Ghostbusters

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

What is probably the pinnacle assignment of Elmer Bernstein's career? If you take away his nominated To Kill a Mockingbird, his famous Airplane, his beloved National Lampoon's Animal House? Most will then answer Ghostbusters! Yes, the blockbuster movie of the mid '80 around a trio of ghosthunters was famously beloved in the era. Ivan Reitman's success was catapulted to more often beloved comedies, it took careers of Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray to unseen heights and it made name for its illustrious (at the time) special effects, witty story and musical supporting score. But by that supporting score we have to add the songs that made the name of the movie even grow more over the years. Ray Parker Jr.'s version of Ghostbusters was set for months in the top 10 parade and the song album was featuring those beloved tunes heard in ghost fashion whirling over the tops of New York City apartments. Sadly, Elmer Bernstein was forgotten in the middle of all that. Respected by critics for its pompous score in the movie, adored by fans for its wonderful epic size, forgotten by producers when the soundtrack was released, Ghostbusters went on for years without a single respectful movie score release. Luckily time does prove to be fulfilling because as many other classics in demand for a release, Varčse Sarabande answered the "who you gonna call" cry of many fans, meaning in 2006 Ghostbusters finally saw the treated, remastered version of the music appearing on CD. For many years there was a bootleg available of the music but this one sounded so bad, people stepped away from it because it barely could bring the epic music to life, the way Bernstein intended it. Now this all sounds the way it should be heard, and for the release we have the version without the songs, the pieces Bernstein intended before they were replaced by the classic songs and the versions he alone felt worthy of a Ghostbusters stamp.

Naturally, its all simple, Ghostbusters turns around themes, and if we forget the song theme that stands for everything we know, we come to the conclusion Elmer has many themes for us in return. Simple yet effective, an atonal piano theme that Venkman uses to scare the ghosts often returns on the CD, the piano theme playfully adapted in 'Ghostbusters Theme' that presents still the silliness in the 3 ghosthunters, but can easily be transformed in a gothic scary fanfare like in 'Taken', which is truly cool. There's the gothic theme then that ultimately represents the ghosts and monsters, variated amongst the tracks in many forms and then there's the love theme, which was featured on the song album. Its one of Bernstein's loveliest versions, and in 'Dana's Theme's its assisted by a lovely violin that brings a touch of warmth to it. In the begin of the score the point is rather fixated on the scary encounters of the ghosts, and this presents unique electronic (but very effective) encounters in 'Library / Title', 'Get Her' and my favorite 'Fridge' in which a simply fanfare rocks everything upside down, scary I mean. What's fun to discover are the replacement ideas that Bernstein intended for the movie, before they were replaced by songs in the end. Track 2 and 6 have the moments, in 'We Got One' its practically new, the first part. And this is replaced by a western and pop arrangement of the piano theme, which is extremely catchy. The spookiness of 'Halls' reminds me of Poltergeist while 'Trap' unleashes the fanfare of spooky proportions at the end. The whirling strings and brass, inevitably reminding you of the spinning men in the square is for 'I Respect You'. But its when Bernstein unleashes his most gothic of all fanfares that the score truly shows the wonderful sound quality, which was lost in the bootleg. The moments in 'Cross Rip', 'Attack', 'Dogs' are of much more threatening quality now that they give Bernstein's score a new meaning.

The electronic alienating environment opens 'Zool', linking Bernstein with Goldsmith in tone, but the fanfare says it all by who it is. One of the moments were Bernstein's score rocks when you don't expect it is in 'Ghosts!', if I'm not mistaken when the song "Magic" is playing in the movie. Nonetheless Bernstein's version rocks with amazing fanfares and evidently the ghost fanfare and is truly pompous. And in 'The Gatekeeper' he just adds some more variation to it, just brilliant. The western theme in 30 and the piano version in 31 (with another out of the blue fanfare) are just small things compare to the gothic wonder he has in store for us later on. 'Gozer' unleashes further the fanfares with an alienating touch before the brass truly goes berserk in 'Final Battle', finishing off with a powerful finish. The love theme flourishes in 'Finish' and a fanfare unveils the 'End Credits' which shows new material, like the alienating fanfare, the piano theme, the pop beat version of the theme and the climatic fanfare. This is all followed by bonus tracks. All I can say is that Bernstein's score shows so much more depth in the end, in the movie you can hear a lot but not everything and this release shows that depth more then I ever dreamed off. Ghostbusters thereby becomes the beloved classic and a truly enjoyable feast from start to finish. Bernstein's fanfares give so much more impact when you hear them in the quality presented here, the alternate material doesn't suck at all comparing which famous songs replaced them in the end and how hideous the synthesizers sounded in Spacehunter, how well they feel at home here. Ghostbusters is a testament to the talent of Elmer Bernstein, that he could not only bring comedy music, pompous music but altogether music that jumps of comedy, scares of mystery and thrills of excitement, its the score meant to be heard and no better way then Varčse to continue the Bernstein tribute with one of his most beloved scores of his career. Ghostbusters is all that and a true classic item, like the film it basically cries out fun, ghostly fun, ghostly Ghostbusters fun.

\ľľľľ/

Tracks

Single Disc

1. Ghostbusters Theme + (3.00)

2. Library / Title * (3.02)

3. Venkman (0.31)

4. Walk (0.30)

5. Hello (1.36)

6. Get Her! (2.02)

7. Plan (1.25)

8. Taken (1.09)

9. Fridge (1.01)

10. Sign (0.54)

11. Client (0.36)

12. The Apartment (2.46)

13. Dana's Theme + (3.32) Excellent Track

14. We Got One! (2.03)

15. Halls (2.02)

16. Trap (1.56)

17. Meeting (0.38)

18. I Respect You (0.54)

19. Cross Rip (1.08) Excellent Track

20. Attack (1.31) Excellent Track

21. Dogs (0.58)

22. Date (0.45)

23. Zool (4.12)

24. Dana's Room (1.40)

25. Judgment Day (1.19)

26. The Protection Grid (0.43)

27. Ghosts! * (2.16) Excellent Track

28. The Gatekeeper (1.12) Excellent Track

29. Earthquake (0.34)

30. Ghostbusters! * (1.13)

31. Stairwell (1.15) Excellent Track

32. Gozer (2.49)

33. Marshmallow Terror (1.25)

34. Final Battle (1.30)

35. Finish (2.13)

36. End Credits * (5.05) Excellent Track

Bonus Tracks

37. Magic + (1.37)

38. Zool + (3.11)

39. We Got One! (Alternate) (2.05)

* Not used in the film

+ Album version

Total Length: 69.16

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

=== Link to Composer Site: Elmer Bernstein ===