KNIGHTRIDERS - Special Edition Soundtrack
Unavailable anywhere (until now) this is the complete soundtrack to George A. Romero's cult film. Donald Rubinstein's beautiful score is all here, along with some choice sound bits from the film. After listening to the complete score I found it very difficult to add any sound bites, it's just that good. But there are just a few - as separate tracks, not destroying the actual score.
Considered a lost soundtrack to fans everywhere - This treasure has now been found.
Special thanks to Roland D. LeBay for unearthing this masterpiece.
39 Tracks - 74min.
The white text represents previously unreleased tracks. The green text represents dialogue & music that has been added from the actual movie or elsewhere.
Note: Tracks had no names & were named by yours truly.
Tracks include...
Intro, Knightriders, Festival, The King Arrives, The Knights, Fanfare, Drawing Lots, Jousting On Wheels, Kings Decision, Hand Weapons, Defending His Honor, Hogie Man, Healing Wounds, Meeting The King, Basics, Magic & Destiny, Signifying Monkey, Campfire, Decisions, A New Home, The Code, Night Rides, Morgan's Decision, Pip's New Friend, Camelot Crumbles, The Dream, On The Road, The Minstrel, The Knights Return, Knights Honor, The Last Night, For The Crown, Battle For The Kingdom, Passing The Crown, Unfinished Deeds, Billy's Flight, I'd Rather Be A Wanderer, Final. Bonus: Signifying Monkey by Oscar Brown Jr.
CD Case Open
Inside Cover Flap
Back Cover
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The Knightriders CD arrived on Monday and I just wanted to pass along a big THANK YOU! I wish all soundtracks were produced with such dedication and obvious love for the source material. It adds a whole new dimension to the score to be able to hear it performed on its own. Many of the intricacies which unfortunately get lost in the film come through beautifully!
Roger, in my opinion, KNIGHTRIDERS is one of George A. Romero's crowning achievements, and it's an absolute crime that Donald Rubinstein's beautiful, sweeping, majestic score has never been given any type of official soundtrack release ever, anywhere in the world. THANK YOU FOR CORRECTING THIS HORRIBLE OVERSITE! Your disc is obviously a great labor of love. I believe it's actually better than we could have ever haved hoped for from a regular label release. Excellent sound quality, wonderful dialogue excerpts, truly exquisite and exciting package artwork and what seems to be literally every bit of the original music from the film (not to mention the cool bonus track) all in one wonderful comprehensive bundle. You have outdone yourself my friend, and paid Romero, Rubinstein and the film a great respect. An investment worth twice the price - and I'm not exaggerating! Thank you so much. Max
Hey Rog!
The CD is fantastic! It far exceeds my expectations! When I read that you were
making the "Knightriders" score available, I had serious doubts about the
quality. The movie will be 20 years old very soon and the Donald Rubinstein score
has been (in my circle of soundtrack collectors at least)
the "lost ark" so to speak. Whoever Ronald D. Lebay is, thank him for me
because he's done all of us a great service providing you with the source material.
Another fantastic job, Roger!
This cd is an instant classic! I have over 50 rare soundtracks in my collection and this is the big daddy of them all! I can't get over how excellent the sound quality is. You've also managed to put in just the right amount of dialouge to make it flow together as if you were watching the movie. Congrats to you Rog for bringing this long lost classic back to the fans. Romero and co. would be proud! Take care, Jay
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Here is a great review from a gentleman from England. He wrote this in the MovieMusic.com message board & is here for your viewing pleasure...
Well, Roger Domian's homemade KNIGHTRIDERS CD did finally turn up. Any vague doubts I may have had about his competence/honesty have been happily laid to rest.
I can also happily report that this CD was well worth the wait. Packaged with colour images on heavy matte paper, this is clearly a labour of love. I saw this movie way back in 1981, in the infant days of video rentals, and it has haunted me ever since. Listening to this great score all afternoon gave me a hankering to see the movie again, so I just checked to see if it's available on DVD, and it is. Definitely one I'll be sending for.
How's the CD sound? Good. It didn't disappoint me. In clear mono (almost too clear - I was dialing down the treble on a couple of tracks), this is not one of those boneheaded, muddy bootlegs. Roger has presented the music in chronological order, interspersed with some thoughtfully chosen dialog, which normally I'd hate, but in this one case I found I didn't mind - it just reminded me why I loved this movie twenty years ago.
The movie was a genuinely surprising breath of fresh air from George Romero. It's a deeply felt tale of an idealistic man (Ed Harris) who has founded an Arthurian society of travelling bikers, who hold medieval jousts (on their bikes!) and live by a knightly code of honour. Parallels with the Camelot story inevitably ensue, with prophecy, betrayal and redemption pushing the story to its moving conclusion. Donald Rubinstein's score is a major contributor to the movie's sense of freshness. Leading off with an elegant and very "proper" knightly theme that embodies the Camelot spirit of Ed Harris's troupe, Rubinstein then weaves into his orchestra some very modern sounds - drums and electric guitar accompany restless strings in the exciting bike-joust scenes, female voices provide a haunting sense of magic and destiny, particularly in the climax of the film when a sad and lost Ed Harris rides along bleak highways towards his inevitable fate. Elsewhere Rubinstein uses sweet, high strings to underscore the more introspective moments, and it is on these tracks that the age of the recording betrays itself with some minor flutter and distortion.
Standout tracks: "Defending His Honor" (which I'd swear was Gil Melle) - pulsing low strings rise and fall urgently over semi-improvised rock drumming and guitar as one of the more serious bike-jousts plays out. "The Knights Return" is a great moment where Ed Harris's low spirits are lifted by the sight of his troupe returning to him after a major disagreement - throbbing double bass leads into a rousing version of the knight theme; female voices madly la-la-ing along raise an unexpected smile before the cue suddenly breaks down into chaotic and percussive psychedelia; finally a majestic restatement of the knight theme brings the cue to a satisfing close. "Battle For The Kingdom" utilises snare drums under the orchestra, with trumpets creating an almost Arabic feel; spooky electronics float in and out, reminding us (if memory serves) that there is an ominous predestiny to this last confrontation between Billy (Ed Harris) and his rival for the crown, Morgan (Tom Savini); a lonely trumpet ends the cue as Billy is sadly defeated, and finally harp and subtle female voices provide a feeling of resigned peace. "Passing the Crown" is a slow and heartfelt statement of the knight theme for the scene where Billy relinquishes his leadership to Morgan and then chooses to ride off into obscurity; Rubinstein aims for the audience's heart with keening high strings, and the understated simplicity of a beautiful plucked harp. "Billy's Flight" is a moving string elegy for Billy's climactic, lonesome ride, and it's here that Rubinstein uses his female voices to their greatest, most haunting effect. Excellent stuff.
Oh, and one of the dialog tracks ("Hoagie Man") is Stephen King's amusing cameo.
I'd never seriously expected a release of this score. Who on earth would bother to put out the soundtrack to a half-forgotten cult movie that has a small but devoted army of fans? Answer: one of those devoted fans. Thank you, Roger.
If you loved this score in 1981 and are wondering if this CD is worth shelling out bucks for, I can only say - emphatically - yes.
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