I have been listening to La La Land's new release of WYATT EARP for a couple days now (I'm lucky that I'm local), and I just have to say that this is truly a trifecta I've only seen a handful of times in my entire soundtrack collecting "career":
An amazing score, full of rich and varied themes (I personally can't ever get enough of the "Railroad" theme, with Alasdair "Last of the Mohicans" Fraser on fiddle, and this release has TWO previously unreleased cues featuring it)...
...an amazing composer working at the top of his game, in a genre that is known for memorable scores...
...and a meticulous, impeccable sounding release that truly benefits from its massive, complete presentation.
Fellow collectors, if you love film music as much as I do, and if you often lament that there are not enough "big wonderful scores" being written in the modern era, you owe it to yourself to pick up WYATT EARP, which I'd consider to be James Newton Howard's magnus opus (or one of them, at least).
Thanks to everyone involved with this release... it's really a dream come true.
Almost forgot about the biggest surprise... the bonus track "It's a Boy". After reading the liner notes and finding out the story behind this piece, I was nearly moved to tears listening to it.
Then again, having children has turned me into something of a sap.
The more I listen and look at everything that went into the release, the more I'm convinced I'll be using it as a benchmarker when talking about other releases, as in "they did a great job, almost as good as La La Land did with Wyatt Earp".
It was interesting, and also maybe a little sad, to read how howard wanted to get away from this style later on. to pianistic. not that he is withouit his modern day gems but i think it's more or less agreed on that his output now is not what it was in the 90s. kind of interesting, and sad as said before, to read this was somewhat of a conscious manuvering.
It was interesting, and also maybe a little sad, to read how howard wanted to get away from this style later on. to pianistic. not that he is withouit his modern day gems but i think it's more or less agreed on that his output now is not what it was in the 90s. kind of interesting, and sad as said before, to read this was somewhat of a conscious manuvering.
those demo tracks are tremendous!
Yeah, I do miss the old "pianistic" JNH too. His textural scores work incredibly well in their movies, but don't always make for such a compelling listen apart from them.
This pleases us monkeys to no end. We are all very proud of this release. As I stated earlier, we feel this is one of the best score in recent memory -- a real masterpiece filled with (wait for it) THEMES (plural!)
I have been listening to La La Land's new release of WYATT EARP for a couple days now (I'm lucky that I'm local), and I just have to say that this is truly a trifecta I've only seen a handful of times in my entire soundtrack collecting "career":
An amazing score, full of rich and varied themes (I personally can't ever get enough of the "Railroad" theme, with Alasdair "Last of the Mohicans" Fraser on fiddle, and this release has TWO previously unreleased cues featuring it)...
...an amazing composer working at the top of his game, in a genre that is known for memorable scores...
...and a meticulous, impeccable sounding release that truly benefits from its massive, complete presentation.
Fellow collectors, if you love film music as much as I do, and if you often lament that there are not enough "big wonderful scores" being written in the modern era, you owe it to yourself to pick up WYATT EARP, which I'd consider to be James Newton Howard's magnus opus (or one of them, at least).
Thanks to everyone involved with this release... it's really a dream come true.
Loved the original album and Shawn Murphy's recording too. What are the major missing highlights over the original album?
The pre-titles music, an absolutely epic and solemn statement of the main theme
More of the "railroad" material (my favorite) for the buffalo hunting sections
A very dramatic, cool cue for the Dodge City "new laws" scene that follows the Copland-esque Didge City intro
The aforementioned end credits, which isn't just a cut and paste
Much, much more... all of the music that was recorded specifically for the extended laserdisc version... a sandstorm sequence, etc. I'm scratching the surface. It's all here. Original album was only an hour, and the score tops out at well over two. Much of the new stuff is thematic material that was on the first CD, but here it's much more developed... very much like a Wyatt Earp symphony.
The pre-titles music, an absolutely epic and solemn statement of the main theme
More of the "railroad" material (my favorite) for the buffalo hunting sections
A very dramatic, cool cue for the Dodge City "new laws" scene that follows the Copland-esque Didge City intro
The aforementioned end credits, which isn't just a cut and paste
Much, much more... all of the music that was recorded specifically for the extended laserdisc version... a sandstorm sequence, etc. I'm scratching the surface. It's all here. Original album was only an hour, and the score tops out at well over two. Much of the new stuff is thematic material that was on the first CD, but here it's much more developed... very much like a Wyatt Earp symphony.
Damn, I do wish that "New Laws" was given its own cue, as it's the clear standout among the unreleased cues and doesn't fit with "Dodge City" from the original album. It's a great score regardless.
Nope. "Dodge City" stops before "New Laws" starts. I mean, they're used in the same scene, but that doesn't mean that musically they sound good together.
It seems minor if you're just going to listen to all 160 minutes straight through [loosens tie], but I think cues from the album should be presented as-is, unless there is unreleased music that was edited out of the album version of the cue (like how "The Landing" from Mars Attacks! wasn't presented by LLL). Putting album tracks as part of a suite just doesn't make sense to me, as it makes holding onto the original album necessary. If you're trying to be the definitive statement on a landmark score (for the '90s at least), BE the definitive statement. Make the original album obsolete. I can't believe I'm the only one this bothers!
