THE INCREDIBLE HULK
(Original Soundtrack Recording)
Artist: Joseph Harnell
Produced by: Joseph Harnell and Ford Thaxton
Released by: THE SUPER TRACKS MUSIC GROUP
Review: (c) 1999 by Mark Rathwell

One of the more common questions that I get asked by fans of THE INCREDIBLE HULK  is, "Where can I buy a soundtrack for the series?" Until recently, fans who wanted to hear Joseph Harnell's incredible scoring for the series had to look long and hard. Mr. Harnell released a 2-CD promotional set a few years ago on Five Jays Records which chronicled his compositions from THE INCREDIBLE HULK, THE BIONIC WOMAN and other shows. This set was, unfortunately, both extremely rare and very expensive. THE INCREDIBLE HULK's main theme had also been featured on the TELEVISION'S GREATEST HITS (VOLUME 6) compilation but that was a lot of money to pay for just the main title theme. And, of course, there were also rare "cover" albums such as the 16 SUPERHERO THEMES album which featured other musicians covering the Lonely Man piano music which played at the end of every episode.

Until now. This fall, the SUPER TRACKS MUSIC GROUP released the original soundtrack recording of THE INCREDIBLE HULK. The CD is a whopping 18 track extravaganza featuring some of Joseph Harnell's best scores from the series. The opening music is here, as is Lonely Man, the rousing music from Prometheus and much, much more. The CD is nearly 74 minutes long and uses almost every second of available space. The sound quality is pretty good too, considering how old some of these recordings are.  The CD packaging is also very nice, featuring some well-known INCREDIBLE HULK promotional pictures and a nice, multicoloured CD silkscreen. There are two pages of linear notes inside the CD booklet. The notes about the series itself don't really say anything new (much of the research seems to be pulled from this web-site) but the notes about Joseph Harnell's career are very enlightening. For trivia buffs, the album's producer, Ford Thaxton may seem familiar to visitors of this page: he contributed to early versions of THE INCREDIBLE HULK television series FAQ. Other interesting trivia:  it seems that Mr. Harnell and Ken Johnson seemed to have worked together a lot over the years, as THE MIKE DOUGLAS SHOW, ALIEN NATION, V, and THE BIONIC WOMAN all featured the talents of each man. As a very nice touch, the CD is dedicated to the memories of Bill Bixby (who passed away in the fall 1993) and Nicholas Corea (who passed away in the spring of 1999).

The selection of music is really good. Some of the more rousing scores from each season are featured here, including a lot of music from the pilot film itself. Even the oddities such as THE INCREDIBLE HULK (disco version) are interesting. Certainly listening to the CD all the way through will bring back memories of particular episodes and events for seasoned Hulk viewers. A few notable themes are missing, including the Hulk's rousing race through New York in TERROR IN TIMES SQUARE but the CD literally is packed. A few people might also balk at the high price of the CD ($19.99 US) but you've got to consider that they really did pack the CD full of music and that they probably only did a limited production run.  If the CD was guaranteed to sell a million copies, the price might be a lot lower, but you've got to consider that this is a specialty item and that the manufacturers won't benefit from economies of scale.

I welcomed this CD into my collection and thank this company for making the CD available. For those who are interested in purchasing the CD, it is available on the internet at:

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