CD REVIEW - 2001 MANIACS: FIELD OF SCREAMS


2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams
Music by Patrick Copeland & Various Artists
BSX Records BSXCD 8873 (US)
50 Tracks 76:48 mins

From the outset I should say that this is an album that should be kept away from minors, due to its foul language, both in some of the songs featured, and throughout the interspersed dialogue extracts.
This second offering in the 2001 Maniacs horror-comedy franchise is directed by Tim Sullivan, and finds the residents of Pleasant Valley taking to the road to find more victims, accompanied by a wide range of songs, from hillbilly, through rock, rap and just about everything else - all by artists completely unknown to this writer. Some of the numbers are quite acceptable, whilst others are downright offensive, with the sound bites in between strictly for fans of the movie.
Along with all this, we are at least offered eleven selections from Patrick Copeland's score, totalling just over 18 minutes, which Sullivan describes as "a mixed bag of lunacy and mayhem" and starts out very much in the former camp, with Copeland continuing the hillbilly feel, utilising seemingly live instruments, like banjo, fiddle, guitar and clarinet on the more lighthearted tracks, the catchy breakdown in "Let's Play" especially; whilst treating the more horrific moments, which become more numerous as the score continues, largely with synths and samples, along with percussion and electric guitars in the likes of "Hide and Seek."
"Showdown," whilst brief, caught my ear, with its spaghetti western elements, again including electric guitar, as well as voices; and "Brokeback" offers a surprisingly sunny interlude.
The final score cue, "Final Reckoning" is, as you would expect, the most action packed, with some powerful moments before a peaceful ending.
Copeland makes good use of his limited resources to provide an interesting little score, which is worth a listen, if you can tolerate the rest of the album's content. You can obtain your copy from http://buysoundtraxstores.yahoo.net/20mafiofscos.html, where you can first check out some samples if you wish.