CD REVIEW - BOOM!


Boom!
Music by John Barry
Harkit Records HRKCD 8248 (EU)
13 Tracks 32:36 mins

John Barry's score for this 1968 Elizabeth Taylor/Richard Burton starrer, directed by Joseph Losey, has always been a pretty hard LP to find. Thankfully, Harkit Records has now put it out on CD for all to enjoy. And we don't just have the music, but also Kimberly Lindbergs' excellent and very detailed notes on this unusual and consequently financially disastrous production, along with colour stills from the film.
Barry is of course known for his wonderful themes but, though his main melody for the film is catchy enough, a kind of fairground waltz, with what sounds like cimbalom taking the lead; this is the composer in more experimental mode, with interesting pieces like the anxious "Urgentissim0 - Like Everything This Summer;" the dark hopelessness of "Pain Gone Till Tomorrow;" "Through Caverns Measureless To Man;" "Which Way Is The Sun?"; and "A Mobile Called 'Boom';" the subdued exotica of "Have I Changed Very Much Since You Last Saw Me?"; the building threat of "You've Got More Things Going For You Than Teeth, Baby;" the quirky Mediterranean dance "Capito;" and the cold fatalism of "The Shock of Each Moment of Still Being Alive."
The main theme, as well as leading off the album, also appears in "Mister Death Angel Flanders;" and in a slower variation in "Of a Year Unknown."
The album concludes with the Dankworth/Black number "Hideaway," performed by Georgie Fame.
If you have a liking for the John Barry of the '60s, when he was at the height of his powers, always producing interesting and unpredictable music, then this is definitely one worth adding to your collection. Visit www.harkitrecords.com.