Intrada Soundtrack Forum

I apologize in advance if this topic was already created.

I was just wondering what people prefer in specific cases when it comes to a recording made directly for a film versus a re-recording made for album at the time of the respective film's release.

I find myself always listening to the album recording on Intrada's amazing release of The Carpetbaggers. The performance is very enthusiastic, the audio quality is as clear and vibrant as can be, and I feel that all of the important thematic material is perfectly addressed in a short, but very sweet program.

I feel the same way about Patton. I almost always go to the album recording on Intrada's 2-disc release. The performance is marvelous and the listening experience in general is much more pleasant.

For Bullitt, on the other hand, my preference easily lies with the film recording. The same applies to Hatari and Shaft. They have a nice rawness to them while not sounding too "archival."

In most cases, I don’t see this as either/or. For example, I think both the re-recording as well as the film recording of Jerry Goldsmith’s score for CAPRICORN ONE are very interesting, and very listenable, yet they are totally different recordings. The album recording is wider, more open spaced, whereas the film recording is denser, more in your face. I like both. I do prefer the presentation of the film recording though, since the rerecording left out the suspense music from the beginning of the movie, which I think is terrific.
Irconically, while many of the soundtrack albums of the 1970s and 1980s are allegedly assembled (often by the composer himself) to provide a stand alone listening experience, I more often than not find that the more comprehensive (and often though not always chronological) presentation that is customary for many of today’s re-releases makes for a far better stand alone listening experience than the original album assemblies, regardless of whether one has seen the movie or not. (But that’s an assembly issue and not necessarily a recording one.)
In case of PATTON, I actually think that all three available recordings have their merits. There are two different recordings of DAMIEN – OMEN II on CD, and there as well: they are both different, and I listen at times to the film recording, at other times to the album recording. In case of JAWS, even though the original album is an iconic soundtrack, I far prefer the original film recording (or the re-recording by McNeely), simply because the original album focused very much on the “pretty” music, and left out most of the brutal, modernistic stuff, which (at least to my Penderecki /Stravinsky soiled ears) is the beef of the score. Again, that’s an assembly issue more than a recording issue, the album recording itself is very good.

I suppose it's down to what you've got used to listening to. An album is designed to be a good listening experence, & at around 30mins. (for older LP's) doesn't outstay its welcome. There's no hard & fast rule for me, once I'd heard the original tracks for Ben-Hur & The Great Escape, I lost all interest in the original albums, but for Our Man Flint & In Like Flint I prefer the album re-recordings to the original tracks (hint Mr. Intrada ). It's best when a release has both, but as the album & original are usually owned by different companies by now, it doesn't happen very often.

I would prefer both lol to have that option. However some of my favorite movie scenes w/music I always go w/the film version. That's why I am happy when Intrada, FSM, LLL do decide to release a 2 CD set. Disc one film score, disc 2 album + alternate, unused pieces.

A couple of prime examples both from 1989; Star Trek V & Batman.











I hope this will be done w/Red October soon.