The most redundant CD you ever bought

[BurgaFlippinMan 7]

For me it has to be the Spielberg/Williams Collaboration. Of all the tracks there I only didnt previously have the Always suite (which was ok), the two ET tracks (Over the Moon was fine but I already have the original on Filmworks as well as the 20th Anniversary release. I didnt like Adventures on Earth. Felt it was far too slow), Exultate Justi (a fine piece) and the two Jaws pieces (I'm nonchalant about the main theme as I have 3 other versions of it but I like the Shark Cage Fugue on this). All in all it adds up to less than half of the disc. OK, I admit I was more or less sold on the cover and don't actually regret getting it.

[Marian Schedenig 8,261]

I highly recommend The Spielberg/Williams collaboration. I'm not a fan of compilations at all, but these are concert suite recordings, so there's definitely value here. The Jaws bits are very good (especially compared to the much shorter bits on the OST). Pretty much everything on here is very good and a good alternative if you don't want to listen to the OST. Some pieces are better performed (the OST version of the Scherzo simply can't compare to this one). And the Exsultate is also very nice and somewhat different from the OST version.

Only the CE3K cue isn't that great if you have the Gerhardt recording.

The most redundant CD I bought probably has to be the Star Wars Anthology (bought in London back in 2001). Yes, it has those bits from ROTJ that are missing from the SEs, and ROTJ has clearly superior sound here... but the truth is, to this day I haven't listened to all four discs, and not even more than one or twice to the ROTJ bits.

Marian - who also own two releases of the Jochum-conducted Carmina Burana, one being the old Galeria release, the other the new, remastered Originals release. I haven't really noticed much of a difference as far as the sound quality goes... but those Originals releases sure do look nice.

[orrakul 0]

I also really like the Spielberg/Williams collaboration; it's nice to hear excellent concert recordings conducted by John Williams himself. I also have some concert recordings conducted by Kunzel, but I don't lisen to them very often...

[TheRuleOfThirds 0]

The Terminal, Catch Me If You Can, Saving Private Ryan, Sleepers.

[stewdog1 50]

Most of James Horner's work.

[BurgaFlippinMan 7]

I highly recommend The Spielberg/Williams collaboration. I'm not a fan of compilations at all, but these are concert suite recordings, so there's definitely value here. The Jaws bits are very good (especially compared to the much shorter bits on the OST). Pretty much everything on here is very good and a good alternative if you don't want to listen to the OST. Some pieces are better performed (the OST version of the Scherzo simply can't compare to this one). And the Exsultate is also very nice and somewhat different from the OST version.

I like the Spieberg/Williams too but apart from the tracks I mentioned, I already had the EXACT same recordings on the Greatest Hits. Jaws on GH is by the LSO though.

Burga - who bought the Filmworks compilation for the tracks from Eiger Sanction, Midway, Dracula and Earthquake.

[Trent B 337]

What do you mean by redundant?

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

Like his examples - essentially pointless as he already owns many of the albums from which those tracks came from. Another example would be owning both released albums of Raiders of the Lost Ark, with one obviously containing more music than the other rendering it "redundant".

Or so I gather.

[BurgaFlippinMan 7]

magical_me is right.

[Miguel Andrade 1,280]

The Spielberg/Williams collaboration is anyhting but redundant. The arrangements and recordings were all newly made, so it is a great addition to any Williams collection.

[Incanus 5,736]

The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration is a great compilation album but if you own the John Williams Greatest Hits album it may feel redundant. But the CD contains some of the best arrangements of the Williams themes like the Shark Cage Fugue, Exsultate Justi and Cadillac of the Skies (my all time favourite version). And it is always nice to hear a compilation where Maestro conducts music from his own scores with an excellent orchestra. So I think Spielberg/Williams Collaboration is far from redundant. And you can't never own too many Williams CDs

I have to admit there is a certain amount of nostalgia related to this album in my case since it was about the 3rd Williams album I ever heard.

My most redundant CD must be a cheap film score compilation (3 CDs) where every piece is performed with synths. Duel of the Fates sounds pretty weird as well as the funky disco version of SW main title. E.T.'s Flying theme on synths sounds like it was composed for a Japanese children's cartoon. All in all the most redundant CD(s) I have ever bought.

[GoodMusician 56]

I always had a problem with the ET soundtrack.

It felt like each track--after the first few--was the harp playing the ET and Elliot theme...

Good music, but I can't listen to that CD without skipping tracks.

[Romão 2,276]

The other day I bought the Polydor release of Raiders of the Lost Ark, and it wasn't exactly cheap. And I own the 1995 Silva expanded release, so I won't get any music I don't already own, except for a different and shorter edit of Desert Chase. It's pretty redundant, but I thought the same thing about the original cd releases of Jaws and E.T, and those turned out to be a surprise. But I do try to buy all the original cd releases of scores that were later oficially released as expanded editions, and some can be very hard to find. Right now, I own the original cd releases of:

- E. T (not redundant at all)

- Close Encounters (a bit redundant, but a much better listening experience than the expanded album, IMHO)

- Jaws (not redundant at all)

- Superman (a bit redundant, but the track order is nice)

- Raiders of the Lost Ark (redundant)

- Return of the Jedi (you get Lapti Nek and Ewok celebration, plus a different version of Jabba's theme when Han is unfrozen, and some sort of sound effects when the Emperor is frying Luke, plus a 2 minute edit of Into the Trap, so it is not a redundant album at all)

- Home Alone 2 (a bit redundant, but it is kinda hard to get cheap)

- The Empire Strikes Back (a bit redundant).

- The Fury (completely redundant if you own the expanded edition)

- Episode 1 the Phantom Menace (Wonderfully edited, IMHO, a very good listening experience, and contains several passages that are not in the Ultimate Edition)

I guess I'm only missing Star Wars, right?

[Incanus 5,736]

From the collector's point of view bying the original and expanded/complete CD release of the same score is not redundant. Especially those scores that have been separately rerecorded for their initial album release are worth getting since they contain sometimes drastically different music than the actual score. In those cases buying both albums (if there excists an expanded release that is) is a good idea.

I have noticed that I have bought several Williams soundtrack albums just months before the release of the complete score of the same stuff.

Home Alone 2, The Fury, Jaws, E.T. expanded CD (before the release of the 20th anniversary edition, which did not add much) are few examples. But I am not bothered by that since I am a collector. It may be hard on my wallet but I can live with it since it is JW music we talking about here.

[BurgaFlippinMan 7]

The Spielberg/Williams collaboration is anyhting but redundant. The arrangements and recordings were all newly made, so it is a great addition to any Williams collection.

Ah yes, but I had the GH before the S/WC, which already contained about half of what S/WC consists of (yeah, exact same recording )

From the collector's point of view bying the original  and expanded/complete CD release of the same score is not redundant.

True but my budget is kinda tight so....

[MSM 126]

I bought HP:SS thrice.

[Miguel Andrade 1,280]

Well, The Greatest Hits compilation is redundant. The Spielberg Williams Collaboration is a new album. I wouln't ever call it a compilation, a collection of themes at best.

[BurgaFlippinMan 7]

Well, The Greatest Hits compilation is redundant.

Not if you dont have the budget to buy the singular scores (or if you cant find them).

I bought HP:SS thrice.

Why?

[Romão 2,276]

Yeah, why? It doesn't even have alternate covers or anything.

[MSM 126]

Presents which are not yet given away

[Marian Schedenig 8,261]

Well, The Greatest Hits compilation is redundant. The Spielberg Williams Collaboration is a new album.

I have to agree here. GH is a compilation, and redundancy is one of the reasons why I'm not too fond of them. Compilations are great for getting to know a composer, but not much more IMHO. If I don't like what's on it, it's a waste of money. If I do like it, I start buying the original releases, until I have everything on the compilation twice, either because it's all so good, or because I don't want to have to put in the compilation for the remaining two tracks which aren't as great.

So, compilations can be a great thing at first. But they don't make other releases redundant. Instead, they themselves become redundant over time.

Marian - for who S/WC was the second Williams CD, and the third CD overall.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,267]

I bought HP:SS thrice.

I have 3 copies of the Fellowship Of The ring OST CD.

I probably have 4 copies of the original E.T. release.

[Ollie 1,069]

I used to have all of the Star Wars cds from the original trilogy. I found having all of those redundant so I only kept The 4 disc anthology and Special Editions.

I used to have Varese's Superman re-recording and the original single CD. Once Rhino released the 2 disc set I found I had no need for those anymore.

Now in the case of E.T. or Jaws where the album is a re-recording and the actual tracks from the film are released I'll usually keep the original album. I did get rid of Raiders though.

I do have all 3 official releases of E.T., I have the DVD-A and CDs of A.I. and Adventures Of Robin Hood, I have 3 versions of Jaws although the Varese re-recording is awful. I have two CDs of glory, one is the original and the other one is only playable on DVD's, Master Tape quality.

[Romão 2,276]

What do you mean you got rid of those cd's? You sold them?

[gkgyver 1,646]

Probably the Two Towers "re-recordings" by the "Hollywood Studio Orchestra" ... horrible, horrible synth trash.

[orrakul 0]

Cinema Paradiso (Special Edition) - it wasn't so special...

[Ollie 1,069]

What do you mean you got rid of those cd's? You sold them?

no I threw them in the trash.

[pixie_twinkle 49]

The first CD of Attack of the Clones, before I realised there was another version with an extra track on. Mind you, I think both versions are pretty redundant with hindsight.

[Incanus 5,736]

I bought HP:SS thrice.

I have 3 copies of the Fellowship Of The ring OST CD.

I probably have 4 copies of the original E.T. release.

Why Stefan? Why so many copies? Spare ones? One for shelf and other for use and third just to sell? I have never bought several copies of the same album.

[Romão 2,276]

Today I was listening to the original cd release of Raiders, and I must say this cd isn't totally redundant. First, is it just me, or does the choir sound much more organic in The Map Room Dawn? And in this very track, more or less in the 3.30 mark, you can hear choir behind the statements of the Ark theme, which is absent in the 1995 expanded edition. Anyone noticed this before?

[sulky 6]

^^Yep - noticed it on the Polydor cassette.

Eventually sought out and acquired the Raiders Polydor West German and Japan pressings

- talk about redundant.

On another (related) note, saw this in the classical section of the big HMV in town.

I smiled when I saw it, but realized that there was already an abundance of similar comps

on the market that take up rack space and go unsold.

[Romão 2,276]

I can tell you this, after listening straight to back both the Polydor and the 1995 expanded releases: I wish the choir (and several other sections of the orchestra), sounded as alive in the 1995 release as they do in the original Polydor cd.

[Incanus 5,736]

I remember listening to an old Polydor LP of the Raiders at the library and after that I got the the DCC CD where the choir did not sound nearly as alive. Now I know I was not just imagining it. Damn I think I have to start hunting for that Polydor CD for the Map Room Dawn.

[Romão 2,276]

It's also noticeable in The Miracle of the Ark.

Romão, thankfull he bought the Polydor release.

[sulky 6]

I'm thankful that most of JW's OST albums (with their unique mixes and concert suites)

have migrated to CD.

I still hope that the entire contents of the Empire Double LP will one day surface

onto a pressed manufactured CD (or better yet, on SA-CD).

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Maybe you could try recreating it out of the SE with help of this chart.

[sulky 6]

^^Thanks for the chart! For fun, I edited a few cues together to recreate some of the album suites a couple of years back;

boy did they turn out real nice.

I plan on setting aside some quality time during vacation to do it properly and perhaps also scan the original album jacket and liners in the hopes of putting them onto a CD-sized booklet - kinda like them Japanese mini-LP CDs.

Of course, I could always just listen to the vinyl...

[orrakul 0]

Most of James Horner's work.

I don't like James Horner's "recycling" of his past scores, but I still like: Star Trek 2, Braveheart, Glory, Cocoon, Apollo 13, Deep Impact , Willow and yes, even Titianic.

[King Mark 3,631]

Hmm,Filmworks 97,because I bought the wrong one that didn't have the Yorktown March and have all the other tracks on other c.d.'s.

The 2002 E.T. 20th anniversary c.d. is pretty redundant.It doesn't sound much better than the 96 release and I had all the unreleased music from the Lazerdisk isolated score ,plus the 2002 c.d. is still missing E.T. is Dying film version,one of the best cues of the score.

i never got the Greatest Hits 2 c.d. set,that is redundant,I have tall the tracks elsewhere.

Thanks for pointing out the choir thing in Raiders,I'll check it out.

K.M.

[bob23 0]

Today I was listening to the original cd release of Raiders, and I must say this cd isn't totally redundant. First, is it just me, or does the choir sound much more organic in The Map Room Dawn? And in this very track, more or less in the 3.30 mark, you can hear choir behind the statements of the Ark theme, which is absent in the 1995 expanded edition. Anyone noticed this before?

Grrr... Why did you have to point that out, now I'll have to buy it, and my wallet is getting quite thin from buying cds lately

...No seriously, thanks for the info.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Good luck with that.

[Ollie 1,069]

Maybe you could try recreating it out of the SE with help of this chart.

To me the sound and the recordings on the double LP outshine any of the CD releases of TESB.

I have the double LP somewhere in my house and I've been meaning to transfer it to a CD