TownerFan

Yes, that's a favorite of mine too. Also, in the TOD Finale, I always found the Raiders March to become strangely moving when underscoring the moment when the kids return to their families. Damn those sentimental manipulators of Spielberg & Williams! <_<

Older Prague recordings are not good performances. No Prague recordings are good performances. I can only assume that I am referring to a dvd rip, mistaking it for a re-recording. I'm not certain though. A good recording of the TOD End Credits film version is found on the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra album Movie Legends: The Music of John Williams. It's not the full complete film version (it starts with the Raiders March/Short Round's Theme counterpoint), but it's the closest thing I've heard so far. However, I believe Prague musicians now deserve a lot more respect. They have improved hugely. Have you heard their El Cid re-recording?

I always had a suspect that those score parts have been triggered and arranged in post-production. "The Temple of Doom" as heard on the original album is the pre-recorded version that was used on the set during filming. The cue called "The Altar of Khali" on John Takis' analysis and on bootlegs remains yet unreleased, since it contains a few different twists and takes on the "Mola Ram-Sutah Ram" chant. However, I believe (but correct me if I'm wrong) that Williams then recorded orchestral inserts that were overlayed and intertwined onto the chant during the final mix, especially during the Willie's sacrifice (aka "The Ceremony") sequence, which makes sense, because the chant is actually source music. Those parts have always been a bit of mystery trivia for me, in my trials to reconstruct an actual complete cue sheet of this score. Calling Captain John Takis!

Let's see: it could be that "Father and Son Reunited" will contain both "The Two Joneses" and "Elsa's Betrayal", in which there's the first statement of the Scherzo theme. Anyway, I wouldn't mind very much if there are a couple of tracks out of chronological order. It only takes a few minutes to re-program a Cd player or re-arrange tracks in iTunes.

Yeah, that's what I also expressed a few post above. It seems strange to have just two tracks out of chronological order (unless these track listings maybe contain some errors).

I too think the interviews on disc 5 will not take more than 10-15 minutes of space, so there's at least an hour to fill with more unreleased stuff. It's very likely that none KOTCS unreleased tracks will be present, so the lion's share of the disc will be occupied with TOD and LC (much like the 4th disc of the SW Anthology was filled with more TESB and ROTJ). Also, I was thinking that *maybe* Wiliams recorded the new concert arrangement of "Marion's Theme" during the KOTCS sessions, but they purposefully didn't include it on the OST release and will present it as a special bonus track on disc 5 in this boxset... Well, it's just a hope of mine, of course

In the end, the definitive tracklists are not so different from the ones I speculated some weeks ago. In this sense, I'm very happy about how the boxset is looking. Ok, in the best of all possible worlds, we would have got 2-CD archival presentations for each score... but I will not complain a bit. I think we're lucky enough to see such a thing finally released. Hey, it's vintage Indy music! As Mikko pointed out, it seems Bouzereau started with the original albums as the foundation for the new presentation and tried to expand them in the best possible way. I just hope some of my favourite Last Crusade unreleased cues that didn't find space on the expanded CD (such as "The Diary of Professor Jones", "The Berlin Air Terminal" and "The Power of the Grail") will be presented on the 5th bonus disc. Just a note: could "On The Tank" be the cue just before "Belly of the Steel Beast", when Indy catch the horses and Marcus enters into the tank and finds Henry?

I was thinking that maybe Williams recorded the new concert arrangement of "Marion's Theme" during the KOTCS recording sessions, but they purposefully did not include it on the OST album because it will be presented on the boxset (as a special bonus on disc 5).

There is, it's in the post production featurette. IGN mentioned it in their DVD review From the ComingSoon.net review:

Let us know if there some featurette on John Williams.

I'll be there along with my brother (who lives in Belgium). If someone of the MBers will be there, let me know.

I'll add also the music for the "disappearing stairs" scene: an infectious ostinato in pure JW style.

Actually, both JW's brothers (Don and Jerry) are percussionist and both regularly perform with L.A. studio musicians. Also, one of JW's sons (Mark) is a jazz drummer.

Probably the last great Hollywood icon. R.I.P.

Just to make things clear, in this new press release they say THREE TIMES that all three scores will be expanded. I'm sure they read a lot of emails in the latest days...

Ok, let's put speculation to an end then. Yippee! Maurizio -- who was sure Bouzereau was behind this release

reuse fees! why those reuse fees dont aplly for the 5th disc? Once you pay them, payment could mean for the whole work, i dont think its paid on a track by track basis... Re-use fees are paid for in 15 minute blocks. Maybe it's not a matter of re-use fees. If ToD and LC will be straight reissues of the original albums, it could be that Concord had some kind of restriction from the licensor (or whoever has the recording/publishing rights of the scores) and they were forced to reproduce the same contents of the old OSTs, so the only way to add new unreleased material was to present it on a separate disc onto a boxset (Raiders probably fell under another licensing agreement, so that's why it's been further expanded). I don't know of course, it could be a different number of reasons. I still have hope we'll get a great set, maybe not complete nor definitive in any kind of way, but something realized with care and dedication. Concord is a serious label (check out their websites and see what kind of super-duper Boxsets they produce), so I guess they have treated this right.

I can se where KM is coming from. What he's talking about is John Williams at his most Lydian mode. Surely he produced some of his most well-known and distinct film scores in this form. It's very difficult to put simple "tags" to define a composer, especially a film composer who must be able to express himself in a variety of different styles. In the case of John Williams, I'm sure he always writes music (be it for films or concert halls) with the same integrity. Film dictates very much the style of the musical expression, so it's a given that he has to stay into a more conservative set of mind. When he writes without the constraints of film, he probably feels more freedom because he can go in compostional places where he usualy isn't permitted to go to. Also, the Concerto for soloist is a very strict and precise musical form, so I guess the primal interest for JW is trying to express his own musical ideas onto a very defined structure. The greatness of John Williams' music is that he always writes at the best of his possibility, be it film music or concert music.

War of the Worlds also has some very interesting use of timpani, with a double part that creates a very compelling antiphonal effect. Let's not forget that JW's father was a great percussionist/timpanist.

FYI, Howard Shore has just accepted a commitment to write a Piano Concerto for world-renowned Chinese pianist Lang-Lang. Read here.

Because it's less expensive. Maybe it's not a matter of money. If ToD and LC are going to be just plain re-issues, it's likely Concord had restrictions from the licensor and maybe they were forced to reprint the same contents of the old albums, so the only way to add new material was to place it into a separate disc (Raiders apart, because probably it has a different kind of publishing rights).

That's a good attitude. Let's hope for the better, of course.

Also, a lot of those "new fans" and "general public" probably don't buy CDs anymore, let alone a $50 boxset. These releases are aimed toward Indiana Jones/John Williams/film music collectors, i.e. people who probably spend money to have something worth. I'm still quite optimistic, but for now I prefer to wait and see. Also, Concord is not a specialized film music label like Intrada or FSM, but it's still a very serious label.

Well, you should listen to more of his work before saying something like that (King Solomon's Mines isn't exacly the best representation of Goldsmith's oeuvre). Of course, taste comes first than any other thing, but putting Jerry's music down in that way is harsh and unjustified to say the least.

I don't think it's wise to start whining already. Let's see the finished product and then make a judgement. If this release will be the equivalent of the Star Wars Anthology boxset I will be more than happy. We'll see complete and definitive 2-CD releases of all four scores sometimes in the future, you can bet on it.