''Escape from Television'' is a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

by Czech-American musician

Jan Hammer Jan Hammer () (born 17 April 1948) is a Czech-American musician, composer, and record producer. He rose to prominence while playing keyboards with the Mahavishnu Orchestra during the early 1970s, as well as with his film scores for television an ...

, released in 1987 by

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...

Content

The album contains selected

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

pieces composed and performed by Hammer that had been used as

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

in the American television series ''

Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo Tubbs, Ricardo "Rico" Tub ...

'' prior to the album's release, along with the main theme to the series, plus one of Hammer's tracks that was not used in the series ("Before the Storm").

Singles

"''Miami Vice'' Theme" had been released as a single in 1985, becoming a worldwide hit, including reaching number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Three other tracks were released as singles: "

Crockett's Theme "Crockett's Theme" is an instrumental song composed by Jan Hammer for the hit NBC television series ''Miami Vice''. The surname Crockett refers to Don Johnson's character, James "Sonny" Crockett. The initial version of the theme first appeared ...

", which also became a worldwide hit in 1987, "Tubbs and Valerie", which reached number 84 in the UK Singles Chart and number 34 in Germany that year, and "Forever Tonight", which reached number 62 in Germany and number 74 in the Netherlands.

Critical reception

In a review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, the album was given four out of five stars, being described as containing "a very strong style of

hen Hen commonly refers to a female animal: a female chicken, other gallinaceous bird, any type of bird in general, or a lobster. It is also a slang term for a woman. Hen, HEN or Hens may also refer to: Places Norway *Hen, Buskerud, a village in R ...

current instrumental music ..with the edge of rock music and the smooth, spacey appeal of some of the more progressive

New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...

musicians."

Track listing

All tracks written by Jan Hammer.

Personnel

Adapted from the album's

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

. *Produced and engineered by

*Recorded and mixed at Red Gate Studio, Kent, New York *Mastered by

Bob Ludwig Robert Carl Ludwig (born December 11, 1944), is a retired American mastering engineer. He mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists, including Led Zeppeli ...

Masterdisk Masterdisk is an American multimedia company in New York, located at 8 John Walsh Boulevard in Peekskill. They provide production services such as audio mastering, vinyl cutting and enhanced CD and DVD production. Their clients include such n ...

, New York *Track 13 remixed by

François Kevorkian François Kevorkian (; born 10 January 1954), also known by the stage name François K, is a French DJ, producer, remixer and label owner of Armenian descent and based in the United States of America, who started his career DJing in clubs such ...

*Artwork: The Complete Works *Liner notes: Arthur Levy *Photography: Chris Callis

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

''Escape from Television''
at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

{{Authority control 1987 compilation albums Jan Hammer albums MCA Records compilation albums