Hellboy [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] [Barnes & Noble Exclusive] [Blue with Black Smoke Vinyl]

by Marco Beltrami

Overview

Guillermo del Toro has once again tapped Marco Beltrami, this time to score his film adaptation of Hellboy. The director and composer had already collaborated on both Mimic and Blade II, with Beltrami conjuring music that immersed itself in the mood of each film, instead of simply grafting on orchestral boilerplate. For Hellboy, Beltrami seems to understand that he's scoring not just del Toro's film, but the collective conceptions of a thriving comic book cult. It's movie music, certainly; "Evil Doers" is appropriately plodding and gloomy, while strings shimmer mournfully in the margins of "Father's Funeral" and "Mechanical Mausoleum" is a chaotic whir of crashing percussion, hysterical violins, and brass that warns of impending danger. But Beltrami has also found a way to access and accentuate the ingenious mixture of slightly creepy horror, thrilling action, offbeat humor, and warm human emotion that typifies Hellboy in both film and print. The main title stalks along at the stark pace of a '70s cop show, but soon swells into something much more epic and foreboding -- it's a deft mixture of brassy action movie music and tingling drama. "Snow Walkers" carries that hint of danger through before the theme for "Liz Sherman" drifts into frame, guided by violins softer than the nape of a woman's neck. There's foreshadowing here, too -- the horns take over to suggest the danger of Liz's world. "Rooftop Tango" might be even better, inserting a bit of that dance's lighthearted lilt into the often doom-laden proceedings. Beltrami deserves credit too for shying away from synthesizers, which burbled under the surface of his work for Blade II. The programming and chilly beats worked for that film's explosive landscape of munitions, blood, and PVC. But Hellboy is much better served by the traditional tools of a symphony orchestra and choir, augmented cleverly with harp, Theremin, and, on mid-album standout "Kroenen's Lied," stirring vocal soloists. Like director del Toro's fight to adapt Hellboy in his own vision -- not Hollywood's -- Marco Beltrami's score eschews genre constriction in favor of a rich palette of color, pacing, and emotion. ~ Johnny Loftus

Product Details

Release Date:	07/13/2018
Label:	Bmg Special Products
UPC:	0030206656237

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Marco Beltrami   Primary Artist,Conductor
Skywalker Symphony Orchestra   Primary Artist,Orchestra
Desiree Goyette   Primary Artist,Vocals,Soloist,Choir/Chorus
Dawn Fintor   Primary Artist,Vocals,Soloist,Choir/Chorus
Thomas Truhitte   Primary Artist,Vocals
Nancy Ellis   Viola
Irene Sazer   Violin
Ruth Davies   Bass
Pete Anthony   Conductor
Carey Bell   Clarinet
Jeremy Cohen   Violin
Edward Bogas   Choir/Chorus
Bruce Roberts   Horn
Daniel Kobialka   Violin
Peter Wahrhaftig   Tuba
Chad Runyon   Vocals,Choir/Chorus
Buck Sanders   Synthesizer
Jeremy Constant   Violin
Mel McMurrin   Vocals,Choir/Chorus
Marc Shapiro   Piano
Stephanie McNab   Flute
Greg Barber   Bassoon
Kay Stern   Violin
Chris Gilbert   Bass
Anna Kruger   Viola
Anne Pinsker   Celli
Deborah Price   Violin
Nadya Tichman   Violin
Phyllis Kamrin   Viola
Florin Parvulescu   Violin
Katherine Johnk   Viola
Thalia Moore   Celli
Susanna M. Manzo   Horn
Patricia R. Heller   Viola
Chumming Mo Kobialka   Violin
Julianne Booth   Vocals,Choir/Chorus
Eric Achen   Horn
Ken Miller   Bass
Ronald Blais   Trumpet
Emil T. Miland   Celli
James Lee Wyatt III   Percussion
Clark Fobes   Clarinet
Deborah Benedict   Vocals,Choir/Chorus
Janet Ketchum   Flute
Glenn Fischthal   Trumpet
Don Ehrlich   Viola
Amy Hiraga   Violin
Suzanne Leon   Violin
Mark Volkert   Violin
Mariko Smiley   Violin
Dennis Yugo   Vocals
Jennifer Youngdahl   Vocals
Laurence Epstein   Bass
Stephen Tramontozzi   Bass
Daniel Levitan   Harp
Clark Welsh   Balalaika
Ed Bogas   Vocals
Artie Storch   Percussion
Jonathan Ring   Horn
John Pearson   Trumpet
Dana Anderson   Vocals,Choir/Chorus
Sara Usher   Violin
Pamela Freund Striplen   Viola
Christopher Cooper   Horn
Teressa Adams   Celli
Wieslaw Pogorzelski   Viola
Barbara Riccardi   Violin
Paul Welcomer   Trombone
Philip Santos   Violin
Victor Romasevich   Violin
Douglas Hull   Horn
Ellyn Pesavento   Violin
Hugh Livingston   Celli
Steven Braunstein   Bassoon
Kayo J. Miki   Violin
Robby Virus   Soloist,Theremin
Elspeth Franks   Vocals,Choir/Chorus
William Barbini   Violin
Kineko Barbini   Violin
Diane Nicholeris   Violin
Barara Bogatin   Celli
Connie Gantsweg   Violin
Gina Feinauer   Viola
Jill Rachuy Brindel   Celli
Raymond Froehlich   Percussion
David Gaudry   Viola
David P. Ridge   Trombone
Nina G. Flyer   Celli
Zoya Leybin   Violin
Julie McKenzie   Flute
Jane Hammett   Vocals,Choir/Chorus
Thomas Hornig   Trombone
Dawn Dover   Violin
David Herbert   Timpani
Kelly Leon-Pearce   Violin
Kathryn Nymoen   Vocals
Heidi Waterman   Vocals
Dan Smiley   Violin
Kum Mo Kim   Violin
Jeffrey Budin   Trombone
William Everett   Bass

Technical Credits

Marco Beltrami   Composer,Audio Production,Producer,Orchestration
Randy Kerber   Orchestration
Skywalker Symphony Orchestra   Performer
Pete Anthony   Orchestration
Carey Bell   Principal
Carlos Rodriguez   Orchestration
Erick Labson   Mastering
John Kurlander   Mixing,Engineer,Recording
Desiree Goyette   Choir Contractor
Robert Townson   Executive Producer
Lia Vollack   Executive in Charge of Music
Dann Thompson   Assistant,Mixing Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Bruce Roberts   Principal
Denise Luiso   Executive in Charge of Music
Judy Kirschner   Assistant,Mixing Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Bill Boston   Orchestration
Kay Stern   Concert Mistress
Christopher Guardino   Orchestration
Thalia Moore   Principal
Ceiri Torjussen   Orchestration
Janet Ketchum   Principal,Orchestra Contractor
Glenn Fischthal   Principal
Don Ehrlich   Principal
Guillermo del Toro   Liner Notes
Laurence Epstein   Principal
Stephen Tramontozzi   Principal
Artie Storch   Principal
John Pearson   Principal
Andre Zweers   Editing,Pro-Tools,Digital Editing
Jon Kull   Orchestration
Barara Bogatin   Principal
Marcus Trumpp   Orchestration
Dawn Dover   Principal
Dan Smiley   Principal