dicktracyanimIntrada Special Collection Volume 363, out now

Intrada expand Danny Elfman’s original 35-minute score album to a two-disc 103-minute presentation. If a single note has been missed, it won’t have been for lack of trying to present as comprehensive version as possible.

Coming hot on the heels of his spectacular Batman score, Danny Elfman delivered another gutsy, gothic romantic set of cues for Warren Beatty’s colourful live-action comic book gangster movie. Warners were so excited about the movie’s release that three separate albums were produced – Madonna’s Sondheim collaboration (I’m Breathless) , a songs album (Selections from the Film) and the score album. For the latter, the composer took the series of fairly short cues and sequenced an album that fused some of the shorter tracks together to create an album that while not exhaustive provided a great presentation of the score and optimum listening experience.

The great news is that the original album is still present and correct in its entirety on Disc 1 before being boosted by 22 minutes of new content. The downside to this addition of 20 new tracks is that many are very short – 12 are under a minute and it’s hard to get into a cue that’s 14 seconds long. This is continued on Disc 2, which offers 46 minutes of new content where again 26 of the 42 tracks don’t hit the minute mark. I’m not suggesting that there’s something magic about clocking in over sixty seconds but it just makes the experience more disjointed and piecemeal. This is one of the occasions where the composer got it absolutely right first time round, condensing the full soundtrack into a compact half an hour. But as with Intrada’s other releases, it’s all about giving the collector as much content and value-add as possible to produce the final word on the subject.

As you’d expect, Intrada include a glossy booklet with production stills and an essay by former Film Score Monthly journalist Jeff Bond. He explains that a number of the alternate takes were down to Beatty’s last-minute tinkering with the film, requiring Elfman to dictate new music over the phone for eleventh hour recording. Album producer Douglass Fake also writes about how the score was remastered for this release from the original elements by the original sound engineer Dennis Sands.

Verdict: If you love Danny Elfman in Batman mode, this is a great package. From the brassy, strident fanfare march to the Gershwin-inspired Tess’ Theme and jazzy Crime Spree, this is a full-blooded score with multiple feet in different genres. Play the first 35 minutes for the concert experience and then dip into the alternate takes and stings. How lucky we are that this much care and attention goes into producing these definitive releases. 9/10

Nick Joy