Thomas Newman - Meet Joe Black: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Meet Joe Black, director Martin Brest's remake of the '30s semiclassic Death Takes a Holiday, took widespread critical potshots for its three-hour length and laconic pace. Ironically, composer Thomas Newman's score is a compelling exercise in musical economy--spare, emotionally longing arrangements where the spaces resonate almost as much as the notes. The composer (youngest son of the great film scorer Alfred Newman and cousin to Randy Newman) shows the same deft handling of emotional nuance he displayed on The Shawshank Resemption, The Horse Whisperer, and Oscar and Lucinda (winner of Best Original Score at the 1998 Australian Film Awards), here underplaying the story's romance and otherworldly aspects with a few piano notes and a masterful use of strings and winds. Yet another tribute to the Newman gene pool and an impressively mature work from one of Hollywood's brightest young film composers. --Jerry McCulley Amazon.com

Great "after the kids are in bed" date music!

My wife absolutely loves the movie and has been dying to get the soundtrack. I gave it to her for Valentine's Day and she just started crying. Needless to say I scored some serious relationship points. This soundtrack has a good mix of slow and fast music, and it is very romantic, especially if you've seen the movie. We like to turn the lights down low and play it through the home theater after the kids are in bed. Best $13 I've ever spent. March 19, 2008

"JOE BLACK" Soundtrack,the genius of Thomas Newman

Thomas Newman is just simply too much: Hollywood's 2004 Composer of the Year,Grammy Award Winner American Beauty: Original Motion Picture Score,Emmy Award Winner for Six Feet Under,8 time Oscar nominated and multiple BMI winner for Finding Nemo, Erin Brockovich: Motion Picture Soundtrack as well as 11 other films;let us not forget his 1998 score to the romantic 3 hour film MEET JOE BLACK.Newman seems to be an expert at "other-world" films that involve death such as Angels in America,Six Feet Under - The Complete Series Gift Set,Phenomenon,The Green Mile (Two-Disc Special Edition) and my personal favorite Oscar & Lucinda for which Newman won the Australian Oscar. MEET JOE BLACK also deals with the subject of passing to the "other world" and Newman again uses his open forths and fifth's on the piano (signifying eternity), and his sweeping Orchestral underpinnings in order to make death palatable and gently welcoming. Also on this CD are the 1930's standards 'Cheek to Cheek','Let's Face the music and Dance',What a Wonderful World' and 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' which were all used to great effect in the film starring Brad Pitt as "Death", Joe Black, and his target Anthony Hopkins. Once you become acquainted with the music of Thomas Newman,like John Williams etal,he has an unmistakable style all his own.Newman's scores go back all the way to the 1978 television series 'The Paper Chase', and in 1984 he broke onto the silver screen with Revenge Of The Nerds: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.Since then,74 movies later, Thomas Newman's music,alone, makes a film worth a view for me! February 9, 2008

Touching

This CD was better than I'd hoped. The movie was mediocre but the music was far better than in most other movies. There are a handful of excellent music writers who tend to pop up over the years only in movies of quality so this was a surprize. Highly sensitive, delicately feeling, touching movie score. January 1, 2008

Better than expected!

I bought this CD to have "That Next Place" in my audio files. The song was not available as a single for download. As it turned out, I'm glad I bought the whole album as most of the songs are wonderful. November 9, 2007

Beautifully done

A good sit down, and put your feet up..pick up a good book and relax away. October 5, 2007

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