Locrius

Messages sent to Disney Music Emporium, Disney Music and Bruce Botnick.

I also wanted to comment on how I feel about the 2016 Paper Mill House Recording.  As great as the film's score is, I like the direction of the musical much more.  I like how it's darker and more nuanced.  Also, I thought all the performances on the CD were really excellent.  I will admit that at first when I saw the show I wasn't sure what to make of Arden's Quasi, but when I realized he was supposed to be death, I quickly understood.  And he does bring a lot of emotional passion to the role, which is absolutely great.  Patrick Page obviously is no Tony Jay (of course), but his Frollo is still really impressive, his reindition of "Hellfire" especially bringing out his range.  Jay will always be immortal, but Page is just as good for different reasons IMO.
 
Oh, need I mention that this is probably my favorite of Menken's works?

I listened with head phone and even the first track seems to be cut strange from the beginning, it appears the sound kicks in when the chorus is mid-breath before their first note. No silence beforehand. 

I'll never understand how fans can pick up on these things so quickly, yet the people spending months working on them, don't (or don't care?). Everything you just listed should have been addressed before signing off on this release and making it available.

I'll never understand how fans can pick up on these things so quickly, yet the people spending months working on them, don't (or don't care?). Everything you just listed should have been addressed before signing off on this release and making it available.

Sure, when we get zero effort trash, we should just eat it up. Oh dear, I'm so sad we didn't get a bunch of awfully hacked up TPM material officially released alongside all the stuff that leaked in other places anyway. Good riddance to that moronic UE idea.

Agreed 100%. And you raise an interesting point... What if they accidentally released a temp master? I doubt it, but you never know. To my ears, there are just way too many screw-ups to explain how something like this got released as an actual final product. And you're right; just because something is a job and the person/people working on it may not be "fans" or even like the project - doesn't mean all these errors are acceptable. If anything, it should be *less* acceptable, since these people are getting *paid* to do this.
 
 
It was.

Agreed 100%. And you raise an interesting point... What if they accidentally released a temp master? I doubt it, but you never know. To my ears, there are just way too many screw-ups to explain how something like this got released as an actual final product. And you're right; just because something is a job and the person/people working on it may not be "fans" or even like the project - doesn't mean all these errors are acceptable. If anything, it should be *less* acceptable, since these people are getting *paid* to do this.
 
 
It was.

Sure. Better than nothing I suppose. I'm just quite frustrated by this. I know I'll calm down and get over it, but I would argue that TPM UE was still better assembled than this. If it wasn't such basic editing issues that one does on every album than I wouldn't be nearly as annoyed. There's a very big difference to me in weird film edits vs pops, glitches, lack of proper fades, drop-outs, etc. Two very different kinds of low effort to me I suppose. Either that or a massive blunder.
 
I don't care how much I like the music, I won't buy or support these if this is how they're going to be released from now on. Why should I show my support for half-assed crap like this? I'll run quality control if I need to. Lol. Mistakes happen, I've made plenty of them, but at this point, in my line of work, I triple check everything these days: Before I hit export, review immediately after export, and I review again after approval before I send out for final release.

Deleted as a good faith gesture.
 

I'll never understand how fans can pick up on these things so quickly, yet the people spending months working on them, don't (or don't care?). Everything you just listed should have been addressed before signing off on this release and making it available.

I'll never understand how fans can pick up on these things so quickly, yet the people spending months working on them, don't (or don't care?). Everything you just listed should have been addressed before signing off on this release and making it available.

Oh gosh, yep... For some reason there's a little sliver of silence inserted between the string intro and his entrance. You can actually hear a little blip from the last string note repeated when he sings his first words...
 
EDIT: Maybe Botnick tried to edit two takes together, the instrumental intro and then a different take for the song. It obviously didn't go as well as planned. I could tell something was "off" when I first heard it, but now I know why: it's that little blip of strings that plays out of nowhere, when he starts singing. Ugh.
 
 
Start at 1:34 and listen at half speed. You'll see what I mean.
 
@Holko

Oh gosh, yep... For some reason there's a little sliver of silence inserted between the string intro and his entrance. You can actually hear a little blip from the last string note repeated when he sings his first words...
 
EDIT: Maybe Botnick tried to edit two takes together, the instrumental intro and then a different take for the song. It obviously didn't go as well as planned. I could tell something was "off" when I first heard it, but now I know why: it's that little blip of strings that plays out of nowhere, when he starts singing. Ugh.
 
 
Start at 1:34 and listen at half speed. You'll see what I mean.
 
@Holko

Finally gave this bit a listen; there's no excuse for at least that to not be fixed at some point...

Oh, I'm not ordering it until I know it's fixed

The demos waste so many space. The ones with 2 versions are just the same or pretty much he same with solo piano vs crappy synth backing. The german versions have no business here. UGH.
Please, people, cancel your physical preorders and ask for your money back!

OK, so finally listening to it all
 
The score itself is fantastic
The vocals can get a bit too quiet, buried in the orchestra
Cues often have abrupt entrances in tracks that combine multiple, popping in with a noise level after some total silence instead of gently fading in
1:45+ in The Cathedral, the left channel starts dropping out for seconds, WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH THIS RELEASE, COME THE HELL OOOOON

I checked Twitter and thankfully there are multiple people calling out this error. Still, idk if anything will be done. But at least it's not going totally unnoticed. I don't care if they throw out half the demos, I just want this fixed lol.

Get rid of the Glockner tracks, they don't belong there anyway.
 
 
This is doubly sad because the remastering sounds very fresh

I checked Twitter and thankfully there are multiple people calling out this error. Still, idk if anything will be done. But at least it's not going totally unnoticed. I don't care if they throw out half the demos, I just want this fixed lol.

I checked Twitter and thankfully there are multiple people calling out this error. Still, idk if anything will be done. But at least it's not going totally unnoticed. I don't care if they throw out half the demos, I just want this fixed lol.

Ugh... I think you're right. And as others have mentioned, disc 2 does begin quite suddenly - as though there should be another track before it. The fact though that they packed the rest of disc 2 with yet another demo, makes me think it's less likely that this will be fixed... I really hope it can, though.
 
And yes, I know that the missing bit is on the OST - but that's an album from 25 years ago, and it's not a "2021 remaster" like everything else. Is it too much to ask, for a Legacy Collection edition to have all the score from the OST (plus more)? This is just a major letdown. Hopefully something can be done. I'd trade basically any of the demos or extras, to get that score cue.

I checked Twitter and thankfully there are multiple people calling out this error. Still, idk if anything will be done. But at least it's not going totally unnoticed. I don't care if they throw out half the demos, I just want this fixed lol.

This is a nightmare.