Intrada Soundtrack Forum

I also like the idea of collecting only what I consider to be the "top" scores, but in general, the problem is following: I can't guess if I'll like the score or not (and how much I'd like it) until I hear it couple of times. The sound samples etc. are usually not much revealing that and I don't watch movies much.

So often I buy titles which I then find that I don't care that much about, however since I already have them, I prefer to keep them as I like the full shelves (I don't have that many titles that I would run out of space yet).

Of course if I don't like the music, I also put it away (Carrie comes to my mind here). But the titles which I found just "good" at first are worth re-discovering: here Judgment At Nuremberg comes to mind as the first one. It just took time to develop my passion for this score (that's perhaps a youngster's point of view).

I agree that if you don't like a CD, it's unecessary to keep it like a treasure, and easier to resell it. I have a problem with Year of the Gun (Bill Conti) for example, which I recently discovered, and I already tried to sell it on ebay without any success. So I will probably listen to it some more times, but I don't think I'm gonna like it, only get used to it in the best case...

So to sum up : I collect everything that I like more or less, even if I don't feel like this CD was MADE for ME and that everything on it deeply resonates in me. But if the CD clearly bores me, there's no way I can keep it only for the collection.

I don't have an extraordinarily large collection (about 1200), and that's after most of my de-collecting. With a collection of this size, any score that doesn't make a good impression after the first couple of tries isn't going to get another chance, unfortunately. There are 1200 other proven titles that will always get the attention. It is possible that something I got rid of could have caught on with me if given more time, but the reality is it won't get that chance. And that perhaps is a shame...but it's not like I don't have any music to listen to.

This is a great sub-thread to the hoarding subject Roger, very well thought out and said, Thanks!

We all know that we are in the severe minority in the music world-- i.e. people who collect scores.... kind of like comic book collectors in todays world (although there's even many more of those than of us!). And there's a very good parallel to comic books, and here it is: you really can't know if you're going to like it without buying it, unfortunately. Places where you can listen to a full score, or a place where you can read the latest (or even older) comics free of charge are basically non-existent. There's no libaries that stock soundtracks and comic books in depth. That was more true in the 70's-80's-90's than it is today, what with direct radio and the internet, etc. But even those places generally only offer tidbits, which in many cases are chosen by the labels themselves.... meaning that you may be hearing the better parts of a score, and not a truly representational cross-section of the score.

Of course, the most obvious place to begin to decide if you are going to want a score for your collection is the film(s) themselves. For me, I have a sixth sense (for lack of a better word) for what I am going to like, or at least be interested in enough to seek it out. I mentioned elsewhere that I like historical/gothic/victorian/horror subject matter, so a film like Photographing Fairies was something I had to check out. Once I did, I liked it and knew I wanted to find a copy of the score by Simon Boswell. Ditto for films like Constantine and The Village. On the other hand, films like I Robot and The Fugitive hold little interest for me as scores, no matter how rockin' they might be. So, my collection tends to lean towards the films I like the most. I've seen the film Sky Bandits, and it sucked donkey-doo, therefore that is not a score I'll be needing.

Many years ago, I too bought everything, because choices were much slimmer than what they are today. But I never had The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, because my maturity wasn't what it is today, and I couldn't appreciate it as the masterpiece it is (plus, I'd never seen the film and knew nothing about it). Back then, for me, I was all about huge explosive cues and propulsive action music.... but I have mellowed out to where I can now appreciate the scores of Alex North, something that was fully lost on me 15 years ago.

I have sold CD's, and then wanted to re-buy them later on because of my changing tastes. So, while there's something to be said for holding on to everything until you're absolutely sure you don't want it, I consider it to be a natural process of weeding out the chaff. I get rid of what I don't want to hold onto today, and if I decide I do want it later, so be it.

Anyway, like I said, GREAT THREAD!!

Kongfanman

np: SHE by Max Steiner (love that 13 minute Hall of Kings!)

In the 70's as a teen and young adult, I was far more inclined to purchase every new soundtrack lp and also searched for the older 50's and 60's soundtracks released by Decca, RCA etc. In about 1985 at the dawn of the CD era, I sold a vast part of my collection (in retroview, probably wise as the lp's still commanded far more than they would today). I still have 3 or 4 boxes with some excellent scores that I just did not want to lose. Since then I've accumulated a sizable CD collection based simply on what I knew was good and would listen to. I readily sell cd's that I know will not be played.
I am keenly aware that there is a point where, there sitting on on your shelf is far more material than you can ever fully enjoy in a life time. Unless a new score just grabs my attention, I won't buy it just for the sake of "collecting" But I know what's good in many old scores, and those are the ones I tend to buy.

On a related note, the only DVD's I purchase are my all time favorite movies, things I know I'll revisit. I remember reading an interview with the late critic Judith Cristand she was asked about people who collected movies. She replied incredulously, "Who wants to own a movie?"

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WE HAVE COME TO VISIT YOU IN PEACE AND WITH GOOD WILL.

I used to buy any LP, tape or CD that had 'soundtrack' on it, from the 80's onward - song albums, anything, regardless of the film.

Now, there is just too much to listen to, but the fear of being 'left out', not buying a limited edition like Black Widow, and missing out, regretting it later, drives my soundtrack buying these days.
It has to be an age to quantity ratio thing.
I can't imagine watching something like I ROBOT, AEON FLUX, ANNAPOLIS, or HOSTEL these days and wanting to run out and buy the album (although two of those scores are pretty good - guess which ones:) .

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"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which can not fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance...that principle is contempt prior to investigation.
Herbert Spencer

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"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which can not fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance...that principle is contempt prior to investigation.
Herbert Spencer

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Jerry Goldsmith, Joel Goldsmith, John Williams, Elmer Bernstein,Michael Giacchino,Scott Glasgow,Alan Silvestri, Bernard Herrmann, Christopher Young, Bruce Broughton,Ennio Morricone and a host of others.

Your question is worded in a way that might include any kind of collection, Roger, but I'll address the film score issue first and foremost.
The issues I see are:
- why are you interested in film music?
- why do you collect film music?
- what sort of collecting is it? compulsive? discriminate? for aesthetic reasons only? partly for speculation?
- what are your criteria for buying? enjoying? keeping? discarding?



The prime motive is the enjoyment of music, mostly film music.

The prime criterion is-- the same.
I don't buy something because it's limited & rare, nor to make money-- I can understand some people doing this in a reasonable way to finance part of their film music collection, mind you; it's "blind" speculators I don't like (people who don't even know a thing about film music, except that some releases can make them a fortune, and who buy limited releases by the dozen).

My first purchases were "the big ones" (Williams' blockbusters) and action scores (Goldsmith, Zimmer) (like Thekongologist-- couldn't think of something simpler to type, eh? :p ), ).
It turned out that Goldsmith was the one I liked the most; whether it's a good movie or not, the score is always (well, 90%) (at least) good; I don't like Johnny's early scores, on the other hand-- I am not interested in Johnny Goldfarb, for instance.
I am thus a Goldsmith semi-completist; I didn't jump on every release, and only got Along Came a Spider a few years later, for example. I can wait for a bargain on, or even do without, such a thing as-- is it City Hall? That movie with Kevin Bacon and Gary Oldman; I didn't like the score too much watching the movie; maybe it would fare better on CD, though I don't rmember reading anythng good on it; but then, the much-reviled Mr. Baseball is definitely not a bad score; and, like BigMcGyver, there might be something to my liking; but it's not a priority, anyway.

Thanks to Goldsmith and other composers, exploring their softer sides, my tastes have expanded; I still won't play Planet of the Apes daily, but I can appreciate it more, and I absolutely love Star Trek: The Motion Picture. I also started exploring the Golden Age.

My collection obviously started expanding with my becoming a teacher, thus earning regular revenues. The pace picked up a few years ago, somehow, with tastes expanding. I bought my first Schifrin and Scott scores in the past couple of years (1-2, possibly 3 fro Schifrin).

Beforehand knowledge of the music, mostly thanks to the movie, is of course the best and surest way to plan purchases, but I have not seen a majority of the movies whose score I have: either because I missed it, because I'm not interested, because I still haven't gotten a chance, or often probably won't ever have a chance of seing it.

Samples help a lot. Reviews, descriptions and recommendations can be quite helpful, too; there may be disagreements, but overall I tend to agree with James Southall, for instance, and Doug's short descriptions give a good idea what to expect.

A lot of it, however, is intuition-- "sixth sense", like Thekongologist said. Fortunately, I'm usually right.
Now to quantify that "usually"...
With 897 CDs (three received this morning), I have had very very very few major disappointments.
Morricone's aforementionned The Island is one; the samples were good and intriguing, but they truly were the best moments; there are a few good tracks, but I could have done without it. The problem was that it was the start of the Varèse Club Frenzy, there were obviously no reviews, and I didn't want to miss something good.

Such frenzies tend to skew things a bit, but overall, I've managed well.
I have nearly all of Varèse's Club releases (the new series, that ie, starting in the 2000's), an my only other disappointment was with The Return of a Man Called Horse, but that's because of my expectations; like other such disappointments, when I return to the score (I haven't yet), I may really like it.
The limited nature has not become a criterion for me; it may spur more pondering than if it were unlimited, but it's not the main factor. I'm sorry to tell you I don't get any of the Small scores, Roger.

I would have to count, but roughly, I believe the number of scores I have regretted buying must be around 1-2%, out of nearly 900-- a dozen CDs? It sounds a bit many to me; I don't think there are that many; it's more likely a maximum.
I still have them, though. Some parts are interesting. Or I may discover later I like it more than the first time. Or maybe someday I'll trade (not sell) it or give it.
I haven't played Bite the Bullet in some time; I don"t remember there being any samples, and anyway I expected something different. I believe I'll be able to appreciate it a lot more now-- I just haven't thought of playing it to check since then; you need time to forget your expectations, your disappointment, the music, in order to really rediscover it on a fair ground, for itself.

Surely, with that many CDs now, a lot of them don't get played for some time: I play other CDs, I play the new ones, I play some several times, for a long time, regularly, ...
Copying several scores and tracks as mp3s onto my laptop helps rediscover some "old" CDs. It also changes the relation to music a whole lot: it's so easy; whereas, without being excessively lazy, the idea of interrupting my work, getting up, browsing through the CDs, searching, deciding, ..., can be deterring, so that the simple solution is to pick one of the oft-played ones lying around at arm's reach.

Another case I haven't seen mentioned yet: re-releases.
Case in point: Papillon, which I received this morning. I already have the first release; that's why I didn't order this new one immediately; four years later, having played Papillon again this year (after a long while), and copied the theme on my computer, I felt it was time to upgrade to the remastered, slightly expanded version (the sound does seem clearer), I ordered it for my birthday (such occasions are always such perfect excuses ) (but amazon.fr sent me my order a good week too late, though, despite my having planned & placed it for a month).
Some re-releases warrant an upgrade, some don't, or at least not imediately.

Oh, another thing, of the psychological kind.
I like to have something left to listen to. Something new to read, to watch, to listen to.
It might be partly because I (my parents) could not afford everything as a kid; also because I tend to keep the best for later.
In any case, I like to have something in store for later; it's-- reassuring.
I won't read the books I received in this amazon box today not next week nor the week after, ..., for instance, and not just for chronological reasons (volume 2, ...). I prefer to wait a bit, and I have a good stock of things to read. Things to listen to, as well. And things to watch.

A few brief points on other sorts of collecting.
Besides literature, I like comics, especially Disney comics-- actually, Thekongologists, I think the parallel would be between film music lovers and Disney comics lovers (rather than comics in general): millions of people like comics (whether American comics, European bandes dessinées, Asian manga, ...); Disney comics are read throughout the world, but we are not that many to know, like, read, collect, the most classic ones; and even then, there are niches.
Since "discovering" Mile High Comics two years ago, I have been ordering regularly from them to complete my collection. The criteria are a bit more complex than for CDs. The issues containing stories I already have, often in superb albums, are low in priority; but then, I do get some of these, because I love the cover, or because I know there are interesting notes and features in the issue.
As for other comics: I rediscovered superhero comics due to the first Spider-Man movie; I discovered Alan Moore through From Hell, and from there, such authors and artists as Neil Gaiman, Rick Veitch, ...; I finally got to read The Spirit.
A good deal of my comics are also horror comics, and adaptations of literary works or movies (which might themselves be adaptations). The reason is twofold: for pleasure; for work, as I'm interested in the problem of the adaptation of literary works (into other media: film, comic, music) and in comics studies. I would also like to do something on film music (so I have to know and thus buy certain scores), but I'll be limited by my lack of (technical) musical knowledge.



I'll end here and leave DVDs for later discussion; I probably could / should have done shorter than this already, sorry.

If you want the gist of it all, here it is:
- I buy what I strongly think I will like
- out of almost 900, my misses have been very few
- with so much to listen to, it's tough giving all a fair amount of playing regularly; also, I really know by heart my first 100 CDs, so I don't feel like playing them that often
- I keep it all; I may find I like something later, because I've changed, because of my expectations, ...