Klaus Doldinger Giorgio Moroder - The NeverEnding Story (14 tracks) +Album Reviews

NOT the Soundtrack

Kendra R. Jendro | New England, United States | 06/14/2004

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Apparently I am the only person who has noticed this, but a great majority of the music on this CD is NOT the actual music that plays during the film. I love this film, and have always loved the music in it. I decided to purchase this cd particularly for the song "Ivory Tower". The music accompanying the arrival at the Ivory Tower always enchanted me and I was eager to have it on a CD for regular listening. However, the Ivory Tower song on this soundtrack CD, is not the stirring orchestration from the film, it is a trumped up synthesizer-ridden dance-mix version of the original Ivory Tower song which pales in comparison to the original. Several of the songs on this album have received the same treatment, and have synthesizer beats and electric guitars added to them, which completely alters the mood of the songs. Why these songs were redone for the soundtrack is beyond me, but prepare to be disappointed if you are looking to hear the score as it is in the actual film. Some songs are left unchanged from the film, but to me, the synthesizing of the others spoils the overall mood of the album.

I recently purchased the Germany version of this soundtrack, (Die Unendliche Geschichte) off of iTunes, and I must say that I am MUCH happier with this version of the soundtrack. The lovely "Ivory Tower" song is still missing, but this version of the soundtrack is entirely orchestral, and does not have the horrible souped up synthesized songs of the American version. If you're very fond of the Limahl title song, and can't imagine a soundtrack to The Neverending Story without it, than the American version is right for you, but if you're looking to have a nice copy of the beautiful score of the film, purchasing the German version is definitely the right way to go."

A highly melodic wonderful listen

Joshua Kaufman | Cincinnati, OH | 02/19/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Neverending Story is one of those films that has sort of faded away into the depths of the forgotten by this point. This is unfortunatly because it really is quite a good movie, and as with many films, the soundtrack is part of the reason the film is so good. The soundtrack was cowritten by Klaus Doniger (best known for the score to "Das Boot"), and Giorgio Moroder. Luckily there is no quality loss between the two. The CD opens with the title song, 'The Never Ending Story', which is a wonderful way of getting you into the spirit of fantasy that the movie portrays. 'The Ivory Tower' is a wonderful upbeat track, while 'Ruined Landcape' and 'Theme of Sadness' are wonderful sentimental themes. The main showpieces of the soundtrack are 'Happy Flight' and 'Bastain's Happy Flight'. Basically the same, the music is the epitome of a flying theme -- a long sweeping melody that you never want to end on top of rolling backround. This melody is also used in the wonderful 'Atreju's Quest' and 'Atreju Meets Falkor'. Overall, this soundtrack is a great score that is unfortunatly unknown but is indeed a worthy buy. Every track is good, which is quite rare for any CD."

Great happy music!

ryuu-sama | Jacksonville, Alabama United States | 09/05/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Neverending Story was always one of my favorite movies as a kid, and that love has only deepened as an adult. In part, that's thanks to the movie's amazing soundtrack. It combines the best of 80's synthisizer music with a timeless, emotional score. The first track(the movie's title theme)has an infectious beat and lyrics you just can't help singing along to. The emotions of the different tracks are very clear and very powerful, and track number six(Bastian's Flight)is the perfect music to listen to when you're feeling blah. I found myself grinning and laughing for no real reason after listening to it. The music made me feel *that* good.I'd recommend this to anyone who loved the movie or still loves the 80's techno/pop sound. It's completely worth it!"

Good orchestral pop - A good buy even with omissions

Aaron Dodson | Riverside, California | 01/17/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I've owned this CD for quite some time, and despite a lot of fans of the movie and Klaus Doldinger/Giorgio Moroder fans accurately stating that the orchestral version of "Ivory Tower" can't be found, I would say this is still worth your money. While it's true that some of the songs have been re-orchestrated with more synthesizers, most of the centerpieces of this soundtrack remain intact and are well worth the money for the nostalgia and pristine pop orchestra sound alone. The main attraction is "Bastian's Happy Flight" which is 3:16 in length and is THE theme in full that you hear in The Never Ending Story with lots of flourishing French Horns and sweeping strings. "Happy Flight" is simply the reprise of that same theme, it's the track that you hear at the end of the film when Bastian rides Falcor and scares off those bullies.

Other highlights on this CD are the tracks "Atreju meets Falcor" (which is the softly lilting string melody that you hear when Atreju first rides Falcor as he continues his quest), "Atreju's Quest" (which is the song that plays when Atreju enters the Princess' tower to take on the quest to find the human child), "The Auryn" (which is the vocal choir theme when Atreju enters the Princess' chambers at the end to tell her he failed in his quest).

Unfortunately, the "Ivory Tower" track that all of the nay-sayers are complaining about cannot be found at all - not on this soundtrack or the German-titled version called "Die Unendliche Geschichte". It looks like fans will have to settle for listening to it off of their DVD.

It's worth noting that this soundtrack was conceived of by two composers: Klaus Doldinger (German and classically trained saxophonist and jazz musician and composer) and Giorgio Moroder (Italian record producer and father of 70's and 80's emergence of electronic music). This is why you have a dichotomy and sometimes a fusion of orchestral and synthesized sounds in this soundtrack. It's quite easy to see how some tracks ended up being the Doldinger orchestral version and some ended up being Moroder versions when you have two people's vision being thrown into the mix together.

Perhaps someday Doldinger and Moroder and the record execs will see fit to release a more comprehensive version of this soundtrack including "The Ivory Tower" film version track that many people desire... but until that time, this soundtrack is a good buy."

Search - Klaus Doldinger, Giorgio Moroder :: The NeverEnding Story

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