Skip to content

Audio Review: COLLECTED – ENNIO MORRICONE (VINYL LP)

Written By:

Nick Spacek
collected-ennio-morricone-review

Collected - Ennio Morricone Review

REVIEW: COLLECTED – ENNIO MORRICONE / COMPOSER: ENNIO MORRICONE / PUBLISHER: MUSIC ON VINYL / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

The latest compendium to repackage Ennio Morricone’s music comes as a lovely double LP from Music on Vinyl. Packaged as it is in a gatefold jacket and on 180-gram vinyl with lovely poly-lined sleeves, you’d think that it was something amazing. It’s certainly nice, but it’s not necessarily the best purchase you can make of the maestro’s music.

The track listing is focused pretty heavily on Morricone’s work in spaghetti westerns. It’s nice the way it reaches all the way back to Morricone’s first work on The Fascist and comes all the way up to his latest composition for Tarantino’s Django Unchained, but the picture presented here is very one-dimensional. Everything’s very much in the vein of what he did for Sergio Leone or in the vocal ballad style. There’s very little in between.

It’s always a little shabby to decry an album for what it’s left off, rather than what it includes, but one could argue that a double LP set claiming to be an “anthology” of Morricone’s work could never fully succeed. At best, you could put together a “spaghetti western” anthology or something such as that. When featuring multiple pieces from many of the movies, each additional track from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly means that a movie like The Exorcist II or The Cat‘s propulsive progressive rock will be completely looked over.

Kudos to Music on Vinyl for utilizing the original takes of the pieces included herein, however. This could have easily been a cheap utilization of re-recordings, but it’s not. Granted, the transfer comes off a bit thin. At various times, I was pulling the original recordings from my shelf to compare. On cuts like “The Ecstasy of Gold,” you can hear the chorus isn’t quite as bright, nor do the strings glisten quite so much. I’m guessing these are digital masters, rather than from the original analogue tapes – always a mistake when releasing vinyl, in my mind. Mastering for digital doesn’t always translate so well to vinyl.

The cover art’s a tad generic, too, and when you look at the movie posters in the film strip that adorns it, you realize that the art designer’s opted for imagery from the various DVD releases of the films, rather than the amazing poster art from the original theatrical run. It’s just another sign of the less than superb attention that’s been paid to this release.

If you’re looking for an introduction to the basics of Ennio Morricone, this isn’t a bad place to start, but given that there have been several dozen packages of his various scores over the decades, you could easily do better. However, if you’re looking for a quick and easy compilation of the “hits,” you could do far worse.

Nick Spacek

You May Also Like...

Short SANTA’S LITTLE HELPER Halfway to Funding

We couldn’t resist the tagline of ‘You’ve heard of Elf on the Shelf, now prepare for Santa’s Little Helper’ and had to check out the Kickstarter for a new short
Read More

First-Look Images and Sizzle Reel for Disturbing Shocker CARA

You can now get your first look at the upcoming disturbing kitchen sink horror film CARA, directed by Hayden Hewitt (Lips) and starring Ellie O’Hara, Johnny Vivash, Laurence R. Harvey,
Read More
chinese remake of anaconda drops trailer

ANACONDA Trailer Grants First Look At Remake Of 1997 Horror Flick

Three sequels and a spinoff-crossover film wasn’t enough for the 1997 creature feature Anaconda, which not only has a new movie in development, but is getting a Chinese remake! From
Read More
black widow star scarlett johansson in talks to lead new universal jurassic world film

Scarlett Johansson In Talks To Join JURASSIC WORLD Film

Another MCU star appears to be taking up the reins for Universal’s new Jurassic World movie: two-time Oscar nominee Scarlett Johansson is reportedly in talks to lead the franchise that
Read More

Exclusive Reveal! Titan Comics to Deliver Prehistoric Hysterics in First 2 DUMB DINOS Collection

Titan Comics have exclusively revealed to STARBURST that they’re gearing up to publish the first-ever collection of the hilarious cult digital comic strip 2 Dumb Dinos, and we’re not the
Read More

New Dates For Lovecraftian Key of Dreams

Key of Dreams has announced new spaces for its titular immersive luxury horror event. The critically acclaimed company is known for its overnight experiences that dunk you into a strange
Read More