Your favorite Indiana Jones ost?

[mstrox 6,651]

Temple of Doom is the best OST, IMO. Crusade is likely my favorite Indy score, but I like ToD's arrangement and sound quality much better.

[Jediking12 1]

I think that 2008 set was intended for people who never owned any of the previous releases since that is the one I got when I re-experienced the Indiana Jones movies after haven't seen them in years. It was good to listen to the score and recall every scene and the previously unreleased tracks were a fair treat.

[Scarpia 132]

The amount of unreleased music was fair enough to justify the buy. I was quite happy with some of my favourite unreleased cues from Temple of Doom and Last Crusade.

I really didn't know the kind of work they did here at the time I bought the set, the same day of the release. I remember playing Indy's Very First Adventure, and being very happy that it continued until the real end of the sequence. To Pankot Palace and British Relief completed my joy, and the additional music disc is something I still play from time to time for a good quality music treat.

I would have appreciated better liner notes, though, instead of the useless "pictures from the movies" booklet.

[crumbs 14,315]

It's frightening to think the additional music disc was a last minute addition.

Even with all the music still unreleased, at least we got that bonus disc (trying to find positives).

[Jay 37,359]

Yes the 5th disc was a blessing.

Now all we need is Matessino to do definitive 2CD versions of each. The 2008 boxset is a great stop-gap until then.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I remember playing Indy's Very First Adventure, and being very happy that it continued until the real end of the sequence.

I had mixed feelings about that track. While it was some of my most desired unreleased Williams material, the presentation on the box set was dubious. The ending sounds to me like an alternate inferior take and I don't know what the hell they did to the intro of the track, but there's an abrupt unnatural fade-in that isn't there on the OST version.

[Scarpia 132]

You're right, there is a kind of forced fade in, but I cannot notice any major difference in the ending.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

To be honest I never did like how Indy's First Adventure just abruptly ends on the OST. Ideally it should have extended to the "Boat Scene" and maybe also contained "Indy Heals His Dad" and I would have been happy with the album.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

The part that sounds off in Indy's First Adventure box set version starts at about 11:04. It's not the film version.

[Jay 37,359]

Bouzereau probably just grabbed a full take from the sessions without noticing that the film version was a combination of multiple takes. This is the kind of stuff Matessino doesn't miss.

[JasonTHX 21]

Was there any reason why Alarm! was placed after Scherzo For Motorcycle on the 2008 CD?

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Williams sequenced it that way for the best listening experience.

[Jay 37,359]

Yup. The only reason would be Williams' personal preference.

[crumbs 14,315]

Just like all those listening experience microedits in Desert Chase.

They weren't there in the leaked early version of the Raiders disc, were they?

[Jay 37,359]

Yes, they were. And The Basket Game was missing the opening in it, too.

[crumbs 14,315]

Disappointing, but at least we have the intact DCC release.

It also had an extra/alternate track from inside the Well of the Souls didn't it? Indy Climbs the Statue?

[Jay 37,359]

Yep.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Just like all those listening experience microedits in Desert Chase.

You mean edits? Who popularized the term microedit?

- E.T., perhaps the only person on the planet who isn't bothered by the Desert Chase edits

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I love the Polydor album and that mutilated Desert Chase baffles me. He's otherwise great at album assembly but this track was one case where he needlessly second guessed himself.

[Wojo 2,453]

Just like all those listening experience microedits in Desert Chase.

You mean edits? Who popularized the term microedit?

You're absolutely right. The doctor looks at your brain defects under a microscope? No. It's just a scope.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,527]

Why are we even debating this? "ROTLA" wins hands-down. "TOD" and "TLC" have their moments. The rest is noise.

[crumbs 14,315]

I don't understand why the underscore in KOTCS is SO lifeless and devoid of creativity.

Was Williams just uninterested in the project, or was he preoccupied elevating the rest of this mess of a movie to care about boring crypt sequences?

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I think had it not been for KOTCS (and Tintin to a certain extent), my expectations for TFA score would be significantly higher.

[crumbs 14,315]

Tintin is more creative than KOTCS, easily. At least the underscore maintains your interest, and the themes are actually memorable.

The Crystal skull theme sounds like something he could write in his sleep.

[Loert 2,511]

I think that ROTLA had the best score for the film, and TOD wins in terms of pure listening experience, but not necessarily as a film score.

In TOD there's this bit where Indy and his gang enter into Lao Che's plane, and for a moment you hear this menacing horn sting as the audience realises that Indy has entered a trap, but only a few seconds later, while you see the "trap" plane take off, you hear possibly the most bombastic rendition of the Indiana Jones theme Williams ever wrote! It's a complete mess because one moment we're shown it's a trap and another moment the music gives us the impression that Indy has escaped Lao Che. Just after, we get the oddly positioned introduction of Willy's theme during the map sequence, and then we're back to menacing clarinets as the pilots abandon the plane. Of course, on the album, all this music sounds great and thrilling, but (for me at least) it significantly muddles the clarity of the story while played in the film. I can only guess that Spielberg must have wanted a loud statement of the Indy theme to please the audience, at the expense of the music actually making sense.

Not to say that some parts weren't scored brilliantly for the film (e.g. the spike trap sequence, the trek/camp sequence). But in my opinion the TOD score didn't work as well for the film as the ROTLA score did, although as pure music I find it superior.

As for KOTCS, the only bit I really like from the soundtrack is the music which plays during the flying saucer's liftoff (i.e. 2nd half of "The Departure"). It almost sounds like a rejected cue from A.I. though!

[Jilal 569]

There's so much classy underscore in KOTCS - I can't believe appreciation for it is so meager here. I love Williams' modern action music, so I adore the Warehouse Escape, Whirl Through Academe, Jungle Chase*, Ants! and The Adventures of Mutt* cues. The non-action underscore is fairly decent, I think. Nothing all too exciting, but certainly not uninspired!

Oh, and, yes, the Departure cue is great as well. Love the quartal/quintal fanfare-esque writing and the luminescent orchestration there.

Sorry if I sound a bit fanboyish here - I've had just 6 hours of sleep and a maths exam today (which went well, nonetheless).

* Note the emphatic use of pedal tones in cues associated with Mutt's swashbuckling action.

[Scarpia 132]

As for KOTCS, the only bit I really like from the soundtrack is the music which plays during the flying saucer's liftoff (i.e. 2nd half of "The Departure"). It almost sounds like a rejected cue from A.I. though!

This part had a great effect on me on premiere night. I bought the score the next day and played the track immediately.

Anyways, I still enjoy most of this score.

[crumbs 14,315]

Compare "The Secret Passage" to "Secret Doors and Scorpions" and you'll realise the different leagues both scores exist in.

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

"Ants?!" is a pretty good action cue.

[crumbs 14,315]

Yeah, "Ants!" is good. About the only time Williams uses the Russian theme in a interesting fashion.

Ivana's Theme is used well in Jungle Chase (Complete) too.

[Datameister 2,042]

That it is. It suffers from guilt by association, and it doesn't help that the recording of that score as a whole is just not that spectacular. But the writing is pretty classic Williams at times. Same goes for the last leg of the jungle chase.

Unfortunately, though, I also agree with the consensus that there's some mind-blowingly dull underscore in other cues. It's functional in the film but a snooze on album. Frankly, I usually skip those cues. Or give up and switch to another score.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I'd never been bored by an Indiana Jones score. KOTCS is B-O-R-I-N-G boring.

[crumbs 14,315]

Most of the vintage Williams writing was omitted from the OST, bizarrely. It's like he's ashamed by his 80's writing.

The best parts of Jungle Chase were completely ignored, especially the dramatic alternate (sadly replaced by the cartoony version in the final film). It's like Spielberg was simply incapable of allowing ANY dramatic tension or maturity to exist in the film (personified by a goddamn CGI monkey saving himself from death by catching a branch over the cliff).

[Scarpia 132]

The score should be benefited by a more complete release, along with the original three. Probably when they finally start to work on the fifth movie they would begin to consider this.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Most of the vintage Williams writing was omitted from the OST, bizarrely. It's like he's ashamed by his 80's writing.

He restricted the good stuff to the film and the album is essentially 80% dissonance and atonality.

[Datameister 2,042]

The best parts of Jungle Chase were completely ignored, especially the dramatic alternate (sadly replaced by the cartoony version in the final film).

Oh, there we disagree. I don't find the revised cue to be cartoony at all - on the contrary, it takes what works about the original and refined it into something a little more satisfying.

I do prefer the way the original cue transitions from the lemur music to the big action ostinato stuff, though. One excellent producing choice on that OST was combining the beginning of the original cue with the rest of the revised version.

[Hlao-roo 389]

KotCS gave us arguably the finest lemur music of Williams's career.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,527]

So, your ideal Temple of Doom album would be something like this:

Anything Goes

Fast Streets of Shanghai

Nocturnal Activities

Short Round's Theme

Children in Chains

Slalom on Mt. Humol

The Temple of Doom

Bug Tunnel and Death Trap

Slave Children's Crusade

Short Round Helps Out

The Mine Car Chase

The Broken Bridge/British Relief

Finale and End Credits

?

That'd be about it. Nothing more than that!

WTF???!!!!!!!

No "Approaching The Stones"???!!!!!!!

WTF??????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Its greatness would have been detrimental to the album listening experience.

[crumbs 14,315]

"Fortune and Glory"?!

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Gotta be brutal.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,527]

Its greatness would have been detrimental to the album listening experience.

How can the best f**kin' track on the CD be "detrimental to the album listening experience"?????!!!!!

That's a bit like removing "The Miracle Of The Ark" from "ROTLA" because it doesn't fit in.

As General Kerla once said: "Have you lost your mind?".

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I give you my word, we have no idea what's going on.

[crumbs 14,315]

But that's not what I'm gonna do. I give you my word.

[Omen II 1,235]

KotCS gave us arguably the finest lemur music of Williams's career.

Good shout, but I reckon Indri Rides the Statue and Indri's Very First Adventure are superior.

[Wojo 2,453]

Indri.