Mega Movies. Warning! Mega Sound Effects.(Sound recording review)

Mega Movies. Warning! Mega Sound Effects. Erich Kunzel, Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. Telarc SACD60535.

There will never be an end to movies, so I guess there will never be

an end to movie soundtrack scores. Moreover, there never seems to be an end to audio innovations, so there will never be an end to new recordings and technologies. This disc is a case in point. Telarc bring together Erich Kunzel and his Cincinnati Pops Orchestra playing movie music from recent blockbusters on a hybrid disc in SACD/ CD stereo/multichannel sound. Taken in small doses, it can be quite a lot of fun. Taken at a single shot, it might be overkill.

The musical content varies, mostly coming from Hollywood heavyweights like Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, Hans Zimmer, Alan Silvestri, John Williams, and others. Among the big hits covered are The Mummy, The Mask of Zorro, The Prince of Egypt, A Bug's Life, and Godzilla, but among the musical numbers I enjoyed most are Contact, Mighty Joe Young, L.A. Confidential, Shakespeare in Love, and Titanic. Along the way, we also get the main title from Star Wars, which Kunzel must have done about 800 times now but is always thrilling, and the main title from Armageddon, which is ...