Picture Bride

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

What Eidelman keeps bringing on the market, if its from this quality people will buy and applaud it and Picture Bride isn't the best, perhaps drags a bit but is surely another masterpiece of themes from the talented composer. Its simply too bad that this particular director of the movie didn't approve what Eidelman composed for his movie and it resulted in a new score. Now, a lot of people will apparently ask why this score was replaced if it gets such positive reviews. I on top of it must confess I don't know why, but there were obviously reasons why Eidelman's composition wasn't appropriate for the movie. I do know one thing, it wasn't surely the fault of the quality of his music because it again shows us Eidelman at the top of his musical abilities, and even if I mention that there are others I enjoy much more of him then this score, Picture Bride nonetheless deserves the fullest interest by Eidelman devotees.

I am also extremely glad, that for a rejected score the orchestral performance is superb. It all begins with a suite, well sort of because the end titles are the reverse start of this soundtrack, 'End Credits (Suite)' offers us the main portion of what to expect of sound and theme, the gorgeous emotional main theme, its more vibrant ethnic march, also discovered in 'Running for the Ocean' and overall this is a pleasing start of the score. What I do love about this score is, as in many Eidelman releases the string work that brings us such emotion and power that it becomes really too good for a rejected score, and it will remind many of Free Willy 3: The Rescue. This isn't a really big surprise because the same orchestra is at the helm of this composition. At other parts its ethnic sound will bring back memories of Legends of the Fall ('Aftermath') and Amazon ('Wind God'). And to top it off, the piano solos overall sound like Angela's Ashes in places. Certainly not much but true enough to recapture the magic in Eidelman's score.

At the end, other moments worth remembering are 'Picture Brides' with its exquisite string accompaniment and the truly mesmerizing piano solos of Cliff Eidelman in person in 'Picture Bride'. For 30 minutes it is the overall quality sound of Cliff Eidelman that maintains to bring a gorgeous representation of the rejected score Picture Bride. But if I have some remarks it is that for 30 minutes this score doesn't keep me totally focussed, I feel there is too less variation on the subject of hand to keep me fully interested. Perhaps for some this won't be a major problem, but for others it might bore them eventually. Still, anyone that feels that Cliff Eidelman truly brings good music will again see it as another worthwhile investment and overall enthusiasts with a knack for ethnic accompanying scores will do no harm in feeling the beauty of releases such as these. Varese Sarabande should be commended for releasing even rejected scores of Cliff Eidelman and while its just 30 minutes long, I feel it is overall enough and perhaps even a bit too long in places. Picture Bride isn't the best score of Eidelman and I enjoy others more then this, but still it brings a lot of excellence for its nature, and continues to show why on earth a certain Cliff Eidelman deserves so much more attention.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. End Credits (Suite) (7.13) Excellent Track

2. Running For The Ocean (2.23)

3. Rebirth (4.13)

4. A New Life (1.22)

5. A Long Day (1.10)

6. Picture Brides (2.35) Excellent Track

7. Tragic Loss (2.29)

8. Wind God (1.23)

9. Aftermath (2.08)

10. Final Love (1.37)

11. Working In The Field (0.49)

12. Picture Bride * (2.43) Excellent Track

* Solo Piano by Cliff Eidelman

Total Length: 30.29

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

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