I just got this cd set for my birthday and it exactly filled the bill of what I wanted: something big, loud, and exciting. Nobody can make an orchestra tower over me, the listener, in quite the same way as Alex North did.
And the sound is just as clear and beautiful as if I'm in the same room as the orchestra. I'm really enjoying this.
(And the bigger Alex North fans in the audience will be interested to hear that the first half of the cue titled "Zoo" gets heard again in his score for SOMEBODY KILLED HER HUSBAND (1977).)
I finally acquired this set and it's blowing me away. SHOES is a masterpiece. Highly recommended to anyone who appreciates powerful, thematic, emotive and downright lovely film music. I would have used more adjectives, but I've already exceeded my quota for the evening.
A fine 2 cd set. I really enjoyed Shoes of the Fisherman. Where Eagles Dare has long been a favorite score. I have the other Where Eagles Dare Disc as well. Hard to go wrong with Ron Goodwin and a military score.
In addition to the Alex North score you have the re-recording of Where Eagles Dare as Gary points out above, but you also get the demo versions of themes from Ice Station Zebra.
The thing is this; had I not got The Appointment, Legrand's version of events would not have made any kind of impact on my senses. But, the cyclical nature of the smaller ensembles he used there and for the ISZ demos are so similar I can't but wonder if The Appointment may, in fact, have actually been for demonstration. Even if that is not the case, the very similar techniques applied in both cases is interesting. Admittedly, there is a little more complexity overall to The Appointment cues on the disc for that score - but here rests the case.
I'm enjoying this fabulous release again right now. Shoes is now among my favorite of North's scores (even though I've never seen the film), and Goodwin's LP recording of Eagles is the icing on the cake. Thanks, Lukas and team.
I have the MCA Lp...so my question is it a big difference in sound and tracks? One of my favorite Norths .
The Shoes of the Fisherman was originally an MGM LP with the usual MGM sound: thin with distortion in intense passages. The FSM release was remastered with the sound very, very greatly improved. Almost a completely different recording. The CD is also expanded from the LP.
I bought this 2CD set, second-hand, over seven years ago, mainly to get the superb Ron Goodwin album recording of Where Eagles Dare (1968) to supplement the OST release I already owned - that gets a lot of plays.
I'm not a fan of Mr. North's work, having only a few scores, with The Sound and the Fury (1959) being a clear favourite. As is usual, I've split the 2CD into its individual works (for streaming from a NAS) and see that I haven't played the score for nearly 2 years. However, on the plus-side, my better-half chose the bonus tracks to play last month and I recall enjoying the pieces ... so perhaps it's time for me to re-visit the score.
I've never seen the film but owned one theme on a compilation LP since the mid-70s.
