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Posted: |
Oct 28, 2024 - 4:15 AM
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By: |
RichC
(Member)
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Well, that was quite the experience.
The music has always been sublime, of course, and the recording has always been top-notch, but this release elevates the material to something intangibly special.
There's a crystalline clarity to every note, every tiny element of orchestration, that seems to breathe new life into familiar cues. It's not that the score sounds like it was recorded yesterday – that would be to miss the point. It's not even that it sounds like it was recorded in the 60s, which it does, and it was – it's the fact that this now somehow feels like the proto-60s recording, as if everything that defined that decade's musical revolution has been distilled down into one forty-minute package. Everything about it is just so precise and warm and enticing – even small moments enchant, like the acoustic guitar and quietly insistent brush-percussion in the title song, or the finger cymbals, piercing the centre of the brain in the most welcome way, or that low, brooding, melancholic brass, threaded throughout the score, which curls like fog about the feet of the listener. It's all just so timeless, so addictive, so right.
There's only so much that can be done, of course, and there are issues baked into those original recordigs that cannot be countered (the occasional instance of phasing/flanging, heard particularly during Bond Back In Acton Again, the momentary distortion in Dawn Raid on Fort Knox, and those ragged harp overlays in Arrival of the Bomb and Countdown are all still present, and I wouldn't have it any other way – and one has to wonder if John Barry was even involved in Goldfinger – intstrumental version, because its almost hapless, “let's do the show right here” execution and recording is both hard to champion, yet immensely enjoyable at the same time).
It's a long time since I've listened to Newley's demo, and I'd quite forgotten the magical final few moments, as he takes the song in a delightful, unrepeatable direction. And Shirley Bassey offers just another reason why she was so in demand during this period. Quite apart from her obvious talents as a singer, here she demonstrates what a good actor she is, too – for she offers us two totally distinct interpretations of the song's lyric: one from the point of view of an almost innocent young girl, tarnished by a brush with evil, and the more familiar take, described by a brasher, more experienced woman who has seen it all, and now wishes to broadcast a warning to the unwary. Quite brilliant.
Finally, the CD ends, and you're left with three indelible questions: Why can't all scores be this good? Why can't all albums be this good? Why can't all music be this good?
The complete package is, as always, impeccable, and the whole thing just has a finessed air of quality about it.
So, in no particular order, several magnitudes of thanks to Neil, Doug, Mike, Matt, Jim, Frank, Dan, Chris and everyone else involved in this release.
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This score was as new and shocking as that initial blast of brass in the title song.
The most influential score of the mid to late sixties--until easy riders and Mrs. Robinson took over.
Knocked Mary Poppins from the #1 spot on the Billboard charts and stayed there for three weeks; 22 weeks in the top 10; 70 weeks in the Top 200.
And the score and song set the style for future Bond films, keeping the aging and drifting franchise on course.
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The remaster definitely packs more punch. It is immediately noticeable from the opening gun barrel music that it's been kicked in the ass and made better than ever. The Shirley Bassey theme has never sounded better.
Kudos to Lalaland for making this happen
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I got my copy yesterday. Splendid stuff all around, sound, notes and graphic design.
One thing I've never heard definitively addressed: are the "score presentation" tracks essentially a stereo dub from the first generation scoring masters? Isn't that what we've been listening to all these years?
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My copy of Goldfinger arrived in London yesterday, passed through customs and is on it's way to cloudy Lancashire.
Got a tracking update today to say it's in Madrid!!!!
How the hell did it get there, hopefully it'll eventually find it's way to me.
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Got a tracking update today to say it's in Madrid!!!!.
It's just some of my ex colleagues messing with you.
Just kidding.
Anyway I had an intrada order, once, where the tracking said it went to Burkina Fasso.
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Got a tracking update today to say it's in Madrid!!!!.
It's just some of my ex colleagues messing with you.
Just kidding.
Anyway I had an intrada order, once, where the tracking said it went to Burkina Fasso.
Looks like someone was being mischievous, Goldfinger arrived today and what a joy it is. I first purchased this score in 1964 and loved it ever since. It's never sounded this good, congratulations to everyone at La La Land involved in the production of this soundtrack. Its tremendous.
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I believe this may sell out via La-La Land or 007 store before any other retailers can obtain copies.
Ado krycha. "I wish… But that won't happen because the release is not a 2-CDs, and there is nothing new here apart from the mastering and sequence of the tracks.
You can see in the comments that quite a few people have already written that they won't buy this release.
Just wondered how the terrible lack of sales were going? Lol
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One thing I've never heard definitively addressed: are the "score presentation" tracks essentially a stereo dub from the first generation scoring masters? Isn't that what we've been listening to all these years?
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One thing I've never heard definitively addressed: are the "score presentation" tracks essentially a stereo dub from the first generation scoring masters? Isn't that what we've been listening to all these years?
Yes, the score presentation tracks are a dub from the original multi-track meaning that it is sourced from the original stereo album master tapes. It is not the true source material because that would be the raw takes such as the multi-track that is presumed to be lost sadly.
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Yes, the score presentation tracks are a dub from the original multi-track meaning that it is sourced from the original stereo album master tapes. It is not the true source material because that would be the raw takes such as the multi-track that is presumed to be lost sadly.
That doesn't answer my question. How many generations away from the actual studio tapes are the tapes serving as the basis for the "Score Presentation" on La-La Land's new album?
Was there a mixdown from the studio tapes before the '64 LP master was created? Could the current "Score Presentation" tracks be, in fact, a third generation tape?
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I listened to this. Good gravy this sounds stunning! For being 60 years young you’d never think it. Well done kids!
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Usually 2 or 3 steps down from the originals?
It's likely the album producers don't know to a certainty.
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I await his verdict on the music with some interest.