MrScratch

Part 1: I’ve seen all but BFG, Book Thief, Warhorse, Tintin, Geisha, Terminal Part 2: I’ve seen all but Stepmom, Amistad, Seven Years In Tibet, Rosewood, Nixon, Far & Away, JFK, Stanley & Iris Part 3: I’ve seen all but River, Monsignor, Heartbeeps, Midway, Missouri Breaks Part 4: I have seen only Earthquake, Sugarland, Cinderella Liberty, Images, Poseidon, Cowboys Part 5: None from this group * I have attempted to watch Seven Years In Tibet and Reivers but didn’t make it very far into either one

I gave “On Stage” a listen on Spotify this evening, I recognized a number of tunes. An enjoyable album for what it is. While listening I couldn’t help but think: what if Williams had included a 10-minute “Thomas and the King” suite on this album? The Boston Pops players’ revolt of ‘84 would have been much uglier.

At least they spelled ‘Overture’ right. Temple of Doom is the first soundtrack I ever bought at the time of the film’s theatrical release. Even at 8 years old I noticed all the missing music.

I don’t own “On Stage”, not my cup of tea whatsoever. I’m sure it’s a well performed and programmed album though. I may eventually get this just for the sake of collecting them all.

Love that Kunzel album, he nails Planet Krypton and Wrath of Kahn, and with Nimoy redoing his great voiceover. And Kunzel knew that The Bicycle Chase and The Departure were better than Williams’ Adventures On Earth concert piece. The only thing I dislike about Kunzel albums are the silly synthesizer and sound effects. But this is a discussion for a different thread....

“Out Of This World” is a fun album and makes a good companion album with “Pops In Space”. I’m not crazy about the 2001 opener, it’s certainly a great piece of music but it isn’t a film score and also it’s been recorded by everyone and is included on so many compilations and collections. “The Planet Krypton” or “The Day The Earth Stood Still” would have made a better album opener. Too bad Williams didn’t record more Herrmann, I think the only thing he ever recorded of Herrmann’s was “Devil and Daniel Webster” on Hollywood Sound. I guess Williams figured Herrmann himself

I bought Aisle Seat in the 90s for the “Yes, Giorgio” track. The rest of the album is kind of a snoozer for me. I already owned By Request so I didn’t need Raiders or Flying, not to mention all concert recordings of The Raiders March really pale in comparison to the LSO OST. I prefer the Sony recording of Raiders March to this one. The remaining tracks certainly are very popular or iconic film themes, just none that appeal to me very much. I’m also not into musicals, I’d have preferred if the album focused entirely on film scores and saved the popular songs for a different album

Oh sure, just mind boggling who would pay this, or think they could charge this much.

And then there is this

This is one of the few Williams/BPO albums I don’t own and have never heard aside from Cowboys and Candide, which appears on the Bernstein album. I would definitely like to check out the rest of the album. I’d be surprised if there wasn’t something else on here I didn’t enjoy. I never saw this one in stores and I seem to recall in the early days of eBay that it wasn’t very cheap. (Jay, would you be willing to part with one of your copies..?)

Williams will score this movie, and I hope he does. Since this is so personal to Spielberg, we might get a really special score from JW.

I’ve had “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” since the 90s, I had joined the BMG Classical Music club and picked it up through them as one of the “free” selections. I’m not into Christmas music, I only got this to add to the Williams collection. The few times I have ever played this has been as background music while decorating or hosting a holiday dinner party. Not something I’ve ever listened very closely to. But I’m with Jay, I far prefer the instrumental tracks to the ones with chorus. The “Joy To The World” CD is much better.

I sometimes forget just how early Williams’ film career started, while the Golden Age composers were still around and working. So cool to think about Alfred Newman hanging out and chatting with young Johnny.

Finally got around to checking this out today, it was wonderful. Love this picture of Williams, never seen it before.

A similar thread on the Kunzel collection would be most welcome. I heard many a score for the first time through those CDs.