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| This is a comments thread about Blog Post: FSM Liner Notes Instructions by Lukas Kendall |
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I got to say I always enjoy reading liner notes, especially the historical stuff (production of the movie, etc., the kind of stuff BYU releases tend to do more comprehensively than anyone else) and the technical stuff: what kind of shape the masters were in, what format they were, what was done to restore them, etc. What bothers me about liner notes is something Lukas has touched on, which is obvious, and that is you don't want to bite the hand that feeds you. Shitty movies are never referred to as anything less than "miss-fires" or else in terms of "having gained a cult following over the years." An atrociously bad movie like Gremlins 2 is discussed by Robert Townson in terms that make it sound like a sci-fi classic on par with The Day the Earth Stood Still. And while we're on the subject of Varese liner notes, the notes to the Fimucite 6 concert CD make it sound like it was the most important film music event of the century. It would just be nice to read honesty in liner notes sometimes, but of course I understand where Lukas is coming from; you don't want to trash the films of the Studio you want to continue licensing from. And of course, all labels, not just Varese, are guilty of this level of what I'll refer to as pandering (not the best word, but you know what I mean).
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Hey, I love Gremlins 2, and it's not a guilty pleasure at all. Opinions actually do vary, shockingly enough ( ), and there's nothing wrong with praiseworthy notes if the writer believes the film really is praiseworthy.
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A valid criticism, but realistically we can't be overly negative in liner notes.
My argument to writers was always this: you've got the entire Internet to express your opinions about anything. For all the work and money we put in to convince studios to let us put out this music, we can't give them a package that dumps all over their movie—or anything, really.
Lukas
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Hey, I love Gremlins 2, and it's not a guilty pleasure at all. Opinions actually do vary, shockingly enough (), and there's nothing wrong with praiseworthy notes if the writer believes the film really is praiseworthy.
Oh, most certainly, I will be one of the first to agree that tastes vary, and that it doesn't always represent a guilty pleasure (I personally LOVE Death to Smoochy; I thought it was brilliant comedy), but even for those who love something like Gremlins 2 (since we are on the subject), surely they still wouldn't regard it as even a classic of 80s cinema. The 57% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes suggests it's not well regarded that way by many anyways. I also loved Kingdom of Heaven, which gets a 39% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, so I'd have to be realistic and say it's not exactly a classic of the historical epic genre, as much as I like it. However, like Lukas says, and I understand, we can't expect a realistic analysis of the film in the liner notes, that is the critic's job anyway, not the job of the people writing liner notes for CDs, who should be working in conjunction with the studios, most definitely.
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Great article Lukas, I enjoyed reading it, thank you for posting it.
I love (good) liner notes and always am happier with a final product if it was clear time was put into making them as good as they can be.
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A valid criticism, but realistically we can't be overly negative in liner notes.
My argument to writers was always this: you've got the entire Internet to express your opinions about anything. For all the work and money we put in to convince studios to let us put out this music, we can't give them a package that dumps all over their movie—or anything, really.
Lukas
WELL PUT I must say and very right.
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I think the quality of liner notes varies considerably from release to release (some of the people who do it regularly are not very good; some are excellent) but one thing that seems to cause nearly everyone a problem is the track by track analysis, to the point I think most people would be better not even trying. You don't need to write that so-and-so's theme is played on piano then after a harp glissando there's a hint of the love theme because I can hear that by listening to the CD. If you want to tell me why these things are happening and what makes it interesting film music, please do, but barely anyone ever does.
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even for those who love something like Gremlins 2 (since we are on the subject), surely they still wouldn't regard it as even a classic of 80s cinema.
Especially since it came out in 1990.
I know, hey?
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Now you tell me.
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There is nothing wrong with starting a sentence with an adjective phrase.
Other than that odd commandment, I agree with many of the points referenced.
I personally don't like descriptions of the on-screen action in relation to talking about individual tracks - especially if I haven't seen the film - but that is just me.
I hated it at the beginning of an essay—just a personal preference. And I was the boss!
Lukas
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Track by track can be valuable if done right - Matessino's ALIEN notes for example have bits of trivia if there is any to be had for each cue. In fact, his notes are always excellent.
I realize something like Alex North's PONY SOLDIER or Henry Mancini's NIGHTWING don't have much documentation or history to share, so the writers do what they can in those cases. The tidbits of info on each cue however really make for great repeat reading IMO.....
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