Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
More of a tribute album than a soundtrack!, 5 Jun 2008
This disc is a re-release of the USA edition of Tangerine Dream's music for Michael Mann's movie, "Thief". It doesn't contain the film's entire soundtrack music by any means: nor, indeed, is all of the music on the CD to be found in the film! The reasons are simple: much of the film's most powerful music (that which accompanies the scenes "He's beeping in good", "Into the Shaft" and "Car Lot Showdown") had already been released on the band's 1979 album "Force Majeure", as parts of the track 'Thru Metamorphic Rocks'. That music is represented on this disc in a shorter (5 minute) remix, 'Igneous', which uses a characteristic cue chord sequence from the film as an intro to the flanged percussion pulse overlaid with a new raw-edged guitar line. (Incidentally, Craig Safan's music for the final scene of the film 'Confrontation' is included in this Wounded Bird edition, at the expense of the original UK edition's extra track, 'Beach Scene'.) Tracks are also presented in an order that makes musical sense, rather than following any sequence relevant to the film. Thus, 'Dr. Destructo' (used for 'Disassembling a life' 110:00-112:45 in the director's cut of the film) is used as a moody introduction to the main track 'Diamond Diary', used for the film's opening ten minutes.
Several dodges have been applied to pad the remaining music out to provide a disc of reasonable length (although it is still quite short). Firstly, the music from the scene 'San Diego Reverie' (92:47-94:50) is included here only as 'Beach Theme', which features some small but clumsy percussion and guitar overdubs and serves as a mood-setting introduction to the disc as a whole. Its original reprise as 'Beach Scene' on the UK edition of the disc, which is longer and closer to the version used in the film, is omitted from this release. Some soundtrack material is expanded into longer versions than those used in the film: 'Burning Bar', for instance, is 3:20 on the disc, while barely two minutes of it is used in the film (scene: 'Sam' 47:15-49:15). Finally a couple of additional tracks have been composed, which draw on musical ideas used only briefly elsewhere or which conjure up the moods of some of the film's scenes. In addition to 'Igneous', the tracks 'Scrap Yard' and 'Trap Feeling' fall into this category. 'Scrap Yard' (4:40) is a fast-paced ballad for brash synthesiser and raw electric guitar over a hammering electronic percussion loop, similar to 'Diamond Diary' in its feel; while 'Trap Feeling' (3:30) uses wavering and ringing tones over a restless synthesiser drone.
The result is some 40 minutes of material, often close to the actual film soundtrack but at other times merely suggestive of it. For all its alterations, though, this music comes across as every bit as powerfully stark as the movie. The raw power of its relentless percussion, stark synthetic sounds and buzzing guitars over gritty bass-heavy drones do much to convey the same sense of fatality and to keep one on the edge of one's seat in just the same way that the movie does. In many ways this album is more of a tribute to the film than a copy of its soundtrack, but probably is all the more potent as a result. It was a major chart success in its day and remains an impressive achievement even now.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Oh Yes! The Confrontation track IS included!, 31 Oct 2004
... and that's all real fans will need to know about this smart re-issue! What we have here is effectively a CD version of the original USA Elektra LP 12" edition of this excellent soundtrack.Oddly, the track "Beach Scene" (a longer version of "Beach Theme) is _not_ included on this edition (it _was_ present and correct on the Virgin CD release) However, personally I'm happy to sacrifice that now that "Confrontation" is present at the end of the CD! Yes, I know - it's NOT actually a track by Tangerine Dream. It's actually by a soundtrack composer by the name of Craig Safan ("Last Starfighter") TD fans might be a little dismayed by it's inclusion, but we have to remember that first and foremost this is a SOUNDTRACK release for the film "Thief" (UK title - Violent Streets) and not a dedicated TD release. That said, it would have been even better if we had been treated to some extra TD tracks from the film, but I guess we can't have it all (which explains the fallen star from the rating) Get this CD - well worth it for the presence of TD's excellent score and now also for Safan's marvellous "kick-@ss" epic "Confrontation" - Top stuff.
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good Place to Start, 8 Nov 2007
Terrific soundtrack to a mediocre film. A great intro to the works of Tangerine Dream and only bettered by the Cyclone album.
Accessible and atmospheric.
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![Thief [DVD] [1981]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41KJ2JY1P0L._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
