Intrada Soundtrack Forum

INTRADA Announces:



POLTERGEIST II
Composed and Conducted by JERRY GOLDSMITH
INTRADA Special Collection 370

In 1986, MGM premiered its sequel to the hit 1982 film Poltergeist. Returning to score Poltergeist II was composer Jerry Goldsmith, who had received an Oscar nomination for the first film's score. Relying sparingly on musical ideas and themes from the first film, Goldsmith wrote a new score, focusing on the new characters and supernatural ideas presented in the film. For Intrada, the film presented a landmark -- it was only its second release, following the prior year's inaugural release of the same studio's Red Dawn, but its first being tied to the premiere of a summer blockbuster (hopefully) film and its first Jerry Goldsmith album. The costs were enormous, including full payments to both the musicians' and singers' unions -- costs that only made a 30-minute album possible. The composer and music engineer Bruce Botnick assembled a program focusing on certain elements of the score, while ignoring others (mainly the aggressive action and large choral pieces).

Since that time, the soundtrack to Poltergeist II has been re-released and expanded by Intrada and several other labels, with alterations and additions along the way. The score has returned home now and it hails the most definitive version yet. This three-CD set presents the complete score from the digital Sony PCM 3324 mixes Goldsmith and Botnick prepared back in 1986 for presentation on CD. While clean and quiet as you'd expect from the digital medium, the producing team added a fair amount of reverb. The complete score is presented again, this time newly remixed from the 1/2" analog film mixes stored in the MGM vaults, designed more to suit the film. While not as balanced as the digital mix, it features a much more crisp, detailed sound, mainly due to the lack of reverb.

The third disc features a wealth of alternate and unreleased material, the most impressive of which is the unreleased, complete initial version of the final confrontation, “Reaching Out/The Astral,” which features a distinctive three-part female chorus throughout the winding chordal sequences and, at one point, a solo soprano intoning her own descant. “The Astral” was Goldsmith’s own titling of the climactic sequence where Carol Anne reappears. For this early alternate confrontation music, besides the unique choral material, Goldsmith wrapped with a more detailed finale emphasizing a variety of colors before finishing with a deliberate, accented trombone coda. It is all being premiered here both with and without chorus. Both versions were dropped in postproduction and Goldsmith’s now-familiar re-scored sequence was used instead. Flipper-style booklet art plus all-new liner notes from Doug Fake chronicling entire history of this Intrada project complete this impressive Jerry Goldsmith presentation.

INTRADA Special Collection 370
Barcode: 7 20258 53702 7
Retail Price: $21.99
SHIPPING NOW
For track listing and sound samples, please visit:
http://store.intrada.com/s.nl/it.A/id.10863/.f
www.intrada.com

Shocked the Scream Factory Blu Ray art made it as the main cover art used. I suppose it could be worse as the MGM Variation that makes the movie look like a SAW film is much worse.

ORDERED none the less... but I really really REALLY love the original cover art more than anything.

One thing is for sure NO ONE can complain about the price, I was ready to pay 29.99 plus shipping.

I am grateful for the release artwork aside. (I just hate the Scream factory commissioned artwork on all of their Blu's.)

The disc of bonus material looks to be well worth it. Can't wait! ( I own the Kritzerland 2 Disc Set also) I just have to own all the Goldsmith releases for Poltergeist I and II

Over 3 hours of classic 80's Goldsmith combined!

Now, are you SURE that's everything on the tapes. Cos, I heard tell the last had it all, so, you know.....

>:-)

Glad to say, I'm in on this, round 5, because of the Nice Price and 'The Astral'. Drool....
And Doug's notes, always an excellent peek into Intrada history (ex. First Blood) , and probably the closest we'll have to a company biography.

Yes Steven I know it is SHOUT factory but they use "Scream Factory" as their horror film line. I hate with a passion all of that same looking cookie cutter commissioned artwork. I own many and many of their BLUs so I still buy the item even if I hate the artwork I just didn't ever think I'd see the day when that same artwork got attached to a limited edition score album.

it's the music that's important.

Wow! And I mean a huge WOW! This release is astonishing!

The music presentation finally has every bit of alternates, or so it seems. 3 CDs with 1 hour duration each is like a dream come true. Plus this is a milestone title for Intrada, so I'm happy it's back in the catalogue where it belongs.

The new cover art is gorgeous! I don't know what some of you're thinking, obviously each one has a different criteria. I adore this great score and this impressive new album has made my head spin again. Thank you so much Intrada!

Well, decided to order this along with Rambo: First Blood Part II.

I have these scores, but they need the upgrades. Especially knowing Intrada's amazing production values.

Curious, being a 3 CD set, is this a 3 CD Clamshell like Conan the Barbarian?

The reason I ask is that there are 3 alternate covers on the site.

I've actually been scrutinizing the analog and digital tracks and notice that in terms of reverb they aren't that different except for when the large chorus comes in, where a liberal amount of reverb was added to the digital tracks. I am guessing because it's actually a very small chorus Botnik and Goldsmith added the reverb to thicken up the sound. Now having spent time with the two, overall I would go with the cleaner and better balanced sound of the digital, but debating if I replace It's No Use, Wild Braces and The Worm with the analog tracks. It's a choice between thin and dry sound or thicker but too reverby. I don't like all the reverb. But the thin exposed sound ain't so great either. What a choice! Great thing about this set is you can mix and match whatever your preference is.

While I might agree in this case if I ever listen to both versions, I've found that many people have a different idea of what constitutes "better" sound than me.

One separate complaint I often see about some of Intrada's releases is the extra low sound volume of quieter passages because they thankfully strive to retain the full dynamic range of a recording. I even saw a negative comment about their Ghost and the Darkness album, which to me sounds stunning on every level.

Listening to both Analog and Digital mixes on this score, there really is very little difference, though It is there if I really listen close.

I'm going to be switching between the Analog and Digital mixes quite a bit, and I love that both were released.

This is an excellent release, and I highly recommend it.

Haineshisway, thank you for your edition of the score, it is a fantastic presentation. By an extremely narrow margin, it has be superseded by Intrada's but you release was such that I was questioning whether the upgrade was needed, which is testament to your work.

Given this embarrassment of riches, I feel like film score fans like myself are being spoiled rotten.

Hello Roger!

Any word on when this might be back in stock?

Since I'm here, what about "The Mummy Returns" or "Star Trek: IV" as well?

Appreciate your time!

Nathan