HUNTERS

This album is the original soundtrack of a educational TV series about predators in the animal kingdom. It is music entirely composed by The Residents and it is proof positive that they knew what they were doing, even though several of their albums in their massive discography don't always allude to that fact. This one is completely instrumental and seems to be electronic. No annoying vocals here, just great orchestrated music, even though it is all electronic.

The music definitely fits the subject of the soundtrack. As it plays, you can picture what could be going on in the series at different times. The music is very well done and expertly written, you can understand how they got the job of writing the music for the series. Much of it works to build tension, as it should in a series like this. Yet each track is different enough to make it interesting to listen to as an avant-prog recording. It definitely is as good as any electronic artist has done for any other soundtrack including Vangelis and Tangerine Dream. There is a lot of percussion also, mostly tribal rhythms at times and other times just standard percussion, even though it is also electronic. The only complaint I have here is that you get that faux-orchestra sound with is obvious not authentic, but it's not a major issue in this album like one might expect. However, I would love to hear a real orchestra doing this soundtrack. It is good enough to warrant having an orchestra perform the tracks and re- record the album.

A great soundtrack and a good enough stand alone album. The music is such that it would not have been considered distracting for the program, but yet it is interesting enough to listen to on it's own and definitely has similarities to past Residents sound (in a good way) and also Vangelis' soundtracks, maybe not quite as dynamic as Vangelis, but still interesting enough. I can't call it a masterpiece like "Eskimo" or "Duck Stab" but it is still an excellent addition to your collection and one of The Residents better endeavors. 4 stars.