The Grand Listening Project
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There are a number of film scores I would be very interested in if they were recorded anew, JANE EYRE would be one of them, but obviously not the only one. Some scores, like Goldsmith’s RANSOM, are certainly good candidates. But generally, if I really like a score, I’m always very interested in new recordings of the score, even if there is nothing “wrong” with the available recording. I loved the new recordings of JAWS (McNeely) or THE BLUE MAX (Raine), even though there was nothing wrong per se with the original recordings, so I’m all for recording anything anew if the music is good enough.
I remember in the 1990s when Varèse Sarabande and Intrada die both Bernard Herrmann recordings, I was arguing (on rec.music.movies) for a new recording of THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL… I was thrilled when that actually came true.
I loved the new recordings of JAWS (McNeely) or THE BLUE MAX (Raine), even though there was nothing wrong per se with the original recordings, so I’m all for recording anything anew if the music is good enough.
Actually both original albums of these have some sound issues although no major ones. JAWS (McNeely) I don’t know but I have both the Raine BLUE MAX and the older Sony original.
I remember in the 1990s when Varèse Sarabande and Intrada die both Bernard Herrmann recordings, I was arguing (on rec.music.movies) for a new recording of THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL… I was thrilled when that actually came true.
Indeed that one is really good although some but not all of these Varese Recordungs suffer from too much reverb (to my taste).
JAWS (McNeely) I don’t know…
It is excellent. I have the McNeely CD and the original soundtrack LP, and to my ears, the McNeely is very faithful (and obviously has a lot more music).
I actually JUST played JAWS – the original CD, of course. So funny you talked about it.
By the way, here’s a picture of my shelf that gives you an idea of the project’s current status. You can see a “hole” on the top shelf, that is FAMILY PLOT, which is currently playing in the background and is placed neatly on my speaker. As you can see, I have a LOOOONG way to go before I even move out of the three “completist composers” sections, and on to other things (open the photo in a new window for a closer look):
Did you ever actually make a complete Elfman walkthrough? That would give me headaches. About half of my Elfman albums I can joyfully listen to from beginning to end. And usually then I need a break and listen to something different.
But maybe when you make a walk through you get into some kind of stoic flow.Did you ever actually make a complete Elfman walkthrough?
Yes, a few times in the past. But it’s been a long time.
I can certainly understand your misgivings. It’s a challenge to go through any composer’s work when you have a lot from them. I got a bit of ‘fatigue’ while going through my Delerue collection awhile back, for example. He’s so great, but in smaller doses.
Elfman has fallen a bit in my estimation, but I kinda look forward to exploring him again, from start to finish. But first….a loooot of Williams.
Did you ever try a systematic composer walkthrough?
Did you ever try a systematic composer walkthrough?
No. Never. What came closest Was my recent Rombi walkthrough. But usually I rather jump between artists. After I had been at the Throwing Muses concert last year I shortly was motivated to go through Kristin Hersh’s whole work incuding her solo stuff and 50 Foot Wave. And I got quite far but got stuck at some point. I never managed to listen through all my Williams albums in a row. Maybe I should one day.
Inside a massive STAR WARS chunk now. I have all the STAR WARS CDs next to each other on my shelf, rather than spread out at their correct years in the JW collection (they’re all placed at 1977). 16 CDs. First, the four Arista box CDs of the OT. Then the three prequel OSTs. Then the three sequel OSTs (two of which are still in shrinkwrap). Then Skywalker recording, SOLO, SHADOWS THE EMPIRE, Bernstein’s EWOKS CD-R (will there be digital flutter?), Terry Trotter jazz versions, John Rose church organ versions.
I will definitely be all STAR WARS-ed out by the end of it.
I’m still on my sporadic John Williams run-through. Yes, for me too STAR WARS is looming, but before that I have to get through SCHINDLER’S LIST. I keep postponing that step. I can’t really explain why I never really want to listen to it.
Is the run through of your CD collection?
It is a lot easier today to include streaming albums to fill in the gaps in a personal CD collection so that a listen through is more complete.
Is the run through of your CD collection?
Right now it is, yes. I’ve already gone through all my digital file-only albums. So in fact, listening to the CDs now are “filling in the gaps” that the digital file walkthrough caused (I skipped over the albums in iTunes that I also had on CD, because I knew I was going to play my CD collection later). But you’re right – it would have been easier to just do ALL digital. But then I wouldn’t play my CDs, and they deserve it after so many years. 🙂
….but before that I have to get through SCHINDLER’S LIST. I keep postponing that step. I can’t really explain why I never really want to listen to it.
It’s a while until I get there myself (I do this more or less chronologically, not alphabetically like you), but yes — a masterpiece score that I’ve listened to relatively few times over the years. It’s really emotionally draining, so not something I return to very often. But a walkthrough like this “forces me to”, which is a good thing.
I’m currently finding out a few things while listening through my STAR WARS CDs – first, that my tolerance level for busy orchestral action music is much, much lower than it used to be (partly because of a taste change, partly because of the tinnitus). Second, while all nine John Williams soundtracks have generous running times of close to 80 minutes, only the original trilogy and prequel trilogy “deserve” it (they’re rich enough to sustain it). For the sequels, however (I’ve currently ripped off the shrinkwrap of THE LAST JEDI and listening through that — I think only for the third time), I’m not so sure. Williams’ style is now so motivic and cellular, it feels a bit like a chore to listen to in all its whimsical nature. And even the socalled “setpiece” tracks are not as well-rounded and defined as in the past. THE FORCE AWAKENS comes out reasonably well, the other two less so. Would have worked better at the 50-minute mark, I think.
The last two sequel OSTs are a mess.
The FYC albums are a much better album in both cases.
I think, they even have that 50 minutes playtime.We’re in real time here, folks. On my Johnny Dub Alphabetty Spaghetti project, I had to hear SCHINDLER’S LIST (wonderful, not such an emotional obstacle at all, once done), SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET (I’ve never got through this without falling asleep, ever), SLEEPERS (that one is really superb now) and now STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE. Golly gosh, that is magnificent. I hadn’t noticed the Easter Eggs at the end of CD 1 before. I think I’d turned it off after four minutes of silence, thinking that the player had stuck. Next up, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. But that will be interrupted by a new pack of CDs arriving, by Jerry bloody Goldsmith, Alfred fecking Newman et al, and you can add nausea if you like, and stir.
You’re moving fast, Graham. I’ve had to divide each STAR WARS score up in two listening sessions, sometimes not even in the same day. It moves soooooo slowly now.
But the question to y’all is: Have you ever attempted a systematic walkthrough of all of your music collection at any point?
Like I said earlier in this thread, I have never attempted a systematic walkthrough to all of my music collection (which would probably take years and wouldn’t really bring me all that much joy), but I do have phases sometimes where I concentrate on a particular aspect of it. For example, about two years ago I dove a lot into Olivier Messiaen’s Turangalila-Symphony, and listened to a lot of different recordings, including my own, and as a result, my personal collection of that piece grew in 2024 from three to seven. So sometimes I dive into one aspect of music, listen to a lot of different recordings of something, and recordings I find particularly striking (and different enough from each other to really shine a different light on something), I consider adding.
Sometimes, I also focus on a certain composer. Last year, I explored Scriabin. I had I think just one album of music, which I really like a lot, but never explored his music in any way, so I wasn’t all that familiar with his work as a whole. But that album, which I had for 25 years, became the starting point of the that exploration, I now have a number of his recordings, including several recordings of all his symphonies.Right now, I am listening to various recordings of Bach’s Cello Suites, Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Times.
Sometimes I also focus on a particular film composer, and when I find that a film compose suddenly “klicks” with me, I branch out and seek out more of their film work. Just don’t have a recent example of this at hand.
For example, about two years ago I dove a lot into Olivier Messiaen’s Turangalila-Symphony, and listened to a lot of different recordings, including my own,
Your own?
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