Albert Glasser – The Fantastic Film Music Of Albert Glasser

Albert Glasser – The Fantastic Film Music Of Albert Glasser

Originally released in 1978 on Starlog Records, The Fantastic Film Music Of Albert Glasser is a fascinating retrospective of one of the more distinctive composers associated with American science-fiction, horror, adventure and exploitation cinema of the 1950s. Issued as a gatefold LP, Starlog Records SR-1001 brings together eight substantial suites and selections from Glasser's film and television work, making it an unusually comprehensive introduction to his orchestral style.

Albert Glasser worked across a remarkably wide range of low-budget Hollywood productions, developing a highly individual sound characterised by bold brass, dramatic strings, atmospheric passages and colourful orchestration. This collection is particularly valuable because it gathers music from several different corners of his career, including television, science fiction, monster movies and adventure films. The result is as much a portrait of mid-century American film scoring as it is a collection of cult soundtrack material.

The album opens with “The Cisco Kid,” music associated with the popular Western television series and drawn from a 1948 transcription recording, before moving into “Big Town,” another example of Glasser's television work. The extended “The Boy And The Pirates” suite then occupies more than 17 minutes, showcasing his swashbuckling adventure style. The original film was released in 1960, directed by Bert I. Gordon, and Glasser's score uses the kind of bold, action-packed orchestration associated with classic Saturday-matinee adventure cinema.

Side Two turns firmly towards Glasser's celebrated monster-movie scoring. The nine-minute-plus “The Amazing Colossal Man” comes from Bert I. Gordon's 1957 science-fiction horror film, with a particularly forceful orchestral sound and expressive violin writing. The album continues with selections from The Buckskin Lady (1957), Beginning Of The End (1957) and The Cyclops (1957) before concluding with “Top Of The World.” The 1957 films represented here demonstrate Glasser's ability to move from suspense and menace to sweeping adventure and atmospheric orchestration.

One of the attractions of the LP is its mixture of mono and stereo source material. Later analysis of the album notes that the stereo selections were taken from two-track masters and offer particularly strong sound, while the mono material still preserves the detail of Glasser's orchestral writing. The album consequently provides an intriguing sonic snapshot of film music as it evolved through the late 1940s and 1950s into the stereophonic era.

For collectors of cult film soundtracks, vintage science-fiction music, horror scores, monster movies, 1950s Hollywood orchestral music and library-style soundtrack recordings, this is a highly appealing LP. With The Amazing Colossal Man, The Cyclops, Beginning Of The End, The Boy And The Pirates and The Cisco Kid all represented, it offers a rare opportunity to hear the work of a composer whose music helped give some of America's most memorable low-budget genre films their larger-than-life character.

Side A

1. The Cisco Kid – 3:48
2. Big Town – 6:19
3. The Boy And The Pirates – 17:44

Side B

1. The Amazing Colossal Man – 9:24
2. The Buckskin Lady – 4:53
3. Beginning Of The End – 2:54
4. The Cyclops – 3:02
5. Top Of The World – 8:00