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Record & CD
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48 illinoisentertainer.com november 2018
by Godzilla. As movie buffs await 2020’s
Godzilla vs. Kong, they can relive Skull
Island with this premium-quality 2LP set
of Henry Jackman’s innovative score on
lava-colored
heavyweight
vinyl.
Movements including “Project Monarch”
and “Packard’s Blues” blend the bombas-
tic fun of adventure film orchestration
with reverb-drenched, spaced-out guitar
chords. The arrangement of “Assembling
the Team” travels between Gamelan-
styled mallets and bells, sweeping sym-
phonic swells, and Alex Belcher’s psyche-
delic guitar fuzz that reflects Skull Island’s
setting in the latter days of the Vietnam
War. Bowed strings and steel strings com-
bine again to heighten the unsettled mood
of “Lost,” while ominous synthesizer
swells introduce the alien and deadly ter-
rain of “The Boneyard.” Jackman’s materi-
al echoes classical touchstones like Holst’s
The Planets in targeting strong, outsized
emotions, and also reveals an affection for
prior Kong composers Max Steiner and
James Newton Howard. The original
soundtrack makes a note-perfect counter-
point to pop songs used in the film by peri-
od-appropriate artists such as Jefferson
Airplane, the Hollies, the Stooges, Black
Sabbath and Creedence Clearwater
Revival. Thundering drums and eerie vio-
lins fuel the creepy tension of “Spider
Attack.” Haunted voices and mournful
pipes during “The Temple” are reminis-
cent of Peter Gabriel’s groundbreaking
world-music score for Martin Scorsese’s
The Last Temptation of Christ. A majestic
choir adds gravitas to “Kong the
Protector” and “Ambushed.” The bold
and brash low brass of “Kong the
Destroyer” evokes grandeur, fear, and awe
at the presence of **Megaprimatus kong. A
song scores the aftermath of the film's epic
battle between Kong and the loathsome
skullcrawler with the cheeky title
“Monster Mash.”
– Jeff Elbel
8
JOHN LENNON
Imagine – The
Ultimate Collection
(Universal)
Beatle John Lennon’s best-known solo
album receives an exhaustive overview
and a fresh makeover with this six-disc set
on two Blu-ray discs and four CDs.
Arriving in the Fall of 1971, the Phil
Spector co-produced Imagine was
Lennon’s second solo set. It earned lasting
acclaim for the piano-driven title track’s
utopian plea for world peace, but the
album’s remaining songs exposed warring
facets of Lennon’s state of mind and
worldview in the aftermath of the Beatles’
breakup and ups and downs at home.
Originally demoed for the Beatles’ White
Album as “Child of Nature,” the swooning
“Jealous Guy” was recast to express
Lennon’s feelings of inadequacy as a hus-
band. The venomous “How Do You Sleep”
found Lennon accompanied by George
Harrison’s slide guitar solo, protecting his
relationship with spouse Yoko Ono and
returning fire toward Paul McCartney for
his former bandmate’s slights on 1971’s
Ram album. Key non-album singles
including “Power to the People,” recorded
during the Imagine album sessions are
included, allowing listeners to play what-
if as they did when non-album singles
“Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Penny
Lane” were included with the retooled
anniversary version of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely
Hearts Club Band. Would Imagine have been
a stronger album if “Power to the People”
had taken the place of the meandering and
somewhat dated studio jam “I Don’t
Wanna Be a Soldier, Mama?” “Happy
Xmas (War is Over)” was recorded shortly
following the original album release.
Should the seasonal favorite have been
included on an album of such personal
songs as the rambling domesticated pop of
“Oh Yoko!” (featuring Nicky Hopkins’ joy-
ful piano)? If so, would you have dropped
the revealing and relatable self-doubt of
“How” to make room? “Gimme Some
Truth” spoke to tensions during the
Vietnam War’s latter days and mistrust of
Richard Nixon’s US government. Country-
rocker “Crippled Inside” employed lan-
guage now considered taboo, but the jang-
ly, uptempo song spoke about the futility
of hiding spiritual flaws. These songs and
more are presented in a multitude of
revealing new mixes. A disc of “Raw
Studio” mixes offers one of the set’s most
compelling features, following the Let it Be
… Naked model in peeling away Spector’s
controversial Wall of Sound production
and laying Lennon’s songcraft and care-
worn vocals bare. The set includes a new
monophonic mix, alternate studio takes
and outtakes, and high-definition versions
in stereo, quadrophonic and surround
sound. A 120-page hardbound book is
loaded with photos, interviews, artwork,
session details and features about the indi-
vidual songs and social activities under-
taken by Lennon and Ono in an effort to
actually change the world through song.
Though it may be lost in the Beatles' White
Album reissue hype – 47 years later, the
world may not yet be as one, but Lennon’s
Imagine dream still resonates.
– Jeff Elbel
8