A review by JAMES SOUTHALL

Easily the most successful film director (in terms of box office receipts) since the medium was invented over a century ago, the films of Steven Spielberg have captivated audiences for over thirty years now.  His success shows no sign of abating, either - while some of his recent films have been a lot less obviously commercial than those he used to make, the imminent War of the Worlds is as sure-fire a success as there could be, excepting Star Wars.  Of course, Spielberg's relationship with composer John Williams has spanned for the vast majority of his career, and all but three of his films as director.  There have been numerous compilation albums showcasing that relationship, and the latest is this release from Silva Screen, charting all but one of the director's films from what is generally considered his first "proper" movie Duel (though it was, admittedly, a tv movie) through to 2004's The Terminal.  The bizarre absentee is the Jurassic Park sequel The Lost World, which featured one of the most dynamic and exciting main title themes Williams has written for the director, so its non-appearance is a pity (and seems inexplicable).

Spielberg's first film Duel is simply marvelous - a low-budget tv movie starring Dennis Weaver, who plays a man driving across the US being terrorised by a truck driver, it sounds a bit ridiculous and probably is but the director works up the tension to such a level you need to take a shower after watching it, given how much you've sweated.  Providing the music was Billy Goldenberg and it makes its first ever appearance on this album; truthfully, it's not up to much (sounding like, well, tv movie music from the early 1970s!) but from a completist's point of view it's quite nice to have it.  After that, Spielberg made The Sugarland Express, employed John Williams and we all know the rest.  No matter how many times you hear some of these themes, they still hold some power.  Everyone remembers the Oscar-winning ones from Jaws, ET and Schindler's List but in truth, they're virtually all as good, with even such comparatively ordinary scores as Always, Catch Me If You Can and The Terminal featuring strong themes and lots of character.

Add to those the Indiana Jones films, Jurassic Park, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Saving Private Ryan and all the rest and it's not hard to see why the relationship has been so enduring and so popular with both moviegoers and film music fans alike.  There've been very rare exceptions when Spielberg hasn't worked with Williams and these are included here too.  He directed a segment of The Twilight Zone: The Movie which was scored overall by Jerry Goldsmith, and his excellent overture is on the album; as is the same composer's theme from Poltergeist, which was officially produced by Spielberg, though he directed parts of the film without receiving credit.  Finally there's The Colour Purple, which featured one of Georges Delerue's most captivating themes, but unfortunately it was actually his theme from Our Mother's House being shamelessly ripped off by Quincy Jones, who got nominated for an Oscar for his plagiarism.

This double-CD album consists almost entirely of library Silva Screen recordings, with only three being newly-recorded for this compilation.  As ever with Silva, the quality varies wildly, with some of the cues recorded in their early years being frankly embarrassing, but the more recent ones sounding just fine.  Clearly the album is aimed not at the seasoned film score veteran but more at the casual collector, though the market has become so saturated with these compilations perhaps even they might think twice.  It's a million miles better than the Z-grade ones which can frequently be found in the discount sections of CD stores, but I can't see much point of a purchase for those fans who have the vast majority of the tracks in their collection already.

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