Granddaddy of the Hollywood studios, Paramount Pictures is rightfully proud of its century of contributions to both American cinema and the art of film scoring. But the first disc of this 43-track double-CD anthology merely hints at the studio's musical peaks, blithely skipping through its first seven decades in just 17 tracks. Indeed, the package as a whole seems more interested in marketing its post-'70s catalog of hits and blockbusters than it does in paying real homage to history and roots. Even rarities like Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend are served up via modern budget-line rerecordings, as is Ennio Morricone's epochal Once upon a Time in the West). Contemporary recordings of Aaron Copland's rare score to The Heiress and Franz Waxman's great Sunset Blvd. fare better, but soundtrack fans may miss the originals. The studio's rich pop-crossover successes in the '60s are documented via Breakfast at Tiffany's "Moon River" and excerpts from Romeo and Juliet and Love Story, while successful franchises like Star Trek and Raiders also get their due. Too often the '90s-focused second disc only underscores some uncomfortable trends in contemporary scoring--orchestral nervous tics punctuated by booming crescendos, treacly piano Muzak--and makes one wonder if the music of The Rugrats Movie and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider are really film music milestones. --Jerry McCulley
