Yavar Moradi

I’m super excited for this, even more so than I expected because I had no idea the complete score (*excluding alternates*) was 82 minutes long! There are some really gorgeous themes and powerful writing in this. Yavar

Exactly this, as Bruce Broughton revealed when I interviewed him two (!!) years ago now: https://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/2083614-odyssey-interviews-bruce-broughton In short: Longer intro — MacFarlane asked him to write and record a new version. Basically thanks to a season 1 episode being moved to air as part of season 2, if LLL wanted to (or was required to) keep to a 2 CD album release, they had some hard choices. Their season 1 album already had to leave off some good cues with that approach (the promo edition of Broughton’s pilot score in particular included some good cues left off the LLL). Now that they had the same amount of disc space but two more episode scores to fit in (14 vs 12), that job of whittling down and prioritizing gets even tougher! So I guess this score got the short straw. I’d have to revisit the episode to look for highlights but I know there was indeed a lot more score in the episode. I personally kinda wish LLL could have done a 3 disc season 2 release, with one full disc dedicated to the complete scores for the Identity two parter (maybe filled out with A Happy Refrain complete — I love that episode and score too!) And then have on the remaining two discs an approach more similar to season 1 for the remaining episodes…this would’ve been more akin to their Star Trek TNG volumes (one of the three discs on each being dedicated to complete scores). Yavar

Don’t forget Varese…

We quote Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloe ballet at one point — it was influential on this and NIMH. We do often have a tracklist. Those just take the editor time to make, and he’s got his hands full right now editing the next thing! (We are hoping to get out three more podcasts in the next six weeks…) Yavar

For anyone on the fence about the new release of Legend, check out the new Goldsmith Odyssey Soundtrack Spotlight! https://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/9568664-odyssey-soundtrack-spotlight-legend-1985 We play three of the four previously unreleased cues which premiere here. And we also play, for reference, *all* (I'm pretty sure) of the still-unreleased film alternates of certain cues, so you can hear what is still missing (unless there are other unused cues Goldsmith wrote and recorded...it's hard to tell as the written score was misplaced and we don't have a cue list from the sessions themselves). Special guests are Jeff Bond (who wrote the new liner notes) and Paul Andrew MacLean (who wrote the liner notes for the original Silva Screen expanded edition 29 years ago!) Enjoy, and let me know what you all think! Yavar

For anyone on the fence about this new release, check out the new Goldsmith Odyssey Soundtrack Spotlight! https://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/9568664-odyssey-soundtrack-spotlight-legend-1985 We play three of the four previously unreleased cues which premiere here. And we also play, for reference, *all* (I'm pretty sure) of the still-unreleased film alternates of certain cues, so you can hear what is still missing (unless there are other unused cues Goldsmith wrote and recorded...it's hard to tell as the written score was misplaced and we don't have a cue list from the sessions themselves). Special guests are Jeff Bond (who wrote the new liner notes) and Paul Andrew MacLean (who wrote the liner notes for the original Silva Screen expanded edition 29 years ago!) Enjoy, and let me know what you all think! Yavar

Does “Up Is Down” really sound like Zimmer though? Yavar

Yeah I knew about Brainstorm (though I'm still clueless as to why) but this is the first I've heard of him actively nixing either of those. My guess is Dante's Peak, because when I interviewed him years ago he clearly had affection for Love Field and really regretted having to leave the lengthy Lost Luggage sequence off the album due to re-use fee time constraints. Since that was one of the shortest (if not THE shortest) original Goldsmith Varese albums (only 28.5 minutes), I'd be shocked if he was opposed to expanding it. Yavar

The existing album is barely half an hour. I’d definitely be up for more of this important Shirley Walker orchestral score! Yavar

Hence, the reboot… I assumed you knew! Yavar

Don’t think Thomas Newman ever changed his approach. Since your preference is clear and has already been met with the existing album, don’t begrudge me my hoped-for release of the complete score as composed and recorded. Yavar

Little Women is the expansion we really need. Plenty more good music in the film, and un-edited versions of cues… Yavar

Since you're such a big fan of the score, can you speak about some of the unreleased music, especially if there are any unreleased highlight cues in the movie you can point to longing for, on a hypothetical future expanded release? Yavar

I still haven’t seen the film.

Yes I think so

The entire score is very very good… again it’s quite a dark score (this is the same basic story as Tombstone after all!) and I don’t think it’s as immediately engaging and enjoyable as many other Goldsmith westerns… but it’s one of those that the more you listen to it, the more you notice and appreciate about it. It gets under your skin; today it’s one of my favorite Goldsmith western scores, period. I think it’s a masterpiece. One other thing to point out is the Tadlow uses the full original film orchestrations. The film recordings themselves are lost (there’s a music and effects track put out to by Twilight Time but there are a lot of effects) and the existing half hour album recording uses reduced orchestrations because it was recorded with a smaller orchestra than the film (same situation as with Waxman’s Taras Bulba). So since both albums are essentially re-recordings… the Tadlow is actually more faithful to the original film score. But the half hour album recording is conducted by Goldsmith himself so IMO they are both must owns. I consider The Red Pony a masterpiece too but it’s a far more immediately enjoyable one. Yavar

Is there a summary somewhere of the the mishaps and issues you fixed? Yavar

Hour of the Gun is a score of more subtle pleasures. Revisit it every now and then and I think it’ll really grow on you. Yavar

List price was $19.95, so this is half price. A great deal, for anyone who doesn’t already have this! The gorgeous four movement suite from The Red Pony is worth $9.95 on its own, IMO… Yavar

NAMI MELUMAD

somebody check on Brendan Anderson….

I don’t want the Schumann action theme reprised in this new series… I was never a big fan of that and I think it was mostly for Val Kilmer’s character anyway. But the gorgeous Elora Danan theme (based on an Eastern European folk melody) would make a ton of sense to reference I suspect… assuming she is an adult character in this. Yavar

I really dig this. Will have to listen to the full album. Yavar

I think the original film recording of Masada was very well performed by the LA musicians, and it includes a TON of great music not included on the 37 minute London album recording... that said it does sound much more "TV quality" as released on the Intrada 2 CD set from over a decade ago. Maybe that sound quality could be drastically improved if new sources are found, and modern mastering tech brought to bear. The album recording has only ever been released on CD by Varese Sarabande, and alas, they drastically screwed up the mastering (processing one side of the LP differently from the other side of the LP, for one thing!) I don't remember all the details, but it too is much in need of a revisit on CD. The question is: what would push the film recording of Masada to THREE discs? (Obviously the UMG-owned album recording would be put on its own disc, as happened with the UMG-owned Patton album recording.) Yavar

For anyone wondering about Lights Out, it's one of the rare Goldsmith 70s things we haven't been able to find at The Goldsmith Odyssey yet... https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068857/ "A toymaker develops a method to create dolls that kill." -- and starring Laurence Luckinbill, Sybok from Star Trek V! Sounds very promising from the reviews: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068857/reviews?ref_=tt_urv Apparently a video copy exists in the Paley Center for Media's library. I wonder if score tapes survive anywhere... we all know how great Goldsmith was with horror! If anyone is able to visit their location in New York or Los Angeles I'd be really curious what this score is like: https://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?q=&p=1&item=B:03621 Yavar