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 Posted:   Jan 31, 2025 - 10:11 AM   
 By:   EdG   (Member)

For clarity, what I'm hearing is at 3:00 in the track. It sounds like it's in the process of fading out, but cuts off early to complete silence. Every other tracks fades out properly.

I'm not hearing that at all. Are you listening on a CD player or did you rip the track?

 
 Posted:   Jan 31, 2025 - 10:14 AM   
 By:   John Webster   (Member)

For clarity, what I'm hearing is at 3:00 in the track. It sounds like it's in the process of fading out, but cuts off early to complete silence. Every other tracks fades out properly.

I'm not hearing that at all. Are you listening on a CD player or did you rip the track?


Both.

But it's really only noticeable if you're listening with headphones. I did listen on my sound system, and found that it wasn't apparent.

 
 
 Posted:   Feb 1, 2025 - 12:51 AM   
 By:   Jasom   (Member)

Currently on my second listen and I must say I am really enjoying it. It’s great to be able to hear what the score was originally supposed to sound like. Almost feels like a different movie. It’s too bad this set doesn’t also include the version of the score as heard in the final edit of the film as that is what I’m most used to hearing and what made me love this movie so much. Glad I still have the Numenorean release so I can listen to the final film version as well. Never had any issues with the sound quality of that release but still would’ve been to nice to have an upgraded version of it. I would’ve paid more to have a 4 cd set of this score.

 
 
 Posted:   Feb 1, 2025 - 2:03 AM   
 By:   Spymaster   (Member)

Currently on my second listen and I must say I am really enjoying it. It’s great to be able to hear what the score was originally supposed to sound like. Almost feels like a different movie. It’s too bad this set doesn’t also include the version of the score as heard in the final edit of the film as that is what I’m most used to hearing and what made me love this movie so much. Glad I still have the Numenorean release so I can listen to the final film version as well. Never had any issues with the sound quality of that release but still would’ve been to nice to have an upgraded version of it. I would’ve paid more to have a 4 cd set of this score.

I would guess that "version" of the score doesn't exist as a master, do it would need either chopping down from scratch, or pulling from a film mix / isolated score, neither of which would sit at all well with Trevor Jones.

 
 Posted:   Feb 3, 2025 - 12:41 PM   
 By:   MKRUltra   (Member)

I noticed that the music for the scene when the Emperor dies does not seem to appear in this release.

You're right, it is missing. It's great to have this release, but the Numenorean release is certainly not rendered obsolete. For starters, the mixes and even the takes vary wildly from cue to cue between this new version and the film versions presented on the previous release. Also it seems Trevor Jones did not take very good care of these masters because especially on headphones this is a harsh listen at times, it's clear La La Land had to do a heavy salvage job on this. The film stems used on the Numenorean release are sometimes cleaner, the cues here are often so drowned in reverb that you can barely here any discrete instrumentation. That said, the amount of new music here is truly crazy, to the point it makes one wonder how different the original cut of the film was.

 
 
 Posted:   Feb 4, 2025 - 1:27 PM   
 By:   Broughtfan   (Member)

Just received my copy today. Sounds wonderful. So much dimension to the score (which was, sadly, not the case with the score excerpts heard on the 1982 OST).

Was wondering why the LSO players listing didn't include any of the brass* or (orchestral) percussion players (other than trumpet soloist). I seem to recall the insert included with the original soundtrack release didn't list these players, either, so I'm guessing the info from the original insert was reprinted for this version of the soundtrack.

* - On Page 24 of the CD booklet you can see a number of these players seated behind the conductor (photo apparently taken at CTS Wembley).

 
 Posted:   Feb 4, 2025 - 7:32 PM   
 By:   Paul MacLean   (Member)

This is just the most extraordinary release, and I am inexpressibly elated. Discs one and two are filled with enchanting surprises and never-before heard musical passages.

I think the most astonishing revelation is "The Great Conjunction and the Arrival of the Mystics", which is almost totally-different to what was heard in the film (evidently this is Jones' original stab at the sequence, while the film / original album version was a re-score).

As far as the original album vs. the complete score disc, the album listening experience is that of a really-well assembled presentation of highlights; whereas the complete score has the quality of a ballet, whose cues flow into each other and carry you along in a musical "narrative". Both are valid programs.

This one next -- please...

 
 
 Posted:   Feb 4, 2025 - 7:43 PM   
 By:   jwb1   (Member)



This one next -- please...



We already have a nice release of Merlin.

We need a complete Dark City.

 
 
 Posted:   Feb 4, 2025 - 7:46 PM   
 By:   Graham   (Member)

Not Merlin.

Excalibur

Graham

 
 Posted:   Feb 5, 2025 - 6:38 AM   
 By:   Mathew   (Member)

Not Merlin.

Excalibur


I'd purchase both... Merlin and Excalibur!

Concerning Excalibur, I hope this poses no problem: Orion Pictures Cinema '84. Distributed by, Warner Bros.

 
 Posted:   Feb 5, 2025 - 9:43 PM   
 By:   The Beach Bum   (Member)



This one next -- please...



We already have a nice release of Merlin.


I'm astonished anyone could have mistaken that image for Merlin.

As far as Excalibur, I remember reading (on this board I think) that LaLa Land had it all set to go years ago (clearances, rights, etc.) but no actual tapes could be found.

 
 Posted:   Feb 6, 2025 - 6:40 AM   
 By:   Jeff M   (Member)

Wow. I’m a huge fan of this film, score, and Jones's music, and having had a chance to listen through a few times this has to be one of the most interesting and revelatory soundtrack releases of recent memory. I had no idea this score was so heavily edited In the final film version. I mean, I knew it had been edited somewhat because of some of the obvious cross-fades, but it’s not just little trims here and there - literally almost every cue was shuffled, tracked, cut up, pasted, re-pasted, layered or used different takes all together. Like others have said, this feels almost like an entirely new version of the score and based on the depth of the liner notes and Jones’s involvement, Jones must be proud it’s finally available.

Re Scoreaholic’s post about the “Emperors Death” cue missing, I believe that is now the beginning of Track 7 “Chamberlain is Disrobed”.

That’s also a good example of the sound quality improvement on this release, the Numenorean’s “Emperor’s Death” sounds like it’s underwater by comparison. Keep in mind, this new release is not a huge leap in sonics IMO (like the must-have 3 disc lalaland Die Hard that sounds like it was recorded yesterday), but rather a nice polish with more clarity and more detail. Like others have said, this release has very saturated reverb (by design?) that sounds much more dated and murky... at least compared to the sparkling sound of most of Jones’s 90s scores.

Reading the liner notes, I had no idea the backstory behind the score, and as much as Jones was disappointed how the score wound up in the film, it’s a testament to how great the music is that it still works so well even in its heavily edited form.

Like others said, I agree this is a complimentary release, not a replacement, to the Numenorean 2-disc, and I’ll absolutely be holding on to that… but there’s no question this release takes on a whole new narrative and symphonic shape.

All in all, totally unexpected and spectacular. Clearly a labor of love for all involved and we are all the richer for it!

 
 Posted:   Feb 6, 2025 - 8:00 AM   
 By:   Paul MacLean   (Member)

Like others have said, this release has very saturated reverb (by design?) that sounds much more dated and murky... at least compared to the sparkling sound of most of Jones’s 90s scores.


That was the way engineers John Richards and Dick Lewzy mixed everything at CTS Wembley at the time. The studio had little-to-no natural reverb, so artificial reverb was used. Also, they used to partition the sections, and mike them very closely, so the sound of one section did not "bleed" into another.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqkghxQnHLZPfsWV-eQrpRpKBr3kR7-jzup2005nSWiRi_tCo5Z7UI_-QCsPo9GnTJvok4gxroqyel2kXia4lRDCUIuebuyPPd9liKaqpFOWwjdxwTy80uaoeBOt9CtRYC9wNGhte9bv4/s1600/rb-orch-1.jpg

This gave them enormous leeway in the final mix. It also resulted in a unique sound, which wasn't to everyone's taste -- tho personally I liked it depending on the score. I thought it suited the Bond scores exceedingly well.

CTS was refurbished in the 1980s, the carpet and acoustical dampening removed, which made it a much more "live" room.

 
 Posted:   Feb 7, 2025 - 6:32 AM   
 By:   johnonymous86   (Member)

Like others have said, this release has very saturated reverb (by design?) that sounds much more dated and murky... at least compared to the sparkling sound of most of Jones’s 90s scores.


That was the way engineers John Richards and Dick Lewzy mixed everything at CTS Wembley at the time. The studio had little-to-no natural reverb, so artificial reverb was used. Also, they used to partition the sections, and mike them very closely, so the sound of one section did not "bleed" into another.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqkghxQnHLZPfsWV-eQrpRpKBr3kR7-jzup2005nSWiRi_tCo5Z7UI_-QCsPo9GnTJvok4gxroqyel2kXia4lRDCUIuebuyPPd9liKaqpFOWwjdxwTy80uaoeBOt9CtRYC9wNGhte9bv4/s1600/rb-orch-1.jpg

This gave them enormous leeway in the final mix. It also resulted in a unique sound, which wasn't to everyone's taste -- tho personally I liked it depending on the score. I thought it suited the Bond scores exceedingly well.

CTS was refurbished in the 1980s, the carpet and acoustical dampening removed, which made it a much more "live" room.


Is this the same CTS that was used for Elfman's BATMAN and Silvestri's THE MUMMY RETURNS?

 
 
 Posted:   Feb 7, 2025 - 7:31 AM   
 By:   Broughtfan   (Member)

I read in some interview that when Horner did "Krull" he got about 100 players into that room (CTS Wembley) and it was a "tight squeeze." When John Barry recorded at CTS Bayswater (which I imagine was a similarly sized space) he got a great big sound with his groups (probably 60, 70 max in those days) as did Barry Gray when he recorded his "Space: 1999" episode scores at CTS Wembley (though the MT was recorded at Anvil). By contrast, getting 100 people into AR 1 would be no problem at all.

 
 Posted:   Feb 7, 2025 - 7:22 PM   
 By:   Paul MacLean   (Member)

Is this the same CTS that was used for Elfman's BATMAN and Silvestri's THE MUMMY RETURNS?

Batman was recorded as CTS Wembley (which was active from the early 1970s to 2000 -- until it was razed to make more room for Wembley Stadium).

The Mummy Returns was recorded at Watford Town Hall (to which CTS moved its business after the Wembley studio closed).

Prior to the early 70s, CTS operated out of a studio in Bayswater, which is where John Barry recorded all his Bond scores up to Diamonds Are Forever.

https://www.cts-lansdowne.co.uk/cts-history/

https://musicbehindthescreen.blogspot.com/2015/01/scoring-stages-cts-studios.html

 
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