Ringing In The New Year By traveling Back To The 11th Century ...

Well, I'm back and I thought my first review of 2007 would be the Medieval Times (Dinner and Tournament ) soundtrack by Dan Friedman and Michael Schwartz. Why you ask? Well my wife and I rung in the new year with some good old cheesy fun! And what better place then Medieval Times. It was a fun night with food, drinks and song. I've been to the show about 3 times now and after my first visit a number of years ago I purchased the soundtrack to Medieval Times. This was at a time when I was listening to a lot of classical, folk and new age music. I had enjoyed the shows music enough to want to bring it home with me.

It's OK. I have to admit that when you separate the music from the live experience it seems a little silly. But I kept it for nostalgia and novelty. It's not a terrible album, but it seems like it was made with Microsoft "Orchestra". This however, is not the case and a full orchestra was used, but there is an air of standardness to it, that leaves you with a cheesy feeling. That said, I did thoroughly enjoy going back and listening to it again, especially after seeing the live show. Once you accept the overly polished no surprises feel, the music is not to bad. I can't shake the feeling that there were songs used in the show that weren't on this soundtrack ... some good Conan's "Riders of Doom" style choral work, and that may be why I was somewhat disappointed. So without to much time spent here, let me give you a brief explanation of the music and it's highlights, and then I'll move on to bigger and better things!

The music consists of a lot of trumpeting fanfare which I do adore and I'm guessing it's because Michael Shwartz, one half of the composers, is a trumpeter in the orchestra. The "Title Theme" is a regal galloper with shout-outs to "Indiana Jones theme" and "Blazing Saddles" and a little touch of Russian influence. The theme appears throughout the CD which helps keep the feel of storiness and it's perform with various styles and tempos. Most of the music has a Disney movie soundtrack feel with touches of Looney Tunes. That's not a bad thing. You get a family friendly sense in the music.

The stand out songs are "The Journey Begins" with its Nutcracker feel and the 2 darker tracks "Druid" and "Executioner". These 2 are brooding and sinister and feature some excellent and thunderous percussions. And I have to mention "Guard Of The Castle" just for its strong A-Team theme resemblance.

My favourite track here is "Falcon's Flight". It's airy and majestic and is truly passionate. Watching the Falcon fly during the show with this music was an uplifting experience and listening to this piece on its own leaves you feeling the same. A good comparison would be the main theme from the movie "Forever Young".

This is not an album I'll be cracking out for parties or anything, but it is fun to pull out once in a while. It's a solid effort although slightly silly in feel.

As I said in my last post before the new year, I'm going to be posting once a week and see how that goes. I've discovered that I have to much Leisure for the amount of leisure time I'm afforded. I want to enjoy this blogging experience and give my albums a proper exploration. We'll see how it goes. So for you loyal readers, I'll be posting Sunday nights and then giving you a week to enjoy it! I'll be featuring some local bands of friends of mine coming up. These are not metal, but more rock, punk, alternative. I hope you enjoy reading about them.