Music from the Movies
by Andrew Keech

Alan Williams is an enigma, he has consistently written some of the most lyrical film music of the past five years, but has yet to be commissioned to score a blockbuster. Perhaps his music is just too good for Hollywood. However, it is still possible to enjoy his distinctive music through a few commercial releases, mostly of his wonderful IMAX scores like Island Of The Sharks and Kilimanjaro: To The Roof Of Africa and a series of composer published promotional CDs. ‘Original Scores’ is also released by the composer and is a brilliant collection of orchestral cues from various films scored by Alan Williams up to 1995. Sadly the cue list only gives the cue titles and does not reference the original films, but this does not detract from the listening pleasure of which there is a lot.

The twenty-eight cues explore every cinematic emotion from the glorious anthem that starts the album, ‘Daybreak’, through light-hearted comedy (‘Adventurous Andy’ and ‘Something Fishy’) and onto action-adventure (‘The Getaway’ and ‘Chasing Clifford’). The collection also has many tender (‘Forgotten Love’) and romantic moments (‘The Kiss’ and ‘Romantic Montage’) as well a few dark and foreboding cues (‘Looking For Clues’ and ‘Alien Encounter’). However, the composer also includes some wonderful feel-good cues like ‘Sailing’ and ‘Starting Over’, making this a superb collection catering for every emotion.

The cues on ‘Original Scores’ are all penned with enthusiasm, care and above all style, making this an album that remains fresh and enjoyable after many listenings. This is a great album and will be a real collector’s item after Alan Williams gets some big time scores, which must be inevitable.