Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981 Film)
In the '80s and '90s, John Williams has come to occupy roughly the same towering place in filmdom occupied by Henry Mancini for much of the '60s and '70s. Williams (who played piano on some early Mancini scores) carved out that distinction with exciting, full-blooded scores like George Lucas'sStar Warstrilogy and the Indiana Jones cycle, Steven Spielberg's blockbuster tributes to the cheesy film serials of his youth. The first in that series,Raiderswears its retro-symphonic sensibilities like a badge of honor and indeed, DGG's expanded deluxe release plays like a more economic Mahler opus. A true film music classic, even if its sensibilities are 40 years misplaced.--Jerry McCulley