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All credit to heidl on another Forums...

Long time lurker and of course huge fan of JW. I absolutely love the new collection, as it's something I've been longing for since 1997. TLW score has been severely underrated and of course given a shortened 14 track OST originally... but now we can all rejoice. TLW extras have given renewed life to the score and I hope this gives it exposure to those who haven't gotten into it before. So far the "Corporate Helicopters" is my favorite addition. Amazing work by JW. I don't want this to seem like a flat out plug, but I interviewed Mike Matessino this past weekend about this collection and figured I'd give you all a heads up. Take a look if you want to: http://www.jurassicparkpodcast.com/home/2016/12/12/interview-w-mike-matessino-produced-edited-mastered-the-la-la-land-records-jurassic-park-collection-episode-77 I'll try not to lurk anymore and actually be an active participant. I've always liked coming around here.

However Kubrick didn't have the professional decency to inform North that his score wasn't working and he would opt for his temp track instead. Visionary artist or not, I don't care. You don't treat people like that.

Ego te absolvo a peccatis tuis. I in pace mi fili. Say three Hail Towners and two Lord Williams' Prayers and contemplate on your sins.

As the head of the Church of John Williams, the Supreme Bishop, I dub Mike Matessino as the Protector of the JW Realm and the Champion of JW music and "students" everywhere!

Williams wasn't joking when he said Rey is the main reason he wants to come back. After all, her music is leaps and bounds beyond most of the other writing in the score. The Jedi Steps is easily the most focused cue in the film, too. But it's almost jarring how the depth of orchestral texture and refinement in Rey's concert suite stands out against the restraint of the score proper. Overall TFA fits the film like a glove but there's definitely sections of uninteresting underscore. And weirdly, much of the unreleased music sounds more "showy" than the final score. Gotta wonder if JJ's total inability to figure out the film's tone until the dying months of post-production contributed to this? Quantity over quality sort of thing, where JW was constantly rewriting cues and had less inclination to refine or add more musical layers. Tracks like The Rathtars! are an instant skip for me; not musically interesting in the slightest (but neither is the Grievous material in ROTS).

Nice interview. Thanks for sharing! "Soundtrack buyers do have an expensive hobby. And I'm very, very grateful that they exist and that they support all these efforts. I will just advice John Williams fans to save some money. Particularly over the next year or so. There are a lot of things happening." Oh my.

I can think of no other artist (of any discipline) in their mid 80s whose fans continue to look forward to a new work. We are very lucky! JW not continuing the HP series is probably the greatest missed opportunity in film scores.

I'm not a fan of "The Rathtars" either but "Follow Me" and "The Falcon" are gold.

I love knowing that new Williams' magical music is going to be made today.

So I just came back from the movie. A few remarks without spoilers follow. I'm embargoed to reveal anything substantial, nor would I have since you're all seeing it very soon (some of you maybe tonight already, which -- as I pointed out earlier -- makes the strict security and embargo rather ridiculous; probably just a ploy to lure critics into thinking this is some massive event). In general, I thought the film was OK. I thought TFA was superior, but I like the fact that they're taking a more serious approach to the universe (with jokes and references kept to a minimum). The tempo is very high -- especially in the action sequences towards the end -- which makes me believe the re-cuts and re-shoots are mostly found here. Sadly, there were very few traces of the Gareth Edwards I know and love, and his unique -- often slower and more contemplative -- approach to action. I had hoped for something perhaps akin to the airport sequence in GODZILLA. Or the restrained monster confrontations in MONSTERS. But it IS darker than anything we've seen in the earlier movies, which I really like. There are several plot elements that mirror the original movies (some STAR WARS, some EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, some RETURN OF THE JEDI), with only very few references to the prequels (Jimmy Smits being a delightful exception). Then there are a couple of annoyances. One of the most striking is a couple of CGI/motion capture faces, which felt totally out-of-place and could have been realized far more elegantly. Unsurprisingly, the score was THE major annoyance. I found it borderline dreadful, to be honest. The theme for Jyn sounds like a watered-down version of "Across the Stars", which wouldn't be too bad in and of itself. But imagine that theme boiled down to just 4 chords without any melody line on top of it. In fact, that's my main criticism of the score and Giacchino in general -- it's just chords, chords, chords; hardly any lines or thematic definition. And then -- of course -- endless ostinati. Now and then, he sprinkles the orchestration with some Williams-y elements (a brass flurry, a boom-tss etc.), but they feel rather awkward. And then there's his "twist" on the STAR WARS themes, or rather, his 'chordification' of them, much like he's done on the STAR TREK movies (mimicking Goldsmith's chord leaps, in particular). There are a few snippets of Williams' themes (the rebel theme, the Force theme, the Imperial March etc.), but -- with a few exceptions -- they come and go without much fuss. And like with JURASSIC WORLD, it makes it painfully clear how inferior Giacchino is to Williams. But then you probably knew I would say that, given my distaste of the composer's music. I'll probably sample it on Spotify when it gets released, but seriously doubt I'm going to want to own it. But hey -- I sound more negative than I actually am. It's a decent film (great photography and set designs, some stunning individual shots, good performances by Felicity Jones and Ben Mendelsohn, in particular, and not really any dull moments). I'll see it again soon to re-evaluate properly.

It's a testament of Williams' timeless brilliance. Somehow, he manages to crank out a score that generates a whole new generation of film music lovers eery ten, fifteen years. That's amazing. It's as true a signew of the man's craft and talent as any and the reason a place like this is still going after almost twenty years. I doubt any composer could challenge such an achievement. That might be the most fanboyish thing I've ever written, but... uh, well... there it is.

I actually removed that one from the partial tracklist that leaked a few days ago (not to spoil anyone):

Guys you're breaking my heart!

Here we go again...

No problem with any future JW Expanded scores... as long as they don't merge them with other composers scores in a boxset. With a big boxset like Superman, you lost me. Moreover, I still wait a solo release of the latest remastering of Superman The Movie.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind might be another worthy candidate considering how highly JW thinks of it.

I think this interview clears up any lingering questions about why MM sets are so superior to recent expansions from other producers, which were riddled with bizarre edits, glaring omissions and "creative" track ordering. Firstly, that after being offered Jurassic Park, he cheekily asked if he could do The Lost World as well because the 20th Anniversary JP set didn't leave him enough unreleased music from the first score. Then the anecdote about Williams' camp requesting the OST edit for Incident At Isla Nublar because the opening of Falling Car was jarring. Most producers would accept that and move on but MM explained why it was antithetical to a complete release and actually changed their minds (albeit with a vastly preferable compromise). And the way he cleverly harnessed Williams' disdain for the unapproved academy promo for A.I. as ammunition to do the set complete with 3CDs (thus making the academy promo valueless overnight). Best of all, the trust between camps seems to be building with each subsequent release, to the point they are approaching him with their highest profile scores.

Welcome! And thank you for sharing the interview! After listening to the interview I have to say it again: Mr. Matessino you are my hero! The explanation on the administrative "entanglements" this type of release has makes you appreciate the work gone into making this set all the more as they have to go into these convoluted negotiations on the rights and who owns what. Boggles the mind how complex it can get. And it is shocking how quickly the multi-track masters deteriorate. Even the ones from 1993 for JP were in bad condition. I am glad Matessino was there to save them. Without the Live Projection concerts this would not have happened as they were not used for this set but serendipity and damn good luck saved them in digital form. And the story of how meticulous the assembly of the whole 2 score set has been makes you really appreciate Matessino's work and LaLa-Land's dedication to the music of John Williams. Aha! Matessino reveals that the original cue title of The Saboteur was The Menace Dennis! Oh Johnny you are so funny. Oooohhh at the end Mike also strongly hints that there will be some great John Williams stuff coming, perhaps next year or so, advising us to start saving money. He mentions specifically his good relationship with the Amblin Entertainment. More Spielberg/Williams collaborations?!!!

A fan has graciously made high res digital covers that look just like the real ones Source & more alternate covers: https://hqcovers.net/2013/11/07/jurassic-park-by-john-williams-2/ https://hqcovers.net/2013/11/11/the-lost-world-jurassic-park-by-john-williams/

This is not new information, but yes, it is indeed important to be aware of this.... Like for example when he discussed how for the 2013 Anniversary Edition, if there was a loud stage noise Ramiro would just cut to a different take where the noise didn't happen, even though it wasn't actually the correct piece of music that Williams had originally selected for the film (or OST or both), while Mike for the new LLL set would stick with the correct take but edit out the stage noise using his expertise in restoration work. Fascinating detail. I actually noticed this right away on the new set, with the end of "The Falling Car". On the original OST, listen to the very end of this cue (its at the end of "Incident At Isla Nublar" there) and you'll hear this seriously loud stage noise, almost like someone dropped something, during the final chord. On the 2013 20th Anniversary Edition, its clear Ramiro cut to a different take for the entire final chord - the musicians play the chord differently there, its kinda of a duller, and more sinister sound to it. On the new LLL set, its back to the original, correct take, but now the noise is reduced way down so you barely notice it. It's perfect The same thing happened with the 1993 Star Wars Anthology box set; Thaxton chose several wrong takes of ANH music for that release. The 1997 2CD set by Matessino then had all the correct takes. His passion really shines through in his work, as well as interviews like these. It's a wonderful thing.

Every great artist has different phases in his life and it's quite natural to prefer a specific period over another. However, if you look at JW's career more like a student than a fan, I think it's pretty astonishing to see how consistent the overall quality of his music has always been. As one very smart man once said, the work of a genius should not be critiqued, but only studied.

St. Mattessino of the Church of Williamsism. The penitent man shall listen.

I listen to "Follow Me"/"The Falcon" a lot. It has quickly joined the ranks of amazing single-sequence Star Wars action cues.

The Rathtars cue is a bit crap really, like the scene it accompanies. Completely forgettable and a wasted opportunity for a funny and even movie stealing monsters sequence. The music should have been a set-piece cue with a theme and everything that comes with that in a Star Wars score. I said at the time it should have been The Basket Game 2, in space. The Jakku music works okay during the movie itself, but I never feel like listening to it on its own.

I love what JW did for the Jakku and Falcon action scenes. I'm not that for of the Rathgars stuff, though even that has points of interest throughout. Notice with TFA that the music is less interesting when the film is less interesting.

It's here! Unfortunately, despite the copious amount of bubble wrap, the case still got damaged and needs to be replaced (the lid holding disc four fell off after opening). But so much awesome music is here, so who cares?!

Williams' Harry Potter complete scores 7-disc box set confirmed!

I just can picture Horner's reaction to this scenario...which probably no one dared to forward to him. The world-famous 'Titanic' composer having to audition his work a second time with his replacement waiting in the wings, for a small low-budget movie, no less. The result speaks for itself.

Welcome to the board, Brad! I hope you don't mind, but I broke out your post and its replies from the larger JP Collection thread in an attempt to draw more attention to this great interview, which I have just finished listening to. HOLY cow, it's a seriously great interview! Mike shares numerous interesting stories about not only the creation of this set, what it was like working on the elements and assembling the final program, but also his experiences researching the films and putting them in the context of Spielberg's and WIlliams' stories, as well as film making in general. It's a great listen, and I heartily recommend all you guys check it out! This audio interview will definitely scratch the itch for those of you jonesing for the becoming-traditional JWFan.com written Q&A I have been lucky to get to do with Mike for a lot of these big releases. Check it out!! Here's the link again: http://www.jurassicparkpodcast.com/home/2016/12/12/interview-w-mike-matessino-produced-edited-mastered-the-la-la-land-records-jurassic-park-collection-episode-77 And again, great work, Brad!

It's not easy tracking pre-existing music into your film, particularly classical music. Too many harmonic and mood changes; films demand other type of music in most cases. Kubrick, Malick, Taratino, Scorsese, Disney's Fantasia are some exceptions -but in those cases the music tends to be thought before or as the shooting is getting done. There's probably a reason why tracking is more difficult to do than having an original score, apart from copyright issues. A recent example that comes to mind is Rango, where the tracked Elfman ended up being in the actual film, and most people didn't even notice -myself included. I'd say the answer is somewhere along the lines that filmmaking is an extremly collaborative effort; you can't do it all by yourself, even if it's your vision for a film you need people to complete the product. Even more so in these big Hollywood films, where it seems to sustain a ton of people as contemporary films need more and more people to work on them. And also, this is an idea that just popped, a matter of control. Directors tend to be control freaks. With pre-existing music you hardly have any control over it, but with a hired composer, you can tell him/her exactly what you want and the guy does his job. It's an interesting question though, there's more to explore in it that in seems at first.

http://io9.gizmodo.com/rogue-one-truly-understands-how-to-be-a-great-star-wars-1790002570?utm_campaign=socialflow_gizmodo_twitter&utm_source=gizmodo_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow http://lestoilesheroiques.fr/2016/12/rogue-one-a-star-wars-story-critique-film-avis.html

Both "The Falcon" and the end of "The Rathtars" are Williams at his very best. Even the non-thematic middle of the Rathtars is pretty good, mostly in how it builds to the awesome Finn's theme segment that I adore. (And of course if you're talking about the OST "The Rathtars" has the phenomenally nostalgic main theme rendition at the beginning.) "The Rathtars" OST version (the Finn's theme segment) is also missing a very short but very cool moment (at least IMO) that's in the film.

Possibly, though I also would have thought they'd of had a trailer attached to Rogue One and there doesn't seem to be. Who knows!

And its the 40th Anniversary next year

You should help Mike with his sales pitch on this Indy release. You have it all worked out! And don't forget to hire a violinist to accompany your teary selling speech with suitable heart rending pathos of I Could Have Done More from Schindler's List.

Mike's preference to call fans "students" of whatever they are passionate about is actually an interesting notion and very spot on I think. Are we not also studying things we have great interest in, to understand them better even if this just means giving music years and years of our attention by listening to it, let alone in the case of film music giving thought to its musico-dramatic aspects and its surrounding phenomena, which can link it to any number of things.

I dislike it when people create threads for no other purpose than bashing.

So goes a famous story... that Kubrick hired the great legendary Alex North to score 2001: A Space Odyssey. He had previously hired North for Spartacus and that result in one the all time greatest scores ever. So North scored the entire movie. And knew it was a revolutionary movie. So on premiere night he's pretty pumped. Goes into the theater and waits for his music to wash over him with Kubrick's mind boggling images. And he hears not a note of his music but Richard Staruss and so on and on. And he was absolutely devastated. Imagine something like this happening to John Williams. North is of that stature and importance to film music. North was absolutely outraged and beside himself and decided never to work with Kubrick again.

If I may, I will say that it is far more challenging to work with an actual composer than use pre-existing music. That's because it is the difference between contending with yet another human ego vs none. If you hire a composer worth his salt, he will for sure approach YOUR work as a director with some ideas. He will see the film a certain way, see certain deficiencies that he can fix, pacing issues and lack of drama and momentum and what not. You as the director will have to contend with that. Then you will have to discuss spotting with him. Usually (again usually) the composer might push for more music than you want. He will then go away and compose a score and bring it to you. And you will have opinions that will annoy him. He being an artist with integrity will not want his work altered again and again. Now it will be your chance to annoy the composer when you start tracking his score at different places than he intended. He will not like that. Then you will bury his score under sound effects and he will not like that either. So as you see, this is clearly much more difficult. With tracking pre-existing, no such hassle, no battle of ego. Just dial in what you want and no one in the world with disagree. And you have and eat you cake.

Neat that Gia brought that back. Wonder if the end credits are the same as the saga episodes.

And the same FSM poster followed up

Off topic: I'm still waiting for Disney to announce a special limited edition Rogue One album with 15 levels of emboss!