Free Willy 3: The Rescue

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

It's becoming quite clear but I have to mention it one more time, Cliff Eidelman is a fantastic composer. Beyond the boundaries he went with Star Trek VI and into adventurous seas with Christopher Columbus but his next score does equally well. His third album which I purchased lately is a mix between Basil Poledouris and even James Horner at times. But what I do know is that Free Willy 3: The Rescue is a superb listen, unfortunately just 29 minutes long. Varase Sarabande did it once more, even not 35 or 40 minutes (which is also short but 29 minutes). I know that Varase tries to get as much on the score, and that the fees don't help (especially because American Orchestras aren't cheap) but it hurts that it's just 29 minutes of pure and good music. Cliff Eidelman is luckily a composer who writes with big orchestras if he has got the possibility and here he once again proves why he's so good at it. Eidelman on his own handles the score like a pro, and the fans will not even miss the great theme of the Free Willy series, the one by Basil Poledouris, only heard in 'A New Family'.

Cliff himself keeps the emotion high and the standard of sound strong, the third installment becomes a dream of orchestral magic with themes you wouldn't even dream of, the beauty is unparalleled and his eye for detail is once more detected. The soundtrack beyond anything becomes unique when a solo vocal performance starts pumping up the emotion even higher, Francine Poitras is only heard in two tracks but her wordless singing reminded me a lot of Lisa Gerrard. And Horner admirers will love the string pieces reminiscent of Bicentennial Man, like in 'Birth' and 'End Credits'. And what would Free Willy be without Basil Poledouris' main theme with the already mentioned 'A New Family', but even a different Poledouris moment is witnessed in several occasions, making the connection to For Love of the Game vividly strong. I've read good reviews of the so far released soundtracks of Cliff Eidelman and I finally understand why, his eye for detail, the beauty and richness of his themes and his perfect ability to astound me each time. Cliff Eidelman is like Jerry Goldsmith quoted one day: "a terrific composer and definitely a bright star for the future". I only hope that more projects would flow his way, and I mean big projects. And for goodness sake, longer releases. Scores like these deserve that. There aren't songs on this release and still it's short which is extremely sad. Ladies and gentlemen, Free Willy 3: The Rescue is a score that grows on me, it will grow on you, and it possesses sheer brilliance at moments, so don't ignore it because of it's poor and unbelievably short length.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Main Title (3.07)

2. Awakening * (4.04)

3. Harpoon Assembly (0.51)

4. Whale Call (1.27)

5. Birth (3.04) Excellent Track

6. Willy Signals (1.03)

7. The Hunt (3.09)

8. Obsession (2.07)

9. Redemption * (2.36) Excellent Track

10. You Were Right (2.05) Excellent Track

11. A New Family (1.35) Excellent Track

12. End Credits (3.48) Excellent Track

* Solo Voice by Francine Poitras

Total Length: 29.16

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=== Link to Composer Site: Cliff Eidelman ===