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I'm putting together a new 5-channel A/V system soon. The Towering Inferno from this set is one of the albums I'm most looking forward to playing on it.
I've had this set for a few years. My main motivation for getting it was The Poseidon Adventure main theme renditions
You stereophiles out there know that one of the real joys of record collecting is putting on lesser-known material and just letting it play, thereby discovering new, previously unknown delights.
I'm expecting that with The Towering Inferno score.
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Posted: |
Jun 10, 2025 - 1:33 AM
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By: |
Graham Watt
(Member)
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The movie calls for the music it got, really, but don't forget that JW was signed for this project in early '74 and then had to do it while grieving the loss of his wife. All I can say is thank goodness Jaws came along and led us (and him) out of a very bleak time.
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The above was Mike Matessino on EARTHQUAKE. Sounds like you're making excuses, Mike, for what Williams wrote! And yet, despite the film not being great, and its calling for a lot of creeping-around music - plus it coming in the immediate aftermath of Barbara Ruick's death - the way the composer expanded on the sometimes stark, cold, drab film cues for the album recording three weeks later, showcases a wealth of emotions. At its most carefree and joyous, like in the upbeat character themes (for Rosa in particular). it conveys to me unbridled enthusiasm.
I love that re-recording so much, and now even more that we can hear it in superb sound and minus the Sensurround gimmick.
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The movie calls for the music it got, really, but don't forget that JW was signed for this project in early '74 and then had to do it while grieving the loss of his wife. All I can say is thank goodness Jaws came along and led us (and him) out of a very bleak time.
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The above was Mike Matessino on EARTHQUAKE. Sounds like you're making excuses, Mike, for what Williams wrote! And yet, despite the film not being great, and its calling for a lot of creeping-around music - plus it coming in the immediate aftermath of Barbara Ruick's death - the way the composer expanded on the sometimes stark, cold, drab film cues for the album recording three weeks later, showcases a wealth of emotions. At its most carefree and joyous, like in the upbeat character themes (for Rosa in particular). it conveys to me unbridled enthusiasm.
I love that re-recording so much, and now even more that we can hear it in superb sound and minus the Sensurround gimmick.
Not excuses, just giving the context. As always JW knew exactly what music the movie needed and also put together a great companion album
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Amer Zahid: I've already have a great set up of 7.2.4 Surround Set using an Denon AVR. The AVR allows various DSP fucntion suited for all types of mixes.
The EIGER SANCTION blows me away. Recently the Gerhardt STAR WARS/CLOSE ENCOUNTERS SACD Multi channel was an incredible live sound experience. Also the Berlin Concert when I streamed this live on Sunday was just sublime!
I've yet to play open my DISASTER set. Cant wait to start with EARTHQUAKE . Ahh ...One of these days..
I've already got all those Gerhardt/NPO SACD's, minus Gone With the Wind, which isn't a quad album anyway. I've enjoyed all those albums transferred onto my phone. Listening in loudspeaker quadraphonic is one of the chief reasons I'm putting together a full A/V system.
Interesting that I'll have to buy a cheap Sony multichannel Blu-ray player to hear the quad SACD's. I'm buying a standalone SACD player for treasured two-channel SACD's, but if I want to play all my old three, four and five channel SACD's there's no alternative but the $300 Sony player.
Strange.
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Posted: |
Jun 10, 2025 - 1:46 PM
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By: |
Graham Watt
(Member)
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A couple more observations/ cormorants/ questions about THE TOWERING INFERNO. The track "Susan and Doug" is unique to the LP prog. It is mentioned fleetingly in the liner notes, but I had to go back to check. I imagine that it's missing from the "complete" score CD1 because it would have pushed the timing to over the 80 minute mark. Perhaps a lesser concern was that it might have seemed like overkill of the same theme. Anyway, the "forever discontent" side of me mourns the fact that it's not part of the main programme. Couldn't they have made the first disc bigger? Just by a millimetre?
"Trapped Lovers" as titled on the old LP prog is, I think, a combination of CD1's "Facing the Flames" and "Immolation", only in reverse order, is that correct? I suppose that John Williams thought it played better in the switched form.
"The Helicopter Explosion" from the old prog isn't actually "The Helicopter Explodes" from CD1, is it? Isn't it really "The First Casualty", or maybe a combination of tracks?
I was going to say that this double CD is the jewel in the crown of the whole box set, but for a quick fix ye cannae beat the EARTHQUAKE prog as originally conceived by the composer.
More later. You have been warned.
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Yeah, seems like it was probably written and recorded specifically for the album (albeit at the same film sessions), rather than for use in the film.
Yavar
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Posted: |
Jun 11, 2025 - 2:58 AM
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By: |
Graham Watt
(Member)
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A couple more observations/ cormorants/ questions about THE TOWERING INFERNO. The track "Susan and Doug" is unique to the LP prog. It is mentioned fleetingly in the liner notes, but I had to go back to check. I imagine that it's missing from the "complete" score CD1 because it would have pushed the timing to over the 80 minute mark. Perhaps a lesser concern was that it might have seemed like overkill of the same theme. Anyway, the "forever discontent" side of me mourns the fact that it's not part of the main programme. Couldn't they have made the first disc bigger? Just by a millimetre?
"Trapped Lovers" as titled on the old LP prog is, I think, a combination of CD1's "Facing the Flames" and "Immolation", only in reverse order, is that correct? I suppose that John Williams thought it played better in the switched form.
"The Helicopter Explosion" from the old prog isn't actually "The Helicopter Explodes" from CD1, is it? Isn't it really "The First Casualty", or maybe a combination of tracks?
I was going to say that this double CD is the jewel in the crown of the whole box set, but for a quick fix ye cannae beat the EARTHQUAKE prog as originally conceived by the composer.
More later. You have been warned.
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Although dogplant and Yavar subsequently commented on my above post, I've taken the liberty of quoting myself just to keep things together.
I went back to the FSM notes and found that "I was right" about "Trapped Lovers" and "The Helicopter Explodes". I'm taking no credit though, seeing as I'd obviously just retained the info after having read it once in 2001.
"Susan and Doug" actually does appear briefly in the film. Jeff Bond's liner notes for the LLL box say that you can hear it just before the ribbon-cutting scene. So it was recorded specificallyfor the film - unless it had already been recorded for the album along with the film sessions... and then put into the film as an afterthought.
"THERE ARE SOME THINGS IT IS BETTER NOT TO KNOW"
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