Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Score | 
| Artist: Christophe Beck
Label: Rounder / Pgd
List Price: $17.98
Buy New: $11.67
You Save: $6.31 (35%)
New (39) Used (8) from $10.87
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 1841
Format: Soundtrack
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 619078
UPC: 011661907829
EAN: 0011661907829
ASIN: B001DMW2AK
Release Date: September 9, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | Massacre (from "Becoming") | | • | Angel Waits (from "Passion") | | • | Remembering Jenny (from "Passion") | | • | Twice the Fool (from "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered") | | • | Moment of Happiness (from "Innocence") | | • | Loneliness of Six (from "Lover's Walk") | | • | Sugar High (from "Band Candy") | | • | Tai Chi (from "Band Candy") | | • | Kralik's House (from "Helpless") | | • | Magic Snow Music (from "Amends") | | • | Slayer's Elegy (from "The Wish") | | • | Faith's End (from "Graduation Day") | | • | Drink Me (from "Graduation Day") | | • | One Last Moment (from "Graduation Day") | | • | Haunted (from "Fear Itself") | | • | From the Grave (from "This Year's Girl") | | • | Demon Got Your Tongue (from "Hush") | | • | Golf Claps (from "Hush") | | • | The Princess Screams (from "Hush") | | • | Spellbound (from "Who Are You?") | | • | Fyarl in the Morning (from "A New Man") | | • | A Really Big Sandbox (from "Restless") | | • | Spaghetti (from "Restless") | | • | Body Paint (from "Restless") | | • | Xander's Nightmare (from "Restless") | | • | The Tower (from "The Gift") | | • | Losing Battle (from "The Gift") | | • | Apocalypse (from "The Gift") | | • | Sacrifice (alternate version, from "The Gift") |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Album Description
Buffy fans rejoice! The Emmy-winning score to the cult hit show is now available! Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Score features 29 tracks, including "Massacre" (the Emmy-winning score from Season 2 episode "Becoming"), "Loneliness of Six" (from Season 3 episode "Lover's Walk"), and "Haunted" (from Season 4 episode "Fear Itself"), all scored, mixed, and produced by longtime Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and Angel) composer Christophe Beck. A must-have for any serious Buffy fan!
Album Description
Music by Christophe Beck. Buffy fans rejoice! The Emmy-winning score to the cult hit show is here! Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Score features 29 tracks, including 'Massacre' (the Emmy-winning score from Season 2 episode 'Becoming'), 'Loneliness of Six' (from Season 3 episode 'Lover's Walk'), and 'Haunted' (from Season 4 episode 'Fear Itself'), all scored, mixed, and produced by longtime Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and Angel) composer Christophe Beck.29 tracks.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
The score on The Score September 9, 2008
M. G Watson (Los Angeles)
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
When one thinks about BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, there are certain names which spring immediately to mind: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Joss Whedon, Nicky Brendon, Alyson Hannigan, Tony Head, et al. One name I don't necessarily think of is Christophe Beck, the man who arranged and performed the musical scores for the entire series. This is a stupid oversight on my part, because while Beck had only one single cameo appearance in the seven years BUFFY was on the air, he was as much a part of the show's success as any of its actors, writers, producers or directors.
To say that Beck is a musical genius is merely to recite the obvious, but it becomes even more apparent when one can listen to his works by themselves as stand-alone tracks, rather than as background accompaniment. THE SCORE is not, by any means, a comprehensive anthology of all Beck's output for BtVS: in fact it's only a selection of his better known compositions from Seasons 2 - 5. The diversity of the material, however, is really astonishing. Like BUFFY the show, Beck's music runs the range from comedic to tragic, from slow and tender ballad instrumentals to crashbang fight scores, with everything imaginable in between. The show defied easy categorization, and so does the music, with the exception that most of it is damn good.
THE SCORE has twenty-nine tracks taken from sixteen episodes of BUFFY, most of which are (not surprisingly) fan faves. Among the very best, in my opinion, are:
"Angel Waits" (from "Passion"). If Angelus had a song stuck in his head, this is probably what it would sound like: creepy, sinister, like the soundtrack to a bad dream.
"Remembering Jenny" ("Passion"). This is probably my favorite of the tracks, played when Giles and Buffy are at Jenny Calendar's graveside. As beautiful as Robia LaMorte and as tragic as the death of her character.
"Tai Chi" ("Band Candy"). Just as Sarah Gellar and David Boreanaz were able to communicate a great deal as actors without speaking, Beck had an almost eerie ability to sum up the unspoken feelings between Buffy and Angel in his music.
"Loneliness of Six" ("Lover's Walk"). This was one of the best episodes of an excellent season, and Beck's use of single, melancholy guitar to describe the mood following Spike's relationship-annihilating visit to Sunnydale is masterful.
"Magic Snow" ("Amends"). A two-kleenex score which manages to be ridiculously sweet without every crossing the line into sickly.
"Slayer's Elegy" ("The Wish"). This is a very sad, haunting, powerful piece of music which makes excellent use of a chorus, chronicling the death of Buffy at the hands of the Master.
"Spellbound" ("Who Are You?"). More minimalism, this time with a piano, evokes a half-melancholy, half-creepy mood that is pure Buffy.
"A Really Big Sandbox" ("Restless"). The job of background music is to enhance the mood already created by the story, and Beck's use here of eerie, vaguely Moroccan choral sounds to accompany Buffy's walk into the desert is spot on.
There is of course plenty more here, including comedic razzle-dazzle ("Twice the Fool") ("Sugar High"), slambang fight music ("Faith's End") ("Xander's Nightmare"), more creepy, Resident Evil style mood music ("Kralik's House") and of course many emotionally stirring tracks pertaining to B & A ("Drink Me", "Moment of Happiness"), but the point is there is something here for every emotional state. I myself was surprised how certain tracks had my mind replaying whole scenes from various episodes, as if they were on a flatscreen in front of me. My only real beef with the album is one Beck had no control over, i.e. that most of the songs are very short (two minutes) and need a lot of replaying to be enjoyed fully. But that's pretty hefty, Comic Book Guy nerd-nitpicking on my part, idn't it?
Anyway: Christophe Beck may not be a household word, even to Buffy fans, but he should be, and this album proves it. And that's the score on THE SCORE.
An Excellent Soundtrack, Long in Waiting September 10, 2008
Phoenix Child
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Score is both what fans of BtVS have waited for for years and also a compilation that any instrumental music lover could enjoy. Christophe Beck (the composer for seasons 2-4) has compiled a master list of some of the most moving and exciting incidental music in the history of the cult classic TV series.
True, the Buffy soundtracks (i.e., The Album, Radio Sunnydale) were excellent mixes that brought back memories of the show, but there is nothing like a score to truly bring back memories, and Whedon and Beck have chosen the most evocative of the tracks. The exciting opener, "Massacre" truly makes one FEEL as if they too are battling Angelus with Buffy as she races to save her friends (incidentally, the entire score for the episode "Becoming (Parts I & II)" won Beck an Emmy award).
The other joy of the Buffy Score is that while the first fourteen tracks were previously available if you could find Beck's promotional soundtracks for seasons two and three, everything from track fifteen to track twenty-nine have never before been heard by anyone save for during the show itself. AN IMPORTANT NOTE: I've read other reviews online since posting this, and felt I should make these notes.
FIRSTLY: Track twenty-nine, the alternate version of "Sacrifice" is just what it says: an alternate version. It is not the short clip of the "Sacrifice" theme heard during season six's "Bargaining;" it is a possible version of what "Sacrifice" could have been before going through the editing process.
Secondly, THERE ARE NO REPEATS ON THIS CD. For those who need their memory refreshed, Christophe Beck has had these songs published before: "Close Your Eyes" on the Album, "Dead Guys With Bombs" on the British/Australian version of Radio Sunnydale, and "Suite from "Restless"", "Suite from "Hush"", and "Sacrifice" on Once More, With Feeling. All the music from "Hush" and "Restless" featured on The Score are not included in the Suites, and everything from seasons four and five HAVE NOT BEEN RELEASED.
If you are already a fan of Buffy, this score will bring back memories as if you were not only watching the show itself but experiencing it as well. If you are not a fan of Buffy but of instrumental music, the Buffy Score is a worthy addition to your music library - from sweepingly emotional tracks such as "Remembering Jenny," "Slayer's Elegy," and "Sacrifice" to heartpounding themes like "Massacre," "Faith's End," and "Apocalypse;" from teasing tracks like "Twice the Fool" and "Fyarl in the Morning," and also just plain wonderful songs as well, you will listen to the Buffy score more than once.
This score was worth every penny, and whether you are a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, instrumental music, or Christophe Beck (or all three), there is something in the twenty-nine tracks for you. The fact that it has been published five years after the end of BtVS gives fans hope that there may be another volume for the other worthy composers of this amazing show.
Also recommended:
Angel: Live Fast, Die Never [This album is mostly comprised of score music from Angel composed by Robert J. Kral, and also features a song by Christophe Beck; Buffy: The Album; Buffy: Radio Sunnydale
 3.5-4 stars many repeats but still worth having. September 12, 2008
C. A Baker (Petaluma, CA United States)
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
Chris Beck's music for Buffy is superb and this CD has been a long time "Becoming".
Worth the money to have HOWEVER, there are repeats on here, if you have Once More With Feeling or the other Buffy CDs you will notice many of the tracks here were already placed on those CDs (around 14 or so) and tragically there is no music from seasons 1, 6 or 7.
I am thrilled to have this cd and there are definately many tracks never released before but do not be fooled into thinking it is all never before released material.
Here's hoping the cd sells well enough that we might see another volume of the missing seasons and other tracks of Chris' beautiful Buffy music.
The Wait Is Finally Over September 18, 2008
D. Solesbee (Phoenix)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I am 30, and I have been a Buffy fan since the very beginning, Episode 1 Season 1. This disc has been long awaited by me, and I now no longer have to scour the internet to find this beautiful music.
This disc is definitely a collector's item for any Buffy fan, and a necessity to anyone whose music collection could use some orchestrations.
5 Stars All the Way!
Finally! September 18, 2008
Elianne23 (Canada)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I've long been aware of Chris Beck, and believe that he is a brilliant composer who gave much of BtVS its emotional heft in S 2-4 and the finale for S 5. Just hearing these wonderful music tracks without the accompanying scenes only confirms my opinion, and some of them move me to tears. Anyone who is a fan of the show, and in particular the Buffy/Angel relationship shouldn't miss this CD. I agree with eveything M. G. Watson has to say about the score and Beck's talents. His use of themes and the way they are developed to suit changes in relationships and situations is masterful, and he often surprises me melodically, rhythmically and harmonically. Then there are the gorgeous melodies...
The only selections I would have liked to see included are:
- the complete "Close Your Eyes" section. Although I know part of it is
on the other BtVS album, it would have been nice to have it included here as a whole.
- the Buffy/Angel dream sequence from Amends. A reprise of the theme from Innocence, it's beautifully done in Amends, especially with the celesta-like beginning.
- the Buffy/Angel possession scene near the end of IOHEFY. Really captures the feeling of tragic loss and longing between the characters.
- how about the Buffy rat theme instead of the alternate version of
The Gift's finale?
One can't have everything and I shouldn't complain as I've been waiting for this album for a long, long time.
I rather think the show started going downhill generally after Beck left and nothing in S 6 or 7 even comes close to his musical achievements (with the notable exception of OMWF, the music of which he realized
and orchestrated, I believe).
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