A few years ago, I raved at great length about L.E.O., a loose collective of (largely) indie label power-pop veterans joining forces to pay a “stylistic” tribute to Electric Light Orchestra without covering any of the band’s existing songs. I’ve always held ELO and Alan Parsons Project in a similarly high esteem – both of them routinely turning out engrossing, lush music with stellar production – so it’s good to find Rubber Universe, a band which offers up a similar “stylistic tribute” to Parsons.

Where it was easy to figure out the object of L.E.O.’s musical affections, Rubber Universe is almost like a tribute – or, better yet, a whole new entry – to prog rock in general. The band states up front that their chief inspiration was Parsons, but in a couple of places (namely on the tracks “Paint My World” and “Nine Minutes ‘Till Midnight”) they also remind one forcefully of the Moody Blues at the height of their early ’70s experimentation (i.e. when their every release was mind-blowing and not just in service of a paint-by-numbers tour), and occasionally – especially in those songs with a healthy dose of female vocals – Clannad comes to mind.

Not that Rubber Universe is slavishly imitating anyone. The admission to having sprung from a tribute/cover band may be a way to automatically grab the attention of a certain fanbase, but Parliament Of Fooles is a fresh new entry in the prog rock pantheon on its own; the whole “former cover band” line in the publicity material may end up being counterproductive. The project (no pun intended) may have started as a cover band that wanted to do something original, but while Parsons fans will appreciate it, it’s nothing that screams “Hey, they’re trying to sound like the Alan Parsons Project.”

Though in a few places, they kinda do, with a little help from their friends: Project guitar god Ian Bairnson contributes to one track, while Godfrey Townsend, Parsons’ current touring guitarist, plays on another. The real coup, however – if those two weren’t enough to lend it the seal of Parsons Project authenticity – is a spoken-word intro for “Let Me Rule Your Heart” by the Project’s most famous vocalist and co-founder, the late Eric Woolfson.

If there’s one trap that Parliament Of Fooles falls victim to, it’s a tendency for most of the songs to hover in the same mid-tempo territory. The good news is that, when a song that breaks that mold comes along (i.e. “Romance Of The Illusion”), it instantly stands out, but much of the album sticks around the same tempo; any second effort from Rubber Universe would do well to vary things a bit more.

But for a freshman outing by a new band, especially one that has one hell of a musical and production pedigree to live up to, built into its mission statement, Rubber Universe is an outfit that bears close watching – and repeat listening. Though fans of the Alan Parsons Project, they’ve proven that they’re more than ready to carve their own path, and with Parsons’ own output having dropped to less-than-prodigious levels in the past 20 years, I’d welcome a new entity making music with the same expansive feel.

1. Negative Spaces (4:23)
2. Dream Catcher (6:53)
3. Romance Of The Illusion (2:16)
4. Madness In Slumberland (4:18)
5. Garden Of Earthly Delights (3:54)
6. Let Me Rule Your Heart featuring Eric Woolfson (5:36)
7. Paint My World (3:35)
8. We Insist (Place De Greve Mix) (5:05)
9. Goodbye My Love (2:02)
10. Trying To Go On (4:40)
11. Nine Minutes ‘Till Midnight featuring Godfrey Townsend (4:04)
12. Parliament Of Fooles featuring Ian Bairnson (5:47)

Released by: Rubber Universe
Release date: 2008
Total running time: 52:33

It’s something of an understatement to say that Tim Finn has earned a best-of album by now. The only catch is that it’s taken so long that there’s probably a whole generation in New Zealand – never mind everywhere else – asking “Tim who?” Hence, North, South, East, West… has a bit of an identity crisis: it’s not just a Tim Finn compilation, but crams in the better part of a best of Split Enz best-of album and selections from Crowded House (well, after a fashion) and the Finn Brothers, in addition to the obligatory new songs designed to hook in everyone who’s already bought all of Tim’s previous work.

With that in mind, you have to forgive North, South, East, West…’s inherent schizophrenia. The one common thread linking all of this very disparate material is Finn’s extremely versaitle voice. Whether it’s the very orchestrated sound of Split Enz or the relatively stripped-down guitar wash of Crowded House or the Finn Brothers, Finn’s voice cuts through the whole mix every time. His solo work has darted back and forth between more ornamented, Enz-like songs and more acoustic fare, so even if you set aside his non-solo projects, there’s no one sound dominating the entire 2-CD set.

The obligatory new material includes songs we haven’t heard before, and new recordings of songs that we have. Finn covers Split Enz’s “Stuff And Nonsense” as a duet with Missy Higgins, and gives Crowded House’s “It’s Only Natural” a similar treatment with Bic Runga riding shotgun. He also covers the Crowded House hit-in-some-parts-of-the-world “Weather With You” with Neil and Liam Finn. Also included are very stripped-down new versions of “So Deep” (from his very-produced, dance-rhythm-heavy second solo album Big Canoe) and Crowded House’s “How Will You Go”, and an instrumental piano cover of a portion of Split Enz’s “Poor Boy”. I felt that a partial cover was a little bit of a cheat (especially when it’s done so well), and “So Deep” already wasn’t my favorite song from Big Canoe, and it doesn’t really benefit from the toned-down rethink. I’m much more partial to “How Will You Go” in its original form, so this new recording, relieved of most of its beautiful vocal harmonies, certainly doesn’t supplant the original. It’s interesting to note that none of the Crowded House songs on this collection are the original recordings – all of them are re-interpretations.

Fortunately, the genuinely new tracks are a treat: “Into The Water” and especially the jumpy “Light Years Away” are up there with the best of Finn’s output over the past decade, and “Nothing Unusual” winds up being a kind of theme song for the whole compilation: it borrows the main riff from “Many’s The Time” and namechecks Enz chestnuts like “Maybe” and “Malmsbury Villa”, and the lyrics talk about the inspiration for songs in general – it’s a song about when one writes and performs songs, a bit of a meta-song, and a pleasant one at that.

Listening back to the songs chosen from Finn’s large body of solo work, I have to say that generally, the songs are very well-chosen; it seems like Big Canoe and Finn’s self-titled 1989 album were buried for some reason (and I still count the latter among his very best solo work), and his work from the musical stage production Steel City isn’t represented at all, but as many labels as Finn has been on over the years there may be issues there (which may also explain the Crowded House oddity noted above). Once the compilation moves on to music from 1993’s Before & After, things tend to line up, more or less, with the Tim Finn best-of mixes that I’ve been creating for myself for years. Considering how hard it’s become to find some of Tim Finn’s material, this compilation is probably a good idea for those curious about his work.

Disc One
1. I See Red performed by Split Enz (3:17)
2. My Mistake performed by Split Enz (3:02)
3. Poor Boy performed by Split Enz (3:23)
4. Six Months In A Leaky Boat performed by Split Enz (4:23)
5. I Hope I Never performed by Split Enz (4:36)
6. Dirty Creature performed by Split Enz (4:01)
7. Maybe performed by Split Enz (2:53)
8. Stuff And Nonsense performed by Tim Finn & Missy Higgins (3:27)
9. Fraction Too Much Friction (4:10)
10. Made My Day (3:20)
11. So Deep (4:15)
12. How’m I Gonna Sleep (3:52)
13. Not Even Close (4:18)
14. Many’s The Time (4:20)
15. Persuasion (3:52)
16. Into The Water (3:14)
17. Nothing Unusual (4:02)

Disc Two
1. Weather With You performed by Tim, Neil & Liam Finn (3:43)
2. How Will You Go (2:59)
3. It’s Only Natural performed by Tim Finn & Bic Runga (3:44)
4. Underwater Mountain (3:55)
5. Dead Man (4:04)
6. What You’ve Done (3:43)
7. Subway Dreaming (4:16)
8. Angels’ Heap performed by the Finn Brothers (2:50)
9. Disembodied Voices performed by the Finn Brothers (3:37)
10. Luckiest Man Alive performed by the Finn Brothers (3:59)
11. Winter Light (4:11)
12. Couldn’t Be Done (2:53)
13. Astounding Moon (3:36)
14. Straw To Gold (3:58)
15. Out Of This World (3:01)
16. The Saw And The Tree (4:05)
17. Light Years Away (3:09)
18. Poor Boy (instrumental) (1:31)

Released by: Capitol / EMI
Release date: 2009
Disc one total running time: 64:25
Disc two total running time: 63:14

Back To The Future is back! It’s not that there’s never been a Back To The Future soundtrack before; on the contrary, it was quite a hit, leaning heavily on the popular songs by Huey Lewis and the News. It featured a couple of snippets of the orchestral score by Alan Silvestri, and the rest has remained unreleased until now. That’s why this is a big deal. Fans of ’80s movie music speak in glowing terms of such things as the Star Wars and Indiana Jones trilogies, Excalibur, the Conan movies, songtracks such as The Breakfast Club (and just about anything else John Hughes produced or directed), and the increasingly synth-dominated scoring of movies like Blade Runner. I’m not sure that Alan Silvestri’s music for this movie and its sequels have ever really gotten their due. This 2-CD set should rewrite that particular bit of history nicely – Doc Brown would be proud.

Soundtrack specialty label Intrada felt it was a big deal too – big enough to merit a 2-CD deluxe release, and big enough to take the very unusual step of not limiting Back To The Future’s print run to 3,000 copies, the typical allocation for a soundtrack release, especially a “vintage” release like this. Very much like this year’s expanded re-release of the soundtrack from Star Trek II, Intrada was aware of – and is banking on – wider interest in this soundtrack than an older score would normally see.

Already having more than a passing familiarity with Back To The Future and its sequels, I was amazed with how many surprises awaited me in this package. I learned quite a few things from the booklet that I didn’t know before, and the music itself was a real revelation in places. How the theme from Back To The Future has managed to escape being enshrined among the movie themes that the general public considers “hummable” is beyond me – it’s very memorable, and Silvestri proves – as he does in much of his other work – that it’s infinitely adaptable: fast, slow, major keys, minor keys, it’s carefully crafted to fit any of those needs.

But there’s much more here that’s memorable: Silvestri’s playful three-note mysterioso “stingers” practically put you right back in the movie, and with action setpieces like “Skateboard Chase” and especially the amazing feat of wall-to-wall action music that is “Clocktower”, this isn’t music that’ll put you to sleep. I was reminded of how dramatic some of the scoring is for a movie that most viewers remember as a comedy. Silvestri does a lot of the legwork in selling some of the movie’s most serious, high-jeopardy moments.

The entire score from Back To The Future fits on the first disc, so what’s on the second disc? It’s an early version of key moments of the movie score. The early version is still recorded with a full orchestra; it’s not an early enough draft to be rough synth sketches or anything less evolved. But there are changes in timing (sometimes sections of the music were replaced to accomodate editing changes) and changes in emphasis: the “‘55 Town Square” cue is presented in two early versions, one with trumpets and French horns at full blast, and one with muted brass, and the difference in feel is remarkable. Some of the rescored sections are actually significantly different; Silvestri “lightened” the music in some places for the final version, with the original cues sometimes being a little too dramatic and dark. For the most part, it’s the same music, with changes in the emotional tone – a treat for listeners who are students in how films are scored.

The pop music used in Back To The Future has been more than adequately released, so this presentation of the orchestral score is long overdue – and with the early drafts and extensive liner notes, Intrada has made the wait worthwhile. We can’t really go back in time to give this soundtrack its just recognition down through the years, but this is more than good enough.

Disc One

1. Logo (0:23)
2. DeLorean Reveal (0:49)
3. Einstein Disintegrated (1:25)
4. ‘85 Twin Pines Mall (4:45)
5. Peabody Barn / Marty Ditches DeLorean (3:13)
6. ‘55 Town Square (1:20)
7. Lorraine’s Bedroom (0:49)
8. Retrieve DeLorean (1:17)
9. 1.21 Jigowatts (1.39)
10. The Picture (1:08)
11. Picture Fades (0:20)
12. Skateboard Chase (1:41)
13. Marty’s Letter (1:21)
14. George To The Rescue, Part 1 (0:53)
15. Marvin Be-Bop (source cue) (2:27)
16. George To The Rescue, Part 2 (2:37)
17. Tension / The Kiss (1:35)
18. Goodnight Marty (source cue) (1:33)
19. It’s Been Educational / Clocktower (10:33)
20. Helicopter (0:21)
21. ‘85 Lone Pine Mall (3:49)
22. 4 x 4 (0:43)
23. Doc Returns (1:16)
24. Back to the Future (End Credits) (3:18)

Disc Two

1. DeLorean Reveal (0:43)
2. Einstein Disintegrated (1:26)
3. Peabody Barn (2:08)
4. Marty Ditches DeLorean (1:58)
5. ‘55 Town Square #1 (Trumpet Open) (1:37)
6. ‘55 Town Square #2 (Trumpet Mute) (1:38)
7. Retrieve DeLorean (1:17)
8. 1.21 Jigowatts (1:38)
9. The Picture (1:09)
10. Skateboard Chase (1:42)
11. George To The Rescue (4:16)
12. Tension / The Kiss (1:43)
13. Clocktower (10:57)
14. ‘85 Lone Pine Mall (3:49)
15. Doc Returns (1:22)
16. Ling Ting Ring (unused source cue) (2:01)

Released by: Intrada
Release date: 2009
Disc one total running time: 49:15
Disc two total running time: 39:24

I always joke – well, it’s kind of a joke – that it’s not a James Horner score unless it sounds remarkably like a previous James Horner score. It was easy to make that joke in the ’80s; after Battle Beyond The Stars, a rather good score which was shoehorned into the same stylistic box as Star Trek: The Motion Picture by Horner’s boss, producer Roger Corman. That music led Horner to work on Star Trek for real with Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan, and he then used much the same formula (and damn near the same music) for Star Trek III, Krull and his first gig with up-and-coming director James Cameron, Aliens. The similarity was strong enough that even people who, unlike your reviewer here, don’t listen to soundtrack music all day long noticed the similarities. To be fair, Horner has graced us with solid slices of musical Americana such as The Journey Of Natty Gann and Apollo 13 and perhaps the most popular soundtrack in history that doesn’t have the words “Star” and “Wars” anywhere on the cover, Titanic (also for Cameron).

Titanic also had the dubious distinction, at the time, of being the most expensive movie ever made (one which, luckily, also managed to make more of that money back than any more that came before it). When Cameron finally started production on Avatar – at $400,000,000, the new “most expensive movie ever” record-holder – it’s not surprising that Cameron called on the composer of his previous big-screen opus.

While there are a few rapid-fire brass blasts that immediately remind one of Horner’s works as far back as The Wrath Of Khan, generally the music from Avatar just about lives up to the hype of being something that Horner put a lot of time and thought into: it doesn’t actively sound like his previous works. In fact, it achieves something unexpected – at a time when world-music-inspired sounds are standing in for the otherworldly in nearly every other SF film/TV score out there (see: Battlestar Galactica, District 9, Lost, etc. etc. etc.), strong>Avatar manages to not sound like anything else out there. I think this revelation hit me about the time I heard percussion that seemed to be imitating hummingbird wings: that’s kinda neat.

Unusually for a major label soundtrack release, Avatar is filled to the brim, and not with tiny bite-sized cues either: one track, “War”, weighs in heavier than 11 minutes, and those 11 minutes are neither typical action music nor typical James Horner action music. The Avatar score interestingly treats mind-expanding, contemplative moments as little triumphs, but doesn’t bestow triumphant bombast on moments of conflict. Horner and Cameron were clearly on the same page thematically, and the music serves the movie well.

So I’ll admit it: James Horner has returned to science fiction, and aside from maybe all of twenty seconds, it doesn’t sound like any movie he’s scored in that genre before. What’s more, it fits the movie like a glove, and it stands up to a listen on its own. I may yet find a reason to drop my skepticism and become a James Horner fan after all.

1. You Don’t Dream In Cryo (6:09)
2. Jake Enters His Avatar World (5:23)
3. Pure Spirits Of The Forest (8:50)
4. The Bioluminescence Of The Night (3:36)
5. Becoming One Of “The People” / Becoming One With Neytiri (7:41)
6. Climbing Up Iknimaya / “The Path To Heaven” (3:14)
7. Jake’s First Flight (4:48)
8. Scorched Earth (3:30)
9. Quaritch (5:00)
10. The Destruction Of Hometree (6:44)
11. Shutting Down Grace’s Lab (2:46)
12. Gathering All The Na’Vi Clans For Battle (5:12)
13. War (11:19)
14. I See You (Theme From Avatar) (4:16)

Released by: Atlantic
Release date: 2009
Total running time: 78:28