[The News Bot]

Reviewed by Chris McEneany, 8th November 2009
Another classic for the collection from the master, himself.

Escape From The Planet Of The Apes is not the wild and mysterious ride that the original score was, nor does have it the aggressive stance of the second score (from Rosenman), but it contains enough of the “sound” of the Apes to fit right in, as well as striking out in a different direction. Goldsmith's gift for blending extremes into one composition is once again showcased vividly with his lighter touches in the first half, and his deeper, more concentrated and tragic developments in the second. The cues, by and large, are brief, though full of personality, the overall score varied, with both fun and darkness entwining, and the end result hugely satisfying.

Boasting terrific clarity and fabulous cover art, as well as Julie Kirgo's excellent background notes, this is a terrific, and important, release from Varese Sarabande. The full run of complete Apes movie scores are now available – Varese can claim the original (which was also once the only way to hear Escape's music in a 16-minute suite included as a bonus track) and now Escape From The Planet Of The Apes, whilst FSM have Beneath (plus FX-tracks and the wonderfully loopy old LP program especially reproduced) and then Conquest (from Tom Scott) and Battle (Rosenman again) together on the one release. All are fantastic … and if you are after Schifrin's score for the TV show, then good luck to you, as Intrada's awesome limited edition sold out within a couple of days a long time ago.

This is a great release, folks, and comes highly recommended.


Read the full review...