All themes are RE-RECORDED

TRACK LISTING

1. The Adventures Of Superman (from "Superman: The TV Series") [1:23]
2. Superman: The Movie (Main Title) [4:33]
3. The Trip To Earth (from "Superman: The Movie") [2:45]
4. Leaving Home (from "Superman: The Movie") [3:56]
5. Superfeats (from "Superman: The Movie") [3:21]
6. Love Theme (from "Superman: The Movie") [5:37]
7. Superman: The Columbia Serial [1:01]
8. It's Superman (from "It's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's Superman!") [3:03]
9. Fanfare and Clark Screws Up (from "Superman II") [3:36]
10. Love Theme and Flying (from "Superman II") [3:27]
11. Phnatasmagoria (on themes from "It's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's Superman!") [5:38]
12. Honeymoon Hotel (from "Superman II") [3:30]
13. March Of The Villains (from "Superman: The Movie") [3:41]
14. Supergirl--Main Title [2:46]
15. Main Title--The Streets Of Metropolis (from "Superman III") [5:22]
16. Superman--The Max Fleischer Cartoons [1:36]

Album Conceived and Produced by Bruce Kimmel
Conducted by Randy Miller
Orchestrations by Donald Johnson
Engineered by Vincent Cirilli

Recorded at Martin Sound, Alhambra
Mixed At Westlake Studio

REVIEWS

James Mason :
Well, I have to say that I have mixed feelings about Superman: The Ultimate Collection. I'll keep it as succinct as possible.

First of all, to call this thing "ultimate" is not truth in advertising. Six of the tracks on the album are from the first Reeve film, which is a huge waste of a compilation disc. Where are the themes from Superboy, Lois & Clark, the Ruby-Spears Superman cartoon from 1988, and the current WB animated series? And why isn't there a selection from Superman IV on this disc? Arrrrrrrrrgh! This is a nightmare for completists.

Secondly, the Williams tracks on this CD sound awful. Now, John Debney and the Royal Scottish Orchestra's spectacular performance of Williams' Superman fanfare made the London Symphony Orchestra sound like a high school marching band by comparison. The orchestra used here sounds like an elementary school band; it's too small to really do the Williams music justice. And we have to put up with six tracks of this stuff. Speeeeeeeeewwwwwwww!

On the other hand, this small orchestra sounds great on all the other tracks. Leon Klatzkin's The Adventures of Superman, Mischa Bakaleinakoff's Superman fanfare, the stuff from Supermans II & III, Jerry Goldsmith's Supergirl, and even the music from the Superman musical sound excellent. It's really nice to have Bakaleinakoff's Superman theme, especially since Kirk Alyn died recently, and the George Reeves theme is a nice touch, too. But bar none, the best song on the whole album is the last tune: Sammy Timberg's theme to Max Fleischer's animated Superman. In a classic case of saving the best for last, this track is beautifully performed and brings nostalgic tears to the eye. Brilliantly done!

As for the cover art...it looks sort of like a muscular chest, but I could be wrong. In either case, it's a little bland. The Debney CD had much snazzier packaging (not to mention a superior orchestra); this CD could have used the same.

So would I recommend this album? Well, as bad as the Williams tracks sound, the rest of the music is wonderfully done; the Timberg score alone is worth the $18 this thing will run you. So yes, buy this thing, but be sure to fast-forward through the music from the first film. Just get to the good stuff right away!

Neil Bulk :
Since this site is mainly geared towards the Superman films produced by the Salkinds, I'll start off by going over the segments of the CD that are from those films. It also helps that I'm quite familiar with this music. For those interested in the music from It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman, the broadway show, I really can't comment on how good this CD is. I've never heard that music, and I skipped over it on this CD. Maybe someday I'll hear it.

Anyway, let's get to the music. I'll start off by saying that the orchestra used (it's not named) is no London Symphony Orchestra or the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, but this CD has some good points. You wouldn't know it, however, from the Main Title. It's a very bizarre performance. It starts off very slowly and never really gets much better. It also demonstrates how tiny the orchestra is. It's not very exciting. Things get better with The Trip to Earth and the majority of Leaving Home. Only when Leaving Homes needs the grandeur of a powerful orchestra do things get a little shaky. It's by no means embarrasing, but it is not as good the original (or the John Debney re-recording). The Trip to Earth is surprisingly well played and is probably the best performed music on this CD that was composed by John Williams (more on this later). Superfeats makes an appearance on this CD, which I found surprising. What I found even more surprising is how much I liked it on this CD. As stated above, the unnamed orchestra utilized for this recording, doesn't sound like a big 100 piece orchestra, yet Superfeats is quite thunderous at some points. Nobody will confuse it with the original, but it holds its own. March of the Villians is also included and though it starts off well, the performance falls apart at the end, when it really becomes a march.

For some reason track 9 on this disc is Fanfare and Clark Kent Screws Up (Clark Fumbles Rescue on the original soundtrack), from Superman II. I don't know why this is one track, the music doesn't really go together, and there is a pause between the two tracks. Weird. Anyway, the Fanfare is played to slowly, but it has some nice drum hits that add to it very nicely. Sort of a mixed bag. Clark Kent Screws Up is for anybody that felt the Debney recording of To the Lair was to slow. Here the pacing is just right. In fact it might be played a little faster, but not much. It's played very well. Love Theme and Flying are also included from Superman II. This is a very faithful performance when compared to the original. Also on this CD is The Streets of Metropolis cue from Superman III. Though parts of it are edited, this is still a good rendering of the music. For anybody who doesn't have the Superman III music and wants it, this disc is for you. Afterall, this was the only original track in the movie that was any good.

The often played Love Theme from Superman-The Movie is included on this disc, and it probably ties the Main Title as the least inspired performance of John Williams' music on this CD. At some points it almost falls into the MUZAC category. And speaking of muzak, what is the best performed piece of music on this CD? Why of course it's the painful Honeymoon Hotel from Superman II. Here the orchestra sounds right at home playing this piece. Why this cue was included is beyond me. It doesn't relate to Superman (the charcater) at all, except that it was in the movie. If that was included why not an orchestral recording of Rock Around the Clock? I think this CD would have benefitted if it had omitted this track and used the space for some of John Williams music from Superman IV.

This disc also features an okay perforamnce of Jerry Goldsmith's Supergirl theme. Again, a larger orchestra would have helped this piece immensely. Also included are the themes from the The Adventures of Superman (the George Reeves series), the Columbia Serial, and the Max Fleischer Cartoon. It's nice to have new recordings of these themes. The TV series theme and the Fleishcer theme seem to be played quite nicely. I'm not to familiar with the serial music, but it seemed to be played appropriatley, sounding like the music that would be used in a motion picture of this sort, from the time period.

Overall, this albums tough to recommend. There are some good moments on here, but there are just as many bad moments. I think if you don't have the soundtracks to Superman II and III, this is a good album to get, since it gets you some of the cues from those films. Also if you want the themes to the earlier incarnations of Superman (the serial, the TV series, and the Fleischer cartoon), than by all means go for it. But if it's John Williams music you're interested in, we've already got the original recording, the Debney re-recording, and later this year the expanded Rhino release. Unless you're a completist (like myself) then I would save my money. And without any music from Superman IV, can this really be called the ultimate collection?