February 26, 2010

  • Review: Days of Our Lives 2-disc set

    “Like the sands of the Hourglass…” is a classic opening soap opera line that was first heard nearly 45 years ago.  Days of Our Lives first appeared on the NBC schedule as a half-hour drama in 1965, expanding to an hour a decade later.  With more Emmy Awards and nominations than one can quickly count and many fan and industry awards to boot, the soap opera continues to be one of the loan remainders of the genre on daytime television.  The music presented here is by executive producer Ken Corday and D. Brent Nelson.  Unlike an earlier release of songs used in the series, this set presents two sides of the underscoring styles inherent in the program selected from an extensive library of cues numbering around 3,500 pieces according to the composers.

    Disc one will likely be the one listened to most as it contains the more romantic and melodic cues used in the series which follows after the original theme.  The music here tends to run along the lines of contemporary orchestral easy listening with gentle melodies for guitar or piano over a lightly-scored string backdrop with some solo woodwind work.  Occasional electronic “effects” are added in from electronic piano to unusual sounds.  Wordless chorals also magically appear (“Discovery”).  It is all music that both blends into the storyline and can be reused for other similar sequences.  Some tend to have a more urban trance-like quality (“Desire” is an early track example of this).  The various cues do a great job of mixing proper intrigue with enough variety of solo string or wind ideas so that the music, though at times necessarily melodramatic, is still somewhat interesting.  Ideas have to be expressed in relatively brief brushstrokes on a minute or so as they infer noir-ish storylines, mystery, love, and a host of dramatic moments without feeling very cliché.  Many times these cues feel like semi-improvised pieces lending them an immediacy that is striking at first but which soon becomes a common recognizable musical trait of the scores.  Overall it creates a musical journey that is perhaps best enjoyed as a longer series of semi-disconnected musical narratives.  Some of the highlights include “An Everlasting Love,” “First Kiss,” the touching “John and Marlena,” “May I Have This Dance?”, “Sunset Lullaby, ” and “For We Shall Meet Again.”  Best played as background music. 

    To give a sense of the dramatic musical narrative, disc two has been created to explore six mini storylines with tracks that tend to run sequentially together rather than created as a standalone piece of musical underscore.  The music here tends toward a variety of synth and electronically-created soundscapes that tend to ratchet up tension mostly and are more experimental.  None of this is quite as intense as an electronic horror score, but the tendency atonal or electric guitar licks begins to wear on the ear quickly on this second disc.

    An obvious labor of love for fans of the show, this 2-disc set will allow listeners to explore the romantic or dramatic sides of their lives for days to come.  Rather than any real discussion of the production, the booklet is filled with a series of still photos featuring favorite characters or memorable scenes from the show.  You can pick up this and the other 3 discs reviewed today at www.lalalandrecords.com.