Search - Bob Cobert :: The Original Music From Dark Shadows (Television Series Soundtrack - Deluxe Edition)

Like coming home!

Kurt A. Johnson | North-Central Illinois, USA | 05/26/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Listening to this soundtrack is quite a lot like coming home! I remember as a kid, running home after school to watch the television show Dark Shadows (1966-71) with my sister. She bought this album, in record form, and here it is again in CD form. As an added bonus, the album has two extras: a 27-minute radio interview (with Jonathan Frid (who played Barnabas Collins), Grayson Hall (Julia Hoffman), Roger Davis (Peter Bradford), Humbert Allen Astredo (Nicholas Blair), Robert Rodan (Adam) and Donald Briscoe (Tom Jennings and others)), and a 12-minute radio interview with David Selby (Quentin Collins).This is a great album with a lot of memories attached. For me, the big question is, would I enjoy just listening to this album for itself, or is it just mood music? The answer is that these tunes are all quite nice, and I enjoyed listening to this album over and over again. I must say, though, that if you are going to do this, you might want to program your player to skip the interviews.So, overall I thought that this is a great album, and a great buy. I highly recommend it!"

"Shadows of the Night - Quentin's Theme..lives on"

J. Lovins | Missouri-USA | 05/20/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This special reissue of Original Music from DARK SHADOWS is a welcome edition to recent releases of past film scores from many successful TV series. The "OPENING THEME:DARK SHADOWS/COLLINWOOD" are nothing less than classic. Take notice of - "I'LL BE WITH YOU, ALWAYS", "MEDITATIONS", "WHEN I AM DEAD", "EPITAPH", "I, BARNABAS" with narration from Jonathan Frid is both enjoyable and entertaining. Tracks 1-16 Original Music from DARK SHADOWS, then we have Tracks 17-18 bonus material containing Radio Interviews (1968) with Jonathan Frid, Grayson Hall, Roger Davis, Humbert Allen Astredo, Robert Rodan, Donald Briscoe and David Selby in (1969) Radio Interview is a collectors dream. There is a following which have formed various fan clubs that continually meet and talk about the series. This collection contains material which any collector would be proud to own.Total Time: 76:11 on 18 Tracks/Varese Sarabande - 302 066 066 2 (1999)"

A wonderful snapshot of "Dark Shadows"

stuartmanning | London | 12/28/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"One of the most notable aspects of this re-release of "The Original Music From Dark Shadows" is its apt demonstration of how the "Dark Shadows" fan community has changed over the past three decades. To have released the music tracks unabridged would have been inconceivable back in 1969, though in choosing not to do so, the producers actually manage to create a far more faithful evocation of the show than any subsequent album. Arranged into charming suites and backed with appropriately dour narration by Jonathan Frid, doubtless children in the 1960s feasted upon its range of mini episodes, each far more eloquent than the actual series itself. The closing "Our revels now are ended speech", taken from "The Tempest" suceeds in summing up the quaint little phenomenon of "Dark Shadows" perfectly, beautifully spoken by Frid.Perhaps this release has gained something quite unique during the intervening years. Jonathan Frid's flawless reading of Christina Rossetti's classic verse probably evokes a "Dark Shadows" warmly preserved in a thick layer of nostalgia rather than the one that greets today's viewers. The editing of the tracks, the artifical stereo and the narration will probably offend a number of purists, but for those willing to enjoy the album on its own merits, it provides an enticing journey into a world of tempestuous forces and overbearing darkness that the unforgiving weight of flawed videotape evidence has long since eroded. Featuring an eclectic overview of Robert Cobert's haunting music, campy excesses intact, and enhanced by the bonus radio material, The "Dark Shadows Deluxe Edition" deserves a place on every fan's shelf."