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I’ve never heard the Steiner.
What’s the best recording of it?
The Stromberg recording is the one I have, which is very good and contains the complete score (including a few bits for scenes cut from the finished film (mind you, he never wrote anything for the infamous spider pit sequence)). Mind you, I haven’t heard the Fred Steiner recording, though I’ve heard some good remarks about it. And to top things off, the Rhino CD contains all the surviving bits of the original recording, which from what I’ve heard sounds quite good considering its age.
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I’ve never heard the Steiner.
What’s the best recording of it?
The Stromberg recording is the one I have, which is very good and contains the complete score (including a few bits for scenes cut from the finished film (mind you, he never wrote anything for the infamous spider pit sequence)). Mind you, I haven’t heard the Fred Steiner recording, though I’ve heard some good remarks about it. And to top things off, the Rhino CD contains all the surviving bits of the original recording, which from what I’ve heard sounds quite good considering its age.
Honorable Mention: Charles Gerhardt's 7:16 King Kong suite on Now, Voyager (1973). It's stirring and finely done, held back only by its brevity. He should have included the Jungle Dance. But it was the first really good recording that most score fans ever saw.
Fred Steiner's 1976 album was the long-awaited, hugely satisfying solution to this problem. It was deeply studied and faithful, and the Jungle Dance is insane. So good.
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What's the best sounding cd release of the Fred Steiner recording? It seems quite hard to come by these days.
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Posted: |
Jan 16, 2024 - 3:11 PM
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By: |
MusicMad
(Member)
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For me, it has to be the John Barry score ... of course 
I was at Uni when the film was released and I went to see it simply because it was a JB score ... I still recall being surprised at the wonderful opening: not so much a great lyrical theme but the sound. It felt as if I was in the middle of the orchestra.
The cinema, The Regal in Leamington Spa was a favourite and I was happy to travel there just for the comfort and viewing experience. I'd seen Logan's Run there a few months earlier ... superb picture and sound quality but King Kong had a fabulous immersive sound which was new to me.
As a subscriber to the monthly Film Review magazine I entered a competition and won a King Kong 3D poster (required: make as many legitimate words out of King Kong poster) which I collected some time later from the manager at the ABC Cinema, New Street, Birmingham and stuck to my Uni accommodation wall for many months. Sad ...
At a time when film scoring was being replaced with product song placing this score was easily the best buy in the high street shops (I was struggling, financially, to buy imports). As much as I enjoy Max Steiner's 1933 score (and, to a lesser extent, his score to its sequel, Song of Kong) - I have the Stromberg/MSO recordings - for me, the John Barry score is a much more enjoyable listen.
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2-0 against gorilla was quite exciting.
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