How complete is your film music collection?
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I consider my collection of film score albums almost complete. There is maybe a handful of albums where I am waiting on an opportunity to get them at a reasonable price like Horner’s Brainstorm. And I would buy either an expansion or a reissue with improved sound quality of James Newton Howard’s Unbreakable.
Any new Rózsa or Alfred Newman rerecording would be welcome. Or a new John Williams expansion.
But I think, that’s about it.I am anyway not deep into new or modern film scores and in that sense more the nostalgic type.
How about the others here? How complete are your collections and what are you missing or looking forward to?
Good topic, Gerate!
I have about 3000 albums, covering almost 700 different composers and artists, which is enough for a lifetime, really. So in that way, it’s sorta ‘complete’. But I’m always exploring and exploring, both within the works of composers I know and those I’m not too familiar with, old and new alike. Right now, it’s all come to a halt due to the aforementioned tinnitus problems (which has killed 90% of my music enjoyment), but I hope I will get back into it at some point.
Another way to interpret ‘completeness’ is in regards to the composers to whom you have a completist relationship. For film music, that means Williams, Elfman and Goldenthal for me (even though Elfman and Goldenthal are now slightly off my top 10…once you start a completist streak, it’s difficult to stop). I have pretty much everything by all of these, but I’m missing some titles on physical media, since they’ve been too expensive for me in recent years. Right now, I’m missing 7 by Williams, 12 by Elfman and 6 by Goldenthal on CD/LP, within my parameters (which obviously doesn’t include expansions).
I have about 3000 albums, covering almost 700 different composers and artists
Wow! That is a collection.
The times when I counted my albums are long gone. But in the meantime I think, I own a lot of albums, that I wouldn’t have needed and would have been fine to just experience them once or twice on streaming. But maybe their time.will come. Especially some of the Stromberg rerecordings.Fortunately, one doesn’t have to count anymore. My iTunes counts 2870 albums at the present time, and then I probably have about 200 LPs on top of that (all CDs were transferred to iTunes years ago, and are included in the 2870 number).
Do you plan on unloading some of those albums you don’t feel you need?
If so, feel free to send them to me. 😀
Seriously though, it’s very easy to set up a Discogs store, much less cumbersome than Ebay.
Do you plan on unloading some of those albums you don’t feel you need?
Sometimes yes. Especially, since I promised to my wife my two new CD cupboards will last forever and I won’t need a new one ever. And these are full now. So, if I get new albums, I will have to throw something out.
Right. The discussion we have is not about music, but about our joined living space. And in our flat there are no more walls for more shelves.
She wouldn’t mind if I bought another thousand CDs and store them in a box under the bed. But I believe she’s right and I took the challenge to get it managed with my two shelves.I have a lot Goldsmiths and Williams which is surely extensive but not complete. I think Goldenthal I have indeed more or less complete including concert works but that’s a little easier as he doesn’t have that much releases 😉 But I am not a completist for completism’s sake anyway.
But I am not a completist for completism’s sake anyway.
Booooooooh! How DARE you call yourself a soundtrack fan? 😉
The interesting question here is rather, how long are your lists of albums that are missing to complete your collection?
When I started collecting music, I was about 14. First LPs, then later my first CDs. Much later again digital downloads (I bought my first one in 2018… but I count them with the rest). I imagined one day, a future version of myself standing in front of my shelf, not just filled with discs, but with a representative collection classical and film music, a shelf filled with emotion and memories… and I guess I am now at that point.
All the major film scores by the likes of Jerry Goldsmith, John Williams, Ennio Morricone… they are there. Classical works from Vivaldi and Bach to Penderecki? They are there.
I don’t necessarily have ALL of their film scores, I certainly don’t have ALL Ennio Morricone scores, but quite a few. iTunes says I have 240 Jerry Goldsmith albums, that’s certainly almost all of his released film scores, but not quite all.
That does not mean my collection is literally “complete”. Can it ever be? “Completeness” implies a certain fixed immobility; I do not like that. Obviously, I still discover new music or new composers to explore. The universe is expanding, and so is the world of music. Take Carl Nielsen, for example. My first Nielsen CD landed on my shelf sometime last century. I liked it, but didn’t pay all that much attention to it. For years, it stood alone. Then in 2016, something shifted. I began exploring him seriously. Now, shelf space has filled up with four complete symphony cycles, plus chamber works and more.
Another more recent revelation was Arnold Bax. No idea why I skipped him for so long. But when I finally tuned in, I heard something raw and luminous. Music that punches and haunts. Some of it sounds like it could have written for mysterious science fiction worlds.
So while my collection is not “literally” complete, and cannot really be for as long as I live, it is complete in another way. It is complete in the sense that it became everything I once hoped it would be. And more. My 14 year old self would be proud of me. Well, at least in that regard. 🙂
Apart from a few doubled up CDs etc. which I keep boxed up in our garage, (some of which I actually got rid of a few years ago), my music collection is an integral part in our living room, always has been. It’s on USM Haller highboards (which means, theoretically, I can expand them), but it’s got room for them all and still some space left. Of course, I have doubled up rows here and there, but since I don’t actually need to access my CDs to play them anymore, that doesn’t bother me.
Anyway, it happens that guests notice the music shelf; it has certainly been a conversation piece now and then.The interesting question here is rather, how long are your lists of albums that are missing to complete your collection?
I don’t really have a list… obviously, there are some albums I would love to have but that have not been released, like Maurice Jarre’s 5 CARD STUD and William Lava’s THE GOOD GUYS AND THE BAD GUYS. The latter is a long shot, I know, but heck if I know why the former has never had a proper release. It was composed by an A-list composer and even features a Dean Martin title song.
Of those soundtracks that have been released that are definite “missing” to “complete” my collection, as in, I have to get it one day, I cannot think of too many… let’s see… there is..
Ennio Morricone: THE HILLS RUN RED
Fred Karlin’s FUTUREWORLD
It’s been released years ago, but I missed it, and never got around to picking it up. Unfortunately, it’s not available digitally either.There are some others that I’d like to have that for some reason have not yet turned up in my collection, like John Cacavas AIRPORT 1975 or Peter Schickele’s SILENT RUNNING, though I’ve got the LP of the latter, and both of these scores are available on Qobuz, so I can listen to them.
That doesn’t mean that’s all… I’m sure there are others that I would like to have that I just cannot think of right away. But over the years, I managed to “complete” many gaps in my collection.
There are hundreds, if not thousands of CDs I would have loved to buy, if money and space weren’t an issue. But for now, I’m concentrating on those I need on physical format, for completist purposes, to a price I can accept:
John Williams – Goodbye Mr. Chips (3CD)
John Williams – Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (2CD)
John Williams – Live in Vienna (Blu-ray)
John Williams – Live in Berlin (Blu-ray)
John Williams – Live in Tokyo (Blu-ray)
John Williams – Across the Stars (Deluxe Edition)
John Williams – Violin Concerto No. 2
John Williams – Disclosure DayDanny Elfman – Avengers: Age of Ultron
Danny Elfman – Goosebumps
Danny Elfman – Before I Wake
Danny Elfman – The Grinch
Danny Elfman – Big Mess
Danny Elfman – Bigger Messier
Danny Elfman – Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (LP)
Danny Elfman – Aliens, Clowns and Geeks
Danny Elfman – Wednesday (LP)
Danny Elfman – Third Coast Percussion: Perspectives
Danny Elfman – Percussion Concerto/Wunderkammer
Danny Elfman – Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Danny Elfman – Dark Universe (LP)
Danny Elfman – Bullet Time (LP single)Elliot Goldenthal – Othello Symphony
Elliot Goldenthal – Jabberwocky
Elliot Goldenthal – Symphony in G Minor
Elliot Goldenthal – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Elliot Goldenthal – The Glorias
Elliot Goldenthal – Music for FilmsRammstein – Zeit
Jean Michel Jarre – Snapshots from EON
Jean Michel Jarre – Amazonia
Jean Michel Jarre – Oxymore: Works
John Helliwell – Ever Open Door
John Helliwell – Don’t Ever Leave Me
John Helliwell – The Bari Session
David Gilmour – Luck and Strange
Richard Wright – Zee: IdentityThere are hundreds, if not thousands of CDs I would have loved to buy, if money and space weren’t an issue.
Yes, same for me. However I have most of Goldenthals listed or Superman IV digitally and that’s totally sufficient for me (even if not all lossless). For said money reasons I gave up the “I only really have it if I have the CD” credo long time ago…
I never was a completist in film music. For my favourite Bands yes. But movie soundtracks, no. I got a little infected, when I joined the JWFan community and when I found out, that it gets more and more difficult to purchase soundtrack CDs at a reasonable price. There I started buying stuff, especially golden age rerecordings, without really knowing it just to check it out. And I became kind of a completist for John Williams.
Btw, two albums that I missed out on in physical format are Joel McNeely’s rerecording of Herrmann’s North By Northwest and Rózsa’s Fedora. Both I have just in digital format.
John Williams – Goodbye Mr. Chips (3CD)
John Williams – Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (2CD)
John Williams – Live in Vienna (Blu-ray)
John Williams – Live in Berlin (Blu-ray)
John Williams – Live in Tokyo (Blu-ray)
John Williams – Across the Stars (Deluxe Edition)
John Williams – Violin Concerto No. 2With the John Williams concert albums you can be lucky at Black Friday sales. Are you really just interested in the BluRays or the versions BluRay plus audio CDs?
Just the Blu-rays, if they are available separately. I don’t need the album; it’s “double up” (or “butter on fat”, as we say in Norway). Even if I don’t have a Blu-ray player at the present time.
While it’s no doubt possible to find them in sales at some point, there are all the other issues that jank up the price, per the “Four Threats” thread.
Do you have all of these?
I have the violin concerto doubled because it’s also contained in the The Legend of John Williams box.
Across the Stars deluxe I have as well. Btw the longest CD I own with slightly over 82 minutes. Live in Berlin of course for the remembrance. The Tokyo deluxe box with the CDs I only bought, because it was available at a black friday sale.
I refused to buy the Vienna disc as the only interesting track for me would have been the ASM version of Devil’s Dance. But that was not enough. I was shortly tempted when there was the version with the bonus tracks from Vienna 2. But it never came out officially in Europe.Of these I personally have and do not have:
John Williams – Goodbye Mr. Chips (3CD)
I’m afraid I don’t have that one… missed it. Can’t have everything.John Williams – Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (2CD)
Yes, that one I have via the FSM Blue Box.John Williams – Live in Vienna (Blu-ray)
Yep, Bluray/CD version. I haven’t actually watched the Bluray yet, though I have heard the CDs.John Williams – Live in Berlin (Blu-ray)
Yep, same as Vienna, Bluray/CD version. Once again, I haven’t actually watched the Bluray yet, though I have heard the CDs.John Williams – Live in Tokyo (Blu-ray)
No, I don’t have that one… just didn’t feel like buying every single concert outing by John Williams, especially not in light of the fact that most of the material is the same. The Tributes! (for Seiji) would be nice to have though. I thought I’ve got Vienna, I’ve got Berlin… that’s John Williams conducting two of the premier orchestras of Europe, which both have a very different sound and performance tradition. That’s pretty cool.John Williams – Across the Stars (Deluxe Edition)
Yep, got that.John Williams – Violin Concerto No. 2
Got that one too.I have to say,the biggest asset from the Tokyo concert for me isn’t the tribute piece but the suite from E.T.
Really like that recording.
But I am slightly annoyed by that publication politics of putting one rare track on a best of album.I don’t like that they’re basically all the same programs, but suppose I have to own them for completist purposes (especially the Berlin one, since I was actually there — although I’ve come to understand there isn’t a lot from the Thursday premiere performance, it’s most from Saturday’s).
For my top three favorite composers – Goldsmith, Williams and Chris Young, I think my collection is pretty complete, with some 360, 200 and 100 CDs, respectively. I also have, I think, all their LPs, at least the ones released concurrently with the movies (I haven’t joined the recent vinyl resurgence craze).
My definition of “complete” is basically everything the composer has composed – meaning, for instance, that I don’t have every release where Williams was “only” the pianist or arranger.
I realize that being a “completist” might seem somewhat stupid. I mean, I buy every Goldsmith release, but I’ve listened to CRIMINAL LAW maybe twice (or was it once…?), and I have no plans to do it again. Still, trying to get a complete collection of something (or someone) you like and admire can be fun. And as Thor said, once you start, it can be hard to stop!
I don’t really have any “holy grails” I’m looking for at the moment. These days, I mostly buy stuff that’s readily available, either new releases by my favorite composers, or other stuff that I’ve sampled and found interesting, or that other people have recommended.
Thor, I’m sorry to hear that your tinnitus is having such a negative impact on your listening. 🙁
I have tinnitus myself, but it’s not affecting my listening to any noticeable degree. So far, anyway…I don’t like wasting space, so if I have an album I’m quite certain I won’t listen to again, I get rid of it.
My collection is SOOO incomplete! I don’t even have all the works of Gil Mellé and Basil Kirchin!
As regards to my OTHER favourite composers (Goldsmith and Williams), I think I’m missing about 50% of their output (counting expanded editions). Partly because I can’t afford them, and partly because I don’t want them.
My collection is SOOO incomplete! I don’t even have all the works of Gil Mellé and Basil Kirchin!
As regards to my OTHER favourite composers (Goldsmith and Williams), I think I’m missing about 50% of their output (counting expanded editions). Partly because I can’t afford them, and partly because I don’t want them.
On the bright side, I think you have more Leonard Rosenman and Gerald Fried than I do.
When I look through my music collection, it is quite “finished”. Of course, not in the sense of “literally” being ever complete… I mean, music will be something that will stick around with me until I kick the bucket, so there will always be a new album here and there added. Not necessarily on CD, I’m just as happy to go for digital downloads. I just got Danny Elfman’s DRACULA, so obviously, this is still a “going on thing”.
But by and large, it is “complete”. It is complete in the sense that there is very, very little I ever wanted that it is missing.
Of the film scores that are released but that are missing in my collection which I will want to get one day, there’s John Cacavas AIRPORT 1975 and Fred Karlin’s FUTUREWORLD… but one day they’ll be there.
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