Yavar Moradi

Really enjoyed your video @Chris Malone! Subscribed to your channel too since it looks like there’s other good stuff to check out. But the pinned note you referenced was the real gold, answering any questions one could have on this matter. Yavar

Nope I’m pretty sure it was recorded in LA, unlike the first score (London). Yavar

Oh? When in 2005 was it recorded? Yavar

I honestly think they’re collectively kinda McNeely’s magnum opus. Yavar

Thanks so much for chiming in Chris! I look forward to checking out your video. Yavar

Only 50 copies sold in half a year means that this may last another couple of years, I think. (No doubt being digitally available for download and streaming is a big reason behind those slower sales.) BUT it is a great release of a really wonderful score with an excellent liner notes booklet, and I highly recommend people pick it up! I'll plug our Goldsmith Odyssey Soundtrack Spotlight on it again, for anyone on the fence: https://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/8192306-odyssey-soundtrack-spotlight-face-of-a-fugitive-1959 Yavar

The Train is one of the most awesome album tracks in Horner's entire career. Pretty sure it's several shorter cues combined into one epic length track, though. Would be very interested to see how a complete & chronological release of the score turned out. There was more missing from Mask of Zorro than I expected! Yavar

So... just because the timing really worked out, and I had both Doug Fake and Chris Malone in a Zoom "room" with me when we were recording our podcast on the new 2CD release of MacArthur, I went ahead and asked this question for you, specifically. If you don't want to listen to the rest of the podcast you can skip about 1 hr 10 minutes into this, for details: https://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/14140529-odyssey-soundtrack-spotlight-macarthur-1977 In short: no pitch correction was used. I asked that question specifically and while I was even asking it, Chris was shaking his head "no" (obviously that's not preserved in an audio-only podcast, but he also confirms verbally in a response to my inquiry whether they used any pitch correction). Yavar

Secret of the Wings (totally unreleased fourth score) is my second favorite after Lost Treasure. Here's hoping Intrada can still make an album for that happen one day. Yavar

I don't, but it's a real shame. I wish there were an equivalent James Horner podcast to The Goldsmith Odyssey and Legacy of John Williams, that would really dig into these releases. I did manage to squeeze in a last minute question about Battle Beyond the Stars with Chris Malone and Doug Fake when I was speaking with them about MacArthur (a little over 1 hr 10 min into this): https://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/14140529-odyssey-soundtrack-spotlight-macarthur-1977 Yavar

Oh, you're right. Why on earth couldn't get they the same screenwriters back from the original??? Yavar

So that's about 125 copies sold in the past half a year. I expect this will still hang around through most of 2024, but I guess sometimes when Goldsmith scores get below 100 they go fast. I don't think this is a masterpiece but I do think it is a good, powerful score with some real depth to it. If you've got half an hour to spare, I highly recommend checking out the conversation I had with Doug Fake about it in 2020: https://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/6119113-odyssey-soundtrack-spotlight-the-last-castle-2001 Yavar

That's because after 7 years people like me were excited for a follow up from the same director/team... and it really, really sucked. But it didn't even suck bad enough to actually talk about much, like say the Star Wars prequels. It was just terribly lame and mediocre. Yavar

I really like this score. Rozsa wrote a few chamber works after this, but for a final film score it's honestly a pretty cool way for him to end his career, with a throwback to his earlier noir greatness. Yavar

I highly recommend folks check out the Soundtrack Spotlight episode with Mike Matessino, Chris Malone, and John Takis if they are unsure about whether this score is for them: Yavar

Lost Treasure is the best of those, with an absolutely incredible orchestral theme for her journey/adventure. (The original score is also a must IMO.) Yavar

Except much more bizarre because Quantum of Solace had a different director and also suffered greatly from timing with a writer's strike. But Legend of Zorro had the same director and still ended up really sucking, aside from Horner's incredible score. Yavar

And the Soundtrack Spotlight is now up! https://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/14140529-odyssey-soundtrack-spotlight-macarthur-1977 We made a point of comparing the familiar album recording with the previously unreleased film recording in several spots. Enjoy folks, and let me know what you think after listening! Yavar

I actually love The Legend of Zorro more as a score than even The Mask of Zorro. But I agree... the film is terrible, largely because of the story/script. Catherine Zeta-Jones somehow looks even more beautiful than she did in the first film though. Yavar

In this case I would consider it a win all around. I really wish a Tadlow complete rerecording of The Ten Commandments had happened before the Intrada set, for example. Yavar

I mean yeah, this is the kind of “sexy dance” you give actors to do — one they can be taught relatively simply while they are more busy with say, sword training (the much more important dancing in this movie). Professional dancers can do a lot better. Heck even actors on Dancing with the Stars get more fancy, because learning to dance is literally all they have to worry about on that show, unlike everything involved in making a movie. But Horner sells the hell out of that dance, especially with that magical key change. It’s fine! Yavar

It's original Horner source music for a central scene of Catherine Zeta-Jones being hot as hell... So yeah, on fanmail and such I wouldn't be surprised if this were a cue LLL saw requested often. Yavar

Leigh relishes that kind of work. He’s told me on the Goldsmith General Electric Theater project that he actually most enjoys the challenge of reconstructing certain scores entirely by ear. Having the written music almost makes it too easy for him! Yavar

Fortunately people like Leigh Phillips can reconstruct scores entirely by ear listening to the mixed film audio when necessary (see: The Salamander). Yavar

Taste is a funny thing. I know some folks who like other 90s Goldsmith but this isn’t their cup of tea. Maybe it’s the central romance (or lack of synths)? Dunno, but I find a lot to love in this score even though Lionheart is way better 😉. Yavar