Wow. I never saw the movie, and thus was never in any real hurry to purchase the score (I love Goldsmith's stuff, but even he can release a stinker every now and then). With the German release making its way here for a reasonable cost, I figured, "What the Heck!", and bought it.

Boy, am I glad I did!

It is spinning for the third consecutive time right now, and will likely be playing a lot in the days to come. I never knew! This is just great stuff: some geographical textures, and some absolutely LOVELY passages. Great work by the Master here that only makes me feel dumb for not owning it sooner. I even have the urge to rent the movie (besides, I always thought Joanna Cassidy was a stone FOX)!

quote:

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Originally posted by Mark Hatfield:

....and it is a totally bitchin' score!

Wow. I never saw the movie, and thus was never in any real hurry to purchase the score (I love Goldsmith's stuff, but even he can release a stinker every now and then). With the German release making its way here for a reasonable cost, I figured, "What the Heck!", and bought it.

Boy, am I glad I did!

It is spinning for the third consecutive time right now, and will likely be playing a lot in the days to come. I never knew! This is just great stuff: some geographical textures, and some absolutely LOVELY passages. Great work by the Master here that only makes me feel dumb for not owning it sooner. I even have the urge to rent the movie (besides, I always thought Joanna Cassidy was a stone FOX)!

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Great picture... and a great score by Jerry. You should definitely check it out, if for any other reason, than to hear a great action cue that got left off of the album.

Enjoy it, Mark!

NP: Under Fire Goldsmith

Yes, UNDER FIRE is a real five star effort from Goldsmith, and the movie itself is excellent. Indeed, Goldsmith’s score to this political thriller from British director Roger Spottiswoode seems to have garnered universal praise over the years.

I remember when I first viewed UNDER FIRE (March 18 1989), having been made aware of Goldsmith’s superb score, and then being quite surprised that there was no score for the first twenty of thirty minutes, much like COMA. However, then Goldsmith’s music makes its appearance and accompanies much of the rest of the film – and what an impact it makes.

The album is superb – it’s one of those rare soundtrack albums that I believe works as well as a stand-alone listen as it does in the movie. The use of acoustic guitar at the score’s centre is one of the main reasons for its success, much like Goldsmith’s excellent score and album to THE RUSSIA HOUSE had the saxophone at its heart.

But, UNDER FIRE isn’t just about a Latin-flavoured guitar, the electronics and ‘local’ instrumentals are brilliantly incorporated into the score and often help to evoke Morricone at his best.

The best thing about the album, apart from the clarity and depth of recording, is that it starts off well and just gets better.

Not only that, consider the number and diversity of other film-scoring masterworks that Goldsmith was conjuring up at this time – FIRST BLOOD, THE FINAL CONFLICT, THE SECRET OF NIMH and so on. To me, the early 80s has the greatest concentration of Goldsmith creativity.

I'd certainly recommend Goldsmith's UNDER FIRE album to anyone remotely interested in music.

These recordings were originally produced in 1938 and 1939 when recording was very much in its infancy. They were transferred to what is known as
"optical media" which was very, very noisy. Back in 1940 an album was produced from those opticals.

Early in the 50s some of these opticals were transferred to mag units, since opticals deteriorate quickly. Some of the Pinocchio cues were almost lost
forever. Disney moved some of their vault storage at one time. A number of old optical and mag units were unlabeled and were going to be discarded.
Somebody had the common sense to mount them and listen to them. One of the unlabeled units, for example, was the Cliff Edwards track for When
You Wish Upon A Star. The restoration team was able to use that track in a mix down on total restoration.

So, this set of tracks done in 1992 was a cleaned up mix down of mounted opticals and mag units both, remixed and digitally transferred.

I've taken that work and moved it a little forward. No phase shifting of soundtrack elements was done in the 1992 remaster. They also did not
have 24 bit, high definition recording ability yet.

What I've done is sweeten all the vocal elements, sound effects, and individual orchestral elements via phase shifting...bringing them forward
(and backward) in the sound image. Then everything was recorded over again via 24 bit, high definition technology.

Finding these elements in the cues is a bit like finding a needle in a haystack. Once it's located and its frequency slope delineated, it is possible to leave
the needle right where it is, but make it twinkle for your ears for a moment. The final impact in this kind of work is that you have an ongoing listening
experience (haystack) with needles twinkling at your ears (probably subliminally). The average person might say..."Gee, that sounds awesome
but I don't know why!"

Shaun

I need clarification.

It plays under the scene late in the film when Nolte is fleeing the militia after seeing something he shouldn't have IIRC.

It also doesn't feature Metheny as prominently in the film either...just that one cue of course.

Were the film tracks of UF recorded in LA?
I don't know if the CD is a re-rec. but Bajo Fuego is surely different than what is in the film.

NP:The Net(Isham)The buck that I paid for this surely didn't help the massive forces that played on this thing!

quote:

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Originally posted by JJH:
[b]I, too, have heard that the album may be a re-recording, and that the G-man arranged the album from sections of the score, and wrote Bajo Fuego for Metheny just for the album.

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Yes, I remember reading this. In fact Jerry didn't seems pleased with that. As far as I remember, he said something like "I was forced to write Bajo Fuego because they wanted some famous guitar player attached in the album's credits..."

...on the other hand there aren't too many guitar players out there who could match his vituosity!

quote:

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Originally posted by MWRuger:

So my guess is that Under Fire was remixed using current technology.

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YES!!! Secret Story. Very romantic and reflective. His synth guitar solo in "The Truth Will Always Be" brings tears to my eyes.

Metheny is a multi-faceted artist and I love his versatility in being able to range from things like Secret Story to his more aggressive, hard core jazz improv.

If anyone else here is interested in some damn fine melodic music played by brilliant musician's you couldn't go wrong with these recommendation's...
The First Circle
Secret Story
We Live Here
....all by Pat Metheny.

Hal, Lyle Mays, love 'The Alaskan Suite' from album LYLE MAYS

I was not disappointed. In addition to a great score (which makes a great album), the sound quality, as has been discussed above) is superb.

It's one of those "perfect" score CDs, where every cut is a treasure. I kow alot of people prefer Bajo Fuego, but my favorite cut it 19 De Julio -- which (IIRC) is the music that plays behind the journalists' journey to meet Rafael. "Nicaragua" is my second favorite, then "Bajo Fuego."

I think 2000 for me is going to be outstanding in the release of music from the past.

I found three of my "Holy Grails" this year, "The Challenge," "Omega Man" and now "Under Fire."

Each time I went into a music store I would search for these scores.

That's what IIRC means! Finally!

I would be MOST interested. Gosh, you've done so many favors for me, I wish there was something I could offer in return.

If there's anything I can do for you, let me know (LMK).