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No it's virtually identical to the old EMI release.
It's a pity, the score does have that trademark Barry Wall O'Sound, but the stereo field could be a little more...spread out.
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To my ears MOONRAKER has always had some issues. In many ways it's almost a mono mix with a wall of artificial reverb. Certain orchestra sections such as the horns and brass appear very closely miked but the reverb pushes it all back. The "Bond Arrives in Rio" cue is the only one with any real stereo spread, coming from the cowbell and guiro. I'm pretty certain that the score was live mixed whilst recorded in Paris.
The dynamic range was heavily restricted in the analog domain for preparation of the album master. You can hear the limiter clamping down on the horns and lower strings in particular. Thankfully, the CD reissue does not make this worse by adding any more (in the digital domain). The azimuth alignment and EQ used on the CD is fine and probably is the best one could do with the material at hand.
Interestingly, the Bassey title song sounds more airy, wider and dynamic on the 30th Anniversary set. This version was probably taken from the single (45 RPM) master rather than the album master. I also find my LP more dynamic but haven't done any technical measurements on this -- perhaps I should.
I'd wager that the session tapes would not be as heavily limited but would still have the/a fair bit of reverb. So for now Alex, it's as good as it gets!
Chris
PS. For those with the equipment, you can try to widen the stereo field but that will just give you a lot of out-of-phase material and sound worse!
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To my ears MOONRAKER has always had some issues. In many ways it's almost a mono mix with a wall of artificial reverb. Certain orchestra sections such as the horns and brass appear very closely miked but the reverb pushes it all back.
Most (if not all) the other Barry Bond scores were recorded at CTS in London. Moonraker however was recorded in France, since Barry could not return to England for tax reasons during that time. So Barry brought his pal and LA engineer Dan Wallin over to record the score. Thus the recording has the "Wallin sound" -- like The Deep, Black Hole or Out of Africa -- as opposed to the CTS "Bond sound".
In addition, Moonraker was not recorded in a studio but an old theatre, which was not the best venue accoustically, and worse, had bad plumbing so if anyone upstairs flushed the toilet it would ruin a take.
All things considered, I think Moonraker came-out pretty well!
Paul
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The Barry Bond scores were more suited to the techniques of Eric Tomlinson and John Richards in my view. I don't think that OCTOPUSSY has problems at all! It has a typical John Richards sound -- screening and boothing of orchestra sections with very close miking, lots of artificial reverb (most noticeable on the snare drum and brass) and wide stereo panning. It's extremely well balanced and has excellent imaging. It's not what you’d hear in a concert hall but it's a great recording. The CD, at least the Ryko one, is dynamic, engaging and certainly doesn't have compressor/limiter pumping like MOONRAKER, which is thick and cloudy by comparison.
FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE is great for its age -- no fiddling, just good mike placement! It’s a pity that the session tapes could not be located for it and GOLDFINGER. The latter was compressed a fair bit for the original album. The Shirley Bassey title song as heard in the film is actually more dynamic and natural in tone than the CD. I think the "Goldfinger Instrumental" was recorded somewhere other than CTS, maybe Olympic. It's mono and has a massive amount of limiter splatter.
The original THUNDERBALL CD from 1988 on EMI-Manhattan was pretty murky, had some print through (check out "Chateau Flight") and clunky edits. The original OHMSS CD, also from 1988, was good tonally and had good dynamics. The original DIAMONDS disc had some awful staging issues and an uneven EQ. Of course, the expanded discs are far better owing to Lukas being able to utilise the session tapes (for most cues) rather than the album masters. It was also a great relief that Doug Schwartz mastered them because he kept them sounding "honest" without much peak limiting, noise reduction or aggressive tone fiddling.
Chris
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It was also a great relief that Doug Schwartz mastered them because he kept them sounding "honest" without much peak limiting, noise reduction or aggressive tone fiddling.
I agree. I would rather have some minor anomalies in a recording than have it bled of its body in an attempt to make it 'perfect.' From Russia With Love is an excellent example. It is a noisy recording and from time to time there are some weird balancing issues, but listening to the Capitol disc, one can hear that the remaster is more punchy and pleasing to the ear than if it had been overly processed.
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From an interview I did with John the Sunday afternoon after the "Moonraker" preview at the Academy late June of 1979:
JB: "... some directors have dubbed monaurally all their lives, and think they can just go in and use Dolby without a second thought. Dolby offers a whole new area of new levels which are very exciting but, if it's abused, the dichotomy between the mistakes is so emphasized - and such an imbalance is created - that it's almost a distraction.
"I'm very disappointed with the dub of 'Moonraker'. It was done in London where I couldn't be in attendance. For some odd reason, (director) Lewis Gilbert decided to play it in monaural. And if you compare the dub of the picture with the soundtrack album - and match the quality of the album against that of the film - there's AT LEAST a 50% differential in terms of impact. When this occurs, one feels almost violated, as if you've been robbed. I believe Lewis Gilbert's ears were out to lunch when he made that dub.
"I think a director should spend a few days familiarizing himself with what Dolby offers - and how best to employ these new balances and perspectives - in order to get the maximum effect instead of simply going in cold with a traditional mind."
Mind you, as I was sitting a couple of rows in back of John and his wife at that Academy screening the evening before, I can attest that he LITERALLY sunk lower and lower in his seat (I imagine, in horror) as the film unfolded once he heard how his music sounded.
That next afternoon, in the living room of the home they were renting, his rage remained quite tangible as we listened to the segments of the soundtrack album and you COULD hear the definitive differential he was aluding to.
As to that, this vignette - along with additional interludes involving John and others from my misadventure (meaning I don't MISS it at all) in Hollyweird - remains the Himalayan high water mark.
(And if any eager Barry beavers wanna read the entire article, feel free to e-mail me at
theyearoftheone@hotmail.com).
At any rate (preferably Swiss) ... consider the preceding some additional perspective regarding one of John's finest Bondanzas.
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What bugs me is that all of the TV sound mixes for the Bond films sound REALLY bad. The annoying amount of pulsing makes it sound like they were compressed for FM radio playback.
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"I'm very disappointed with the dub of 'Moonraker'. It was done in London where I couldn't be in attendance. For some odd reason, (director) Lewis Gilbert decided to play it in monaural. And if you compare the dub of the picture with the soundtrack album - and match the quality of the album against that of the film - there's AT LEAST a 50% differential in terms of impact. When this occurs, one feels almost violated, as if you've been robbed. I believe Lewis Gilbert's ears were out to lunch when he made that dub."
...That next afternoon, in the living room of the home they were renting, his rage remained quite tangible as we listened to the segments of the soundtrack album and you COULD hear the definitive differential he was aluding to.
I'm not sure I understand what "differential" means in the music world. Is he saying that the soundtrack LP sounded 50 percent better than the film, and thus he was happy with the album?
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I have always held out for hope that the original tapes will be found. Otherwise, I am hoping that someone does a faithful recreation of the music.
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I have always held out for hope that the original tapes will be found. Otherwise, I am hoping that someone does a faithful recreation of the music.
With all the requests and the want for it you'd think something would come up. Maybe one day Tadlow will be able to re-record it. He seems to be the best in the field.
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Well as I have said until I am blue in the face, if someone wants to give me £30,000...I will certainly record it it ... but also certainly I would not spend my own money on it.... so let's see if the John Barry fans can put something together???
James, to do a proper Moonraker album would require someone to approximate Shirley Bassey's performance, plus a chorus to accompany some of the finest parts of the score. This surely adds up to much more than £30,000.
Can Smecky Studios even accommodate a chorus and an orchestra at the same time? Doesn't appear so from the session videos I've enjoyed. These factors, plus the additional Bond score licensing expense, adds to the challenges this proposal faces.
All the more reason for the world's wealthiest John Barry aficionados (a category that sadly excludes me) to crowd-fund this project and get it done. No sense doing it unless it's done right. I will, however, pledge to buy a copy.
Take a look at Chris Malone's estimation of the Original Sound Track audio quality (located near the top of this thread) for the major reasons this score deserves a new recording.
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