It seems that the adventure environments, more or less exotic, african or caribbean, fits well to the Goldsmith of the nineties, and so between a series of works sometimes a little unworthy of his inmense talent, first stand out the marvellous Medicine Man (1992), then comes Congo (1995), and now this new and terrifying african adventure. In Ghost and the Darkness we meet again, on many occasions, with the best Goldsmith of the sixties, although the sound style has changes or evoluted, depending how you see it, and the use of electronic components as another member of the orchestra is something already perfunctory and permanent; part of this is indebt, no doubt about it, to the change of orchestrator, and if on that time the presence of Arthur Morton was the usual, now is Alexander Courage (the composer of the famous Star Trek series theme) the name more used by Goldsmith as partner on his orchestral duties. Anyhow, the forty minutes spent by the twelve cues of his music included on the record becomes dense, worked and spectacular, specially on the use and development of the theme which opens it. As an addition, there are thirteen minutes of music more or less autoctonous, which neither bothers nor excite. A.L.

/ HOLLYWOOD RECORDS HR-62089-2 / 53'