Conan the Barbarian Soundtrack

This is THE definitive version of the soundtrack for the ORIGINAL and BEST Conan movie. Just as critics said that the movie, while free and easy with the source material, got the spirit of Howard's writing and the titular character bang-on, the sweeping, majestic score from Basil Poledouris perfectly conveyed the swagger, strength, and high adventure of Conan and the brutal, dazzling landscapes of Hyboria. This movie stands as a testament that a good soundtrack can make an otherwise adequate movie great. Without this monumental score, the movie falls flat on its face and joins the ranks of the dime-a-dozen sword and sorcery movies from the 70's and 80's. As for this particular version, it's the one Conan fans have been waiting for. Every single musical note heard in the movie is here, as well as some other treats. Other editions of the soundtrack have come and gone. There was one available as an import, which had more material than the bare-bones soundtrack available here in the US, but it was hard to find, and still incomplete. For those who have been waiting, we finally have the Renaissance piece that played during the infiltration in the tower of Set. So complete is this album, you even have the odd, unsettling chanting going on in the background when Conan first meets Valeria. Also present are some discarded numbers that Poledouris resurrected for the "Conan the Destroyer" soundtrack. So, in essence, this album contains the complete score from both of Arnold's Conan movies. Again, every musical note you hear in Conan the Barbarian is on this album. As an added bonus, there are some outtakes and earlier versions of the score, some with different instrumentations. All this would be only a curiosity if the re-mastering were sub-par or drastically altered from the original. Typically, I find "re-mastered" to be code for "We wanted more money, so we changed the mix to be different from what you remember. It's compressed and inferior. But Hey! It's RE-MASTERED!" Not so here. Those audiophiles who noticed the low-fidelity of the original soundtrack recordings will be thrilled with the quality of this release. The lo-fi noise is gone, but not the richness of the instruments. Indeed, the quality of the sound is superb, and the re-mastering stays very true to the original. So while they have drastically improved the sound quality, they have not monkeyed with the mix just for the sake of change. This is a superb album, and without question the only soundtrack of Conan the Barbarian anyone needs.

I won’t bother going into the merits of the score itself. If you are reading this review, you probably already know this score is simply one of the greatest in cinema history. After nearly a two decade search, the master session tapes were located and now film music fans can rejoice. Finally, with this release we are able to hear every note recorded including source music and alternate takes. My previous copy was the rare Varese CD which I have listened to so much, I know every nuance of every note in the performances. This is part of the reason I was never really interested in the re-recording that came out a little while ago. Anything less than the original recording just didn’t sound right to me. Even if the fidelity was less than optimal, just the fact the composer himself conducted made the original the final word. Now we get the best of both worlds, the classic performance in excellent sound quality. The tapes have been remixed for this release but there is nothing that stands out as sounding “different” other than the new level of clarity and depth. Producers Fake and Tarantino have done a great job and clearly handled this project with loving care. The only thing that is slightly different is that “Warpaint” crossfades into “The Kitchen” exactly like it does in the film. On the Varese release “The Kitchen” did not fade in, which I prefer, so If you have the Varese release and are insane like me, you may want to hold on to it. The new previously unreleased pieces are varied but mostly excellent. Some of the best are “Pit Fights”, “The Snake/Infidels”, and “Battle of the Mounds part II”. Others such as “Warm Welcome”, “Wolf Witch”, “Hopefuls at the Tower”, “The Hall of King Osric” are primarily atmospheric in the context of the film and while they are certainly interesting and welcome by completists, are dreadfully repetitive and not exactly repeat listening material. The third disc of the original MCA release is a nice bonus and worth having if only to have the version of “Anvil of Crom” without the prologue. I highly recommend this release for all fans of great movie music. It’s a shame that Poledouris never got to see his complete masterpiece given this deluxe treatment, but the music will live on forever .

Quizas uno de los mejores scores de siempre.

Un BO vraiment exceptionnelle tant elle colle parfaitement au film, une sorte de musique de Péplum païen à la Carmina Burana, Basil Pouledouris signe avec Conan une bande originale très riche qui est ici complétée et éditée dans une version "Deluxe". Je regretterais peut-être que l'on ai supprimé le texte de l'introduction qui était sur la BO originale dans sa version CD. Une BO complétée de qualité indispensable !

A trilha sonora de Conan, O Bárbaro é a síntese de uma obra de arte fleumática que ascende ao perpassar do tempo, e no fenecimento encontra a transcendência de seu jaez, sua estrutura é frugal mas sua visão é Incólume e sine qua non a agrura de sua jornada, apesar de perene no remate se esteia.

Für meine Begriffe gibt es nur wenige Filme, welche derart von ihrem Soundtrack aufgewertet werden wie es bei "Conan The Barbarian" der Fall ist. Der wahrhaft unsterbliche Soundtrack von Basil Poledouris (RIP) ist und bleibt ein Meisterwerk der Extraklasse, und sicherlich nicht nur für mich einer der besten Soundtracks der gesamten Filmgeschichte. Große Worte, keine Frage - aber der "Conan" Soundtrack hat einfach alles, von unglaublich bombastischen und wilden Passagen bis hin zu ruhigen und verträumten Momenten. Bei all dem ist er enorm eingängig und immer sehr schlüssig... und vor allem, er transportiert die gesamte Atmosphäre von "Conan" perfekt, ist er doch archaisch, wild, erhaben, monumental und schlichtweg episch. Das Wichtigste ist aber für mich: Basil Poledouris Soundtrack ist enorm eigenständig, und der Meister verarbeitete Elemente von Orff, Wagner, Holst, mittelalterlicher Musik, folkloristischer Klänge aus dem Mittelmeerraum und zeitgenössischen Filmsoundtracks zu einem absolut stimmigen Ganzen. Die hier rezensierte "Prometheus" Edition dieses Soundtracks kommt als Doppel-CD daher, und enthält erstmals den vollständigen Soundtrack (inklusive einiger Bonusstücke und alternativer Versionen). Enthalten sind 32 Stücke mit insgesamt 122 Minuten Laufzeit, eingespielt vom 97-köpfigen Prager Symphony Orchester unter Nick Raine und einem gewaltigen, 100 Sänger umfassenden Chor.... mehr Bombast und "Conan" geht also nicht mehr! Im Klartext: dies ist die BESTE Version eines der besten Soundtracks der Welt... und die BESTE Version des für meine Begriffe unstrittig besten Fantasy-Soundtracks! Preislich ist diese Doppel-CD nur als Import erhältlich und mit rund 30 Euro zum Zeitpunkt der Rezension sicherlich nicht ganz billig, aber wenn man mich fragt ist dies auch ein Soundtrack für die Ewigkeit. Bei Crom - weniger als 5 Sterne wären eine tödliche Beleidigung!

Questo doppio CD contiene la colonna sonora completa del film Conan il Barbaro di John Milius. Non è la partitura incompleta del CD classico, che fu suonata da un'orchestra diretta dallo stesso compositore Basil Poledouris a Roma nel 1982 e utilizzata nella pellicola, bensì la partitura completa ri-eseguita dalla Filarmonica di Praga diretta da Nic Raine nel 2010, per volere e con la supervisione dei familiari di Poledouris, venuto a mancare nel 2006. Chi ama il film sa che questa è forse la colonna sonora epica più bella di sempre, qui suonata superbamente con l'accompagnamento di un grande coro. Oltre a tutte le musiche del film trovate anche alcune versioni alternative e un pezzo tratto da "Conan il Distruttore".