Review Summary: An album that brings out the best in an OST but is far too short, not that it hurt the rating at all.
Rosemary’s Baby was a movie from the late 60’s directed by Roman Polanski (originally a novel written by Ira Levin). The basic plot is: Woman (named Rosemary) gives birth to the antichrist. Sure, it SOUNDS cheesy, but it was a great movie considering the time it came out, and still holds its own today. While
Rosemary’s Baby may be a great movie, the soundtrack is even more interesting. While it’s short (12 tracks that clock in at about 24 minutes), it will give you the creeps, make you want to dance, relax you, and make you sing along to the la-la-la’s throughout this short period of time.
The album opens up with
Lullaby, which is ominous, yet upbeat at the same time. I’m sure many of you have heard Mike Patton’s renditions of the “la-la-la” on
Director’s Cut, and while Fantomas certainly made it interesting, this song just has that dark tone Fantomas couldn’t seem to capture. The violins and the vocals are what set the mood for this track. The violins are played at a somber tone to add to the melancholy of the track, while chimes are played that add to the darkness, yet give it some light as well. The vocals are both scary yet not something you would stray away from singing to a child to put to sleep (Hence the song title). Basically, this track can either be creepy or bright. It really depends on how you look at it. What’s even scarier is the track that follows,
The Coven. While it may only be 44 seconds long, the chanting and the mellow flute playing will send shivers up your spine.
This isn’t to say this entire album will make you have nightmares.
Moment Musical is a straight-up smooth jazz track (and a very well-written one I must say).
Christmas sounds just like you think it would, like something straight out of the
Charlie Brown Christmas Special.
Rosemary’s Party is a fun little danceable track, with it’s 60’s pop style, and the final track
Happy Days is extremely upbeat, like something that you would expect to hear while seeing Tinkerbell fly on screen.
The album as a whole still leans to the darker side of the spectrum.
Dream has a very spooky organ intro that continuously builds up and at about the 1:50 mark some very freaky whisper-chanting comes in until we’re treated with what appears to sound like the howls of a banshee.
What Have You Done To It’s Eyes? features the same banshee-like howls, but also brings in some strange use of instrumentation that could honestly be part of a John Zorn album. The strangest however, may be the second version of Lullaby (this time titled
Main Titles) that features similar music, but the vocalist (Mia Farrow) on this track brings a deeper voice making it much more atmospheric than its predecessor.
Overall, this album is a great listen for anyone who likes soundtracks. It features some of the spookiest music I’ve heard on a soundtrack and doesn’t need the movie to give you the same feeling.
Pros:
-Spooky
-Some upbeat and smooth tracks so it’s not a straight shot through hell
-Great vocal work on both versions of
Lullaby
-An overall wonderful soundtrack
Cons:
-The length. Far too short for an album of this caliber.
Strange:
-After multiple listens, I still can not decipher what he’s singing in
Rosemary’s Party
Final Rating: 5/5
. I'll check this out if I stumble upon it.
