Robocop by Basil Poledouris

[Melange 446]

Given the film, I'm stunned nobody had yet used

reply to the news of this CD!!

[Kendal_Ozzel 36]

Somebody did!

[filmmusic 1,825]

For anyone interested Arrow is releasing a bells and whistles edition of Robocop on Bluray with 2 isolated score tracks!!

 

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Two Isolated Score tracks (Composer s Original Mix and Final Theatrical Mix) in lossless stereo

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=16786560&postcount=654

 

The official announcement will be in an hour in facebook.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Oh cool!

[Trent B 337]

23 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

For anyone interested Arrow is releasing a bells and whistles edition of Robocop on Bluray with 2 isolated score tracks!!

 

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=16786560&postcount=654

 

The official announcement will be in an hour in facebook.

Fascinating.

I wish I had the ability to rip Blu-Ray discs...

[Thor 7,490]

Love the film, so glad to see it get top treatment. However, I've never liked the soundtrack outside the excellent main theme.

[shockwave 8]

[Bayesian 1,359]

1 hour ago, Thor said:

Love the film, so glad to see it get top treatment. However, I've never liked the soundtrack outside the excellent main theme.

Me neither, and I’ve tried over the years to give it opportunities to grow on me. It never has. 

[NL197 368]

Composing RoboCop, a new tribute to composer Basil Poledouris featuring film music experts Jeff Bond, Lukas Kendall, Daniel Schweiger and Robert Townson

Two Isolated Score tracks (Composer’s Original Mix and Final Theatrical Mix) in lossless stereo

https://www.arrowfilms.com/product-detail/robocop-limited-edition-blu-ray/FCD1918

[Naïve Old Fart 9,511]

@shockwave is right; it's an amazing film. It's dryly funny, well-paced, has many quotable lines, it works as much as a satire, as it does an action flick, and it's, ultimately, a very human film. One critic described it as a "nest of Chinese boxes". I wouldn't disagree.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

And it's a superhero film! 

[Thor 7,490]

1 hour ago, Bayesian said:

Me neither, and I’ve tried over the years to give it opportunities to grow on me. It never has. 

 

Same here. I've tried and tried and tried. I even got the soundtrack TWICE (got it, sold it, got it again, sold it again), but to no avail. Lots of riffs and clanging stuff that go on my nerves. But in the film, it's OK. It's kinda like Fiedel's TERMINATOR scores that way.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Anyone else prefer RoboCop 2 to the original?

[Nick Parker 3,040]

Just now, Thor said:

 

Same here. I've tried and tried and tried. I even got the soundtrack TWICE (got it, sold it, got it again, sold it again), but to no avail. Lots of riffs and clanging stuff that go on my nerves. But in the film, it's OK. It's kinda like Fiedel's TERMINATOR scores that way.

 

1 hour ago, shockwave said:

 

I never checked out the score outside the movie, but I really liked the cue when he revisits his home and is flooded with memories of his past life.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

 

2 minutes ago, Thor said:

 

Same here. I've tried and tried and tried. I even got the soundtrack TWICE (got it, sold it, got it again, sold it again), but to no avail. Lots of riffs and clanging stuff that go on my nerves. But in the film, it's OK. It's kinda like Fiedel's TERMINATOR scores that way.

 

No, not even remotely. There's a load of thematic material that gets a nice work out in the film. One of Poledouris' best works, IMO.

 

I love the secondary "Knight In Shining Armour" theme

[Thor 7,490]

Thematic?!? Outside the main theme (and its many permutations), there isn't much else.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Are you joking? The score has several recurring themes, a few recurring motifs and plenty of melodic writing.

 

Its really nothing like The Terminator score at all.

[Holko 9,516]

They probably aren't on the OST so they don't exist.

[Romão 2,274]

Bodicke'rs theme is also quite cool

[Jay 37,336]

Yea Poledouris' Robocop score if full of theme and melodies.  I dunno what he's talking about

[Thor 7,490]

I don't hear it, sorry. Mostly, the repetitive percussive stuff goes on my nerves (lots of stops and starts), often in the higher register, as well as the many bits and pieces of the main theme (although the theme itself is great in its main statement). In short, I rather hate it as a soundtrack experience, but I have no issues with it in the brilliant film. That is what I meant with the TERMINATOR connection -- a score I can appreciate in context, but never listen to on its own.

 

But I still have 15 other Poledouris scores that I treasure dearly.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

The end credits is all you need.

[Thor 7,490]

2 hours ago, Thekthithm said:

The end credits is all you need.

 

Yes, I have that.

[Jurassic Shark 12,051]

2 hours ago, Thor said:

But I still have 15 other Poledouris scores that I treasure dearly. 

 

Tell us!

[Thor 7,490]

8 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

Tell us!

 

BIG WEDNESDAY, THE BLUE LAGOON, CONAN THE BARBARIAN, FLESH+BLOOD, NO MAN'S LAND, FAREWELL TO THE KING, THE HUNT FOR THE RED OCTOBER, QUIGLEY DOWN UNDER, WHITE FANG, WIND, FREE WILLY, STARSHIP TROOPERS, LES MISERABLES, LONESOME DOVE, THE TOUCH. Love 'em all. And I still have a couple of more to explore (and obviously some I've already sampled/owned and discarded, like ROBOCOP).

[Jurassic Shark 12,051]

7 hours ago, Thor said:

THE HUNT FOR THE RED OCTOBER, STARSHIP TROOPERS (expanded)

 

Thanks. These are the ones I own on CD, but I haven't checked out all the albums you mention. No love for the score to the second Conan installment?

[Thor 7,490]

4 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

Thanks. These are the ones I own on CD, but I haven't checked out all the albums you mention. No love for the score to the second Conan installment?

 

Sure. Heard it a few times, and although it's not on the level of the first, it's fine. But I don't own it yet. I also want the OST, not the expanded rerecording or whatever. So it's trickier to find.

[Corellian2019 386]

Received my Arrow Blu-ray in the mail yesterday, and boy, was it a treat to hear the film mix of "Rock Shop" synced up to picture, among other gems 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Does it really sound different?

[Corellian2019 386]

Yes, specifically it takes out the electronics from 0:18-0:32 here, but overall it's a mix that slightly favors the electronics over the orchestra

[blondheim 1,157]

So I noticed that Across the Board has been all kinds of different lengths on different releases. I've seen 1:50, 2:28, and 4:08 before the complete release. Can anyone explain the differences to me?

[Jay 37,336]

Sure.

 

On the original 15-track OST LP album he made at the time of the film's release, he put that cue in its own track, running around 1:50 or so.  However, the back of the album had a misprint and accidentally listed it at a 2:28 length (every track had the wrong length shown actually).

 

Later (in 2004) Varese re-issued the 15-track OST program on CD with 4 bonus tracks (all source music), so now 19 tracks, and this time they put the correct track lengths on the back cover.

In 2010, Intrada finally issued a complete edition, and on that album, "Across The Board" is not presented clean by itself anymore, instead it segues into an assembly of repeated music that mimics the finale and end credits of the film itself.  So the track runs about 7 1/2 minutes there.

 

And the later Milan CD and digital release from Orion just use Intrada's master.

 

No idea where you saw a 4 minute version though.

[blondheim 1,157]

20 minutes ago, Jay said:

In 2010, Intrada finally issued a complete edition, and on that album, "Across The Board" is not presented clean by itself anymore, instead it segues into an assembly of repeated music that mimics the finale and end credits of the film itself.  So the track runs about 7 1/2 minutes there.

 

And the later Milan CD and digital release from Orion just use Intrada's master.

 

No idea where you saw a 4 minute version though.

https://www.discogs.com/Basil-Poledouris-Robocop/release/12882765

 

And when you say assembly of repeated music, why aren't the actual finale and end credits used?

 

Also, I had heard that the Milan CD was transferred from higher quality elements, you are saying that is not true?

[Jay 37,336]

1 hour ago, blondheim said:

https://www.discogs.com/Basil-Poledouris-Robocop/release/12882765

 

That's Entertainment Records was the British label for the 1987 OST LP Poledouris made (that came out on Varese here).  So it's the same 1:50 Across the board there, with yet another misprint on the back cover (or, a typo on that website).

 

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And when you say assembly of repeated music, why aren't the actual finale and end credits used?

 

There was no finale or end credits music written.  "Across the Board" is the final cue in the score.  Poledouris never wrote anything for the end credits, he just overaw the assembly of bits of what he had recorded that he wanted to edit together to use to cover the end credits.  The actual film has a terrible edit from the end of "Across The Board" into the main theme (from Rock Shop IIRC) , while the Intrada CD has a much better sounding edit.

 

Quote

Also, I had heard that the Milan CD was transferred from higher quality elements, you are saying that is not true?

 

Intrada made the new program in 2010 and put it on CD.  The 2015 Milan and 2016 Orion digital release definitely just use their master.  Technically they might have used a different process to downmix Intrada's master to 16/441 for the final CD I suppose, but I doubt it actually sounds any different.  They did put the score out on vinyl, which is analog, so technically could have more detail than the 16/441 CD versions, but again it's unlikely there'd be a noticeable difference - but YMMV.

[blondheim 1,157]

1 minute ago, Jay said:

 

That's Entertainment Records was the British label for the 1987 OST LP Poledouris made (that came out on Varese here).  So it's the same 1:50 Across the board there, with yet another misprint on the back cover (or, a typo on that website).

 

 

There was no finale or end credits music written.  "Across the Board" is the final cue in the score.  Poledouris never wrote anything for the end credits, he just overaw the assembly of bits of what he had recorded that he wanted to edit together to use to cover the end credits.  The actual film has a terrible edit from the end of "Across The Board" into the main theme from the main title cue, while the Intrada CD has a much better sounding edit.

 

 

Intrada made the new program in 2010 and put it on CD.  The 2015 Milan and 2016 Orion digital release definitely just use their master.  Technically they might have used a different process to downmix Intrada's master to 16/441 for the final CD I suppose, but I doubt it actually sounds any different.  They did put the score out on vinyl, which is analog, so technically could have more detail than the 16/441 CD versions, but again it's unlikely there'd be a noticeable difference - but YMMV.

 

I have heard it and it seems to have Force Shoots Robo attached to it, although I wouldn't know enough to know about takes, etc. The 2:28 version I thought would perhaps have a stinger attached, maybe a source music cue, but I hadn't heard it to confirm.

 

Good on Intrada for fixing that End Credits edit. The Intrada sounds fine to me as a complete release although I will probably check out the Milan vinyl at some point in the future.

 

Thanks for the info. I wonder why that extra cue was included in the UK release of RoboCop. I wonder what the story is there.

[Jay 37,336]

There's definitely no 2:28 version of Across The Board, it's definitely just a typo on the back cover.  The entire back cover had wrong times listed:

 

1.     Main title (00:40)
Unlike Jacket print time: 00:32, Actual running time is 00:40.
2.     Van Chase (04:51)
Unlike Jacket print time: 04:50, Actual running time is 04:51.
3.     Murphy's Death (02:38)
Unlike Jacket print time: 02:30, Actual running time is 02:38.
4.     Rock Shop (03:42)
Unlike Jacket print time: 03:38, Actual running time is 03:42.
5.     Home (04:15)
Unlike Jacket print time: 04:05, Actual running time is 04:15.
6.     Robo vs. Ed-209 (02:07)
Unlike Jacket print time: 02:00, Actual running time is 02:07.
7.     The Dream (03:07)
Unlike Jacket print time: 03:00, Actual running time is 03:07.
8.     Across the Board (01:49)
Unlike Jacket print time: 02:28, Actual running time is 01:49.
9.     Betrayal (02:18)
Unlike Jacket print time: 02:12, Actual running time is 02:18.
10.     Clarence Frags Bob (01:43)
Unlike Jacket print time: 01:40, Actual running time is 01:43.
11.     Drive to Jones' Office (02:10)
Unlike Jacket print time: 01:40, Actual running time is 02:10.
12.     We Killed You (01:47)
Unlike Jacket print time: 01:30, Actual running time is 01:47.
13.     Directive IV (01:45)
Unlike Jacket print time: 01:00, Actual running time is 01:45.
14.     Robo Tips His Hat (03:12)
Unlike Jacket print time: 02:00, Actual running time is 03:12.
15.     Showdown (05:15)
Unlike Jacket print time: 05:00, Actual running time is 05:15.

 

https://www.soundtrackcollector.com/title/2411/RoboCop

[blondheim 1,157]

2 minutes ago, Jay said:

There's definitely no 2:28 version of Across The Board, it's definitely just a typo on the back cover.

 

I'm not saying you are wrong. That one was less of a difference, I was merely curious. The other I had heard but thought I'd check on them all, just in case.

 

So does the Intrada version of Across the Board end early? At 1:30 the cues are different. I am wondering exactly what the assembly is on that track

 

[Jay 37,336]

I seem to vaguely recall people saying the end of Across the Board was hard to hear or missing a bit because of the segue to the tracked music, but don't remember specifics now.  It's been over a decade since I heard the OST album so don't really remember what the clean ending of Across The Board sounds like!

[blondheim 1,157]

10 minutes ago, Jay said:

I seem to vaguely recall people saying the end of Across the Board was hard to hear or missing a bit because of the segue to the tracked music, but don't remember specifics now.  It's been over a decade since I heard the OST album so don't really remember what the clean ending of Across The Board sounds like!

 

It's a very short fanfare version of the RoboCop march with clanging percussion and a staccato trumpet line at the end. It's short. The Intrada version uses the crescendo to cut to the pulsing chords of the first part of the march (from I'm guessing Rock Shop) It's not a bad transition, I just miss that brief ending to the original cue.

[HunterTech 989]

There's clearly something different about the Millan release, given how many people fight over whether it or the Intrada set is the superior sounding one. Perhaps it isn't a full on remix, but I'm sure something changed within the mastering and EQing process for it to be notable to people.

[Jay 37,336]

Interesting! I've never heard the Milan or Orion editions, only the Intrada

[blondheim 1,157]

So the UK release seems to be an error. It attaches Betrayal after a brief pause and then every subsequent cue is off by one. There is an additional track called Robo Tips His Hat which is a repeat of Care Package (called Clarence Frags Bob on this version) . The two versions of Care Package sound a little different, but one may just be slightly louder.

 

All in all, a mistake.

[Jay 37,336]

Nice, excellent detective work!