Intrada Soundtrack Forum

Hey, all. I've lurked, and I actually registered a few months ago, but now I'm finally posting. I'm relatively new to Intrada, but I highly appreciate all the great stuff you guys do. So far my only Intrada item I own is the Eloise set, but that right there is fantastic. I remember watching Eloise at Christmastime and thinking "Man, this music is great! It's a shame it'll probably never get released." And then not too long after, I saw the announcement and jumped on it. My parents are even glad I got it! I'm watching my finances, since I'm a senior in high school preparing for college, and I want to be wise with my purchases. I do definitely plan to grab "The Wind and the Lion" (haven't seen the movie, but I'm liking the samples) and "Harry and the Hendersons" (saw the movie several times as a kid--the idea of all that unused music is a revelation!). I'm also contemplating "One Night With the King." My wallet was wincing when I listened to those samples.

Now, the Alien score is extremely popular, but alas, I have never seen the film, and so I'm unfamiliar with the score. I definitely appreciate what an important release this is and all the work that went into it, however, judging by the samples, I'm not sure if it would be high on my priority list. Just about everyone says it's awesome (I'm from JWFan, by the way--Delorean90), but I'm wondering, is the vast majority of it the more disturbing/avant garde material a la the samples of "Sleepy Alien" and the alternate "The Cupboard," more action sounding/intense material a la "It's a Droid," or is it a bit of a medium between the two? If it's more of a medium, I could definitely see myself going for it--I mean, it's Jerry Goldsmith! But if it's more of the avant garde stuff...I may save my money, at least for now (thank God it's a regular release!). I mean, even the samples, which initially kinda rubbed me the wrong way given the score's popularity, are growing more interesting as I listen to them again, but I'm not sure if I want $30 of dissonance, even if it's Jerry Goldsmith dissonance, if you see what I'm saying. Thanks for any help and advice.

And now I just had a couple of dream releases I thought I'd check on how realistic it would be to see happen:

The most out-there one would be "It's a Wonderful Life." I've gotten a hold of the David Newman re-recording, and it's definitely better than nothing, but it is still definitely incomplete, missing some music that actually was in the film that I liked, and it seems to take some orchestrational and timing liberties that make it difficult to see how the music was meant to fit. I would love to see a complete re-recording that adheres to the original recording--that is, as close to the original score as possible (I don't know what remains of the original sheet music and masters) in orchestration and tempo.

I'm wondering what the situation is with Danny Elfman's Batman scores, along with Shirley Walker's score for Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, and the scores for Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series are. It would be awesome to see anthology sets of the last two a la "Amazing Stories" or something like that.

Finally, complete releases for Poledouris's "The Hunt for Red October" (Paramount...) and "The Jungle Book" would be awesome.

Thanks for any info regarding whatever issues there are with those scores, as well as help on making a decision concerning Alien.

_________________
DavidinBerkeley

"Ask [the director] where the camera comes from and I'll tell him where the music comes from" (David Raksin)

Hey MusicMan!

First and foremost -- "Why You Rock":

1. You're in high school, and you're saving your money to go to college! Young, progressive, responsible, and bright enough to know that an education still matters most in our increasingly ignorant and woefully deadened society. The world needs many more people like you.

2. You're among the new generation of film score enthusiasts, and you haven't waxed rhapsodic over James Horner, actually seeming to prefer Goldsmith or Broughton or Poledouris. Welcome, my friend! Any more like you?...

Next, regarding your question:

I'm sensing that you have a predilection toward more thematic or certainly more orchestral material when it comes to the careful spending of your dollar. Understandable and wise, but you still may want to give Alien a chance. There's certainly enough of what I'm assuming you gravitate toward in Goldsmith's composition, most especially in his rescored, original album release from 1979 that Intrada has blissfully included in their terrific, comprehensive release of this landmark score. The original album is where I started, and it presents a significant, meaty, and highly listenable cross-section of Goldsmith's final product for Scott, which brings me to my final point. If, for no other reason than it stands as a substantive restoration of an infamously emended work in the demesne of film scoring, you've seriously considered taking the plunge, then buy it! It really is that good, and much of it sounds like nothing you've ever heard before! Hell, dude, I'll buy you a credit if you're strapped in the fall!

Hope this helped, brother. Stay strong.

I personally think you'd be much better off spending your $30 on Broughton's magnum opus, Silverado, than Alien, which doesn't do much for me. But music tastes are entirely subjective, and only you can decide if you like something or not.


As for the dc animated stuff, Bruce Timm claims to have personal copies of this stuff, so it definitely exists, but either 1.) nobody thinks there's demand or 2.) licensing costs are too high. There was a score release for mask of the phantasm but it is now out of print.

Holy smokes...I've got a lot to get! Thanks a bunch for those recommendations. Given that Goldsmith is easily one of (if not the) most prolific A-list film composers, it helps to narrow it down a bit to some of the best.

i think that list leaves out plenty of fantastic goldsmith scores from the 90's (and 80s)---I would never be without TOTAL RECALL, FIRST KNIGHT, RUDY and THE MUMMY to name a few.

and for the 80s, nothing tops the Rambo sequels, King Solomons Mines, Lionheart and Supergirl (along with the aftermentioned First Blood).

Well, I took the plunge tonight. I ordered a batch of three Intrada titles: Harry and the Hendersons, The Wind and the Lion, and Alien.

I have several Intrada releases I'm looking at getting right now, but I'm trying to pace myself at a few titles every couple of weeks or so with my paycheck. We'll see how it goes.

Thanks for the help everybody!