Psycho II
Jerry Goldsmith
" No Shower Scene here! "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the regular release
It's strange if you even think about it, but the legendary Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho actually received 3 sequels (Psycho II, Psycho III and Psycho IV: The Beginning). For the hard core fans amongst us, only one comes close to the Hitchock classic and that is Psycho II, the one we'll be reviewing musically. And of course thinking about Hitchock is thinking about the shower scene and its famous screeching violins moment composed by Bernard Herrmann. So somehow it has to return in the sequel Psycho II, which is composed by none other than Jerry Goldsmith.
Yes, it must be some sort of relief to realize one great composer follows up another. And even though we can't think of anything other than the score of Bernard Herrmann, we somehow receive the work of another mastermind for a psycho killer. Resulting in a clash between Herrmann's shocking opening in "The Murder" and Goldsmith's emotional opening in "Main Title" for piano and strings. The mood changes considerably in the hypnotizing uneasy "Don't Take Me" (offering sounds the fan will remember of Poltergeist and Legend) and the attacking "It's Not Your Mother" (having its fair share of electronics). The main piano theme is the constant in the score, capturing most tracks with a simple but tantalizing effectiveness, while the mystical dreamlike strings (track 3 or "New Furniture") offer happy remembrances of Poltergeist and various other fantasy / science fiction spectacles.
The psychological suspense goes into overtime in "The Cellar" and most notably "Blood Bath", creating sounds that are equally hypnotizing and equally out of this world (thanks to the electronic accompaniment). And what better way than to hear a birth of Basic Instinct's smoldering suspense in "End Title", making the transition from one psycho to another one complete. Psycho II can never be or sound like Herrmann's Psycho, but luckily nobody intended it to be that way. During the 80's they knew exactly which composer's hand you needed to hold on to, and which composer you needed to let free. Jerry Goldsmith was the kind of composer that had such a unique voice, it was just common sense to let that mind create its own Psycho sound. And that he has, in his typical stylistic way.
Favorite Moment - End Title (0.37 - 1.13)
The fact you hear a piece of work from 9 years later simply boggles the mind
Track Listing
1. The Murder * (0.57)
2. Main Title (1.37)
3. Don't Take Me (4.48)
4. Mother's Room (4.01)
5. It's Not Your Mother (5.11)
6. New Furniture (2.04)
7. The Cellar (4.02)
8. Blood Bath (3.37)
9. End Title (4.13)
* Composed by Bernard Herrmann
Total Length: 30.30
Yes, it must be some sort of relief to realize one great composer follows up another. And even though we can't think of anything other than the score of Bernard Herrmann, we somehow receive the work of another mastermind for a psycho killer. Resulting in a clash between Herrmann's shocking opening in "The Murder" and Goldsmith's emotional opening in "Main Title" for piano and strings. The mood changes considerably in the hypnotizing uneasy "Don't Take Me" (offering sounds the fan will remember of Poltergeist and Legend) and the attacking "It's Not Your Mother" (having its fair share of electronics). The main piano theme is the constant in the score, capturing most tracks with a simple but tantalizing effectiveness, while the mystical dreamlike strings (track 3 or "New Furniture") offer happy remembrances of Poltergeist and various other fantasy / science fiction spectacles.
The psychological suspense goes into overtime in "The Cellar" and most notably "Blood Bath", creating sounds that are equally hypnotizing and equally out of this world (thanks to the electronic accompaniment). And what better way than to hear a birth of Basic Instinct's smoldering suspense in "End Title", making the transition from one psycho to another one complete. Psycho II can never be or sound like Herrmann's Psycho, but luckily nobody intended it to be that way. During the 80's they knew exactly which composer's hand you needed to hold on to, and which composer you needed to let free. Jerry Goldsmith was the kind of composer that had such a unique voice, it was just common sense to let that mind create its own Psycho sound. And that he has, in his typical stylistic way.
Favorite Moment - End Title (0.37 - 1.13)
The fact you hear a piece of work from 9 years later simply boggles the mind
Track Listing
1. The Murder * (0.57)
2. Main Title (1.37)
3. Don't Take Me (4.48)
4. Mother's Room (4.01)
5. It's Not Your Mother (5.11)
6. New Furniture (2.04)
7. The Cellar (4.02)
8. Blood Bath (3.37)
9. End Title (4.13)
* Composed by Bernard Herrmann
Total Length: 30.30