This is a strange CD. I've never heard of Movietrack Classics as a label, in all my years of CD collecting. The design/style is very similar (copied?) to the old Bay Cities CD's that I own, in typesetting, font etc. There are no tech credits or album production names and the CD states it was Made in the Czech Republic. I'm guessing it's a boot or one of those dodgy 'authorised within the law of their country' releases that Tsunami and others released back in the day. I know Varese and TER released it on LP and cassette at the time of the TV series...maybe their license lapsed? Anyway, the sound quality of it is excellent and the score is pretty good too! I haven't played it all yet, but I like two of the three styles on offer so far. The Main Theme is just a bit too close to Land Of Hope & Glory (it's an obvious nod) for me to enjoy on it's own. Far better to me are the mystical Indian sitar/orchestra cues and the tense/action cues that feature some great rhythmic writing. Scott is with the big boys in that regard, his jazz talents lending him the abilities that Williams and Goldsmith often brought to their action scoring. You could almost dance to it! I will chime back in after a few more listens. But for now, I will let Kari and others hopefully offer their more intelligible thoughts
There have been a couple of releases on this label some years ago (I have Barry's The Ipcress File coupled with Bennett's Billion Dollar Brain on this label, another release was Trevor Jones' Last Place on Earth). They are not legit and were produced by a certain man from the U. K. who was interested in having these scores (his personal favorites) on CD as no label seemed to be going to release them. He produced a small quantity of each and was selling them for a mere couple of pounds to anyone who contacted him and asked for them. But it's been a long time (10 years or so).
Unfortunately I don't know the John Scott score but given the high reputation of the composer and your words I'm sure it's good. Let's see if it will ever be released officialy.
I like it. Similar feel to "The Scarlet Tunic", which is one of my favorite Scott scores (despite the unwelcome and lengthy section of standard military bugle calls placed ridiculously right in the middle of the Tunic CD). The Main Title of Mountbatten opens with a motif that also features strongly in the Tunic score. The sound of my Movietracks CD is very good – better than some of Scott's JOS CDs. The packaging reminds me of Scott's early JOS releases. I'd always assumed (perhaps mistakenly) that this was released by Scott himself. I was told by the person who gave me a copy of it that the CD had been sent to him many years ago, at no cost, by Scott personally.
It's listed on the non-official John Scott website, along with the Movietracks CD
I just checked that site and saw a reference to a Scott score for the Fairbanks version of "Robin Hood" which was performed by the RPO live to film last year. I hadn't heard of that. I bet it's terrific. Anyone heard of any plans to release a CD?
That Robin Hood preview sounds amazing! I sure hope some of the soundtrack labels have new and/or cool re-releases or old LP's (Rocket To The Moon, The Whistle Blower) in the pipeline. One can hope.
You've certainly whetted my appetite with Harem, Kari. Your description makes it sound mesmerising. Hopefully one day in the (near) future we will be discussing a CD of it right here!
I listened to a suite on Youtube; not as good as was written here, but it was plesant enough. There was one cue I think could be substituted for the Throne Room sequence in "Star Wars: Episode IV".
Aye Kari, I seem to have developed a slight wobble in my chrono-plan, but I plan on getting back on track asap! There's just too much Scotty goodness before me to deal with. I feel like a kid in a sweet shop, laden with pennies!
Upon a much closer listen, it is quite obvious this release is a straight LP transfer. One can hear some crackles and the usual revolution noises, especially when listened to through headphones. It's a pretty good LP transfer, as they go and many other releases have utilised this technique before, when the original tapes haven't been available. But there is certainly room for improvement, so I hope Varese (if they still hold the rights) can rustle up a better sounding release, maybe with some extra tracks...hold the mayo...and a side order of Tourist Trap by Pino Donaggio, while I'm ordering!
Even though I already have this Movie Tracks (dodgy) issue, I am gonna buy the new Varese issue for (hopefully) some improvement in sound. Plus, it will be nice to have the original LP packaging. I'm not that 'into' the Movie Tracks design work. The score is pretty good, although the obvious classical British bits are a bit distracting. The Indian-fused stuff is great and, as noted above, you can dance to the action licks!
I'm playing my Varese edition right now and the sound is grand. It's much better than the boot(?) edition from Movietrack Classics. I'm glad Varese chose to issue both John Scott scores they still had hold of. While expansions might have been nice, the albums for this and Whistle Blower are more than adequate and make for fine listening experiences.
