A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) - 2015 3CD set from La-La Land Records

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

so free shipping on july 4th?

what a slap in the face to loyal instant buyers...if it was months afeter the release i woulnt care...but just a few days later?

those 15 bucks could have been well spent on another full cd release...

damn

[TownerFan 4,983]

Received my copy yesterday and listened all throughout Disc 1 and 2. What an amazing, strange and fascinating work!

Stellar release in every department, really.

[crocodile 8,012]

Yeah, I've been listening to this quite a lot myself. Surprised how cohesive it comes out on an album like this. Didn't get that impression from the film itself (never bothered with the promo).

Karol

[Incanus 5,714]

The musical programme of the full score is very well thought out rounding each CD with the concert suite variation of the Blue Fairy theme. Even to a long time admirer of the music and person who has listened the promo and various other programmes of this music for years like myself, this feels like the definitive presentation of the music. As I said before the score really takes you on a journey, emotional and narrative, in the best possible way.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

I've listened to this a lot less than I anticipated, due to other film music happenings. But I seem to find a lot of time for What Is Your Wish?. Stunning cue.

[KK 3,307]

I'm still waiting. Don't remember my other SAE purchases taking this long...

[nightscape94 965]

But I seem to find a lot of time for What Is Your Wish?. Stunning cue.

That is a stellar cue. Actually, the last handful of tracks (Stored Memores, What Is Your Wish?, The Specialist Visits, The Reunion), which makes up the most melodic section of the score, is like one beautiful symphonic tone poem.

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

All of you with pending orders... can you cancel them?

LLL is offering free shipping on July 4th...

[stewdog1 50]

All of you with pending orders... can you cancel them?

 

LLL is offering free shipping on July 4th...

I'll check

[King Mark 3,631]

So how many copies have they sold?Is it close to selling out?

[Jay 37,363]

LLL has not stated any sales figures.

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

All of you with pending orders... can you cancel them?

LLL is offering free shipping on July 4th...

I'll check

i think the offer runs from june 30th to july 13th! (see the LLL thread)

[Jay 37,363]

Yes, the sale started yesterday.

[KK 3,307]

My order shipped. Delivery is just taking a while.

Maybe I'll pick something else up from LaLaLand.

[Score 770]

But I seem to find a lot of time for What Is Your Wish?. Stunning cue.

That is a stellar cue. Actually, the last handful of tracks (Stored Memores, What Is Your Wish?, The Specialist Visits, The Reunion), which makes up the most melodic section of the score, is like one beautiful symphonic tone poem.

YES. They are wonderfully cohesive. "What is your wish?", in its first part, is one of the extremely rare cases of a Williams' cue with almost no rhythmic vitality, just a very regular melody with a chord attached to every note of the voice line. And still, it is magical. It is surprising to think at how much he constrained himself to the simplest means for this part of the cue, and how much he achieved with so little material. The effect is splendid.

[filmmusic 1,829]

For anyone thinking of ordering from SAE, it has also a $4.00 credit towards shipping costs with code:4july4

Code is valid July 1st through midnight Eastern Time Sunday July 5th

[TownerFan 4,983]

But I seem to find a lot of time for What Is Your Wish?. Stunning cue.

That is a stellar cue. Actually, the last handful of tracks (Stored Memores, What Is Your Wish?, The Specialist Visits, The Reunion), which makes up the most melodic section of the score, is like one beautiful symphonic tone poem.

"What is your wish?", in its first part, is one of the extremely rare cases of a Williams' cue with almost no rhythmic vitality, just a very regular melody with a chord attached to every note of the voice line. And still, it is magical. It is surprising to think at how much he constrained himself to the simplest means for this part of the cue, and how much he achieved with so little material. The effect is splendid.

Very true. It's probably Williams' most Morricone-like piece ever.

[A24 4,333]

What are his other Morricone-like pieces?

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I like the AI theme. But I thought Monica's theme was the main AI theme. They made a bloody song from it. Not one, but two versions!

[A24 4,333]

You would love a Celine Dion instrumental album, Drax.

[Incanus 5,714]

I like the AI theme. But I thought Monica's theme was the main AI theme. They made a bloody song from it. Not one, but two versions!

Williams actually wrote A.I. Theme # 2 on the manuscript for the Blue Fairy theme (listed as A.I. Theme on the first two discs of the set) which might not suggest primary or secondary theme but the second central theme of the score. Monica's theme is clearly the other one. Which is the "main theme" is is up for discussion but to my ears Monica's theme seems to have a slight upper hand, especially during the finale and the theme's central message at the end. On this new set the Blue Fairy theme seems to have a radically more prominent presence compared to the original OST though.

[Muad'Dib 1,802]

What are his other Morricone-like pieces?

[A24 4,333]

That's pure & vintage Williams! Very The River-like!

[Score 770]

But I seem to find a lot of time for What Is Your Wish?. Stunning cue.

That is a stellar cue. Actually, the last handful of tracks (Stored Memores, What Is Your Wish?, The Specialist Visits, The Reunion), which makes up the most melodic section of the score, is like one beautiful symphonic tone poem.

"What is your wish?", in its first part, is one of the extremely rare cases of a Williams' cue with almost no rhythmic vitality, just a very regular melody with a chord attached to every note of the voice line. And still, it is magical. It is surprising to think at how much he constrained himself to the simplest means for this part of the cue, and how much he achieved with so little material. The effect is splendid.

Very true. It's probably Williams' most Morricone-like piece ever.

Yes, very "Morricone-like", I was also thinking so! I also find the vocal end credits of A.I. very "Morricone-like", actually. The solo soprano moving on large intervals at the beginning (up one octave, than up one fourth, then down one fifth) and then going on with a melody that is mostly built on adjacent notes reminds a bit of the gorgeous main theme to "Once Upon A Time in the West",

It's easy to consider a wordless solo soprano as Morricone's trademark, but in this case I think there is some stylistic similarity that goes beyond the mere fact that there is a solo soprano. Also the piano part of that piece reminds a bit of "Once Upon a Time in the West", when the harpsichord enters (around 1:55 in the video above). Despite this, the two pieces are very different, of course. Just stylistical similarities.

[Josh500 1,615]

The Reunion.

Love how JW infuses a slight artificial touch by the use of synthesizer at 6:42 like reminding us that David is still a mecha when all is said and done, before the (human) emotions seem to overwhelm everything (at 6:55) and the strings kick in...

Just masterful.

This ending is more subtle, but in its own way as impressive as the ending of E.T.!

[Incanus 5,714]

It is in essence a lullaby for David before he finally goes to the place where dreams are born.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Yeah, Neverland.

[filmmusic 1,829]

Just got the cd this mornign and listening now..

Have listened to 7 tracks so far..

I was wondering if that reverb was there in the initial recording, or is something that La-laland added.

Eg. in Herny is selected, I thought at first where there is a solo english horn, that there was another instrument too (possibly synth) doubling it, but it was due to the reverb that i had this feeling.

I hope anyone doesn't take it as a complaint, it's just a question.

Also it seems Hide and Seek, has an ending insert there (the final chord), that we didn't know of.

[Jay 37,363]

Nope, not an insert - the track is actually one complete take (not an edit of multiple takes). Williams simply chose to dial out the ending for the OST presentation. And of course in the film itself, the ending is replaced by tracked music.

[filmmusic 1,829]

Nope, not an insert - the track is actually one complete take (not an edit of multiple takes). Williams simply chose to dial out the ending for the OST presentation. And of course in the film itself, the ending is replaced by tracked music.

I meant an insert in the sheet music.

The sheet music ends with the constant repeat of the motif until fade. (it doesn't have the final ending chord)

So I guessed he wrote an insert, and then they recorded all together.

[Jay 37,363]

Ah, cool.

[filmmusic 1,829]

Ok, listened to the 2 first cds, and some cues from the 3rd one.

This is indeed a glorious release and Williams' music has at times a heartbreaking beauty.

Listening to this release, I seriously think the original album must be one of the worse (if not the worst) presentation of his music!

There was so much material that was left out, and here you can listen to all the cues in a logical sequence.

Of course I understand that such a presentation for a first release of the music, wouldn't be suitable for non ardent fans of film music and they might have been bored, especially with cd1.

Some things on the spreadsheet Jay.

Some elements of the 7m1+2 (Vocal version) sheet music (that aren't in the cd2 track) are in the alternate in cd3, so the sheet music doesn't exactly match the one in cd2, but doesn't exactly match the one in cd 3 either.

The sheet music is like a combination of the 2 recordings.

Also, if I'm not mistaken, you had said that both Cybertronics and the alternate have the 1MA extension?

edit: oh, yes, found it:

The 1MA Extension was always recorded with the rest of the cue; There does not exist a recording without it.

The version on Disc 3 was recorded on Feb 13, and then they came back and recorded the whole cue all over again on Mar 6, and that's the version on Disc 1 (which is also the version used in the film, and appeared on the OST and promo)

well, they don't.

The alternate doesn't have the extension.

(it should be at 1.22 of track2 in cd3 but it's not. The cue is in its original version I assume, without it)

[King Mark 3,631]

I'm used to listening to the Promo, so mainly c.d. 3 is new to me, and the A.I. Theme versions

Otherwise there's only a few minutes of unreleased score on this (c.d.1 and 2)

[A24 4,333]

Ok, listened to the 2 first cds, and some cues from the 3rd one.

This is indeed a glorious release and Williams' music has at times a heartbreaking beauty.

Listening to this release, I seriously think the original album must be one of the worse (if not the worst) presentation of his music!

There was so much material that was left out, and here you can listen to all the cues in a logical sequence.

Of course I understand that such a presentation for a first release of the music, wouldn't be suitable for non ardent dans of film music and they might have been bored, especially with cd1.

Do you still suspect that they added reverb to this new release?

[filmmusic 1,829]

Ok, listened to the 2 first cds, and some cues from the 3rd one.

This is indeed a glorious release and Williams' music has at times a heartbreaking beauty.

Listening to this release, I seriously think the original album must be one of the worse (if not the worst) presentation of his music!

There was so much material that was left out, and here you can listen to all the cues in a logical sequence.

Of course I understand that such a presentation for a first release of the music, wouldn't be suitable for non ardent dans of film music and they might have been bored, especially with cd1.

Do you still suspect that they added reverb to this new release?

well, i had this feeling very much in the first cues of cd1, which were sparsely orchestrated, yes.

We don't have another recording for Henry is selected to compare, but I guess I should compare some others with the promo to be sure.

edit: Ok, I checked a couple, especially in places that there was a solo woodwind, and I think yes, they added a bit.

But again I'm not 100% sure.

edit2: Also something else:

As much as I have tried, I can't hear David's theme (or even a fragment of it) at 2.55 of To Manhattan (The Mecha World).

Does anyone else hear it?

I only hear 4 notes in the violins (D- 8ve up D - C -D), that don't have any relation to David's theme.

I'm going crazy here!

By the way, I very much enjoyed Dr Know's source music!

[Bespin 8,481]

What a great expanded issue!

How do you say that, I listened it on a... CD-R ;-)

I must say that this time it really helps not to have a Lara Fabian song in the middle of the score...

When "The Reunion" starts, all the lights in the piece turns on!

@Jay : You wrote that the "Rouge City" track was a real mess on the original album, well... it's true, what a great edition job! Is there any other examples of cues that have been heavily edited like this on a JW original album, but appears in their original state on the corresponding expanded set?

[Jay 37,363]

Bespin, there are countless examples. JW loves to combine cues from multiple parts of the film together on his OSTs, and introduce microedits into them while he's at it

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

The bastard, truth be told...

[Jay 37,363]

JW signed a copy for MV

[Josh500 1,615]

JW signed a copy for MV

Who's MV?

[Incanus 5,714]

MV Gerhard, the top dog at LLL, one of the executive producers who was responsible for this set.

[Josh500 1,615]

Ah, ok. Thanks!

[Sandor 797]

The Morricone-like melody in the third track -David's Arrival- is that a seperate theme? It starts around 1:15.

Does it appear in more tracks? I heard it at least once in the fourth of fifth track I think.

It's simply a beautiful, free-flowing melody.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

Who's MV?

MV Gerhard, the top dog at LLL, one of the executive producers who was responsible for this set.

Phew! I thought JW had sent a signed copy to the Media Ventures guys, and I was like: "Whaaaat?"

[Josh500 1,615]

The Morricone-like melody in the third track -David's Arrival- is that a seperate theme? It starts around 1:15.

Does it appear in more tracks? I heard it at least once in the fourth of fifth track I think.

It's simply a beautiful, free-flowing melody.

I was so impressed with this track (especially the English horn solo), I once created a thread here wholly devoted to this one cue.

And it still is one of my all-time favorites.

[filmmusic 1,829]

The Morricone-like melody in the third track -David's Arrival- is that a seperate theme? It starts around 1:15.

Does it appear in more tracks? I heard it at least once in the fourth of fifth track I think.

It's simply a beautiful, free-flowing melody.

I don't think I have heard it in another track.

It has only one appearance in David's Arrival.

Please correct me someone, if I'm wrong.

[Josh500 1,615]

The Morricone-like melody in the third track -David's Arrival- is that a seperate theme? It starts around 1:15.

Does it appear in more tracks? I heard it at least once in the fourth of fifth track I think.

It's simply a beautiful, free-flowing melody.

I don't think I have heard it in another track.

It has only one appearance in David's Arrival.

Please correct me someone, if I'm wrong.

You are correct.

However, this piece can be heard in the brief making of video of A.I... the one on the same disc as the movie itself. If I remember correctly, Spielberg is talking about the implications of A.I. when the English horn solo is heard in the background... gives the whole topic a sort of melancholic and sad touch.

[Sandor 797]

I'm pretty sure I heard it in one of the tracks following track 3. I will get back on this.

[filmmusic 1,829]

I'm pretty sure I heard it in one of the tracks following track 3. I will get back on this.

There is another english horn melody in track 4 but it's not the same.

Maybe you mistook that one for the same melody.

[Sandor 797]

I'm pretty sure I heard it in one of the tracks following track 3. I will get back on this.

There is another english horn melody in track 4 but it's not the same.

Maybe you mistook that one for the same melody.

Yeah, that must be it. Just started to listen to the full score and there is such of wealth of thematic and melodic material to discover. I think this release is simply fantastic.