As a follow up to Music For a Darkened Theatre, this is yet another demonstration of what a remarkable composer Danny Elfman really is. Unlike its single disc predecessor, this double CD contains much lengthier suites from a dozen or so of Elfman's works since Edward Scissorhands to just before Mars Attacks!. The suite from Edward Scissorhands actually represents the score very well indeed and in some ways I would suggest it includes enough to make it not worth getting the original score album. Of course Elfman completists will want to, but since the enchanting waltz-like make titles, the Paganini-esque Edwardo the Barber and the gloriously sad Grand Finale are all included as well as the fun music for the Cookie Machine are included, a good cross section of the score is represented. Dolores Claiborne is a more "normal" sounding score, although, like Edward Scissorhands is remarkably sad sounding, but represents a much more mature turn in the Elfman filmography. Along with Black Beauty and Sommersby, the new, much more grown up Danny Elfman is represented. For many, the suite from Black Beauty is the nearest they are likely to come to the now hard to find score. Along with Edward Scissorhands, the Elfman - Tim Burton collaboration is represented with a suite from Batman Returns, which represents the score quite well and condenses the perhaps slightly overlong original soundtrack into a slightly more palatable selection that adequately represents all of the main themes.
The Nightmare Before Christmas only contains orchestral selections from the original soundtrack, which is a shame it is really the songs that are the star of that movie. However, This Is Halloween in its original demo form with Elfman singing all the parts with his computer (I guess) is a great laugh. The fact that it is virtually the same in the final version is a testament to how well Elfman's ideas gelled with those of the film's producers. Every Danny Elfman compilation will feature at least one or two very bizarre tracks, MFADT 2 certainly has its fair share, starting with To Die For, which is a growling, moody piece that contains electric guitars as well as a bizarre track that contains some atypical Elfman choral work. Dead Presidents is also very strange indeed. I tend to not be overtly keen on either of these as they are just a little too odd for my taste, although I don't believe either of them have been officially released on CD so far and so it is nice to be able to hear them (especially for more hard core Elfman fans!) The suite from Mission: Impossible contains the best parts although those with the original CD will notice that the Lalo Schifrin Mission: Impossible theme is omitted entirely and so several edits were made to accommodate this. I think that was a regrettable decision and although this is an Elfman compilation, the way he integrated the original theme into the action tracks at the end of the film was superb. Those who don't have the original soundtrack probably won't notice, but I tend to skip these sections as the arrangements on the original score are far better.
Finally we come to the television odds 'n' ends. The two selections from Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories series are fun, although one section does heavily recall the Study Montage from Back to School. The Nike Commercial is just a selection of typical Elfman-isms and is a fun, if insubstantial piece of music. The themes from the Flash and Beetlejuice TV series are fun; the former is a slightly more upbeat arrangement of his Batman theme and the latter is even more zany than the original Beetlejuice theme with some extra trademark Elfman choral parts. For hard-core Elfman fans, the best reason to recommend this collection is for the unreleased material which probably amounts to something approaching an hour or so, but for new Elfman fans, this is probably a perfect way to choose which scores of his you will want and which ones you might pass on.
Rating ~ 
Disc 1
Total Time - 71:33
Disc 2
Total Time - 74:16