Supermad

Compiled by Lukas Kendall

Here are some letters responding to the recent news that Rhino's 2CD set of Superman: The Movie has been postponed until 2000.

From: Timothy Kurkoski <kurkoskt@oit.edu>

With all the complains about the single Star Wars: TPM CD and the recent Superman re-recording, I am more than patient to wait for Rhino to present to us the most complete, best sounding album that they possibly can. Superman is an excellent work from an excellent composer, and it deserves an excellent presentation.

From: "Jeff Kaler" <jkaler@iolky.com>

I have to admit that I am slightly disappointed to read about the Superman complete score delay; however, if the delay results in a better presentation of the score then I welcome it. Don't rush a classic score such as this. Give it to us with the best sound quality possible and as complete as possible. Let's all remember the Star Trek The Motion Picture delays. While they did seem to stretch it out too much, the delays resulted with the inclusion of an extra track (The Floating Office) which many of us wanted on the expanded release. So maybe this delay will result in some more material being included or perhaps better sound quality, so lets just keep patient and continue to listen to the Superman scores we have now to keep us satisfied.

And can I make just a few comments about the packaging? I will admit that I do not like flashy packaging when I buy a score. You can leave out the fold-out posters and such junk as that. What I want when I buy a score is plenty of liner notes and pictures from the movie or of the composer doing his work. The best packaging by far was the Star Wars Trilogy Anthology and the Star Wars Special Editions. The only complaint that I have is about the way the cd's were stored in the Special Edition packaging. With this Superman score, please give us lots of liner notes and pictures of Williams conducting the LSO if such pictures exist. I also like the way the Wizard of Oz two-cd set was packaged. The packaging was a book which included the linear notes and trays to store the cd's. Now that is the way I would like to buy my Superman score when it comes out. God speed Rhino and Mr. Matessino, but don't rush it.

From: Todd Garbarini <tgarbari@ix.netcom.com>

I am, like most of you, disappointed to hear this news. I'd rather it be postponed than cancelled. This score is at the top of my wish list of scores that I want in full. I've been waiting 21 years for this score, so waiting another year won't matter. Ever since I saw the film at the age of ten, with that utterly magnificent opening music, I have hoped to get my hands on a soundtrack recording made from the original master tracks. Who knows? Perhaps this album will be mastered in the new DVD-Audio format with a 24-bit DAC and a 96kHx sampling rate. THAT would be spectacular!!! Let's hope that an expanded film version on DVD happens, too! What a way to start the millenium... :)

From: Brian Martell <01270767@3web.net>

This is a major bummer. I find myself really quite angry at Rhino, despite Michael's plea that I not be. My beef is this:

Why the hell get us all pumped up for...nothing but a let down? Just shut-up about the damn project--sure, let us know that it's in the works--until it's ready and you have a definitive release date.

Tell you this, I don't want to hear a damn thing about this project again, unless it comes with DEFINITIVE, GUARANTEED RELEASE DATE OF xxxx! attached to it.

I'm tired of having my chain tugged. I for one say, "no more of this bullshit!" If you can't get a release out on time, then don't get us all hyped for it. Rhino has lost some momentum, and probably some sales, from this move. Have to start all over again; and I feel the fine people who frequent this site will not be getting too excited about this SUPERMAN project again until Rhino puts its money where its mouth is.

STAR TREK TMP burned us once, twice and your product just doesn't sell (I see lots of the expanded STTMP gathering dust on store shelves (I did buy one--but boy, I was this close to saying f#@k you--but many of my score loving pals did not; just too damn pissed at the games, and being made to wait so long. They will enjoy it as a gift, but feel most of the good stuff is in their collection already, so why spend the money?

Rhino's pushing that envelope. It would be a shame. However, I say let's get really pissed, and hit Rhino with a number of angry letters/e-mails letting the corporate guys know that we are disappointed in this turn of events, and strongly suggest that the next time they announce a release date for this project they had better be sure about it. Otherwise, we may just not buy it.

That is our power--not just with scores, but all music. We don't buy it and they are unemployed. It's not that they'll stop releasing scores--in the present music market they are frantically looking for any new genres they can sell--but maybe they'll respect their clientele a bit more. It's worth a try. I'm just tired of rolling over and taking this shit from the big corporations, and the small one's too, for that matter.

I'll try to address this last letter: it's not intentional. I know collectors hate to feel like their chains are being yanked, but what can you do? I know that with our FSM releases, the packaging often takes longer than the master -- and all kinds of things pop up unexpectedly. Either someone doesn't want the CD to happen for a while, or someone who needs to work on it is unavailable, or the people who need to approve it are unavailable -- it's all murphy's law. This is why at FSM we take Brian's advice and don't announce anything until it's ready to go. But, at the same time, we have people breathing down our necks about what we have in the works.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture was an extreme case because Paramount delayed Sony from releasing the album for, I think, 4 or 5 years. Superman with Rhino won't be this way, but all record companies have schedules and budgets and need to do things in the best possible order. So please, relax. It's disappointing, but I don't see what is gained by getting mad at the label who are essentially releasing what you want to hear. And threatening to boycott the release you wanted in the first place -- what will that prove?

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