Nightbreed

by Steven McDonald More music by Danny Elfman, falling into the orchestrated neo-Gothic area that he mined for a while. This is one of those albums that you either have a taste for, or just don't want to know about; certainly, it's a fascinating piece of work -- moody, pushy, quirky, with orchestral tones that jump out at you, which means it's perfectly in keeping with Clive Barker's writing (he wrote the novella that the movie is based on, as well as writing and directing the movie) -- fine tuned, with a sense of what makes for a beautiful passage, but sometimes with the subtlety of a bus falling on the listener. There are moments that have a gentleness and pleasantness to them that's astounding and breathtaking -- musically, Elfman's work for Nightbreed ranks with the best of Bernard Herrmann , and that is no mean feat. As a bonus, the cassette and CD include an extra track, "Country Skin," a pleasant little C&W number about ripping your face off, sung by Michael Stanton .