Jerry Goldsmith's score to Patton really needs little introduction, it is one of his most popular scores and his march is one fo the more indelible WW2 movie marches. It didn't really stick within the bounds of typical marches but introduced the fascinating echoing trumpet motif which has been used countless times since but at the time was an inspired idea and works so much better than could be imagined. Rather than release the original tracks (as appear here), Varese asked Jerry to re-record Patton, but for some reason, Jerry's on re-recording of Patton on Varese received a pretty shaky reception from his fans, probably due to the way that the new recording had a completely different feel to the original tracks. Indeed, listening to the original cues does make you realise just how different the original sounded; the infamous echoing trumpet motif is more upfront, the orchestral sound is sharper and more close and intense when compared to the expansive and symphonic re-recording. The cues presented here pretty much follow the same as were re-recorded although these being the actual tracks used in the film mean that some of them are actually slightly different, particularly the last couple of tracks. The only thing that this misses is the short concert arrangement of the German March, which wasn't in the original picture anyway.
The first half introduces the Patton march, as well as the religious chorale theme which serves to underpin Patton's approach to war as a semi religious experience. The battle scenes aren't accompanied by music most of the time and so the entire first half is low key, quite icy (emotianally detached) and sparse and these sections don't actually sound a great deal different from the re-recording. It is when you hit the Entr'acte that the very different original symphonic setup is noticeable, the orchestra sounds smaller and there is the occasional bum note which doesn't help. However, as mentioned previously, it is much more intense and focused and ultimately means it plays with the film better than the re-recording could ever have done.
It would be unfair to criticise Film Score Monthly in any way for this superb release, containing very detailed liner notes by the well informed Jeff Bond. The sound quality is clear and free from excess hiss, but as a purely musical listening experience I'd probably still stick to the Varese recording. I'm sure that Jerry fans won't hesitate to lap up every minute of it and while I don't want to be a dissenter in the ranks, my personal taste is for expansive and symphonic rather than crisp and intense. So sorry about that.
Rating ~ 
To everyone's surprise and delight, the lovely chappies down at FSM decided to put Frank DeVol's relatively unknown, but entertaining score to Flight of the Phoenix. The film essentially follows the story of survivors of a plane crash in the desert who build a new plane out of bits of the wreckage. Since desert always equals Lawrence of Arabia the main theme does, as Mr Bond points out, sounds like that classic Jarre theme played upside down, really... it does, honest. The opening couple of tracks are adventurous and exciting with the main brassy fanfare theme played to full effect, while the rest of the score is a little more low key as the film essentially drops down a gear into a drama about group dynamics when under extreme pressure to survive. Thus much of DeVol's underscore accompanies dialogue and the ups and downs that inevitably occur in a film like this. The last few tracks chart the first and last flight of the Phoenix and so DeVol ups the excitement and heroism to provide a thrilling climax (even if the actual section in the film is more anticlimatic than would be expected). This isn't, a lost classic by any means, but is certainly well worth hearing by a composer of whom I doubt many people will know. The film's pretty good too.
Another splendid FSM release, everything boasting good sound, superbly detailed notes and background information and two very different, but excellent scores. Two scores for the price of, well, OK so they're a fraction more expensive than regular CDs, but you rarely get production this complete on soundtrack albums these days and for that FSM should be thoroughly commended.
Rating ~ 
Patton
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The Flight of
the Phoenix
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Total Time ~ 76:24