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Posted: |
Jun 18, 2014 - 3:57 PM
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By: |
bobbengan
(Member)
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CAPRICORN ONE. I can think of few scores where the original re-recording/album is vastly superior to the film version, which sound small, underpowered and poorly-recorded in my opinion.
John Scott's KING KONG LIVES needs to be mentioned as well. An outstanding album assembly, though personally if I had prepared the score for album, I would have mixed all of those wonderful, swirling, Ravelian woodwinds flourishes from the finale and end credits (heard very prominently in the film) a whole lot higher on album as they are a bit buried at times.
Also, while I'd love to finally have a great cleaned up version of the full score without weird edits et al from the 2CD release, Jones' original release of THE DARK CRYSTAL is a fabulous album experience, as is his score from the following year, NATE AND HAYES, another incomplete but wonderfully-prepared album.
Williams' THE FURY and JAWS 4 for sure as well, those LP assemblies are tops!
While I've read that Joel McNeely's IRON WILL is missing a ton of great music, I haven't seen the film and that Varese CD doesn't have a single ounce of fat on it. Ditto for his GOLD DIGGERS album from the following year.
Richard Band's original MUTANT as well (Varese LP then Intrada CD w/ identical content), a favorite horror score of mine with an excellent album assembly. Perhaps I'd appreciate the expanded score more if Perseverance Records hadn't botched the sound quality to such an unlistenable degree. Band's THE ALCHEMIST/HOUSE ON SORORITY ROW double album is perhaps my favorite Intrada CD with a fantastic assembly, but having not seen either film I can't comment on what's missing.
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But I've also gotta say that plenty of original albums did do a disservice to the scores for the sake of album arrangements.
Composers clearly do build their themes and ideas towards the climaxes of films. Switching the order to create a balance of fast-slow-fast-slow and the like can weaken album presentations for me.
A couple of Goldsmith examples:
ALIEN- I used to think that this was a great album, but now I get worn out by the reappearance of the main theme, tacked on to some of the rougher patches of the score as if to say, it's ok, here's something prettier. I think the original score plays much better both musically and cinematically.
STAR TREKS 1 and 5: In both cases, the last two cues of each album make for weaker finishes. The Meld is the climax of the MOTION PICTURE - playing it earlier in the album weakens the payoff. And going from the mid-score "Free Minds" to the blustery end titles in FINAL FRONTIER always felt like a weak almost wimp-out on the album. In both cases the full presentations work better to my ears.
In the old LP days, I think Goldsmith didn't so much create great albums as great side one's. CAPRICORN ONE, WIND AND THE LION, ALIEN, GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY, STMP - all these felt to me like such great side ones that I sometimes just never turned the album over, cause side two wasn't as strong overall.
I think this improved when the focus changed with CDs. And though I adore the expanded INNERSPACE, I agree with someone else that the original one-side suite on the Geffen album was a perfect listen. So maybe sometimes 20 minutes or so works as well as the whole blessed thing.
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Kind of a silly thread, because most all original album presentations are good presentations of the score.
Not silly at all and I disagree, a number of album presentations have given an inaccurate idea of the kind of score being represented. Jerry Goldsmith was a big one for de-emphasizing his action cues of his action scores in favor of more quiet cues. Even as late as Star Trek Nemesis. Not a good presentation at all.
It’s a personal preference, of course, but in my experience “most” album presentations are not necessarily good representations of the score. “Many” are. “Many” are not.
I felt the original albums for Total Recall and Star Trek II were really great for representing their
respective scores.
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Kind of a silly thread, because most all original album presentations are good presentations of the score.
Yup, I agree with that. I've rarely -- if ever -- heard a carefully arranged album that I didn't like, presentation-wise. It's their personal arrangement, their artistic reconceptualization of the score. So for me, it would be impossible to list great A&A (arranged & abbreviated) albums, since almost all of them qualify. But it's interesting to read the picks from all of you who tend to prefer C&C.
Only silly if you don't actually read the opening post. Read it again.
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I think it's been said before, but I think "THE RUSSIA HOUSE" would have been served better by a shorter program on disc.
It's a fabulous score, fabulously played, but perhaps the classic example of something that is maybe too repetitive on disc.
Cheers
Couldn't disagree more..
I love that album from start to finish..
Off all the albums to bitch about being too long, this isn't one of them IMHO.
Ford A. Thaxton
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Original album arrangements from...
The Wind and the Lion
Capricorn One
The Omen
Jaws
ET
The extended versions are great, but those originals... wow...
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Jaws is definitely another good one worth pointing out. JW really knew what he was doing when he set down to do that re-recording.
I'd agree with Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan as well. Horner really chose the perfect highlights and the perfect order to present them in for that score. The only thing I'd change is the Spock narration 
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For clarification:
The point of the thread isn't: "Which albums were good?"
It's: "Which albums were so good that you are at least as likely to, or more likely to, play them than a C&C representation".
Cheers
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it left out a coupla great tracks but
THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY is amazing - even for 1968
EVERY track is a gem
brm
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I want to second the vote for HOUSE ON SORORITY ROW/ALCHEMIST - Intrada put together a great album, it's among Band's finest.
And on the point of making our own albums from C&C archives: I don't do that. Never did. Never will.
I LIKE prepared albums just like I LIKE concerts. I like the editorial decisions made by the creators and producers. Don't always agree, but usually they're more or less right.
The biggest selling albums in film music have always been editorially created albums derived from the soundtrack ... from DR. ZHIVAGO to STAR WARS to TITANIC to FROZEN. So maybe it's not such a bad idea.
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