Review by Thomas Glorieux:

The past couple of years we have been seeing one Bill Conti score surfacing after another. But never the score that made him a legend amongst film score fans, if you take away of course his Rocky empire and Right Stuff treasure. Yes I'm talking about The Karate Kid scores, the 10 year lasting unison between teacher Mr. Miyagi and pupil Daniel LaRusso. And in the final somewhat failed installment The Next Karate Kid young starlet Hilary Swank took over the role of karate kid. But all carried the mesmerizing main theme Bill Conti wrote for it, all carried his charm that made Rocky so legendary. Sadly because The Karate Kid wasn't so famous as Rocky, the scores were never commercially released. In fact the first 2 only saw some bad sounding bootlegs appearing on the market while nr. 3 and 4 never received a ?treatment? like that. Of course that changed when the Varèse Club saw it fit to release them, 20 years and more after their initial release on the big screen. And of course in the digital age of sound and visual, these scores never sounded better than now. In The Karate Kid we hear for the first time all the themes that would return somewhat in the next films. It starts with a weird if very amusing version of the main theme, in 'Main Title' we get an amusing version for strings and flute of the main theme, more beefed up and less serious than the ultimate version that would grace the fighting sequences. But nevertheless it works easily well with the whole universe of The Karate Kid. 'Fite Nite' and ' Bumpy Ride' have one thing in common, they carry that amusing electronic '80 sound that will never die, however in proper and clearer sound quality these sound simply more interesting than say on a bootleg, so these work to signal the other karate kid group and ultimately the enemies that Daniel faces time and time again. What's more interesting is that they are partly based on the winning song (The Moment of Truth performed by Survivor). This song isn't featured on this CD but its nice that some part of its acclaim is found through the music of Bill Conti. In 'Dan Ducks Out' they come together in a brief minute of score. In 'Bonsai Tree' we reach the turning point, its here where ethnic material and the flute surface for the first time. This of course because Mr. Miyagi appears for the first time on screen. With a paint of nostalgia the love theme is born in 'Decorate the Gym' but its Mr. Miyagi's theme that is heard for the first time in ' Miyagi Rattles Bones', after a brief suspenseful opening.

Its not a grand theme but that doesn't need to be considering Mr. Miyagi doesn't play an outrageous and big role, he is the introverted smart talking alter ego of Daniel, who acts more impulsive and extravert. However Bill Conti has another theme standing ready and in the end its the one appearing the most through the entire score, its what you call a theme that works between all other themes, more or less a underscore theme for all the interactions between Mr. Miyagi and Daniel. In ' On to Miyagi's', ' The Pact' (linked with Mr. Miyagi's theme), 'Japanese Sander' and in 'Paint the Fence' they are all present to represent the teachings without stating any of the 2 leading character's themes. This is clever because it makes both themes appear less on screen and making them stronger when they appear in the end, stronger because they aren't played to the death of repetition. A demo of the love theme as song isn't that well sung by Baxter Robertson and is shippable while the love theme sounds much more charming in 'Troubled Lovers'. However a nice scherzo of styles is heard in 'Daniel sees the Bird' when a wild string classical scherzo and flutes interact with one another over a glazing sun. Mr. Miyagi's theme is spotted in 'Fish and Train' and here the flute shows more spiritual strength than ever before, here we learn how much Mr. Miyagi has an impact on young Daniel. With 'Training Hard' we suddenly reach the pinnacle of their relationship, and here the music flourishes to the main theme's most beautiful performance of the disc. Some jazzy pop music might interrupt the flow of the music, but Bill Conti puts in it a lot of charm to not let it go to waste entirely. The suspenseful 'Japanese Hand Clap' and 'No Mercy' all line up to 'Daniel's Moment of Truth', where the suspense grows and then kaboom, the main theme and ultimate song theme explode in heroic fashion. The electronics might sound cheap but not the orchestra rollicking over it. Stunning how only Bill Conti could let it explode like that. Its amazing how much respect I'm showing for Pat Morita (who died in 2005) because I can't use anything else than the words Mr. Miyagi. However this shows how well and respectfully he played his role in these movies. However respect must be kept for Bill Conti as well because it may not be as glamorous as his Rocky empire, but its as effective, successful and spiritual as the next one. And The Karate Kid shows that ample now in 4 dynamic scores, all growing to their ultimate explosive end. Part 1 of four is where it all began.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Main Title (3.29)

2. Fite Nite (2.00)

3. Bumpy Ride (1.35)

4. Dan Ducks Out (0.55)

5. Bonsai Tree (0.44)

6. Decorate The Gym (0.37)

7. Miyagi Rattles Bones (2.27)

8. Miyagi Intercedes (1.28)

9. On To Miyagi's (1.31)

10. The Pact (2.13)

11. Feel The Night (Demo): Baxter Robertson (1.55)

12. Troubled Lovers (0.33)

13. Japanese Sander (1.24)

14. Paint The Fence (3.11)

15. Daniel Sees The Bird (2.37)

16. Fish and Train (2.28)

17. Training Hard (2.28) Excellent Track

18. The Kiss (1.02)

19. Japanese Hand Clap (0.38)

20. No Mercy (0.22)

21. Daniel's Moment Of Truth (1.51) Excellent Track

Total Length: 35.32

The use of artwork or photos is posted for non profitable reasons

=== Link to Composer Site: Bill Conti ===