Yavar Moradi

@blondheim it is my understanding that the fixes of egregious flubs on this new album are not accomplished through pitch-correction software, but (as with the album for Superman IV before it) just using modern digital editing tech to splice in other takes/performances by the same orchestra which were preserved on the master tapes of the recording. It is common practice today and has been for a couple decades. These are the same players who managed to get the notes more right in a different take (where likely there were other performance issues elsewhere). Yavar

Exactly.

Thanks for highlighting a quality label which is sadly rather overlooked! They seem to be releasing more scores from the Golden and Silver Age than anyone else, these days... Yavar

Guys, I appreciate your open-mindedness -- give these two cues from the original a listen: There's some typical charming Randy Newman sounding stuff too, but for me the real highlight of the score is his gorgeous theme heard in "Real Rain" (and throughout the score). Yavar

Especially surprising positive comment from the self-described "Master of Negativity / Professional Nitpicker"! How is it great to make Serenity look like King of the Hill? I think it's just bizarre. But... it's the music that counts! Newly commissioned, 100%. Ugh. What Jim Titus could have done with this assignment if given the chance... Luckily, Spinmeister to the rescue! http://i.imgur.com/PdO87V8.png I do wonder why Varese didn't go with the traditional "composed and conducted by" credit... surely David Newman conducted this as he conducts virtually all his scores? Yavar

Matessino worked on the expanded Pleasantville? GREAT NEWS! (Did we already know that somehow, or do you just know that?) Yavar

Would you share your program with us, Thor? This is a score where I definitely agree with whittling it down for album. But I do remember liking some elements of it in the film. Yavar

It certainly has many great elements, not least of which is the score. Yavar

Eeeexcellent... my #1 Randy Newman score. So beautiful! Yavar

Someone guessed Signs for a past Varese batch clue too, because a sign was involved. I think that's maybe just too generic... and Varese also didn't release the original album (yeah yeah I know about HTTYD2 &3, but Varese released the album for the original HTTYD so there is at least a franchise connection there). Hollywood Records released the original album because the film was produced by Disney, so I think any expansion of Signs would be Intrada territory. The only two JNH/Shyamalan collaborations released by Varese (and likely controlled by them in perpetuity) are The Sixth Sense and The Happening. I would of course buy expansions of either, but especially the latter which I think it brilliant and rather underrated/overlooked. Yavar

Hey now it’s my #1 favorite Indiana Jones score! 😉 Yavar

Nice of you to say, sir. I do try to be a positive presence in general (occasionally I may call out a bit of outright bigotry or sexism, so I guess that makes me a target for the crowd crying “WOKE!”) and have similarly been mystified why I piss some people off there. Yavar

Thanks for removing Phenomenon! Actually I've got some more corrections/additions for your generally excellent list, Jay, starting with all the many other Varese Alfred Newman releases in their Club and otherwise, besides the two you mentioned: 1. The Song of Bernadette (1943) -- they actually did a 2CD set of the complete score as a wide release in the 90s, and therefore probably control the score in perpetuity, unlike most of their limited Club releases such as The Snake Pit and The President's Lady, which I suspect they didn't bother with a perpetuity license on 2. The Robe (album recording) (1953) -- this was also a regular wide release on CD back in the early 90s I think, long before their 2003 Deluxe Edition of the film recording which LLL subsequently bettered. It's a shame that neither Varese on their DE or LLL in their subsequent edition opted to include a remaster of the original album recording so all we have is the multi-decade old original Varese CD. 3. The Robe (1953) -- only if you want to follow your pattern with Hoffa and The Sandlot, this should be included because of the Varese Deluxe Edition, which LLL later made obsolete. 4. The Egyptian (album recording) (1954) -- similarly to The Robe, Varese reissued the original Decca album in 1990 (as with The Robe a unique/different recording from the film, I am pretty sure). Again I was disappointed this didn't accompany the later releases of the film recording. 5. The Egyptian (1954) -- before LLL revisited it and made some further improvement tweaks, the Varese 2CD Deluxe Edition of this score was a godsend. 6. Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955) -- similarly Varese put out the premiere commercial release of this score in their CD Club, but Kritzerland reissued it some years later. 6. Anastasia (1956) -- as with The Robe, Varese reissued the original (Decca?) album on CD in the early 90s. I actually don't know if it was a unique recording different from the film in this case, but there has never been an expanded release of the score unless the Twilight Time Blu-ray isolated score track counts. 7. The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) -- I think the complete film score presentation might be improved upon to modern standards, but Varese actually put out a deluxe three disc set as a wide release in the 90s (the third disc was the original album program, like I wish they had preserved with their Club DEs of The Robe and The Egyptian) 8. Airport (1970) -- Varese sublicensed the LP recording from Universal Music and premiered it on CD in 1993. The film recording has never been released. Oh, and they also put out this cool Alfred Newman compilation (I think these are compiled old album recordings from the 40s & 50s? like 78s?) near the end of their original Club line: https://www.discogs.com/release/5056721-Alfred-Newman-The-Film-Music-Of-Alfred-Newman Okay, with Thomas and David there are just a couple notes I think... For Thomas you left off Flesh and Bone (1993), maybe because LLL later expanded it (but you included David's The Sandlot and Hoffa even though LLL later expanded, just with strikethroughs). And for David, it's worth noting maybe that Varese reissued Heathers already as an Encore Edition (in 2018 I think?), which might indicate there isn't really anything more to add? Last but not least, Varese might control some rejected scores due to getting perpetuity soundtrack rights to a film... that would include Randy Newman's Air Force One and maybe Thomas Newman's Nanny McPhee Returns if he recorded anything. Yavar

Pretty sure it had unique takes. Anyhow, I’m sorry you find it so difficult to enjoy that release Brundlefly. I readily admit it’s not perfect, but I quite enjoyed it myself. Maybe one day the score will be revisited again in a more definitive edition. LLL just rectified their earlier Hook expansion after all, and that 2CD expansion had far more noticeable issues with it than Hollow Man, IMO. Yavar

Nah, he's just good at keeping track of a lot of things. Yavar

Intrada left off a film version or two I think. But just like Varese with Looney Tunes where a few minor cues were missing, I’m pretty sure they were at the mercy of what elements Bruce Botnick had personally archived and could supply them with. It’s still a great album, IMO, even if not strictly 100% “definitive” if elements at the studios might perhaps one day be uncovered. Calling it a “disaster” is weird. Yavar

I don’t think any other film music specialty label arranged to regularly get perpetuity rights from *any* studio. Silva Screen has Legend in perpetuity and I think Intrada has a few scores in perp like Tombstone and maybe Inchon… but it’s rare. With Varese it was rare for them to NOT get perpetuity rights on something in the 90s. They had a lot more clout. So I think they are in a fairly unique position with WB now which is why they’ve been able to keep expanding WB scores when the last WB expansion from LLL or Intrada was over three years ago, back in 2020. Yavar

Wait until you hear the sound clips (and maybe our Spotlight podcast episode). I don’t want to give details away before Intrada announces, but I’ll just say… This was actually a 3.5/5 score for me based on the original album recording. Now it is 4.5/5, easy. Maybe you’ll feel similarly. Yavar

Let’s just say… my taste in Goldsmith is considerably different from Christian Clemmenson’s. He doesn’t like pre-80s Goldsmith as much. He doesn’t like Goldsmith getting too modern in his writing either. He likes his film music smooth and pleasant, the Rudy side of Goldsmith if you will. And I assure you all, this score while no Mephisto Waltz or PotA (didn’t Clem give that masterpiece only one or two stars, lol?) is not that. Yavar

Same here! I have never owned MacArthur on CD. It was only released on CD once and that was over 30 years ago when I was just a little kid! Yavar

Still trying to schedule the recording, to be honest. Doug Fake is *super* busy these days and I'd far prefer to include the Grand Poobah of Intrada whenever possible though there will likely be other distinguished participants joining him.... Yavar

Major release -- not a single note of the film recording has been released before. Yavar

Yeah, very very subtle clue. Yavar

I'm optimistic about this, even if it doesn't totally match the soundworld of the Horner/Franglen scores. Oftentimes game scores don't share thematic material with the films they are based on. Yavar

Thanks; I had forgotten that. Of course we know that exceptions somehow were made for Varese DEs of the three post-2009 AFM-recorded Giacchino Star Trek scores. I wish I knew exactly how that managed to come about. Yavar