Thanks to a tip from awesome-commenter Simon, I recently learned that Brad Fiedel’s score to Fright Night would see the light of day thanks to Intrada Records. I went in search of this fabled cd and now, a scant week later, I’m the proud owner of a copy. The soundtrack is also being released via Screen Archives Entertainment, which is the company responsible for the blu-ray release of the film on December 13th. –Side note: why can’t I pre-order the blu-ray yet?–I’m not sure if Intrada and SAE are the same company, but Intrada is where I ordered my copy.
Let me just say, if the soundtrack for Fright Night is an indication of Intrada’s normal product, then they are a classy company which works hard to produce the best product possible. In terms of overall design, the artwork and photos of Fright Night have never looked better. Accompanying the cd was an insert booklet–19 pages long!–which covered several subjects such as Tom Holland, the film itself, Brad Fiedel, and the individual tracks of the score. Included alongside the text were a wealth of photos from the film, including a few I had never seen before.
As to the quality of the music itself, mine is an untrained ear, so the music sounds wonderful to me. I own two scores of Brad Fiedel’s on cd, Fright Night and The Terminator, and I can tell the former sounds richer and more dramatic than the latter. Of course, there are a lot of variables which play into that, from the ages of the respective cds (2011 for Fright Night and late ’80s for The Terminator) to the technologies used to bring them to the format. All I can say for certain is that the soundtrack gave up more musicality than watching the film–I’m hearing bits and pieces within familiar music that I’ve never heard before. And, best of all, now “Come to Me” is preserved in its original, wordless state, which is well worth the price of admission for me (about $21 all told, for those who are curious).
To be honest, I’m really glad this arrived today, because I have been in a funk for the last four days. Overall, this Halloween season has been tough for me, but just this week I’ve been really bummed. I have a feeling that within the next year I’m going to be changing jobs, and that has me feeling excited and terrified all at the same time. My current job is the first one I’ve had post-college, and while I’m sure this is true for just about everybody, I’ve made some mistakes with it. I’ve learned from each and every one of them, but along the way I’ve also pissed people off, as is my birthright. The most important thing, though, is that I’ve learned a lot about myself and how I operate within this our magical world. After all, co-workers come and go, but we are all stuck with who we are. To wit, I can’t go pleasing some bitch who will never be happy anyway if it’s going to kill the essence of me in the process. I went into my current profession with a great many misgivings, and instead of going away, they have only intensified with time. Whatever my next move is, it probably won’t pay as well, but it’ll leave more space in here for me, so that I can have room to run for my dreams while I’m still young enough to catch them.
Albert Camus wrote, “In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.” Everywhere I look, there is a tightening of the reins. Get in line, keep a stiff upper lip, scrub up, eat your vegetables, don’t think that, don’t speak out, don’t, don’t don’t dont…But I can’t live like that. I may be a little more inclined toward civility than the average, but that doesn’t mean I can live in a strait-jacket world. For five years I’ve been trying to squeeze into the little box of my profession, but I’m too big. In years to come, I may regret my rebellious streak, but I doubt it. From my great-grandmother down to my mother, each generation of my family has taught me to stand up for myself. I just never thought I was worth standing up for. But now, after having been confronted by the low opinions a few others have for me, I can say this with utter certainty (with apologies to Mr. Camus): In the glaring brightness of day, I finally accepted that within me there is and always shall be cool, blessed night.
