|
A few of my holy grails *used* to be... complete non-boot versions of Alien, Monsignor, The Great Train Robbery... until Intrada worked their usual miracles in bringing them to us. Magic was another one, which VS supplied via their club. I have to say that a ton of my own grails have been found in the last few years. Complete versions of The Fury, The Swarm, Capricorn One, Coma, all three Omen scores... Obviously the emerging picture here is that I consider the late 70's to be the true shining moment for film scores in the stereo era (oddly enough that's right when I first fell in love with movie music, thanks to a little film called Close Encounters of the Third Kind). As for what remains out there...
I just watched 1979's Dracula again on DVD and there is a wealth of unreleased music to John Williams' score, which could also use a new mix or at least a re-master. The same is true of Jaws 2. A complete 1941, while not quite of grail significance, would definitely find a place of honor in my collection. Outland is obvious and would just about round off the great unreleased Goldsmith scores... although the LP release that we do have is still a rockin' good listen. I have LP rips of John Barry's Black Hole and The Deep but full score release of either would count as most holy in my hymn book. Someone else mentioned Horner's Something Wicked, which I thought was marvelous. A collection of his shorter scores, such as The Dresser, from that period would be most welcome, too. But now we're getting into things that would be 'nice' or 'welcome' and not necessarily quest-worthy.
So if I had to narrow it down, it'd be either of JW's MCA releases from 1978-79, Dracula or Jaws 2, done Intrada-style, meaning done to perfection. The fact that these were issued originally on Varese could be a reason for hope, or not.
As a postscript, and speaking as someone who has owned Alien on LP, cassette, the Silva CD, several (*cough boots *cough) and the DVD with the score in isolation, I have to say that, as holy grails go, Intrada's release has done something I would have thought impossible: brought me back to the score with the same fascination and awe that I felt nearly thirty years ago, when I unknowingly first put vinyl to turntable and had my ideas about music changed forever. There's really no way to describe my gratitude and respect for Intrada, for pulling this off and giving us the very best of the very best, truly an embarassment of riches. If suddenly the well dries up and there are no more holy grail releases for a long time, this one will last me.
_________________
Randy Wilson
Dallas, TX
|
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
