'Super' CDs are a mix of old and new

Superman, schmooperman. What's so cool about Superman?

Well, he's faster than a speeding bullet. And more powerful than a locomotive, etc., etc.

But there's something about the Man of Steel that has kept him in the comics, books, video games, on the movie screen and on TV.

He's charismatic. And for a superhero, he's not the dark brooding type like Batman or Moon Knight. He's an optimistic do-gooder who is always trying to do the right thing.

Oh, and did I mention he's the United States' most popular illegal immigrant?

Anyway, with the release of "Superman Returns," the last son of Krypton's reach has widened enormously.

And music, of course, has hopped on the soaring cape-and-tights contrail.

Two CDs — the "Superman Returns" soundtrack and a rock-tunes compilation, "Sound of Superman" — have been unleashed.

• COMPOSER JOHN OTTMAN is no stranger to scoring superhero soundtracks. He did music for "Fantastic Four" and "X-Men 2." Now he's back with his most popular client — Kal-El, son of Jor-El, also known as Clark Kent to his Earth family.

The pressure Ottman felt must have been heavier than a ton of lead free-falling from a wrecked jetliner, because he had to follow in the footsteps of soundtrack-composer extraordinaire John Williams.

Williams, of course, scored the first Christopher Reeve "Superman" movie in 1978. And instead of writing new music for the sequels, Williams just let the other composers reuse and rehash his original score.

And that's what happens with "Superman Returns."

While Ottman wrote new music for the film, it's the original theme that draws the listener in.

Still, doing this type of soundtrack makes sense because "Superman Returns" is suppose to be a direct sequel to "Superman II." As when the late Marlon Brando reappears digitally as Jor-El in "Superman Returns" and Ottman taps into Williams' original score but adds his own music to highlight and complement it.

Even Williams' "Can You Read My Mind?" sequence is referred to in a nostalgic, moving arrangement.

Although there is plenty of original Ottman music on the score, listeners will cling to the more familiar melodies and come away humming Williams' music and not Ottman's.