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John Barry's King Kong (FSM#249 - 2CD Deluxe Edition)


Jay

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King Kong: The Deluxe Edition (2CD) (1976)

Music by John Barry

Price: $24.95

Limited #: N/A

Line: Silver Age

CD Release: September 2012

Catalog #: Vol. 15, No. 5

# of Discs: 2

The 1976 Dino De Laurentiis remake of King Kong (starring Jeff Bridges and Jesssica Lange) was one of the first scores John Barry composed after settling in Los Angeles from his native England. Although the composer was forced to write quickly due to production delays, he provided a powerful score that reflects both the film’s exotic adventure setting and the love story at its emotional center.

An unusual variety of melodic ideas to characterize Kong and a strong romantic theme endow the score with a lush sensuality and emotional poignancy that balances the harsher and more horrific elements. Barry’s music ranges from the primitive dances of island natives to the soft saxophone strains of contemporary romance without missing a beat.

FSM released the 1976 Reprise Records album master of King Kong in 2005 when no additional material was available. But now, with the cooperation of Paramount Pictures, we are able to premiere John Barry’s complete score newly mixed and mastered from the 2" 24- and 16-track masters on the first disc of this 2CD Deluxe Edition. We again present the album master on disc 2, augmenting it with several film alternates to make this the most complete possible representation of Barry’s effort.

Informative notes by John Takis, numerous film stills and dynamic original poster art comprise FSM’s colorful 20-page booklet.

If viewers of King Kong care about the hulking creature, it is in no small part because Barry makes them care. Through his art, painstakingly preserved and lovingly presented on this 2CD set, listeners are able to see past the mask of the monster to the infinitely lonely soul locked within.

Track List

King Kong (1976)

Music Composed and Conducted by John Barry

DISC ONE

The Film Score

01. Main Title 2:19

02. Ship at Sea/Strange Tale/Hey Look 3:11

03. Montage 1:58

04. Fog Bank 1:34

05. The Island 2:46

06. Day Wall 3:35

07. Dwan Alone/Jack & Dwan 3:20

08. Night Wall Part 1 4:47

09. Night Wall Part 2 2:07

10. Celebration 0:46

11. Jungle/The Hole/Camp Site/Dwan Scared 2:50

12. Prisoner 2:06

13. Waterfall 2:20

14. Ravine 2:23

15. Acknowledge/Crater/Snake Fight 4:57

16. Chase/Trap 4:16

17. Capture 1:01

18. Super Tanker 1:29

19. Dwan Falls 2:56

20. Petrox Marching Band 1:37

21. Presentation 2:35

22. Kong Escapes 2:02

23. Into a Bar 1:29

24. Get Smashed/Alone in a Bar 2:18

25. Kong's Hand 0:37

26. Church Organ 0:41

27. World Trade Center 2:30

28. Jack in Pursuit 1:46

29. Kong's Heart Beat/End Title 4:28

Total Disc Time: 70:44

DISC TWO

The 1976 Soundtrack Album

01. The Opening 2:18

02. Maybe My Luck Has Changed 1:52

03. Arrival on the Island 2:49

04. Sacrifice—Hail to the King 7:10

05. Arthusa 2:20

06. Full Moon Domain—Beauty Is a Beast 4:24

07. Breakout to Captivity 4:08

08. Incomprehensible Captivity 2:58

09. Kong Hits the Big Apple 2:36

10. Blackout in New York—How About Buying Me a Drink 3:24

11. Climb to Skull Island 2:31

12. The End Is at Hand 1:45

13. The End 4:27

Total Time: 42:46

Bonus Tracks

14. Main Title (alternate) 2:21

15. Fog Bank (alternate) 1:35

16. Day Wall (alternate) 3:17

17. Night Wall Part 1 (alternate) 5:08

18. Night Wall Part 2 (alternate) 2:07

19. Trap (alternate) 3:09

20. Presentation (alternate #1) 2:37

21. Presentation (alternate #2) 3:17

22. End Title (alternate) 3:31

Total Time: 26:57

Total Disc Time: 69:42

487_404123.jpg

487_404123.jpg

http://filmscoremont...l.cfm/CDID/487/

http://www.screenarchives.com/title_detail.cfm?ID=21684

http://store.intrada.com/s.nl/it.A/id.7819/.f

http://www.moviemusic.com/soundtrack/M08569/kingkong-deluxe/

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Perhaps Yor the might hunter from FSM MB has infected KM with 3rd person speech impediment.

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KM is of that generation that say King Kong in it's initial release. while the film isn't very good the music was just another of those great 70's scores that stand out as special.

when Jaws dies nobobya cries, when Kong dies everybody cries

.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Superb! I bet Mark O's dancing the happy dance right now.

Yes.

I'm sure everyone knows my story on this but yeah, this may be the release of the year for me.

The sound is superb, I'm hearing instruments I never heard on the prior releases to include the first FSM release. I haven't stopped playing it since it arrived last week.

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I should probably get this. I remember it being such an awesome score and movie. Barry really pulled it all together with arguably his best score. It's pure Barry romance outside some of the action music.

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This score doesn't get its due (though I understand why the film, which I love, doesn't get much due either). The presentation here... well, it's fantastic. Right up there with Poltergeist and 1941, not a single thing wrong with it.

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Here's my main observation:

The ominous "fog bank motif" is by far the most prevalent motif in the complete score. It only appears briefly on the OST in the track Blackout in NY. No wonder the OST always felt like a very poor representation of the score as heard in the film

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My favorite cues are the ones that feature what I like to call the pursuit motif / theme. I can't remember what John Takis called it in the liner notes.

But it was featured in the 2 album cues; Breakout To Captivity and buried in The End Is At Hand.

But in the score we get it on its own and Barry made wonderful use of it, using it to underscore the pursuit and being pursued by Kong. Plus the 2nd alternate version of presenting Kong makes use of it as well. That was a surprise considering the approach he took with previous 2 versions, which were used in the film and in the extended TV version, which made use of the first alternate.

Also one of my wanted moments was the short cue when they rescue Dwan from her life raft, just a hint of her theme and the triumphant finish as they pull her from the water.

Of course the Ravine cue is excellent as well.

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My favorite cues are the ones that feature what I like to call the pursuit motif / theme. I can't remember what John Takis called it in the liner notes.

I call that one "The Power of Kong." And yeah, it's one of my favorite of the Kong themes as well.

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There was too much pivotal stuff missing from the OST. I was very disappointed when I first heard it and Arrival on the Island was completely different from what I expected. This is a prime example of that occurrence with soundtrack albums. Like when Harry Potter came out and the great hall entry music wasn't in either that track or Diagon Alley where it was also used in the film.

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  • 7 months later...

Oh, i was just thinking about this score yesterday, and i was gonna watch the film again one of these days.

I guess this will be gone in no time right?

i can't afford any other purchase right now. :(

the scene with the sacrifice and the music, is one of my favourites ever!

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Yes, I doubt it will last another hour. This is the last store that has any copies.

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I would recommend getting the one from Amazon.co.uk while it's still there. It might be slightly dearer than the retail price, but the album is really worth it.

Karol

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I would recommend getting the one from Amazon.co.uk while it's still there. It might be slightly dearer than the retail price, but the album is really worth it.

Karol

OMG! is that guy nuts who sells a used one for over 1500 pounds, while there are new ones for 27? :eek:

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