BraveheartDC

Apple Lossless (ALAC) for archiving purposes, then 256 (VBR) AAC for computer/iPod. Really don't buy CD's anymore, however.

Am I missing something? Why even bother with this? Why not just use tracked music from the films? I think if Lucas can chop up and reuse pieces of William's score in the movies I don't see the problem doing it on this ride.

Um, no. But very much looking forward to this nonetheless. Agreed, they're much better than the LOTR books. IMHO, anyway. Step away from the keyboard. Seriously, drunk posting: NOT COOL.

That's not funny. That's not funny at all.

I have it on good authority that, in order to increase the number of females roles in "The Hobbit" and make the film more appealing to women, Jackson is going to have the famous dragon voiced by Golden Globe nominee Scarlett Johansson. Jackson apparently is also bowing to members of New Zealand's environmental community and changing the name of the beast from "Smaug" to "Lightning The Gold-Hoarding She Lizard." Several prominent environmental activists have expressed concerns that the name "Smaug" might tend to promote and glamorize toxic pollutants.

iTunes just isn't built to handle classical music very well, and there's no easy solution. It's not just in the names of "Artist/Album Artist/Composer" field...it's the "track names as well." Just a mess w/ classical music. Film music fares better. And I find the "Album Artist" field to be less than helpful organizationally. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, for example, was composed by Williams, but conducted by William Ross. I'll be damned if I'm putting that score under any "Artist" name other than John Williams, for organization purposes if nothing else. Same issue w/ the Gerhardt recordings. And of course, there's always the question of who to put as the artist in classical music. This is not a big deal when its Johan Fritz conducting the West Frankfurt Volunteer Firefighters Philharmonic, but artists like Yo-Yo Ma create more of a dilemma. To keept it simple, I almost always put the composer as the "Artist" in classical and film music. Not entirely fair to the conductor, to be sure, but what they don't know won't hurt them.

Agreed on both counts (especially w/relation to Jedi. Some parts of it are brilliant, but, like Lucas, it feels like Williams just ran out of ideas by the the third film)

I don't see how there can be any doubt that Empire is the best Star Wars score, if not one of William's absolute best. The original Star Wars score being a close second (for sentimentality if for no other reason, in my case), but Empire thematically brought it all together. It's some of the most beautiful, and wholly realized, soundtrack music ever recorded, as far as I'm concerned.

About as good as the other two scores in the prequel trilogy, but I don't know what Williams was thinking w/ The Throne Room in the credits. What a wasted opportunity (nothing against The Throne Room).

Um, no. But very much looking forward to this nonetheless.

Amazing, for once there's a myriad of free options for Mac (I use MAX) but limited ones for Windows.

The brilliant John Barry's death made me re-visit his stunning "Out of Africa" Soundtrack, one of the first in my collection. This in turn led me to look for an expanded edition, which I thought surely must exist, and I was surprised that the only alternative was a slightly expanded Varèse Sarabande Re-Recording Any opinions on the Varèse, and does anyone know why one of the most acclaimed soundtracks in history has never been given an official expanded edition? (ala Dances w/ Wolves, twice).

When I first bought the SW OST, this was far and away my favorite cue. I played it over and over. In fact, it's the first piece of film music I can ever recall getting attached to. Truly magnificent, and, in terms of its placement in the film, tonally perfect. It weaves together the tragedy of Bens' Death, Luke's shocked surprise, his reaction, and the events that followed, perfectly. The piece truly tells the story.

Yeah. I think the interviews (like this and those on the Indiana Jones CD's) are a waste of space which could easily be included in liner notes or made available on the internet. They don't add much at all. We can, however, be thankful there are no trading cards....

Agreed. I just don't think there's much more "there" there.