Steffromuk

Heavy Metal (original album presentation)


 
Heavy Metal (Complete score presentation)
 

variation on the STAR WARS Special Edition series

STAR WARS A new Hope


 
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK


 
RETURN OF THE JEDI
 

variation on the STAR WARS Special Edition series

STAR WARS A new Hope


 
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK


 
RETURN OF THE JEDI
 

I was talking about your SW variations,  asking half-jokingly if you accidentally deleted the wrong layer. Nevermind

Just to show they're going to good use:
 

And for those who prefere the original covers
 

 

 

variation on the STAR WARS Special Edition series

STAR WARS A new Hope


 
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK


 
RETURN OF THE JEDI
 

variation on the STAR WARS Special Edition series

STAR WARS A new Hope


 
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK


 
RETURN OF THE JEDI
 

variation on the STAR WARS Special Edition series

STAR WARS A new Hope


 
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK


 
RETURN OF THE JEDI
 

variation on the STAR WARS Special Edition series

STAR WARS A new Hope


 
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK


 
RETURN OF THE JEDI
 

variation on the STAR WARS Special Edition series

STAR WARS A new Hope


 
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK


 
RETURN OF THE JEDI
 

variation on the STAR WARS Special Edition series

STAR WARS A new Hope


 
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK


 
RETURN OF THE JEDI
 

Here is my little retake on your THE SKULL cover

Dr. Terror's House of Horrors

 
The Skull

 
Paranoiac

 
The Earth Dies Screaming

 
Day The World Ended

The Fall (2006) Vinyl Digipack

and then Vinegar in the Sun

WHOOPS! I only just realized that I did this on the FSM board thread, but not here! So here's a quick cut-and-paste of my thoughts on other four scores on this set besides my three favorites, detailed here:
 
Once again, I'm including the fantastic custom cover art by @Steffromuk. In fourth place...

 
4. A GIRL NAMED SOONER (1975) -- This was Goldsmith's second to last TV movie before Contract on Cherry Street (Masada being a miniseries, of course), and frankly I think it's indistinguishable from a feature film score. It's the most substantial single score on this set, in terms of length (Anna and the King is longer but that's technically three different scores). And unlike my friend Schiffy, the more I listen to it the more I seem to enjoy its simple pleasures. Gentle harmonica (the great Tommy Morgan, RIP), lovely delicate woodwind writing, and some soaring strings (in typical Goldsmithian fashion, the cue "There's A Difference" for instance)... it may not *quite* reach the heights of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, for me, but it's still just *gorgeous* and it's nice to hear it sounding better than ever thanks to Chris Malone.
And I think there's a decent amount of variety in this score, honestly! The harmonica gets downright playful at times. There are some lively moments -- "The Town" is just wonderful, if brief. The playful woodwinds in "Jump Rope"! And of course there are some contemplative/pained/sad/melancholy cues too, like "Late Hours" and "No Excuse" and "No Bird". The latter in particular is a little standalone showcase for my favorite element of the score: a super beautiful, super sad secondary theme which runs throughout the score, and eclipses the main theme in my affection. "Everything Changes" is a wonderful conclusion to the score, even though Chris sadly couldn't overcome a moment or two where it gets too "hot". This is a score which perhaps doesn't grab you right away like my top three from my previous post (or its FSM partner, The Flim-Flam Man), but it's really wonderful in its own right if you give it a chance to grow on you.
Next up in fifth place is a dynamite 10.5 minutes!
 

 
5. NICK QUARRY (1968) -- It amazes me that Goldsmith wrote something so fun and almost...inspired...sounding, for this throwaway assignment. It wasn't even a full pilot episode! It was a mere "demonstration reel"... a demo for a demo, essentially! The star Tony Scotti had only acted in one thing before (Valley of the Dolls), and didn't act in anything(!) after... but he did go on to create the Scotti Bros. record label which released at least one Goldsmith score, so that's a funny connection! And this score... it's insubstantial, but it holds together as a listen *really* well and it's a lot of fun. If you like the action in the Flint scores you'll love this. It's just not quite as memorable as my next pick...
 

 
6. ROOM 222 (1969) -- Choosing whether to rank this higher or lower than Nick Quarry was honestly tough. I *love* the theme Goldsmith wrote for this hit series -- in all its incarnations (including the new shorter one that's been added to this set which FSM left off!) The problem is that the scores are so insubstantial with such bitty short cues there isn't really room for him to develop his thematic material the way it really deserves. FSM gathered Jerry's two complete scores for the series into suites, which run 4 minutes and 3.5 minutes respectively...and they each contain a bunch of cues! Obviously Jerry did what the series required but to not even have one cue that's more lengthy and developed is frustrating. The theme is catchy and iconic and more memorable than anything in Nick Quarry (or even A Girl Named Sooner) but the score proper doesn't have anything as interesting as those two...hence its ranking near the bottom. Speaking of which...
 

 
7. ONLY IN AMERICA (aka THE BEST OF TIMES) (1974) -- I feel bad ranking this exciting premiere so low. I really do! But if I penalized Room 222 for being insubstantial, I *really* can't rank this higher! Once again, the theme is BRILLIANT! Perfectly encapsulates (in under a minute!) the premise of a Jewish immigrant coming to America. You've got trademark Jerry Americana brass, paired deftly with playful klezmer-sounding stuff. And it's wonderful. But alas, unlike every other project on this great set, all that survived in the Fox archives was the combined film audio. So this is a rare case where we can't fairly judge Goldsmith's work, honestly... because this isn't all (or even most) of it! What we have is a 55 second Main Title which is brilliant, a slightly different 41 second End Title (also brilliant, though briefer), and a combined 27 seconds of opening and closing bumper cues. Everything else presumably had dialogue or sound effects along with the music, and was understandably unsuitable for inclusion on this collection. Perhaps one day Leigh Phillips will visit UCLA, view the episode, transcribe the rest of the score by ear, and produce a new recording of the whole thing. But until that day, what exists on this collection (and I'm so grateful to have it, don't get me wrong!) is just a tease, with little weight or development to it.
 
Ironically, the title which was most surprising and exciting to me (because I had never heard a note of it) ended up being the biggest disappointment/frustration of the set, through no fault of the producers!
 
But let's be honest and end on a high note: this entire collection is still wonderful and a must-buy!
 
Yavar
 
P.S. Thanks again steffromuk for the awesome individual covers!

Attention everyone who hasn’t pledged yet: This means that NOW when you pledge at ANY tier level, you get those benefits for all THREE complete Goldsmith scores at the same price — not just the original two!
 
I just updated the thread title to reflect this.
 
Yavar

The Other

 

 

AND "in a new audio restoration by Chris Malone" -- the best possible news for this score! I'm so glad to see the Goldsmith at 20th series is continuing, in spirit, at Varese Sarabande for the titles they control in perpetuity. (Hey @Steffromuk, want to keep making custom covers? ) Can definitive complete editions of Our Man Flint, In Like Flint, The Mephisto Waltz, and The Final Conflict be coming now, in the next couple of years??
 
Yavar

Yoko Kanno's very best work (in my opinion) is getting a 7LP+2BR collector boxset release at the end of the year!!

The full soundtrack along with the OVAs and the movie on 2 blu-ray discs.
I already pre-ordered my copy.
 
 
for those who are in the US, you can pre-order it here

And if like me, you're in France or Europe you can get it here
 
 
 
 
 

Yoko Kanno's very best work (in my opinion) is getting a 7LP+2BR collector boxset release at the end of the year!!

The full soundtrack along with the OVAs and the movie on 2 blu-ray discs.
I already pre-ordered my copy.
 
 
for those who are in the US, you can pre-order it here

And if like me, you're in France or Europe you can get it here
 
 
 
 
 

Thank you Yavar.  I totally understand the desire to have debut recordings, but man, Lionheart is just SO good.  I could envision Jerry himself getting to re-recording that one had he the time to do so. 
 
Mind you, the Hungarian performance doesn’t bother me as it does others. I would just love another take on it, simply because I like it. 
 
I’ve listened to the City of Prague recording of Robert’s Theme from the End Credits, and I don’t think they quite nail the dynamics and emotion of the glorious brass extension you hear here at 6:00 in the original recording. 
 
 
 
I would love for Leigh to bring the full power of this to life. 
 
 

This is happening first:
 
And check out my quoting Leigh directly here:
 
Leigh decided he wanted to ease his way more gradually up to Lionheart, tackling a couple less-expensive-to-record unreleased Goldsmith feature scores first.
 
Yavar

I quite enjoyed the movie for what it is. It's a nice but flawed appendix to the franchise. I really like to listen to Walfish's score, even though I found it a little too present at times in the movie.
I think the Alien franchise has the richest and most constant collection of scores in quality, out of all movie franchises. I like all the Alien scores almost equally and each composer who contributed managed to honor their predecessor while adding their personal tune and vision.
 
For the gamers among us. I feel like this movie and its score owe a lot to Dead Space 2 for its atmosphere and visuals.