Record Label: Sony BMG
Genre: Classical
Band Link: link
Buy on Amazon.com link

This Danny Elfman project started out as a commission for the American Composers Orchestra in NY and there were very few restrictions. So Danny Elfman ended up composing little pieces that ultimately merged into the orchestra composition Serenada Schizophrana is. Since Danny Elfman wasn’t hindered on making music for the big screen and there weren’t any images to go by; his imagination went wild and that went into this music. What you get is a dark, eclectic composition that just SCREAMS Danny Elfman! After these compositional pieces were finished, Elfman had Steven Sloane conduct this at Carnegie Hall in 2005. Later on, the orchestra composition was used for the IMAX movie Deep Sea 3D. John Mauceri of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra conducts the music on the album.

The opening track “Pianos” is the best track on the album because it sounds like vintage Elfman. It sounds like a score track from Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Darkman, Sleepy Hollow and even Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. It just has that signature dark style that Elfman always brought to his scores. You can definitely tell that some of the older film composers are a big influence with Elfman. The sweeping music and fast violins remind me of Bernard Herrmann’s music. But you can also hear some jazz influences in certain tracks like “A Brass Thing.” Elfman even stated in the liner notes that he has many influences, and can’t deny that Duke Ellington didn’t play an equal role in this.

After listening to this, you almost feel like the music is the soundtrack to Danny Elfman’s mind. If you put a camera inside Elfman’s brain and put this music over the top of it, it would be seamless. Another stand out track is the song “I Forget.” It’s sung by a choir in Spanish and sounds beautiful! I’m almost debating whether or not I like that song better than “Pianos.” After that song, the score starts to settle down and isn’t as exciting as the beginning. But if you are a Danny Elfman fan in any shape or form, than this is something that shouldn’t be overlooked. Go out and buy this album and hopefully Danny will make more albums like this!

Bottom Line: One of the best things Danny Elfman has composed!
Notable Tracks: Pianos, A Brass Thing, I Forget
Overall Rating: