Get Budd: The Soundtracks – Roy Budd

Forget Ennio Morricone. Well, at least for as long as you read this review. Morricone has been well represented on CD in the United States and throughout Europe and Japan. But Roy Budd, one of the great film score composers, has been criminally overlooked when it comes to reissuing his music on CD. The last couple of years have seen Get Carter and a few other soundtracks he scored come into the public's listening range, but far from enough. This double-disc, 35-cut set from Castle/Sanctuary in the U.K. is a fantastic sampling of the range and breadth of his work. Certainly the theme from Get Carter is here, but there are also many themes and interludes from the other films he's worked on, like The Intercine Project, Foxbat, The Stone Killer, Something to Hide, Fear Is the Key, The Sea Wolves, Paper Tiger, The Black Windmill, and many others. Budd was a master at getting funky grooves, jazzy interludes, utterly stunning noir-ish atmospheres, and cheesy pop to find their places in film cues. This set takes the listener on a journey through Budd's oeuvre, along for a ride into his imagination and back out into the world. The sheer dramatics of his compositions along with their taut arrangements have been sampled by DJs worldwide, and here is the evidence why. Simply put, for anyone interested in soundtrack music, this is a must-have collection -- may there be many more. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide