Cherry 2000 / No Man's Land

In the bad old days, Cherry 2000 was the rarest of the rare and with copies changed hands for hundreds, if not thousands of pounds. It's certainly an unlikely contender for rarest ever score. Fortunately, Prometheus have re-released and expanded on Varese's Club edition so everyone can find out what the fuss is about. The film is about a post apocalyptic, female, Mad Max type who has to break into a robot factory. Or something. The film got a very limited release and I suspect that the small world of soundtrack collecting has a greater recognition level of the score than the world has of the film. The most melody memorable only occurs a couple of times, most notably in Lights On and sounds like a mutated version of A-Ha's Take On Me (of all things). However, the most frequently occurring melody is more Poledouris does Morricone, something of a western variant of his famous Robocop theme.

Whether it's the rather short tracks or just an inherent by-product of the way the film was put together, but there is a somewhat disjointed feel at times; some sections seem quite serious, with a definite sci-fi edge, notably the opening Prologue and Title tracks, yet parts of Lester range from comedic, to limpid Goldsmithian strings and sprightly brass fanfares. A few passages suggest some of Goldsmith's impressionistic synth writing in Total Recall and, less obviously, Logan's Run. A few of these different elements are quite inventive, although the specter of Goldsmith often doesn't seem far away, surprising as Poledouris' own style is distinctive and strong in scores such as this.

Although ostensibly a bonus to fill out the CD, at half an hour, No Man's Land is a substantial addition to the album. However, it rather depends on your taste for 80's synth scores of the Giorgio Moroder variety and mine is rather limited. Poledouris has done some excellent synth (and synth/orchestra combo) scores, notably Wind, but No Man's Land has that rather aseptic quality which is never entirely engrossing; the musical equivalent of a badly animated CGI character. True, the synths aren't the sort that attempt to replicate acoustic instruments, they simply exist in their own sound world, but it isn't a hugely dynamic or various one. Fortunately, the music itself has enough momentum to prevent it becoming dull, but after the eclecticism of Cherry 2000 is a rather less engrossing listen.

While the production on the Varese Club release was rather mangled (something of a track listing debacle), Prometheus do a typically fine job with detailed notes on both scores and films by Paul Tonks, plus various stills from both flicks. I suspect many will pick it up through sheer curiosity - and why not?! - but even without its previously near unattainable status, Cherry 2000 is a fine Poledouris score which is both instantly memorable, yet requires multiple listens to discover its multiple facets. In any event, it certainly gives hope to those who have missed out on other incredibly rare scores, even if they have to wait a decade for them to resurface!