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Home Alone - 25th Anniversary 2CD Edition by La-La Land Records (2015)


Jay

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I'd happily pay another $30 for a Matessino version of Hook, personally. I mean shit, the LLL version uses the film's music stem for some cues that exist in perfect quality unofficially.

The other 4 you mentioned have received definitive presentations from the earliest elements that exist so there's nothing to worry about with those.

It's weird that Williams approved the complete Home Alone with all those songs and unheard source music, but doesn't approve more music in Hook!! :blink:

I think Williams' attitude toward these kind of releases is way overrated here.

But we were told that the Hook release was on John Williams' approval.

And obviously he didn't want that extra music to be heard.

Or are you suggesting that LLL prevented us from hearing the extra music?

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I'd happily pay another $30 for a Matessino version of Hook, personally. I mean shit, the LLL version uses the film's music stem for some cues that exist in perfect quality unofficially.

The other 4 you mentioned have received definitive presentations from the earliest elements that exist so there's nothing to worry about with those.

It's weird that Williams approved the complete Home Alone with all those songs and unheard source music, but doesn't approve more music in Hook!! :blink:

I think Williams' attitude toward these kind of releases is way overrated here.

But we were told that the Hook release was on John Williams' approval.

And obviously he didn't want that extra music to be heard.

Or are you suggesting that LLL prevented us from hearing the extra music?

I'm not suggesting anything, but in the last few years we got Matessino-produced/Williams-approved releases (containing every nuts and bolts) of:

1941

Empire of the Sun

A.I.

Jaws

Jaws 2

Home Alone

And then we got Hook, which was Williams-approved, but not produced by Mike.

I clearly see a pattern :)

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Clearly Matessino has a better working relationship with Williams than Didier Deutsch. In fact, my Q&A with Mike going up in a bit will shed some light on this...

Yeah, i read it already (read it here). Some very insightful stuff. And it's clear we can expect more expanded John Williams goodness in the near future. It's obvious there's other parties interested in doing some of the most famous of John Williams' scores (coughStarWarscough).

I missed out on the first release, as I think I said previously, so this set is a definite buy when I next get paid.

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Though i intensely dislike the cavalier attitude towards customer triple dipping just because miraculously the stars aligned two years after the initial and quite comprehensive-if-not-perfect DELUXE/EXPANDED etc. release.

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I will get this, sure.

And then I will have...

Home Alone Original Soundtrack

Home Alone LLL Expanded Edition

Home Alone LLL 25th Anniversary Edition

Home Alone 2 Original Soundtrack Score

Home Alone 2 Original Soundtrack Songs

Home Alone 2 Varese Sarabande Expanded Edition

Home Alone 2 LLL Expanded Edition

Anybody else getting the feeling that the Home Alone soundtrack market is being oversaturated? :P:lol:

Don't you have the "Home Alone Christmas" album??Shame on you! Go to buy it right now! :P

http://www.amazon.com/Home-Alone-Christmas-Various-Artists/dp/B00000JHGM

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I will buy a new Hook if Williams does not prevent any source music, insert or alternate to be released.

And it better not be a 35 bucks 3cd set with the OST included on disc 3....

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Now that we have a clear idea of what the differences are between this edition and the previous one, can anyone please help me understand the differences between the Varese Sarabande and the LLL editions of Home Alone 2 please? I remember I passed on that 3 years ago but now I don't know if I should buy the new LLL editions of both scores...

Thanks.

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Now that we have a clear idea of what the differences are between this edition and the previous one, can anyone please help me understand the differences between the Varese Sarabande and the LLL editions of Home Alone 2 please? I remember I passed on that 3 years ago but now I don't know if I should buy the new LLL editions of both scores...

Thanks.

There are some additional source music tracks on the LLL version and different liner notes. Supposedly, it sounds different, but I've never been able to substantiate this. I wouldn't think it sounds any different, as it was supposedly a straight reissue of the presentation Williams approved back in 2002, only with some additional source music tracks.

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I've got the Varèse release for Home Alone 2 and have heard the LLL version...I have yet to get the LLL set but in my opinion the LLL does have a bit more edge in terms of sound quality over the Varèse. If you don't have the previous Varèse set might be worth the purchase, or even if you do might be worth the upgrade.

In a way for Home Alone 1, it does seem like it's the similar case with the Batman re-issue...found better elements for the re-issue and I was actually glad to bite the bullet on that one and get it, despite having the previous set. I for one will be getting the re-issue of Home Alone 1 and won't regret it. I just need Home Alone 2's re-issue from LLL to complete the set...

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Now that we have a clear idea of what the differences are between this edition and the previous one, can anyone please help me understand the differences between the Varese Sarabande and the LLL editions of Home Alone 2 please? I remember I passed on that 3 years ago but now I don't know if I should buy the new LLL editions of both scores...

Thanks.

There are some additional source music tracks on the LLL version and different liner notes. Supposedly, it sounds different, but I've never been able to substantiate this. I wouldn't think it sounds any different, as it was supposedly a straight reissue of the presentation Williams approved back in 2002, only with some additional source music tracks.

Maybe they'll find better elements in time for the 25th anniversary. ;)

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I always questioned whether it actually differed from the Varese set. No one could give me a conclusive answer, an answer I never cared enough to seek myself, and considering how all the reissues coming out of the labels were simply brighter and louder, I assumed they either left it alone since the Deluxe Edition was already bright and loud, or they somehow made it even brighter and louder! It wasn't logical to conclude that they fixed the loudness issue, as that's completely opposite to what your beloved labels do these days. Sorry to say.

I mostly only listen to the Home Alone 2 OST, anyway. That's my favorite Home Alone score presentation, although it seems like everyone hates that version except me ever since it was claimed it was made from an inferior master and playing at the wrong speed. I can't hear that at all, and the Deluxe Edition is so bright and loud, it causes listener fatigue by the start of "We Overslept Again".

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They're hit and miss in the brighter and louder department. Especially Varese. That label can do a tremendous sounding job on Predator 2 but fuck up Chinatown and A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Someone with a tin ear is running that joint.

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I think in the Jay interview Mattessino says HA2 uses the same mastering as varese because it was both Williams and Murphy approved? And that it is not a true important movie. ?

Mike did not mention that in my interview - he mentioned it on FSM:

Posted: Nov 28, 2015 - 2:43 PM

By: mxmx (Member)

Home Alone 2 stayed the same because the original Varese version was approved by John Williams and Shawn Murphy. There's no need to revisit it even if other material showed up, because it's Home Alone 2. The first Home Alone, however, is a different story, as it's one of the most important and enduring of John Williams' scores and now both have composer-approved expansions. This was an opportunity to not only have much better quality but to demonstrate what might be done for future releases, thus opening the doors for other projects.

Mike M.

http://filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?forumid=1&threadID=112847

I get the impression that the expansion of Home Alone 2 was already done with the first generation masters the first time it was expanded, so its not the same situation as Home Alone where the proper masters weren't available when first expanded, and we're finally getting a proper expansion now. Home Alone 2's expansions both sound fine because Matessino had the best elements to work with both times.

Another thing I thought was funny that now we have an expansion of both scores where the songs are presented before the main title, and one where they are presented after the main score :)

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I agree with the criticism that this might be released too soon after the last expanded edition for it to really get the props it deserves. Not helping the matter is that we also got an excellent expanded edition of HA2. However - The score for Home Alone is one of my favorites from Williams, so just the prospect of having it in better sound quality is enough for me to motivate a purchase. I'd imagine that the overall response for, say, any other of Williams top 5 scores being released with improved sound would be received with more gratitude than HA because of the previous releases mentioned. The extra material isn't what's going to get me to open up my wallet this time. It'll be for the improved sound quality. I'm also really glad that they decided to include the remastered version of the OST! :) I have a feeling that that'll be the portion of this CD that I'll be returning to.

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Because they pay handsome money for supposedly definitive releases of a score only to be told those weren't really so good a few years later and please will they re-buy it a third time? (if that IS the final release).

And it is fun to complain of course.

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Because they pay handsome money for supposedly definitive releases of a score only to be told those weren't really so good a few years later and please will they re-buy it a third time? (if that IS the final release).

And it is fun to complain of course.

6 years is more than a few. I don't expect the things I buy to never be revisited again. What should be the timeframe then? 10 years?
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6 years is more than a few. I don't expect the things I buy to never be revisited again. What should be the timeframe then? 10 years?

I don't need a sliderule to see that such practice is ill-advised and mostly to blame on the increasingly strained market for these labels - the end is nigh, at least for surefire bonanzas like Goldsmith and Williams scores so they milk it and hope for some revenue. Which is not the end of the world but it's also not something we must applaud like sheep.

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I still need to get the original CD releases of SpaceCamp, The Accidental Tourist and The Witches of Eastwick.

I managed to snatch up the old Warner edition of The Accidental Tourist. SpaceCamp and TWOE are fucking hard to find, but I'm constantly looking. I want to create the most complete John Williams OST collection.

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6 years is more than a few. I don't expect the things I buy to never be revisited again. What should be the timeframe then? 10 years?

I don't need a sliderule to see that such practice is ill-advised and mostly to blame on the increasingly strained market for these labels - the end is nigh, at least for surefire bonanzas like Goldsmith and Williams scores so they milk it and hope for some revenue. Which is not the end of the world but it's also not something we must applaud like sheep.

Sheeps can't applaud. They don't have hands.

That is correct. :P

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Is this sold out or not listed yet? I looked on LLL to pre order this. and all i can find is the listing for the first album that is sold out. THere isn't a listing for the upcoming release

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Read the title of the thread you're in :)

It's not available anywhere until Tuesday December 1st at 12:00PM PST.

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La-La Land doesn't do pre-orders.

They'll go live on their own site at 12:00PST tomorrow, and after that other online retailers will be allowed to sell them too.

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6 years is more than a few. I don't expect the things I buy to never be revisited again. What should be the timeframe then? 10 years?

I don't need a sliderule to see that such practice is ill-advised and mostly to blame on the increasingly strained market for these labels - the end is nigh, at least for surefire bonanzas like Goldsmith and Williams scores so they milk it and hope for some revenue. Which is not the end of the world but it's also not something we must applaud like sheep.

Sheeps can't applaud. They don't have hands.

That is correct. :P

Not.

4548191311fc567cde9a2ec661409f4e.jpg

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Mutation. It is the key to our evolution. It is how we have evolved from a single-cell organism into the dominant species on the planet. This process is slow, normally taking thousands and thousands of years. But every few millennia evolution leaps forward.

Karol

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6 years is more than a few. I don't expect the things I buy to never be revisited again. What should be the timeframe then? 10 years?

I don't need a sliderule to see that such practice is ill-advised and mostly to blame on the increasingly strained market for these labels - the end is nigh, at least for surefire bonanzas like Goldsmith and Williams scores so they milk it and hope for some revenue. Which is not the end of the world but it's also not something we must applaud like sheep.

Ill advised? So no one should remaster old crappy looking films, right? If you don't want it, don't buy it. I don't understand why it's a problem that other people get a chance to own it. It's not like it prevented another score from getting the same treatment.
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