I'm giving this 2018 release of the soundtrack to "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" three stars. It's both nice to have and a rather sharp disappointment at the same time. Knowing what I know now, I might not have pre-ordered it, and I certainly would not have wanted to pay full price for it.

Why? It's a mediocre product (at best). It's the mono music and sound effects track from the Halloween special. Apparently the original master tapes of the recording sessions have long been lost, so this was the only way to create a "soundtrack" for this special. In that sense, it is nice to have, because otherwise there would be no soundtrack available at all. On the other hand, many of the music cues are awkwardly faded in and out, obviously due to the places where scene changes and commercial breaks are in the program.

The worst thing about this album is that it's only 20 minutes long. While that's a fair amount of music for a half-hour TV special, it makes for a lousy CD or LP -- especially a full-price one. Had they combined the music from the Halloween special with the music from another special (like the Thanksgiving special), it would have made for a nice, full-length album, but this feels far too short to be considered a real album.

My advice? Either get the digital download (the mono tracks here just aren't of high-enough fidelity to make a CD or LP worth the extra expense), or just skip this altogether and enjoy the music from the TV special itself on DVD or blu-ray. This is a must-own for serious Vince Guaraldi completists only.