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In contrast to the thread on worst album presentations ever, I thought it would be cool to have the positive opposite of that:
Which album representations were bloody brilliant even though the content is not complete—which are so bloody brilliant you'd still want them and play them even if a C&C alternative was available; that they play so well you might even prefer them to a C&C representation.
Forgive me if somebody already did this. If they did, moderator shoot me.
I'm going to start off by saying the following John Barry albums were perfect to the extent that I probably would still play them more than a C&C representation, if one was available:
"THE KNACK ... AND HOW TO GET IT"
"THE I.P.C.R.E.S.S. FILE"
"PETULIA"
(Although I'm cheating slightly with "PETULIA" as the LP is actually longer than the score in the film but there is unreleased score.)
I will also say that whilst I most certainly do play the film score disc of "THE FURY", I play the album program disc more frequently.
Sometimes, you need the extra music. Sometimes, the original album is just a peach all by itself. Of course, I think the right thing to do when releasing this stuff is to do that which has become common: offer both representations. And then everyone can be happy.
Cheers
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I think it's been said before, but I think "THE RUSSIA HOUSE" would have been served better by a shorter program on disc.
It's a fabulous score, fabulously played, but perhaps the classic example of something that is maybe too repetitive on disc.
Cheers
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Posted: |
Jun 18, 2014 - 11:39 AM
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By: |
bdm
(Member)
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I had lots of 'em:
Capricorn One, The Great Train Robbery, Goldfinger, Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, ET, The Boys from Brazil, The Towering Inferno, Battlestar Galactica, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Return of the Pink Panther, The Spy Who Loved Me, Superman, Jaws, Jaws II, From Russia With Love, Man with the Golden Gun, The Omen, Damian-The Omen II, Twilight Zone The Movie, Poltergiest, First Blood, Masada, The Stunt Man, The Wind and The Lion...
I could go on; I still prefer the "Complete Chronological" releases of today, but those original albums hold a special place in my heart, and are often listened to today (I also don't mind when the original album sequence is included, or the sequence of the album is included in the notes [if the takes were the same]).
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Kind of a silly thread, because most all original album presentations are good presentations of the score. The composer selects the highlights and arranges them, and barring budgetary reasons that result in the album having to be shorter than the artist would have wanted, generally OSTs are always well-rounded listening experiences covering all the major highlights.
Since so many OSTs are good presentations, it's far easier to think of all the ones that missed the mark and are poor representations of the score, than it is to point out the ones that rise above the plateau that most OSTs have to be extra especially good at covering the entire score even though it's not complete and maybe not chronological.
The first two that come to mind are both by John Williams:
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial - featuring only 20 minutes of actual film cues and then adding on 20 minutes of recorded-just-for-the-album concert suites, 33 years later this is still a brilliant presentation of the score. Heck, it won the grammy! It's a shame this is long OOP and only the 2002 complete film score presentation version remains in print. Hopefully a specialty label can produce a new 2CD set featuring the complete score, plus the full OST, plus the extra alternates in a nice 2 disc set.
War Horse - This really does tell the entire story of the film and score in its OST arrangement, in a completely satisfying musical way. I've made my own edit combining the OST with the FYC CD with BD rips, but honestly I never listen to it and just enjoy the OST presentation on Spotify when I'm in the mood for this score.
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The Original Star Wars is a wonder.
But a surprising one (because it's so short) is The Hunt for Red October.
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Poltergeist. The original LP has always been the best presentation of the score by a wide margin. (Although it is hard to tell given the surface noise associated with vinyl, I think that the LP also sounds a little bit better than the reconstructed version on the FSM CD. The LP at least claims that it was sourced from the digital recordings, but those weren't playable when the FSM CD was created so the analog backups were used.)
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Posted: |
Jun 18, 2014 - 3:12 PM
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By: |
MusicMad
(Member)
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I've purchased a few expanded scores only to find that I prefer the original albums (be they re-recordings in their original form, or not). Of those I would nominate Jerry Goldsmith's Start Trek - The Motion Picture as a prime, albeit not solitary, example. It's not that I dislike the extra music ... far from it ... but I don't find it necessary. The original album was a wonderful release.
Stephen listed three John Barry scores where extended releases (as yet) don't exist and I'd probably go along with him on those ... much as I'd love to have the original scores in my possession.
I don't think a C&C release of Henry Mancini's The Pink Panther would offer a better listening experience than the album we know and love ... though I haven't watched the film for many years so could be forgetting some good material.
In the middle ground there are many scores where both releases are wonderful - and, yes, a combined release is the best solution, such as John Barry's The Deep (albeit some of the film score music wasn't the film score we know ...  ) or, where there have been separate releases, I'd suggest Elmer Bernstein's The Magnificent Seven: the mid-60's release of the re-recorded album Return of the (Magnificent) Seven produced a perfect album but the full score offers so much more, too.
Mitch
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For a lot of scores, I prefer the complete score presentation, but there are some soundtrack albums I'd consider classics.
Examples of scores for which the album presentation is fantastic:
Star Trek: TMP
Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan
Star Wars (and many other classic Williams scores)
There are many more, but these are my favorite A&A versions.
Star Trek: TMP and Star Wars, on that list, I prefer to listen to complete, and the same for Star Trek II for the most part.
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Since a lot of my favorite albums have already been mentioned, I'll pick a few more recent examples.
Goldsmith's BAD GIRLS. The original release still seems to me to be his single best album (not score, not theme, just album) from the 1990s on. Though I've been listening to the expanded release this week, and love the extra music, the original was just about perfect. FIRST KNIGHT would be the runner up, even with all the music it misses.
Zimmer's BROKEN ARROW. This was the first Zimmer score I really warmed up to, and remains a favorite. I thought I would love the complete presentation, but it just doesn't pack the same punch and instead goes on and on and on. And I love that his INCEPTION and SHERLOCK HOLMES albums are even shorter than Broken Arrow - way to feature the best stuff.
Giacchino's STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS. I LOVE this album - I've played it more times all the way through than any soundtrack I've bought in years and years. I think it is a perfect example of how an album can be a great distillation of the music for the film.
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