And yet when I finally got the soundtrack album in the mid-1980s (I didn't see the movie until its video release; I was 5 when it came out in the UK!) I was still let down, because some most exciting music was left off. Thank you later Decca and Intrada expansions.
It‘s funny though, only Spielberg called it Bruce. The crew always refered to it as The Shark. Hence, „the shark is not working, repeat, the shark isn‘t working“ and rarerly a „the shark is working!“
And yes, Williams often left out great cues on his albums.
And yet when I finally got the soundtrack album in the mid-1980s (I didn't see the movie until its video release; I was 5 when it came out in the UK!) I was still let down, because some most exciting music was left off. Thank you later Decca and Intrada expansions.
You should know well that the original MCA soundtrack album from 1975 (and reissued on CD in 1992) was a full re-recording done by Williams with the same studio orchestra at Warner Scoring a few weeks after the film sessions (which were held at 20th Century Fox). For the album, Williams selected the principal highligths from the score, did some polish on orchestrations and, for some cues like "Promenade," "Out to Sea" and "Preparing the Cage," he wrote extensions and additional material to make them more developed for stand-alone listening experience. Even the now classic "The Shark Theme" arrangement which he has performed a zillion times in concert was born for this album (minus the bombastic coda).
The 2000 Decca 25th anniversary album was the premiere release of the film score recording as heard on the movie's soundtrack so technically it's all previously unreleased material. That release notoriously had several mixing discrepancies and therefore offered less-than-ideal sound. The 2015 Intrada produced by Mike Matessino presented a new mix (sourced from the same 3-track elements used in 2000, but newly transferred in high res audio), improving a lot the overall sound; that release also presented a remastered version of the MCA soundtrack album, but sadly original elements couldn't be found, so a 1630-master made in 1992 for the CD reissue was used instead.
This must have been mentioned in previous threads, but it's worth regurgitating... What's the general consensus on the Joel McNeely recording with the RSNO? I picked it up quite recently because it was cheap, but I'm glad I did. I was at first taken aback by the rather wobbly opening, but in general I like it a lot.
I never listen to the Decca anymore. I tried, but the awful sound is deadening.
Never got around to the Intradas... and at this rate, I probably never will.
This must have been mentioned in previous threads, but it's worth regurgitating... What's the general consensus on the Joel McNeely recording with the RSNO? I picked it up quite recently because it was cheap, but I'm glad I did. I was at first taken aback by the rather wobbly opening, but in general I like it a lot.
Despite some performance imperfections and a very wet sound, I think it's definitely an interesting listen especially because a lot of the cues are recorded as written, without several of the podium changes/rewrites made by JW during the recording (like lines taceted or reassigned to other instruments), so it's almost an alternate reading of the score.
I love the Intrada full score version of course, but almost more for documentary purposes. The score as Williams arranged it for the LP is vastly superior in both composition and performance, and I don’t know of anything essential that wasn’t included. Yes there are key sequences from the film not represented, but musically it’s all there to my ears. (And I fully admit this may well be for the simple reason that the LP was my first encounter with the score outside actually watching the movie.)
The McNeely re-recording never quite catches fire for me but I haven’t listened recently and probably didn’t give it enough of a chance.
I love the Intrada full score version of course, but almost more for documentary purposes. The score as Williams arranged it for the LP is vastly superior in both composition and performance, and I don’t know of anything essential that wasn’t included.
Totally agree with this. I find the expanded edition a slog. The OST is perfect and my go to again.
Despite some performance imperfections and a very wet sound, I think it's definitely an interesting listen especially because a lot of the cues are recorded as written, without several of the podium changes/rewrites made by JW during the recording (like lines taceted or reassigned to other instruments), so it's almost an alternate reading of the score.
Oh, fascinating! Do you have any favorite examples, Maurizio?
The "Quint Meets His End" track on the McNeely recording is the alternate version and is the best thing on that recording by a mile. Williams' own recording of that alternate is on the Intrada release.
The album recording is unassailable and one of the top ten soundtrack albums of all time, but its omission of "Quint Meets His End" makes the later OST releases indispensible as well.
Although the Intrada 2015 release made the other albums pretty much obsolete, the Decca album does have a unique take of "Man Against Beast," which means psycho-obsessive collectors like me will hold on to it anyway.
The score as Williams arranged it for the LP is vastly superior in both composition and performance, and I don’t know of anything essential that wasn’t included.
