[.ca] The Last of the Mohicans

From Amazon.com:
This is a production rife with odd pairings: English actor Daniel Day-Lewis joining up with the Mohawks; James Fenimore Cooper adapted by Michael Mann; disparate composers Trevor Jones and Randy Edelman teaming up. This last pairing seems a suspicious attempt to endow the score of this modern film adaptation of a junior high school literary evergreen with both a golden age of Hollywood dramatic bent (Jones) and a '90s-slick guitar-muzak veneer (Edelman). A strange amalgam that doesn't quite work. --Jerry McCulley

The Music is Incredible:
I must confess I am a avid collector of soundtracks. Many times I buy the soundtrack before seeing the movie. I saw this movie about 10 times before buying the soundtrack. I like the music and when playing the CD I relax and close my eyes. The music pulls you in and the feeling is unique. Buy the CD and when you play it the first time turn up the volumn slightly higher than you normally do. The music is unique and timeless.

One of Those Classics - Listen to a Story Being Told:
This is one of those CDs that really deserves 5 stars - it has variety, artistry, and a sort of odd progression to it that makes it good for studying, the car, doing dishes, etc. The best thing about this soundtrack is that it stands alone musically, and doesn't require the movie to help it make musical sense, something many soundtracks (such as, pardon me, Braveheart) ultimately fail to do, and also provides an amazing variety. Listening to this CD is like going on a journey every time. It sounds like a beautiful story. A lot of reveiewers are talking about the movie - I only saw it once a long time ago, and didn't think it was that great - I'll just talk about the music. The bizarre pairing of Randy Edelman and Trevor Jones is one that works out very well. The beginning of the CD is fused with more energetic pieces, music that sounds like someone is running around outside in the forest. Then it switches to a mood like everyone is packing for a journey and starting out. Then stopping for water. Then etc. Eventually it goes through multiple transformations and the last tracks wind up as some of the most haunting, moving, and peacefully disturbing score pieces around. And then it ends with the perfect chord that sums up the trip, and makes you want to start it over. This CD is my favorite soundtrack, and I don't say that lightly. It has been for the last 8 years, despite all the good stuff Hans Zimmer's been putting out. Give it a try! You won't be disappointed if you're in the mood for a quality composition that tells a tale of it's own.

My favorite soundtrack:
For years I have been collecting soundtracks and I have to say that this one tops them all. I never get tired of listening to it! The music is just wonderful! The best I've ever heard! I bought the soundtrack before seeing the movie and as I was listening to the music I would actually picture images that I thought the music was describing in the movie. I finally saw "The Last of the Mohicans" and amazingly, some of the images I pictured were almost the same in the movie. It was very odd. Anyway... if you do not have this soundtrack I highly recommend you buying it. Even if you haven't seen the movie. You won't regret it!

Music is Great; Recording Isn't:
I purchased this cd after reading the reviews of this release (original 1992) and the 2000 recording. Most of the commentators seem to have missed an important issue. While the original release is exactly that -- the soundtrack of the movie -- and that music is gorgeous -- the recording of that music is not what anyone with a good stereo system will enjoy. The sound, perhaps ok for theater, and maybe acceptable in Dobly 5.1 -- though I haven't really tried it that way -- sounds monophonic on a decent stero system. There is no real sense of space, very little left and right information, very little depth. The orchestra sounds as if it is playing in a cave and the listener is standing some distance from the cave mouth. This problem is fairly easily rectified if you have a good audio massage program. CDex will rip the tracks to wave files (.wav) and remix the right and left channels for better separation (J-stereo). Then you can transfer the newly mixed files to a cd-rom for playback in any dvd/cd player. It sounds MUCH better this way -- much more like live music. But if all this sounds like too much work AND you care about realistically reproduced music, you may be better off purchasing the 2000 release. While I haven't auditioned it except for the online sound bites, it's likely to be the better recording. If you can't tell left from rght channel audio or you like monophonic sound, then by all means, buy the 1992 release.

Amazing:
This CD is just simply amazing. The music is deeply stiring and it makes one feel like they swept away into the romantic world that Cooper created in his novel. At some points, it as if one can see Hawkeye, Cora, Heyward, Uncas and Alice. All the pieces are powerful their own right, but taken as a whole they piece together a musical quilt that is stunning. The fact that two composers worked on the CD is evident, but it adds a depth that I find to be quite intruging. The last song is a haunting Irish tune that sums up both the CD and the movie very well. It is a must have if musical scores and instrumentals are in one's tastes. Even if they aren't, this is still superb music that is a full sensory experience!

• Last of the Mohicans (Theme)
• Elk Hunt
• Kiss
• Glade (Pt. 2)
• Fort Battle
• Promentory
• Munro's Office/Stockade
• Massacre/Canoes
• Top of the World
• Courier
• Cora
• River Walk and Discovery
• Parlay
• British Arrival
• Pieces of a Story
• I Will Find You - Clannad