Empire Of The Sun - La-La Land 2CD

[publicist 4,643]

I don't know, apart from KM most people here seem to have rather eclectic tastes.

[crocodile 7,990]

It's the kind of score probably wasn't as appreciated back then in the context of Williams' body of work.

But many of us became fans while he was already tackling more serious projects.

Karol

[A24 4,327]

I don't know, apart from KM most people here seem to have rather eclectic tastes.

You and KM (even though you both have your own personal reasons) are honest and frank about it, but notice the silence of the rest of the posters (the Guest2s, the Steefs, the Blumenkohls, ...). It's always the same little bunch who express their love for this particular score.

[Incanus 5,713]

You say it like there's no more hope for me.

Nah. We just look/listen to this music with different preferences neither of which is better or worse in the end. Just the difference of tastes in this regard. We all do enjoy the music though which is important.

Not all of us, Incanus! Far from it! To most JWfans, the music is too somber and dreary, or as they say it, a "disappointment", not worthy of the composer who wrote those famous and beloved blockbuster themes.

I really have to watch my wording with you. I didn't mean the whole collective JWFan of course but those who have been vocal about liking this score in particular.

[crocodile 7,990]

No, we hate it! It's just hip to say we like it.

Karol

[Incanus 5,713]

Too late! You cannot unlike what you have liked!

[Incanus 5,713]

Ah the package finally arrived! I am delving into the brilliant liner notes and the even more brilliant music. The unreleased music adds to the experience powerfully in my opinion, filling certain narrative holes. The Alone at Home and The Empty Swimming Pool are wonderfully eerie, forlorn and perfectly capture the ghostly unreal atmosphere of Jim's loneliness. So far so great!

[Jay 37,323]

Yea, Alone At Home and The Empty Swimming Pool are quite spooky and unsettling.

[Incanus 5,713]

Mike Matessino has really done all around wonderful and pitch perfect work with this presentation. The liner notes are both highly informative and thoughtful. Jim Titus' art direction is top notch.

[Jay 37,323]

Agreed with all counts!

[Luke Skywalker 1,793]

Listening to it after not listening to the OST for a very long time.

I think in my bombastic youth, i did not care for this score much (though Exultate justi is one of my favourite tracks and a regular in my playlist). And in recent years i had not listened to the OST at all. Part of it is that i dont like to listen to uncomplete score sometimes...

But listening to it now, it is amazing to rediscover the 100% williamsness of this score. I appreciate more this score, now that my tastes in Williams output is wider, and some of my favourites are among his less expectacular works.

[Jay 37,323]

Good to hear!

I actually never heard the score AT ALL until about 1-2 years ago (never owned the OST until then!), and never saw the movie until a couple months ago.

So this is all kind of like a "new" Williams score to me, and it's wonderful.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

It's definitely one of my favorites.

[Jay 37,323]

You will definitely like the new release, then!

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I do, I got it last Thursday!

[Joni Wiljami 1,206]

Just love this.

[Red 75]

Just got mine today.

[crocodile 7,990]

My own review of this album, if anyone's interested.

Karol

[mahler3 478]

Thanks for posting the interview Jason / Ricard. Mike was a perfect guest and it was a joy to be able to weave the music in and out during the conversation. What a wonderful movie and score.

[Jay 37,323]

Tim your interview came out great, a real pleasure to listen to!

[crocodile 7,990]

Always a pleasure listening to your features/interviews, Tim.

Karol

[Incanus 5,713]

Your shows are always such a pleasure to listen to Tim and your enthusiasm and expertise is really appreciated by us fellow film music afficionados!

My own review of this album, if anyone's interested.

Karol

Excellent review Karol. It is a curious score by all standards with its approach and eclecticism but somehow works beautifully. Matessino's essay in the liner notes shares my opinions to a large extent so it was not difficult to get behind it.

[crocodile 7,990]

Thank you, Mikko.

Oh and Tim your recent two-part John Powell interview was absolutely fantastic. But that's also down to interviewee's (sometimes painfully) candid attitude.

Karol

[Incanus 5,713]

Thank you, Mikko.

Oh and Tim your recent two-part John Powell interview was absolutely fantastic. But that's also down to interviewee's (sometimes painfully) candid attitude.

Karol

Your observations on the connections to Williams' later scores was astute and I have made those myself. The unreleased music further enchances that image. JP, A.I., War of the Worlds and Memoirs of a Geisha all contain very similar elements as EotS and it comes more as a realization that the palette was already there in 1987 and didn't just appear in the recent years but was rather brought forth and embellished by the later scores.

[Jay 37,323]

Yea, I always thought that Ludlow's Demise riff that he used in tons of scores after TLW originated in TLW, until I heard othe EOTS OST. I guess I should call it the Streets of Shanghai riff now

[Incanus 5,713]

Yea, I always thought that Ludlow's Demise riff that he used in tons of scores after TLW originated in TLW, until I heard othe EOTS OST. I guess I should call it the Streets of Shanghai riff now

Interesting observation. I have to say I am almost deaf to this ostinato thingy. Where can it be found in The Streets of Shanghai?

[Jay 37,323]

Well to be clear, I'm talking about the riff from 1:35-1:50 of "Ludlow's Demise", which is similar to some stuff in 3:01-end "The Streets of Shanghai". Listening to that on Spotify now it's not as similar as I thought, maybe the alternate on disc 2 is more like it?

The TLW version also turns up in the Quidditch music from HP 2 (and maybe 1 as well?), and other places (Minority Report and Attack of the Clones I think)

[Incanus 5,713]

Well to be clear, I'm talking about the riff from 1:35-1:50 of "Ludlow's Demise", which is similar to some stuff in 3:01-end "The Streets of Shanghai". Listening to that on Spotify now it's not as similar as I thought, maybe the alternate on disc 2 is more like it?

The TLW version also turns up in the Quidditch music from HP 2 (and maybe 1 as well?), and other places (Minority Report and Attack of the Clones I think)

Ah yes I recognize the other examples better but this stuff begins indeed to surface a bit in EotS as well. Very interesting. It is obviously in the way Williams generates the feel of kinetic energy and propulsion, the cyclical repeating ostinati figures.

The music from the eerie opening tracks Alone at Home and The Empty Swimming Pool do now strongly remind me of the same cold Dies Irae like progressions as Dakota Fanning's character sees the dead people floating down the river and this material appears elsewhere in the score if I remember correctly. These figures appear quite a lot in Williams's music throughout 90's from JP to Sleepers in varying dynamics and a good example from the noughties are the Prequels where Anakin's motif is basically a development of this idea.

[crocodile 7,990]

The very opening of The Return to the City alternate on disc two.

Karol

[Jay 37,323]

The very opening of The Return to the City alternate on disc two.

Karol

What about it?

[Incanus 5,713]

The very opening of The Return to the City alternate on disc two.

Karol

The fugue there is indeed very much akin to the Epilogue material from WotW in form.

[crocodile 7,990]

What about it?

What Inky said.

Karol

[crocodile 7,990]

God, I love this album more and more with each listen. It's strikes just the right balance between warm, dark, mysterious and elusive.

Karol

[Jay 37,323]

Agreed. I find myself wanting to listen to it again over something from the pile of haven't-listened-to-yet CDs

[crocodile 7,990]

And some of the alternates are really interesting, especially The Return to the City one.

Karol

[Uni 306]

I've been wondering . . . maybe, in the same way most people weren't ready for Spielberg to shift into adult gear in 1987, a lot of scorepihiles (including loyal JW fans) weren't ready to go there yet with Johnny. I wonder if his later scores, particularly Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan, have now brought people into the headspace necessary to recognize EOTS as a bona fide masterpiece.

Just idle speculation; for me, this score has always been a masterpiece.

[publicist 4,643]

Musically i'm not interested in the parts of the score that elicit so much excitement - i. e. BRINGING THEM BACK. It's not very interesting awe-and-wonder music. Whenever Williams tries something new like the ghostly insertion of Mozart in LOST IN THE CROWDS or the moody versions of RETURN TO THE CITY (which really is the march to the new camp and has that same ethereal quality) or the now-familiar EXSULTATE the score is potentially brilliant but finally too cluttered for me.

This of course makes it a dead ringer for A. I., another stylistically uneven score and uneven movie (though much worse than EOTS, maybe due to my simple perception). For both scores, i would dream of JW assembling a Sony cd like the Spielberg/Williams album with newly arranged concert pieces that might play a bit better than in its current form.

[King Mark 3,626]

Here's the highlights

Bringing them Back

The Plane alternate

Return to the City Alternate

The Plane Alt. is amazing, it's similar to Cadillac of the Skies on the Spielberg Collaboration c.d. but performed a lot better

Return of the City Alt does sound like Star Wars music, especially the Tatooine stuff in Attack of the Clones (Shmi's Funeral and stuff)

[Luke Skywalker 1,793]

Return of the City Alt does sound like Star Wars music, especially the Tatooine stuff in Attack of the Clones (Shmi's Funeral and stuff)

No... it sounds like "stored memories" from AI...

[crocodile 7,990]

No it sounds like Epilogue from WOTW.

Karol

[nightscape94 965]

I thought you'd still be able to get your order in even though it's temporarily out of stock, and they would just ship when ready. That doesn't appear to be the case. Looks like I will have to wait.

[King Mark 3,626]

why is out of stock?

[Jay 37,323]

why is out of stock?

Well, that was quick!

The first batch of 2000 Empire cds are now gone! The cd is TEMPORARILY out of stock. If you placed an order you will be receiving your copy.

We expect more to come in by July 15, if not sooner. I will keep y'all posted.

Have a great weekend!

MV

[A24 4,327]

Is it normal for such a release to sell out that fast? If not, it appears the CD and film are more popular outside the realm of JWfan. Who knew, huh?

[publicist 4,643]

I think 1500 to 2000 may always sell fast on titles by Williams or Goldsmith, it's the remaining batch that often sits on the shelf for years.

[fommes 153]

I've received this in the meantime, together with an autographed Addams Family CD, and it's an absolutely splendid release. It must have one of the best and most surprising extras album on any expanded Williams release ever to boot.

Thanks also to Mike Matessino for providing the cue list numbers and original manuscript titles on the JWFan main page!

[A24 4,327]

Nobody has commented on the sound yet. This Matessino fella, was he the guy that remastered that Indiana Jones box?

[crocodile 7,990]

No! How dare you put his name and Indy box in one sentence?

Karol

[A24 4,327]

Ah, okay. Good for you, guys!

[crocodile 7,990]

Why don't you at least give it a listen? It's a surprisingly strong listen. Plus, it does contain some interesting unused material.

Karol