Not at all a fan. I can live with Spock's dialogue on Wrath of Khan. Otherwise, I can't really think of any soundtrack that benefitted from dialogue and can think of several that were harmed by dialogue. Hannibal is one of the more frustrating albums. Great score, terrible placement of dialogue.
Hannibal was destroyed by the dialogue as was Gladiator Vol 2. Such an odd idea to include it.
I think the only CD I tolerate the dialogue on is Meet Joe Black. (For anyone who hasn't heard the album, it's just a typical Thomas Newman style album moment where it includes Anthony Hopkins saying "yes" at the start of the CD before the music actually starts.)
Generally, No. If I want to hear the dialogue over the music, I'll watch the bloody film. But, there are albums I have wherein the dialogue snippets have become so ingrained in the listening experience for me, that it actually enhances my enjoyment of the track or album. Some examples are Wild Bill Kelso and the canons from 1941, JEREMIAH JOHNSON, DUNE by Toto, FLASH GORDON (Queen/Blake) and the wonderful movie score/movie experience that was the original WARGAMES LP. I'm sure I'll think of, or be reminded of others, during the course of this thread.
Some of my favourite soundtracks still have dialogue between tracks, such as Get Carter and Escape From New York. My Question is are you able to tolerate those distractions by ignoring them when listening to a CD or do you programme them out or skip those tracks completely?
I personally remove them on my mp3 player, but can still tolerate them on cd.
Mancini's "W.C. Fields and Me" has a number of "narrations" by Valerie Perrine and "dissertations" by Rod Steiger doing his terrible Fields impersonation. It's a short score with many cues based on the theme. I'm a big Mancini fan but I've only listened to this once and that was enough.
Definitely not a fan of dialogue on a soundtrack. Most of the Sony edition of The Alamo had too many excerpts that detracted from the listening experience, and I’m not just referring to the tracks that already had dialogue on the LP.
Johnonymous, I also find the dialogue on Casablanca’s soundtrack off-putting. While it doesn’t take care of the rest of the score, the compilation listed below has a clean music-only version of the main title so you might want to try looking for that:
I'm not using any bad words for the "Casablanca" release, though. Other than including the music-only prologue (and perhaps licensing Dooley Wilson's Decca single), there was little else to do with the existent material. I'm happy that this release has happened despite all the missing sources.
I usually enjoy the scores on their own, but if I want the Music and Dialogue experience, I do have some that feature that.
The original BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES LP is a fun listen if you are up for it. The wonderful FSM Release of both Original Film Tracks and the Dialogue Album program is great to have and be able to choose from.
I enjoyed the beautiful readings by Frank McCourt on the Music and Voice album of John Williams' ANGELA'S ASHES. I also enjoy the CD Version with just the score alone, when I'm in the mood for just that.
I love James Horner's score CD of APOLLO 13 on it's own, but also enjoy listening to the Music and Dialogue with Score and Songs release as well. A different yet fun listening experience to be sure.
In most cases, I like the options of having both to choose from, when available.
The old "Story of" LPs of STAR WARS and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK were fun and I'm glad they were produced and made available back in the day.
Variety of listening choices is always most welcome.
Even though it isn't "Dialogue" perse, I wonder if this wonderful performance was ever committed to a CD? The released CD of Music and Readings is a treasure to have.
Generally, no. It's not just the dialogue itself that's distracting, but the low volume of the dialogue compared to the music around it. And I find it especially so if I'm listening to the music at a slightly lower level than normal – in which case, the dialogue usually comes off more like whispers (doubly annoying!)
There are exceptions, such as true concept albums. The 1979 Apocalypse Now double LP/CD is an example of something that's a work of art.
Like others: No. Especially if it’s part of the music track.
Like others: There are rare exceptions where the dialogue was that good or memorable. Usually sci-fi or James Bond. The lp release for the Beneath the Planet of the Apes. Its on the FSM CD release.
I think these dialogue albums have gone the way of the dodo because of the wide availability of TV shows and movies through streaming, digital downloads, and even DVDs. In the days when all of these dialogue albums were made, these were your only souvenirs of the movie that you could take home and play again and again.
The only situation where I generally find a tolerable is where an artist remixes or redubs an old track and interjects dialogue there. There it makes sense and it fits. See Moby’s James Bond.
My very first post here 15 odd years ago was about this for Escape from NY. Luckily, those excerpts can be left off without affecting the music.
Now, In regards to The Road Warrior cd release... I love how they put the original track there by itself, then to show how the music affects the scene they placed the sound effects over it later on.
I never liked this practice, and thankfully it's (seemingly) never done anymore. I actually just commented on this in the thread about editing CDs:
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When I was a teenager, I edited the 1988 CD of "Big Top Pee-Wee" to remove the dialogue from the movie that had been inserted into the beginning, middle, and/or end of several tracks. I guess they were trying to market the soundtrack to kids. I quite like the movie itself, but didn't care for the dialogue being peppered all over the score CD.
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I consider listening to a score by itself and watching the movie to be a separate experience. Having the movie's dialogue in between cues to constantly reinforce where the music came from is an unnecessary distraction for me.
In the pre-home video era, I can understand how a score with dialogue could function as a kind of souvenir/audio version of a film you might not be able to see again until a re-release or a TV airing. I can also understand how a score to a kid's movie having dialogue on it might be good for marketing purposes. But in my opinion, the score as heard away from the film should stand on its own.
Absolutely not. If they are mixed into the music, ala how Elfman allowed Herman's laughing to be mixed into the Bike Ride cue on the Warner box set, I really detest it with a passion. I could just rip audio straight from my bluray or DVD if I wanted dialogue.
If the dialogue is in-between music cues as separate tracks, I just skip them or don't bother ripping them to my drive/mp3 device.
Not at all a fan. I can live with Spock's dialogue on Wrath of Khan.
Ah, interesting example. That actually is a relatively acceptable version of this, but I think it’s because the music was specifically composed to sync with the voiceover as a monologue and to literally give it space - almost like an opera performance. That said, it would be great to have a version without the voiceover too.
However the Prologue to Beauty and the Beast for example is something that I think does exist separately and tells a story independently of the music. There is one version of an album release that plays without it and it’s gorgeous.
I think the worst ones were the Octopussy soundtrack (which was already too short of an album) and the original Apollo 13 release. Also one of the Phantom Menace albums had a really dopey montage of Duel of the Fates intercut with dialogue from the movies.
RE: Spock voiceover.
Um, yes: on the Star Trek 50th Anniversary Set from LaLaland. Disc 1, Track 56.
My first experience with movie dialogue was The Odd Couple LP when I was a kid, and I thought it was fantastic. In my mind it wasn't primarily a music album, it was a comedy album leavened with music. Also, at that age and back in those days, a laugh track seemed like a normal, natural thing to have.
So there's that, and I like Spock's narration on TWOK.
But I don't like dialogue in the first Apollo 13 CD, Back to Titanic, or the Ryko edition of Carrie. I'm glad Ryko didn't mess up For Your Eyes Only. And it's nice that all three of my problem CDs have been rectified by other releases.
Dialogue on albums is stupid. The musical album exists to showcase the music. If you want to hear dialogue with music, then turn on the movie and close your eyes.
Dialogue on albums is stupid. The musical album exists to showcase the music. If you want to hear dialogue with music, then turn on the movie and close your eyes.
