Bernard Herrmann - Taxi Driver: Original Soundtrack Recording
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Free Music Notes for Taxi Driver: Original Soundtrack Recording
Free Music Review: THIS is the version to get!
Hit: 5 Stars
This is an import from Arista Europe. Upon first glance, the only difference between this and the American version is that this CD is cleverly made to resemble a vinyl disc from it's 1975 release, not 1968 as the Amazon product description states.
The good news is that the difference between this version and the US version extends far beyond the merely superficial and cosmetic. This soundtrack sounds so crisp, it sizzles! No wonder, since it's a 20-bit transfer mastered from the original tapes.
I've been a huge fan of Bernard Hermann (and Martin Scorsese) for many years and I've never heard this music sound so sparklingly clear and detailed. Beyond all this, there's a stunning dynamic range on this disc that simply blows the US version out of the water.
I'm completely delighted with the sonic quality of this disc and would recommend it without reservation to anyone who appreciates Bernard Hermann's incomparable scoring.
Free Music Review: No Explanation Should Be Needed
Hit: 5 Stars
To those who disparaged the "smooth jazz" versions of the music on this CD; and to those who don't like the film dialaogue:
Between the 1950s and 1970s, it was VERY common for "soundtrack" albums to include radically rearranged music, to make the listening experience more cohesive and/or more accessible.
It was also very common to include some dialogue from the films for the same reason.
Regardless of your opinions on these practices philosophically or aesthetically, these releases helped to create the very market for soundtracks that we all enjoy today.
"Taxi Driver" was initially released on LP. One side included the interpretations by David Blume; the other side included Herrmann's music, with dialog overdubbed onto one track (Diary of a Taxi Driver).
The CD release discussed here is sixty minutes in length, and presents the music from the film along with the LP content, to bring us a complete release of the music. The underscore of the "Diary" track is all here elsewhere, without DeNiro's monologue. And the David Blume versions are at the end of the CD, and easily skipped over if desired.
The producers of this disc did a good job in presenting both the music from the film while including the original "soundtrack" LP content. They could have gone one way or the other. I give them credit for producing a full release.
Free Music Review: Bernard Herrmann's finest
Hit: 5 Stars
There is something fascinating and still very haunting about this music. The main theme, with such a simple theme of just two notes, is barely music and almost absurd in its base form, but given the pacing, dynamics and subtle orchestration, it becomes gold. In its understated and twisted beauty, if you could even call it that, this is more horrifying than the theme from Psycho, for example. The theme from Taxi Driver is ethereal and subsconscious, rather than in your face. There is great influence of jazz in the score and Miles Davis certainly comes to mind.
For example, listen to "Thank God for the Rain": the music literally inhales and exhales; there is a sublime, constant tension that is never quite resolved. It matches the film and the stressed mind of main character of Travis Bickle perfectly.
It is not without reason that the producers of Taxi Driver, and Martin Scorsese, honored "friend" Bernard Herrmann in the credits by dedicating the film in his memory.
As other reviewers have pointed out, the final tracks (those not scored by Herrmann) sound horrible in comparison. They sound very '70's', which is appropriate for the film and the time, but very dated and not fitting the intense, gritty mood of the film at all. It shows how differently the same material can be handled by two opposing minds, and how drastic the contrast can be. Still, this does not detract from the release, since they are all placed at the end of the CD, so they are easy to skip without hassle.
Free Music Review: This soundtrack cracks me up
Hit: 5 Stars
Make no mistake, I love Bernard Herrmann's music and I love the music from Taxi Driver. There's something about his music that hits you in strange places. Like the more haunting parts of the Twilight Zone, or Vertigo, or North By Northwest, or so many other pieces. There's something unconcious about his music. Like a dream. Herrmann suffered from depression most of his life and I think you can hear it in this music. Anyway, this score has a bunch of pieces of that the film composer (not Herrmann) rescored that are just hilarious. In particular the last track, the Reprise, is pure gold. It's such a cheesy rendition of such a powerful piece of music. Awesome.Free Music Review: Bernard Herrmann's final film music masterpiece
Hit: 5 Stars
Bernard Herrmann has been considered by many as the most influential composer working in film during the 20th century. His superb, sophisticated compositions for many films, starting with "Citizen Kane", through others such as "The Day The Earth Stood Still", and of course, "Taxi Driver", are worthy of comparison to great film scores composed by "serious" composers such as Copeland, Prokofiev, and Walton. Indeed, much of the great film music of today, composed by recently departed Elmer Bernstein and Jerry Goldsmith, and of course, John Williams, owes much of its roots to the classic scores composed by Herrmann and his colleagues Newman and Korngold, among others. Without question, "Taxi Driver", recorded days before his death in 1975, remains one of his finest achievements. It is replete with marvellous repetitions and variations on two themes; a dissonant, angry theme which emphasizes the harshness of urban existence, and the soothing, jazzy saxophone theme evoking the pleasures of sex enjoyed at some of New York City's sleazy bars and prostitution dens. It still holds up remarkably well as the perfect musical background to the scenes featuring the lunatic loner cabbie Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) and the waifish, but by no means innocent, child prostitute Iris (Jodie Foster).