You get something special and all yall do is moan and complain. It can be such a downer to come here sometimes.
A label could release the biggest and holiest of all grails and people here would still find something to bitch and moan about. In all honesty I'm surprised some labels still bother posting here.
Gave this a listen today. It’s a short, disjointed curio that’s probably more fun than it should be. There’s no real flow or story to the music. The suspense/“action” in the second half has a nice rhythm to it and replace the upright piano with synths and you’re getting into proto-48HRS territory (but it’s all over before it begins). The love theme is proto-Horner pastoral schlock that mirrors where his tv-movie-of-the-week scores from the early 80s would go (the guitar licks foreshadow Field of Dreams, though). The rest are big band adaptations that should put to rest if Horner had to use Billy May as a crutch later in the 80s with his big band stuff (he clearly didn’t). The problem is this score screams “young composer who isn’t sure he knows what he’s doing,” as cues just sort of start and stop. Thankfully he figured it out quickly. The recording quality is atrocious and probably was done in Horner’s apartment but Intrada has done an admirable job cleaning it up. But there’s a pervasive sense of fun and energy through the whole thing that elevates this slightly and keeps it enjoyable.
Like I said: fun curio. Not one that will be spun often though.
Gave this a listen today. It’s a short, disjointed curio that’s probably more fun than it should be. There’s no real flow or story to the music. The suspense/“action” in the second half has a nice rhythm to it and replace the upright piano with synths and you’re getting into proto-48HRS territory (but it’s all over before it begins). The love theme is proto-Horner pastoral schlock that mirrors where his tv-movie-of-the-week scores from the early 80s would go (the guitar licks foreshadow Field of Dreams, though). The rest are big band adaptations that should put to rest if Horner had to use Billy May as a crutch later in the 80s with his big band stuff (he clearly didn’t). The problem is this score screams “young composer who isn’t sure he knows what he’s doing,” as cues just sort of start and stop. Thankfully he figured it out quickly. The recording quality is atrocious and probably was done in Horner’s apartment but Intrada has done an admirable job cleaning it up. But there’s a pervasive sense of fun and energy through the whole thing that elevates this slightly and keeps it enjoyable.
Like I said: fun curio. Not one that will be spun often though.
I have literally no idea what you're talking about. I'm listening to the 24-bit 96kHz version now and it's terrific. The score is as cohesive as any 30 minute score could be, the writing is surprisingly diverse and mature for a first score, and the sound quality is superb! Intrada has done a magnificent job with this and it's wonderful to finally be able to listen to it.
Meanwhile, I just got to read the liner notes. Really, really fantastic liner notes with a lot of credit to due to Jean-Baptise Martin, who gets a lead writing credit on the liner notes and really hits a home run with them. If what those notes were are anything like the upcoming book will be, we're going to have a seriously good read on our hands.
Also, @Justin Boggan,
on your website, you write under "supposedly rejected"
ALLIGATOR -- James Horner. Supposedly Horner was originally going to score the film, but a musician's strike left him unable to do so. [Craig Huxley; and stock music from other films (including a Jerry Goldsmith cue).]
Lewis Teague confirms this in the liner notes. He mentioned that Horner wrote the whole thing but then couldn't record due to the strike. He suspects that Horner rewrote Alligator as Wolfen.
Meanwhile, I just got to read the liner notes. Really, really fantastic liner notes with a lot of credit to due to Jean-Baptise Martin, who gets a lead writing credit on the liner notes and really hits a home run with them. If what those notes were are anything like the upcoming book will be, we're going to have a seriously good read on our hands.
Wow! Thanks for your nice comment. I was looking forward to getting some initial feedback on my first official participation in writing liner notes. I should point out that this is a co-write with Frank K. DeWald and that without him the result would not have been as satisfying. I was a bit stressed at the beginning, I had a blank page in front of me and I didn't know where to start. It took a few days. I couldn't believe it after writing 1,600 pages on James Horner. And Frank managed to find the right words to get things moving. Indeed, the spirit of the text is identical to that of the soon-to-be-released book. But here the format demands that I be both generous with information and retain only the essentials. It was a balancing act and an interesting challenge.
on your website, you write under "supposedly rejected"
ALLIGATOR -- James Horner. Supposedly Horner was originally going to score the film, but a musician's strike left him unable to do so. [Craig Huxley; and stock music from other films (including a Jerry Goldsmith cue).]
Lewis Teague confirms this in the liner notes. He mentioned that Horner wrote the whole thing but then couldn't record due to the strike. He suspects that Horner rewrote Alligator as Wolfen.
OOOHHH, good to know. And there's something that needs to be recorded!
