Pushing Daisies Season 2 (2008-09)
Music Composed And Produced By Jim Dooley
Conducted By Tim Davies And Jim Dooley
Executive Producer: Robert Townson
Varese Sarabande 3020670602
31 Tracks - Running Time: 60:03
Released April 5, 2011
-Danny Gonzalez
Film Music Examiner - New York, NY
Pushing Daisies was originally intended to be a spin off of the Showtime Cable series "Dead Like Me" and starred some really talented actors like Lee Pace (who had a terrific role in the Showtime TV film, Soldier's Girl), Chi McBride (The TV series Human Target), Anna Friel (Land Of The Lost), Broadway stars Kristin Chenoweth and Ellen Greene (Little Shop of Horrors) to name a few. The show which barely lasted a season and a half before its announced cancellation in November 2008 by ABC, basically revolved around Ned (Pace) who possesses the unique talent of being able to bring the dead to life merely by a simple touch, but the person only remained alive only for one minute, or else someone else died for them. Another touch rendered the person dead again and unable to be revived. With his connections through Private Investigator Emerson Cod (McBride), Ned revives his childhood sweetheart, Chuck (Friel). The trio, aided occasionally by Olive Snook (Chenoweth), helps to try and solve the mysteries of various murders and are often very surprising. I honestly haven't seen the series to give a personal judgment, but my sisters have and they found it very entertaining and compelling. They were very sad to see it cancelled and never to be seen again...well until DVD that is.
Along for the entire roller coaster ride was composer Jim Dooley, a local New York product and NYU Graduate who is yet another protege of Academy Award winner Hans Zimmer and added his own voice to Zimmer's scores such as Pearl Harbor, Tears Of The Sun, The Da Vinci Code, Black Hawk Down, Hannibal, The Ring among the many scores he worked on. Recently he composed music for the video game series SOCOM, the Beyonce Knowles thriller "Obsessed" and the TV series, Neighbors From Hell. Pushing Daisies is Dooley's biggest project that he's worked on his own and the music has a diverse style to it. It music you can say would be in the style of composers Thomas Newman, David Newman and even Zimmer in parts. There's also a touch of Broadway in some of the vocals featured throughout the series run which adds even further to the diversity. The music can be fun and whimiscal at times, but also dramatic. While the series has been cancelled for sometime now, Varese Sarabande has done a very nice service to fans of the show and Dooley's music for the series to put out another album of music. They released the first album in late 2008 just as the series had been announced for cancellation. Here begs the question: how well would the music itself hold up on a soundtrack album after all these years and would anyone remember it other than fans of the show. Well, that's why I'm here for...(smiles).
So with that, I will say that I'm amazed that this album got released at all and that we should all be grateful that it exists in the first place thanks to the great folks at Varese, who always put out top notch projects. They've also put out other great TV soundtracks over the years like Lost, Prison Break, 24,The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and Fringe to name a few and you can certainly add this one to that list. The problem with television score soundtracks are that most of the time the music is mainly transitional and there really isn't a chance for any musical development to occur, unless it was a series like I've already mentioned which did allow for that sorta thing. Glee is definitely another one that comes to mind. The soundtracks albums mostly feature short cues without any musical development and often function as a library music to be looped at times in other episodes when need be. The music for Pushing Daisies you can say does function in that way on this album, but it is not without some very nice moments. The album at times does function like a film score which is a plus, but the tracks are sometimes too short to enjoy. I cannot say the music is terrible because it clearly isn't and there is superb musicianship at hand here. To me it's one of the better TV series that I've heard on CD, Young Indiana Jones Chronicles is definitely the best one for my money's worth.
Varese's album is a solid production and clearly went through a lot of trouble to put it together and they are to be commended for rescuing the music from total oblivion. The artwork is nice and there is a nice note by Dooley himself about the album came to be. The album is lengthy and doesn't wear out its welcome too soon and doesn't last too long in memory either. That's where my problem is that you really have to be a fan of this series to enjoy it for the most part because on its own, it's a hit and miss affair. The other problem is the simple fact that you haven't heard the first album that came out, then you simply can't enjoy the simple pleasures that both albums could offer. Having heard both albums, I can easily say that most of the best music for the series was on the first album, but it's not to say that the music on this album isn't as likeable.
While greatful that a second album for the now defunct series still lives on, the album is an enjoyable hit and miss affair. Still fans of Pushing Daisies should still savor this album for what it is. Cheerful nostalgia.
Pushing Daisies Season 1 and Season 2 are currently available at www.barnesnoble.com, www.jr.com, www.bestbuy.com, www.amazon.com and http://www.varesesarabande.com/servlet/the-494/Pushing-Daisies-cln--Seas...
TRACK LIST:
1. Young Pie Pusher (1:48)
2. Colonel Lickin’ (2:14)
3. Betty’s Bees (2:55)
4. Welcome Home (1:48)
5. Magic Night (1:48)
6. Cannon Range (1:39)
7. Clown Revival (1:37)
8. Remember Lazarus (1:13)
9. Young Olive (2:48)
10. Holy Drop & Emerson (1:33)
11. Dad’s Magic (1:21)
12. Young Emerson Cod (3:00)
13. Friends, Inc. (3:05)
14. Steamy Buns (1:38)
15. Dim Sum Meet (2:33)
16. Cod’s Plan (3:21)
17. Maurice & Ralston (2:51)
18. Crank Call (:48)
19. Interrogation (1:21)
20. Olive Darling! (1:23)
21. Trophy Facts (1:18)
22. Desert Chicken Pox (3:37)
23. Nora Undeaded (2:03)
24. Cod & Olive Interview (1:40)
25. Norwegians! (1:44)
26. Olive’s Neglect (2:14)
27. Dickers (1:28)
28. Coco Juniper (1:51)
29. Young Cod At School (1:30)
30. Cod and Stingwell (2:01)
31. Last Wrap Up (1:51)
