Intrada Soundtrack Forum

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My wish-list at this moment: any Barry score, PSYСHO, SPY HARD.
Not much, really?

I think it is wonderful that so many excellent film scores get re-released and do not remain OOP forever once they are gone. POLTERGEIST II is a very good score that deserves to remain available.

I do own the original LP of POLTERGEIST II as well as the expanded Varese edition, which I am very happy with, so I don't really think I will re-buy the score right now. I am not sure what Bruce Kimmel means by " mastered so hot as to defy credulity", I never had any particular issue with the mastering of POLTERGEIST II, but obviously, his sensibilities led him to approach the mastering from a different perspective. It would be interesting to hear the two in comparison.

In any case, I still have the original Intrada LP release, bought back in the day when it was released.
It may have been my first Intrada release, I'm not sure.

If I remember correctly, and Doug would know better...I think Goldsmith was not in favor of using the chorus. Really not in favor...which is one of the reasons he did not include any of it on the original album. And I think Botnick added the telephone ringing when they made the album...I think it was his idea, not Goldsmith's. But then you get used to it and it sounds weird without it.

So Roger, if we want the best edition possible, it was Intrada's expanded one. Digital sound without the "hot mastering" you're talking about... ^^

One big thing to keep in mind, and this we know from being the original label to finance the project back in 1986. The three-channel mixes for Poltergeist II were NOT designed for true stereo listening but made for the Dolby four-channel film prints. On this title, the center channel was mixed specifically with balancing underneath dialog. As such, instruments were positioned in that region separately from where they were in the proper stereo listening mixes. Re-mastering these mixes can address lots of audio issues for today's marketplace BUT can not alter the intentions of them being made to accommodate dialog in Dolby presentations. We already went through all of this with both Goldsmith and Bruce Botnick when we made the original album, one of the first digital soundtracks to hit the then-new CD marketplace, and again when we put together our first expanded release. Goldsmith specifically stated the mixes for the film presentations altered the violas, woodwinds, percussion and some of the electronics considerably and said they were not designed for listening apart from the dialog because they would phase improperly.

While there is warmth to the analog three-channel elements, the instrumental positioning is out of kilter with the actual two-track digital mixes Botnick created. Both he and Goldsmith preferred the digital two-track sources (Sony PCM format) because they reflected what the orchestra spread was intended to be. Though it was then state-of-the-art, the Poltergeist II recording has never been my favorite in terms of audio, and hot and brittle is a good way to describe the digital sources. However, the correct stereo imaging and spread of the true stereo mixes is certainly an important consideration and trumps warmth for me.

If the 1/2" three-channel tapes were all that survived, using them would be a necessity. But the true stereo PCM masters do exist. When we decided to delete the release, we sent the masters to Varese so they could do their own version.

I'll look forward to this upcoming new version and probably enjoy it just fine. Bruce Kimmel can work wonders with the audio on his albums. But that said, my personal preference will still be the true stereo mixes Goldsmith and Botnick created.
--Doug

Intrada's expanded CD can still be found on the secondary market though. I think I'll stand with Doug with the digital master since it's the true stereo mix. Why not using the analog sources to create a 3.0 Blu-Ray Pure Audio Disc ? Just my 2 cents... ^^

By the way, this is one of my favorite Goldsmith's score (crazier - on the electronic side - than the first episode) and I'm happy people will be able to discover it once more with this new CD !