Besides STAR WARS, one of the towering achievements in SCI-FI scores is John Williams's literal 'music of the spheres' for the phenonmenal CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THIRD KIND- Spielberg's first film after the genre defining JAWS. Both the film and music greatly hold to even todays standards and are instantly watchable and listenable respectively.
The original Album arrangement while limited to nearly 40 minutes and subsequently issued on cd by Varese (now way out of print) made a spectacular listen on its own. While far from complete the album is well drawn out and balanced for a great listening program. The Arista expanded version (still in print) is also superb for simple reasons such as having more music and re-mastering from original source material. But I just cant make up my mind as to which is better. Both the albums just have a different feel.
The first album (Varese) is basic highlights of the score but its edited in such a way that it could almost be a suite. The Aritsa issue represents the score in a linear flow- with ample of space between the major highlights. Remember, Williams equated his score with atonal passages and climaxing with the breadthtaking tonality in the end and thats a tactic barely applied by even most composers today.
Just got my CE3K Blu ray and I cant telll you how much fun this set is.
Besides STAR WARS, one of the towering achievements in SCI-FI scores is John Williams's literal 'music of the spheres' for the phenonmenal CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THIRD KIND- Spielberg's first film after the genre defining JAWS. Both the film and music greatly hold to even todays standards and are instantly watchable and listenable respectively.
The original Album arrangement while limited to nearly 40 minutes and subsequently issued on cd by Varese (now way out of print) made a spectacular listen on its own. While far from complete the album is well drawn out and balanced for a great listening program. The Arista expanded version (still in print) is also superb for simple reasons such as having more music and re-mastering from original source material. But I just cant make up my mind as to which is better. Both the albums just have a different feel.
The first album (Varese) is basic highlights of the score but its edited in such a way that it could almost be a suite. The Aritsa issue represents the score in a linear flow- with ample of space between the major highlights. Remember, Williams equated his score with atonal passages and climaxing with the breadthtaking tonality in the end and thats a tactic barely applied by even most composers today.
Just got my CE3K Blu ray and I cant telll you how much fun this set is.
Amer
i HAVE THE blu-ray - i have only seen the DC version - but it's still on of my favourite film of all time
Unfortunately, I only got the Alhambra release of the LP programme, which has such inferior sound that I never listened to it again after getting the wonderful Arista CD. The Arista CD is quite long (which is not a bad thing!), and this allows the time for the build-up that makes the listening experience so powerful. CE3K is definitely in my top 10 of scores.
I'm happy enough with the Varese issue. Sometimes these things don't need any more. It's been a while since I last saw the movie; I'm not sure which cut I have on DVD.
I think purely from the point or representation, the old album programme is as well done as the original album for JAWS. I don't turn to it solely because of the bad sound. That being said, I am very happy about the Arista release, because there is lots of wonderful music on it.
Awesome score, sounds as fresh today as it did in the 70's. Loved the film when it first came out but, I think is horribly dated. "Nonsensical" in one word.
Superb film, superb score (both inside and outside its context).
However, I only play the original album. I think I've played the Arista maybe once or twice. I don't like it. So it's currently on my sales list for a mere $7. Anyone?
This is one of Williams' greatest scores in my opinion. The original album had a couple of tracks which were combined and the tracks "Main Title and Mountain Visions" and "I Can' t Believe it's Real" appear to be concert arrangements specifically recorded for that album. These alternate arrangements do not appear in the film, whilst the original film tracks do and are featured complete on the expanded Arista Album.
Whilst it's good to have the revised end credits sequence ("When You Wish Upon A Star" from the 1980 Special Edition) on the Arista album, I believe the original version as heard in the 1977 Theatrical cut and restored to the 1998 Director's cut, can only be found on the original LP/CD reissue (combined as one track, "Resolution and End Title") whereas the separate tracks are offered on the Arista ("The Visitors"/"Bye"/"End Title") - with a very noticeable pause between the second and last.
A great listening experience in either version. As a completist I would always want to have both.
I have to say that I had always enjoyed the album but until I got complete score I had no idea how much wonderful music I was missing. I enjoy the pacing and buildup to the spectacle that is the final section of the score. In its complete version it is a stunner. Love it.
This is one of Williams' greatest scores in my opinion. The original album had a couple of tracks which were combined and the tracks "Main Title and Mountain Visions" and "I Can' t Believe it's Real" appear to be concert arrangements specifically recorded for that album. These alternate arrangements do not appear in the film, whilst the original film tracks do and are featured complete on the expanded Arista Album.
"Nocturnal Pursuit" is certainly an album version.
This is a great score and one of the very few that end on a diminuendo. That is, it ought to end on a diminuendo -- the faint echo of the famous theme as the ship disappears into space and the boy waves goodbye. That is of course the way Williams ends his suite. What follows is wallpaper -- necessary to accompany the endless credit roll (and empty the theater) but musically redundant.
I'd have to listen to them again side by side since it's been a while (I'll probably go with the more complete version because of the greater amount of music I love to appreciate). I'd say sound quality-wise the Arista CD would probably win hands down though since my copy of the OST is on the original Arista LP release and the quality of Arista's vinyl at that time was horrendous. I remember having to take it back a number of times, more than any other LP I ever bought, to finally get one that was "relatively free" of pops, ticks and surface noise. I never got the Varese release.
This score, probably more than any other, re-jump started my enthusiasm for film music when I had ensconced myself almost exclusively in classical music at the time after having been a big film music fan prior to that. It didn't hurt that the film did the same for my film appreciation and was my favorite film for many, many years.
Im playing the Varese version a lot. But I thought that the Varese album was a remix and re-edit from the original sources. Can anyone officially reconfirm that the Varese cd is a mixture of both Album arrangements and original film tracks.
Truly a gem of a score and it was way ahead of its time. Nobody can write a score as avant guarde as this one. A classic.
Extraordinary score but I always thought the film sucked. Cut to a half hour it would make a good short. Mostly the aliens don't make any sense. Thank goodness Carlo Rambaldi (ET) built those two aliens after disastrous previews or else the whole enterprise would have gone done in flames. Apparently, from the way Spielberg kept "revising it" he wasn't too satisfied with it either. The score is something else again. Of course, as everyone knows, much of this was written without Williams ever seeing footage. THAT probably was a good idea. Never watch this but do listen often.
For those who mentioned that the LP configuration of this title was their favorite but that they weren't pleased with the sound quality, I was going to point out that the album was released as an HDAD (24 bit/192 khz DVD-Audio on one side, 24 bit/96 khz DVD-Video on the other) and that the sound quality was much superior to the Varèse Sarabande issue. Unfortunately, it appears to have gone out of print.
James Horner's Glory was also issued in this format.
