / Save It (1.45)
20. Transformed (3.02)
21. Retransformed (2.52)
22. Where Am I? (2.12)
23. The Womb (4.39)
24. Fair Exchange (2.05)
25. Stop the Car (5.58) Excellent track
26. Out of the Pod (3.55)
27. Disengage (3.00)
28. No Red Lights (1.18)
Total Length: 78.29