'(...) Given the immense popularity of the film, the score might have a good chance to see the light of the day on a official release (...)' - It was not so long ago when I made this assumption in a review of a bootleg release of Elmer Bernstein's score for Ghostbusters (1984). The least thing I expected was that the demanded official release was just around the corner as the crown jewel of Varese Sarabande's Club CD batch in early February 2006. Record producer Robert Townson stated in the liner notes that the 80's were a time of great film music but without decent releases and he is so right with that. The long wait of over 27 years must have been agony for Bernstein fans who kept demanding a proper release (and believe me, I have no idea what I am talking about here because I only waited about 10 years for this CD). Elmer's music managed to shine through in the film despite the usage of a number of hit songs that partly replaced the score and battled against it for the audience's ears. But lets just pretend for a minute that there has never been any mistreatment of this score, be it in the film or on CD, and take an even closer unclouded listen to one of Elmer Bernstein's best and most colorful works from the 80's.

The score:

Reviewing this score again turns out to be a tough challenge because the brilliance of Bernstein's work, especially when heard on its own and in a sound quality that is light years ahead of any bootleg, is evident but the film hardly shows that due to terrible edits or the misplacement and even absence of entire thematic ideas. Granted, it is really hard to imagine Ghostbusters without the chart booster songs but dramatically, the film would have clearly benefited from a better use of the score without that much songs. James Lochner's liner notes reveal that naturally Elmer wasn't particularly pleased with how things turned out in the end. The pieces that remained in the film were already incredibly effective but slightly out of context. Very few parts of the score can really be considered as being 'funny' music and Elmer's approach to this spook comedy is more on the serious side once again, following the composer's comedic tradition from scores like Animal House (1978) or Airplane! (1980).

You can divide the film in three acts with act one being the introduction of the boys, act two focusing on the love story between cellist Dana Barret and parapsychologist 'Pete' Venkman as well as Zool's possession of Dana and act three being the final fight on the 'ghost center'. The music basically follows this idea with notable act breaks and the domination of (character) themes like the piano "Ghostbusters (main) Theme" for act one, the lush and romantic "Dana's (Love) Theme" for act two and the grim Gozer's theme for act three when things are getting really dark. Several sub-themes and motifs crop up throughout, making it one of Elmer's thematically most complex works from the 80's. Peter Bernstein and David Spear's orchestrations are extraordinary and thanks to the great mastering done for this CD you will hear every perverted little detail without any compression which lets the more experimental electronic elements sparkle. According to the booklet, three Yamaha DX-7 synthesizers (released only one year earlier than the film, so those were state-of-the-art), an exotic French keyboard for eerie sounds and the ondes martenot (Elmer's favourite instrument) were used to create ghostly sound effects.

These elements of the underscore, most prominently used in "Library And Title", "Hello", "Halls", "Attack" and "Zool", are highly unconventional and probably hard to enjoy at first but they are just as important as the major themes. The way how these electronics are blended with the orchestra is amazing because they do not come along as a black-and-white contrast but work as a perfectly homogeneous entity. Their impact on the visuals is truly outstanding, especially during the library encounter ("Hello") and Dana's abduction ("Attack"). Few popular music arrangements are spread throughout the score such as a moment in "Get Her!" when the boys are scared by a library ghost, "We've Got One" when the boys are driving to the haunted hotel, "Ghostbusters!" when the boys survive Gozer's earthquake and the "End Credits". Those bits have never been heard before since they were replaced by the songs "Cleanin' Up The Town" and "Magic" (not the one on this CD) with "Judgement Day" being the only surviving moment of Bernstein-funk in the film. Synth-drums, beats, slap bass, funky sounds and big band brass create pop-y sound that many listeners will find cheesy, if not disgusting at first but especially this material will turn out as really charming after a while.

On a personal note, while writing all that I can't help but find that I underrated Elmer's score in my last review. For that reason and because the score was so badly threatened in the film, I went through the trouble and put the cues against the picture to see how the rejected material works and I am glad to report that it works just fine. Sadly, we will never see a re-edit of the film with Elmer's full score as he intended it but I guess this excellent release will be enough of justice for most fans.

 

RATING:

Score as heard in the film: 82%

Score as heard on CD: 78%

TOTAL: 80%

 

The presentation:

At the risk of sounding repetitive (no shit!) this album is nearly perfect. Why only nearly? Well,  compared to the two (!) bootlegs it features more of the actual underscore, including material that wasn't even featured on the obscure, terrible sounding recording sessions bootleg ("Protection Grid"), but leaves out two pieces of source music as well as a short synth-string pick-up cue that probably came in late when the newly placed songs called for shorter score cues. I personally don't miss these oddities but completists were already mourning their absence from this disk. Apart from an annoyingly overlong 15 seconds break before the bonus tracks, the disk is pretty well arranged. Its packaging and design with original photos and artwork from the film combined with consentaneous colours is really neat and tops most of the previous Club CD's artwork (one of the few Club releases that I would buy just for the eye-candy-artwork). Liner notes are by Robert Townson and James Lochner with nicely choosen quotes of Elmer Bernstein offering fans some interesting backgrounds about the score. A complete cue-by-cue analysis would have been an appropriate addition but at least some comments on few important cues appear in the notes. You might want to buy this baby immediately because it is only a limited edition of 3000 copies and is likely to sell out fast.

Presentation by the Label: 96%

 

Summary:

Elmer Bernstein's score for Ghostbusters is more than a comedy score because it is really his most experimental but at the same time overwhelmingly powerful work tied together by an incredible thematic integrity. Normally, I really try to avoid to ask the terrible 'What If...' question but in this particular case I really wonder how this score would be heard today had it been used properly in the film and released on CD when it was still fresh. Talking about freshness, the overdue score release is one of the best there is in the Varese Sarabande CD Club and gives the score new life with a surprisingly strong sound quality and good sequencing. The only downside is that the limited edition won't stay around for too long.

Review by Andreas Creutzburg

 

                   Tracklisting:

01. Ghostbusters Theme (03:00)
02. Library and Title (03:02)
03. Venkman (00:31)
04. Walk (00:30)
05. Hello (01:36)
06. Get Her! (02:01)
07. Plan (01:25)
08. Taken (01:08)
09. Fridge (01:01)
10. Sign (00:54)
11. Client (00:35)
12. The Apartment (02:45)
13. Dana's Theme (03:31)
14. We Got One! (02:02)
15. Halls (02:01)
16. Trap (01:56)
17. Meeting (00:38)
18. I Respect You (00:54)
19. Cross Rip (01:07)
20. Attack (01:30)
21. Dogs (00:57)
22. Date (00:45)
23. Zool (04:12)
24. Dana's Room (01:40)
25. Judgment Day (01:19)
26. The Protection Grid (00:42)
27. Ghosts! (02:15)
28. The Gatekeeper (01:12)
29. Earthquake (00:33)
30. Ghostbusters! (01:13)
31. Stairwell (01:14)
32. Gozer (02:48)
33. Marshmallow Terror (01:25)
34. Final Battle (01:30)
35. Finish (02:13)
36. End Credits (05:04)
37. Bonus Track: Magic (01:37)
38. Bonus Track: Zool (03:12)
39. Bonus Track: We Got One! (Alternate) (02:04)