Directors Cuts now on Audio DVD


Directors Cuts Production Music Library
Various Composers
Extreme Music DCDVD 001
722 Tracks 19:56:58

The 23rd volume in the fantastic Directors Cuts series makes its debut as part of an impressive audio DVD package featuring all the releases in the series, boxed in a handbag-sized representation of a clapperboard, as all previous CD releases had been packaged, albeit in a smaller size. And with it comes a 30-page booklet, detailing all the tracks.
I have already reviewed the first 21 releases in the series, either on this site or in Film Music Bulletin or Journal Into Melody, so I won't go back over them. Suffice to say that there is music of many styles to choose from and, if you're in the profession, you should find something suitable for your purposes. Early releases tended to be very much in the Media Ventures style, which was the intention, as Hans Zimmer and co. were very much dominating our cinema screens at the time, and the likes of John Powell, Harry Gregson-Williams, Klaus Badelt, Jeff Rona and Zimmer himself contributed tracks. The next generation then took up the mantle with the likes of James Dooley, Geoff Zanelli, Gavin Greenaway, James S. Levine and Steve Jablonsky featuring, all of whom have gone on to achieve some degree of fame in the industry. But a lot of new names have also provided some excellent music for the series, not least for Volume 23 Epic Adventure 2, which sees contributions from the likes of Ralph Weinrich, Stephen Rees, Doyle W. Donehoo, Matt Gates, John Deborde, Cody Westheimer and Joshua Goldberg.
As the title would suggest, this is mostly pretty upbeat and powerful stuff, with some of the tracks being orchestral/choral combinations, whilst others stick more closely to the Media Ventures style. John Williams fans will enjoy Weinrich's tracks, which show a marked influence, although the conclusion of his "Ready to Blow" is right out of James Horner's Aliens. There's much to impress in the music presented on this volume and I'm sure we'll be hearing more of these composers in the future.
Here is a rundown of all the titles in the series, just to show what's on offer:-
DCD002 Action
DCD003 Romance
DCD004 Drama
DCD005 Epic Themes
DCD006 Chiller
DCD007 Suspense
DCD008 Fantasy
DCD009 Comedy
DCD010 Ambience
DCD011 Drones
DCD012 Action 2
DCD014 Romance 2
DCD015 Underscores
DCD016 Light Drama
DCD017 Epic Adventure
DCD018 Drumscores
DCD019 Epic Choral
DCD020 Dark Drama
DCD021 Horror
DCD022 Light Drama 2
DCD023 Epic Adventure 2

If this Audio DVD set marks the end of the series I for one will be sorry to see it go, especially as, on the evidence of Volume 23, there's still plenty of good music to be had from the talented composers involved.