The Shawshank Redemption: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
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Music CD Cover
Performer: Thomas NewmanPerformer: Morgan Freeman
Performer: Bob Gunton
Performer: William Sadler
Performer: Clancy Brown
Performer: Gil Bellows
Performer: Mark Rolston
Performer: James Whitmore
Performer: Jeffrey DeMunn
Performer: Larry Brandenburg
Performer: Neil Giuntoli
Performer: Brian Libby
Performer: David Proval
Performer: Joseph Ragno
Performer: Jude Ciccolella
Performer: Paul McCrane
Performer: Renee Blaine
Performer: Scott Mann
Performer: John Horton (II)
Performer: Gordon Greene
Edition: Music CD
Format: Soundtrack
CD Release Date: 1994-09-20
Music Label: Sony
Soundtracks:
- May
- Shawshank Prison (Stoic Theme)
- New Fish
- Rock Hammer
- An Inch Of His Life
- If I Didn't Care - The Inkspots
- Brooks Was Here - Thomas Newman
- His Judgement Cometh
- Suds On The Roof
- Workfield
- Shawshank Redemption
- Lovesick Blues - Hank Williams
- Elmo Blatch
- Sisters
- Zihuatanejo
- The Marriage Of Figaro: 'Duettino - Sull 'Aria' - Karl Boehm/Deutsch Opr Berlin
- Lovely Raquel
- And That Right Soon
- Compass And Guns
- So Was Red
- End Title
Free Music Notes for The Shawshank Redemption: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Free Music Review: An affecting CD that captures the movie's darkness and inspiration
Hit: 5 Stars
Don't listen to "The Shawshank Redemption Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" if you're in the car with the windows down; you might not be able to hear it. Most of the CD is soft-sounding and faint, but don't let those qualities deter you -- this is an excellent album. The dark overtones of the movie The Shawshank Redemption (Single Disc Edition) were furthered by the foreboding, often remote, music, and listening to this CD may take you back to what you felt while watching the riveting drama play out onscreen.
Not all of this soundtrack is tinkling piano or a stirring string section. "May," the short lead-off fiddle track, and later renamed "Workfield" deeper into the CD, contains a rustic Civil War-era aura that belies the polished classical sound heard on most of this album. The stirring "Shawshank Prison (Stoic Theme)" properly begins this opus, a deep oboe and sublime string section indicating a plethora of beautiful classical sounds to come. Similarly, the ultra-soft, harrowing piano notes heard on "New Fish" are played again and again throughout the CD, in various forms, but never get old. Interestingly, many of these songs last under two minutes, but their effect resonates much longer; they feel far from transient. After hearing them, you may recognize added depth to the movie that wasn't as noticeable before. Some listeners may even entirely separate "Shawshank's" music from the movie altogether, due to its transcendent nature.
Though much of this CD's music may conjure reflectiveness and despair, some of it contains old-time levity to capture the time period of the movie. The Inkspots' simple song "If I Didn't Care" may be a bit morose itself, but it pops up at a time on the album when the musical score by Thomas Newman becomes almost crushing in its singularity and sadness. Similarly, Hank Williams' "Lovesick Blues," though a bit clumsy and country amid Newman's classical compositions, adds needed soul and a bit of fellowship.
The melancholy piano heard on "Brooks Was Here," "Zihuatanejo" and "Compass and Guns," though simple and excruciatingly quiet, is astoundingly effective. Often backing the singular piano sounds is a similarly divine string section that will severely tug at heartstrings. Through all this beautiful darkness comes the inspirational "So Was Red" and then "End Title," two songs that, like they did in the movie, call forth feelings of hope and redemption. I'm probably being a little sappy, but as this music ends the CD, it's hard not to sentimentally envision both Andy (Tim Robbins' character) and Red (played by Morgan Freeman) reuniting on a sandy beach as the blue waves crash into their rejuvenated existence.
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