[Thor Joachim Haga]

I don’t do playlists either. I want a good record producer, preferably the original composer, to put the album together for me. I wouldn’t buy a DVD/Blu-Ray of a film and edit all the bits I like into a personalised mini-film.

Same here. Alas, I’m “forced” to make playlists sometimes, if there is no previous OST to build from, and sometimes the tracks on a C&C aren’t even the same as on the OST, so there’s no way to replicate it. So I have to make do with whatever meager whittling skills I have, if I want to have any kind of enjoyment out of a score. I listen to albums, not archives™.

[Nick Zwar]

I normally don’t use playlists either, nor do I re-sequence or edit albums. I expect albums to function as a musical listening experience on their own. So unless the release screwed up and sequenced the album in a way that that makes no sense (musically…. soundtrack albums were often sequenced “commercially” rather than “musically”), as in Morricone’s THE UNTOUCHABLES. Or if the cues just don’t fit, as in “That’s real music” from the Prometheus BASIC INSTINCT. The latter is presented chronologically, when it should have been on there as a bonus track, as it just is not part of the actual “BASIC INSTINCT” musical fabric.

[Eirik Myhr]

I listen to albums, not archives™

I listen to both! Agree with almost everything said in this thread by Nick and Graham.
Sometimes I want a curated album, sometimes I want to study the complete work, as an actual film music “study item”. Agree very much that it is a case-by-base thing. Not just composer by composer, but also how personally invested I am in the particular film or score. John Williams I almost always prefer as C&C (sorry Thor :D). Agree what was said about Zimmer as well, but then he does something like THE LION KING, where I absolutely want the C&C of the Disney Legacy edition, with the whole evolving flow of the songs and the score, and how the themes bounce off each other.

What I actually don’t care for is when they have the original album first on a disc, then just stick in all the non-album tracks at the end as “bonus tracks”. That leaves me with the task of crafting my own C&C album or playlist, which to me just feels wrong (not to mention time-consuming)… This is sadly the case with BIG FISH, one of my favourite Elfman scores. The original album was so full of pop/rock tracks (by other artists), and the score part was really just the second half of the album (if not less). When the Elfman/Burton box set was released in 2010, they dropped all the pop/rock tracks that originally started the album, which left the “original album” part ridiculously short, and then added all the other cues as “bonus tracks” at the end. That felt like a really bad compromise, unfinished and kind of butchered. I still want a C&C release of that score. And please, for the STAR WARS prequels as well… 🙂

[Thor Joachim Haga]

John Williams I almost always prefer as C&C (sorry Thor :D)

[Nick Zwar]

John Williams is interesting, as there are some scores by him I prefer on the original album edit, some I prefer as full film scores, and some where I find I continue to enjoy both.

For example, E.T.-The Extra Terrestrial is a great soundtrack album, flows well, so I still enjoy that. However, it omits some of the darker material Williams composed for the movie, so I like the full score as well. I play either. On the other hand, the original album for CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND was quite a disappointment, it’s much better presented on the expanded Arista or La-La Land albums, so I don’t play the original album cut at all anymore. I don’t play the OST for JAWS anymore either; I know it has its adherents, and that’s fine, but I far prefer the full film score for that one. It is much more savage, brutal, more Stravinsky-like, and so I much prefer that. Adios, album edit. Same with A.I., that was an awful album, not just omitting much substance of the composition, but instead including one track twice (which of course reduces re-use fees quite a bit), and putting the (more or less) same pop song twice on the album, once even in the album flow.
In case of MONSIGNOR, Williams rearranged his material a bit for the album, but it’s mostly there. Both the film score and the album are just fine the way they are, but I prefer the album arrangement Williams did for listening purposes.
One of my favorite Williams scores is ROSEWOOD, and here you have two very different albums. The original Sony OST was basically a Gospel Choir album with orchestral interludes, I enjoy that very much. The film score has far less choral songs and is more dramatic in tone, I very much like that as well. So that’s one case where the expanded film score edition La-La Land put out is not a mere “expansion” as in “longer”, but both albums have a very different tone. That was quite a revelation when La-La Land put the film score out, I’m very happy to have picked that one up.

[Malte Müller]

I agree on CLOSE ENCOUNTERS and ET, although only have the older expansions of these and not the Lalaland ones. The complete JAWS I do have and it is also great because of the much better sound.

I like the ROSEWOOD original album and ahve the expansion not as a priority, probably because the few samples Lalaland always posts didn’t convince me it is that different… Well, and its for budgetary reasons, too. I just can’t “re-buy” scores I already have in some form… (I would if I could though ;-))

[Nick Zwar]

Yes, I hear you. I don’t rebuy all these things either; there are some soundtracks I have bought several times, and in some cases I cannot resist, but I weigh individually when I do this and if it’s worth it. In case of CLOSE ENCOUNTERS I make an exception though, as it may be my favorite John Williams score. When it comes to CLOSE ENCOUNTERS and E.T., I have the original album releases (on LP and CD), the original expansions (Arista/MCA) and the La-La Land 2CD sets. I think the earlier expansions were certainly fine and sufficient. I do like that the La-La Land E.T. contains the mysterious, spooky “Main Title”, I think that’s the only album which has that included, but it’s only a minute long, so only fanatics would buy the album for that. All CLOSE ENCOUNTERS expansions play slightly differently, but they are all great. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND is perhaps my favorite John Williams score, and I do have every single version of it. The original Arista expansion plays fine and is great, I was very happy when that was released. The La-La Land 2CD set offers basically two expanded versions of the score: on Disc 1, the tracks are selected to reflect John Williams originally intended 2LP soundtrack album at the time of release (but which never happened, as we all know only a single LP version with a “pop single” was released), and on Disc 2 basically another version of the score made from versions of cues not on Disc 1. So all three “Close Encounters” expansions released offer a somewhat different listening experience.

ROSEWOOD as presented by La-La Land is not so much an “expansion” (as that implies it’s a sort of original album plus additional cues, or a longer presention), but a different presentation altogether. The film score as presented on Disc 1 is more dramatic, instrumental, less choir, the OST as presented on Disc 2 is a beautiful, introspective dramatic “Gospel” album. Both are very good and worth listening to, but “expansion” doesn’t really fit the description.

[Malte Müller]

Thanks for the further explainations. I am so totally not immun to this but just have to get a bit more picky than I actually want to 😉 ROSEWOOD sound like something I should put on my list again. I like when Williams is more darker or even more dissonant than usually. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS is also a favorite of mine of his because of this because he rarely wrote that way.

[Forfatter]

Innlegg