A Tribute To John Williams: An 80th Birthday Celebration Review

• 9th Mar 2012

Composer: John Williams

The tribute then seems like an odd title only in that the music has been conducted by the composer, and that it is also a selection made by the composer in celebration of his own 80^th birthday. In all honesty it is hard to recommend a CD that only bears a small collection of some of his most beloved anthems and tunes. To be fair – yes!  They are all very good. But I’d be more inclined to direct people to the individual soundtracks that already exist as each also house even more magic.

If you are looking for highlights from classics like Jaws; E.T.; Harry Potter and Star Wars then you have come to the right place. There is even room given over to the likes of Memoirs of a Geisha; Sabrina and Schindler’s List. So variety isn’t an issue. But this is not a best of album as you could also rack up how many would be missing.

This disc then is for the one person on the planet with a CD player who has never heard of John Williams and needs a little introduction to his work. Assuming they don’t have the internet to do this (in which case they are unlikely to read this review). It’s a great collection, but offers nothing really new to fans.

Steven Hurst