Monty Python - Soundtracks Collection (8CD)

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Monty Python - Soundtracks Collection (8CD)

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8 CD collection of soundtracks to the creation of the famous British surreal comedy group.

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Monty Python - Soundtracks Collection (8CD)

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Fusing the topical satire of David Frost with the surreal outlandishness of The Goon Show, the Monty Python's Flying Circus troupe formed in England in 1969. Comprised of British performers John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Graham Chapman, along with American animator Terry Gilliam, the group emerged as an international cult phenomenon, honing its singular blend of broad slapstick, edgy black comedy, and social commentary in a string of successful television programs, films, and albums.

After meeting during a taping of the British children's series Do Not Adjust Your Set, the Pythons officially took shape in May 1969 when the BBC contracted the group to produce its own 13-week program. Monty Python's Flying Circus, a weekly sketch comedy series, premiered that October; after becoming a major hit throughout Europe, the troupe recorded 1970's Monty Python's Flying Circus LP, a set of new performances of television material recorded in front of a live audience (including their legendary "dead parrot" sketch, "The Pet Shop"). Their film debut, And Now for Something Completely Different – a collection of highlights from the series – followed in 1971.

Another Monty Python Record, released in the U.K. in 1971, made its American debut the following year; for most U.S. fans, the album was their first exposure to the troupe – the BBC series did not begin appearing on public television outlets for several more months. After 1972's Monty Python's Previous Record, a mixture of original routines and TV material featuring "Eric the Half a Bee," "The Argument Clinic," and "Embarrassment/A Bed-Time Book," the group issued 1973's Matching Tie and Handkerchief, which featured a "trick track" gimmick whereby the second side contained separate grooves both featuring entirely different material; playing randomly depending upon where the needle dropped, the gimmick effectively created a "side three."

A 1973 British tour yielded Live at Drury Lane, released in 1974 to coincide with the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail; the movie's companion record, The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, a reprise of screen material along with new skits, did not appear until the next year. After 1976's Live! At City Center, a long hiatus followed before the group reunited for the 1979 feature and soundtrack Monty Python's Life of Brian.

Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album appeared in 1980, followed by the 1982 concert film Live at the Hollywood Bowl. The 1983 feature Monty Python's the Meaning of Life was the last official group project, although the troupe members subsequently reunited on occasion; most famously, Cleese and Palin teamed in the hit comedy A Fish Called Wanda, while Gilliam's directorial efforts like Time Bandits, Brazil, and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen all prominently featured other Python alumni. Sadly, Graham Chapman died of cancer on October 4, 1989.

Biography by Jason Ankeny, Allmusic.com

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Monty Python - Soundtracks Collection (8CD)

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This debut long-player contains a composite of skits by British comedy troupe Monty Python. The personnel features the talents of writer/actors Michael Palin, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Terry Gilliam (the sole Yankee), whose primary contributions were visual (most immediately evident being the iconoclastic "foot-through-the-telly" imagery adorning the front cover of this release). Keen-eared listeners familiar with the show will be able to instantly discern that the material on this platter has been re-recorded and is not simply audio lifted from the show's soundtrack. In addition to the occasional dialogue discrepancy, the use of canned laughter is noticeably different, if not at times a bit jarring. As the Pythons have become cultural icons since their demise in the early '80s, a few of the bits such as "Trades Description Act" (aka "Crunchy Frog"), the "Lumberjack Song" (which is included in the homicidal "Barber" sketch), and "Dead Parrot" (aka "Pet Shop") would go on to define the Dada-influenced surrealism that they would become most closely associated with. The vast majority of the Python catalog can be found on CD, and this title graced the medium for a very brief time in the mid-'80s as part of the BBC's Audio Visual International series. Oddly, and perhaps owing to legal rather than artistic reasons, Monty Python's Flying Circus (1970) remains unavailable to modern listeners on compact disc. While all of the characters may not be as fully-formed – such as the sincere and butch Chapman persona used in "The Visitors" – this is a worthwhile find, if not a somewhat compulsory primer for all enthusiasts.

Review by Lindsay Planer, Allmusic.com

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Monty Python - Soundtracks Collection (8CD)

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In a motif established on their first long-player, Monty Python's Flying Circus (1970), much of the material incorporated into Another Monty Python Record (1971) was derived from the less visually oriented surrealistic sketches from their BBC television program. More importantly, this disc was the first to be issued throughout North America – although the show was initially aired only in major markets on PBS stations. The quintet of writer/actors Michael Palin, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and the distinctly American Terry Gilliam revolutionized comedy from slapstick physical humor into an exceedingly more cerebral space, where the satire could be directed squarely at "serious" works of art, literature, or historical figures as easily as it could be a series of Dadaist non sequiturs. They take siege of the vinyl LP medium, as Palin's sincere opening "Apologies" establishes that listeners should immediately suspend their disbelief and, in the words of the Beatles, "Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream." However, between the Viking-led tributes to "Spam" or Palin's abrupt interjections as Cardinal Ximinez during the "Spanish Inquisition" entries, there is the thoughtful madness of "World Forum," where Idle quizzes the likes of Karl Marx, Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov, Che Guevara, and Mao Tse-tung on the subject of British football. One of the longer pieces is the somewhat involved story of "The Piranha Brothers," Doug and Dinsdale, and a giant hedgehog named Spiny Norman. According to a female-impersonating character played by Cleese, "Norman was wont to be about 12 feet from snout to tail, but when Dinsdale was depressed, Norman could be anything up to eight hundred yards long." 'Nuf said. In addition to the aforementioned "Spam" skit, another of the scenes that Python would keep in their live act features cross-dressing Palin and Idle as a pair of high court and highly camp "Judges." Whereas their debut album may have seemed like a bunt to the comparative home run of Another Monty Python Record, the troupe would score a grand slam their next time up at bat with the follow-up, Monty Python's Previous Record (1972).

Review by Lindsay Planer, Allmusic.com

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Monty Python - Soundtracks Collection (8CD)

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Monty Python's Previous Record, the comedy troupe's third studio album, is essentially the best bits from season three of their BBC TV show, re-recorded with extra material specifically designed for vinyl. Released in 1972 on the small Charisma label, the album contains such beloved spoofs as "Pepperpots" and "Dennis Moore," which are undoubtedly best served through a visual medium. The skits made specifically for this album – "Eclipse of the Sun," "Wonderful World of Sound," "Silly Noises," and "Are You Embarrassed Easily?" – are genuinely funny at first but tend to sound a bit forced on repeated listening. The troupe would successfully apply a flow similar to that of the television show on its next album, Matching Tie and Handkerchief, which comes close to the audio cut-and-paste lunacy of the Firesign Theatre.

Review by Al Campbell, Allmusic.com

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Monty Python - Soundtracks Collection (8CD)

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The group's third studio album in its original packaging is a find for fans of vinyl trickery: the B-side contains two continuous tracks, leaving the stylus a 50-50 chance at playing the track you want. The group reprises several skits from the show ("Bruces," "Cheese Shop") without the hindrance of playing to a live audience: in essence, it's lightning fast and witty to boot. Most of the Pythons came from a tradition of radio skit comedy, so they are not out of their depth, and are as liable to play with the conventions of recorded sound as the Firesign Theatre, their American contemporaries (though the Pythons never attempted on record anything like the concept albums of Firesign). Of the originals, "Novel Writing" (literature broadcast as sport) and "Word Association Football" (John Cleese at his densest) are winners. Ex-Bonzo Dog Band member Neil Innes also provides music on the bizarre "Background to History" in which dissertations on Medieval English farming are sung in the style of Bob Marley, Gary Glitter, and Joe Cocker.

Review by Ted Mills, Allmusic.com

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Soundtrack album for arguably the Python's best film (or at least their most controversial, talky, and profound). The group's take on the biblical epic focuses on Brian (Graham Chapman), mistaken for the messiah by a group of easily impressed locals. All the best bits from the movie are here, including the "Sermon on the Mount" (as misheard by "Mr. Big Nose"); the People's Liberation Front of Judea (or is it the Judean People's Liberation Front?); Brian's impromptu preaching ("He's making it up as he goes along!"), and the concluding song, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life," sung by the cast as they hang crucified. The album offers little apart from the clips from the film, except for some studio banter between a producer (Eric Idle) and a useless announcer (Graham Chapman).

Review by Ted Mills, Allmusic.com

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Monty Python - Soundtracks Collection (8CD)

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Like the title says, by the late '70s Monty Python was less interested in continuing under their group name, except for the occasional foray into film. John Cleese was busy with Fawlty Towers, while Michael Palin was branching out into film, Terry Gilliam was making a name for himself as a director, and the rest were involved in television and other projects. For all intents and purposes, this is almost an Eric Idle solo album, since a majority of the songs were written by him or with Neil Innes (the two had recently collaborated on the brilliant Beatles parody, The Rutles). Not that they aren't funny: "I Like Chinese," "Medical Love Song," and "Never Be Rude to an Arab" raise a smile, and "Decomposing Composers," (not by Idle) despite the obvious pun of the title, is actually quite affecting, delivered in a gentle Cockney drawl by Michael Palin. Yet the record suffers from many weak tracks, most of which are old standards with new dirty lyrics ("Sit on My Face") or experiments in repetition and boredom ("I Like Traffic Lights," "I'm So Worried"). What sound like new skits from Cleese and Graham Chapman ("String," "Bookshop") are actually pre-Python skits written for Cleese and Marty Feldman given a dusting off in lieu of any real writing. The only other track of note is "Rock Notes," a parody of rock journalism from where the future rock group Toad the Wet Sprocket got its name. A spotty finale for the Python's recording career.

Review by Ted Mills, Allmusic.com

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Monty Python - Soundtracks Collection (8CD)

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Unlike most comedy releases, the soundtrack of Monty Python's The Meaning of Life is an appealing audio souvenir that doesn't get stale after listening to it a few times, because of the incredibly catchy and satirical songs from the film, which are all included: "The Meaning of Life," "Galaxy Song," "Accountancy Shanty," "The Not Noel Coward Song," "Christmas in Heaven," and "Every Sperm Is Sacred." Also interspersed with the music are dialogue snippets from the film involving, but not limited to, a wafer-thin mint, the machine that goes PING, a drill sergeant marching up and down the square, six philosophic fish, live organ transplants, and, of course, the meaning of life.

Review by Al Campbell, Allmusic.com

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Monty Python - Soundtracks Collection (8CD)

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Monty Python Sings is exactly what it sounds like: 25 songs (six under a minute) written and performed by members of Monty Python's Flying Circus. The numbers should be instantly familiar to fans of their legendary sketch comedy series and theatrical features. Each member of the troupe is represented to some degree or another, including director/animator Terry Gilliam with the tiny tune "I've Got Two Legs" (:33), and two co-written by the late Graham Chapman (to whom the compilation was dedicated): "Medical Love Song" and "Knights of the Round Table (Camelot Song)." John Cleese, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin contributed to several compositions, but the lion's share were written/co-written by the most musically inclined member, Eric Idle. Neil Innes (the Bonzo Dog Band), with whom Idle collaborated on the Beatles spoof The Rutles, assisted with arranging and composed the music for "Knights of the Round Table." All of the songs are sung by Pythons, with the exception of "Brian Song," which features Sonia Jones channeling Shirley Bassey's Bond anthem "Goldfinger" – quite successfully, too, although it's hard to imagine Bassey singing, "He had arms and legs and hands and feet/this boy whose name was Brian." It's debatable whether those not already enamored by the Pythons' unique brand of humor would be won over by this recording. For the already converted, however, it represents an opportunity to have all of their best known songs in one place: Life of Brian's "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" ("when you're chewing on life's gristle/don't grumble, give a whistle"), "Lumberjack Song" (I'm a lumberjack/and I'm O.K./I sleep all night/and I work all day"), and, of course, "Spam Song" ("lovely Spam/wonderful Spa-a-m"). For better or for worse, many of their most politically incorrect songs are also included: "Sit on My Face," "Penis Song (Not the Noel Coward Song)," "Never Be Rude to an Arab," and "I Like Chinese." Although packed to the brim with (lyrical) comedy, Monty Python Sings is strictly a musical recording and does not include any sketches, spoken word pieces, or narration.

Review by Kathleen C. Fennessy, Allmusic.com