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Home Alone 2: Lost In New York - Deluxe Edition


MattyO

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What does everyone think of this double-disc edition of Home Alone 2? Personally, I love the score and love the album presentation.

I guess it is slightly annoying that this whole score was published on album, when masterpieces such as Temple of Doom and Hook remain incomplete, or even a complete edition of the original seems more fitting. In the end though I am happy that I finally own it and am enjoying it immensely, whether necessary or not.

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Well one of the reasons why this score was released ahead of TOD and Hook is because it was done by Fox and Varese has access to Fox's vaults. So this score was available plus it was discovered there was a mastering error with the original release.

It's a wonderful release, in fact we had a discussion about it just recently in the Indiana Jones Forum in one of the score threads.

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HA2 is a fun score, I hesitantly bought it when it was released but I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoy it. All those who haven't bought it should get it now, in fact you should have picked it up during the dry spell between Munich and Crystal Skull.

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The main problem with the score is that it's just a retread of the first one. The end credits suite is very good, though.

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The main problem with the score is that it's just a retread of the first one. The end credits suite is very good, though.

I used to think that until Ricard got me to change my understanding of the score

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I own it and absolutely adore it, it's definitely one of my most listened to JW scores, especially with the magnificent treatment that it received. I must say I'm surprised that, after all these years, it doesn't even have a low quantity alert. :P Looks like it doesn't have that many fans after all. :)

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The main problem with the score is that it's just a retread of the first one. The end credits suite is very good, though.

I used to think that until Ricard got me to change my understanding of the score

The mickey-mousing, which is plentiful on the deluxe release, is skillful but tiresome. I'm not sure why anyone who didn't like the Jar Jar music in Episode I would like this. "Christmas Star," its similarities to The Accidental Tourist aside, in large part constitutes the best moments of the score. A few gems to be had as well in "To the Plaza Presto" and in "Duncan's Toy Store," to which "To Charleston" from The Patriot owes much.

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The mickey mousing is pretty tiring, but there are some good moments in this score. Of course, "Suite From 'Angels With Filthy Souls' " and "Holiday Flight (Alternate)" are interesting listens. The concert suites are all pretty solid, except for "Star of Bethlehem," a good arrangement ruined by its recording! I've never heard such a barrage of clipping on a Williams album before.

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For those of you who don't own this score you should get it before it goes out of print (when ever that maybe). It's definitely worth having, and for you naysayers out there well you're just being too harsh on the score. Yes there's a lot of material that was redone from the first film but hey it wouldn't have benefited well for the film if it didn't have the redone material.

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The mickey mousing is pretty tiring, but there are some good moments in this score.

It's not a score I could ever listen to from start to finish, for that reason. In small doses around the holidays though, its quite fun.

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It's great that it got released, but it's far from a favorite Williams of mine. In fact I'd call it a dust collector.

Whaaa?......just for that I'm not sitting next to you at the next concert.

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The main problem with the score is that it's just a retread of the first one. The end credits suite is very good, though.

It's better than the first because it has the same material plus new stuff.

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The main problem with the score is that it's just a retread of the first one. The end credits suite is very good, though.

HA2 is as much a retread of HA as Jaws 2 is of Jaws.

If anything, the second HA score is even better than the first one.

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Am I going to have to look in a mirror at my back to make sure you don't put a "This guy doesn't like Home Alone 2!" sign on me?

:P

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The main problem with the score is that it's just a retread of the first one. The end credits suite is very good, though.

HA2 is as much a retread of HA as Jaws 2 is of Jaws.

If anything, the second HA score is even better than the first one.

... What? That's a terrible comparison. Jaws 2 is 100% original. Home Alone 2 is at least 50% material from Home Alone quoted verbatim with maybe a slight change in orchestration here and there. The score, while filled with excellent music, is completely aimless.

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I don't see where it's any more or less aimless than the first one. And except for a few selected tracks (some of them being concert suites), most of it is original, except for some themes. The new material is outstanding. By comparison, Jaws 2 is certainly mostly original, but it still relies on the basic motif (though that gets a much more varied workout than in the first score).

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The main problem with the score is that it's just a retread of the first one. The end credits suite is very good, though.

HA2 is as much a retread of HA as Jaws 2 is of Jaws.

If anything, the second HA score is even better than the first one.

... What? That's a terrible comparison. Jaws 2 is 100% original. Home Alone 2 is at least 50% material from Home Alone quoted verbatim with maybe a slight change in orchestration here and there. The score, while filled with excellent music, is completely aimless.

Jaws 2 is not 100% original, the opening titles is Jaws endtitles interpolated.

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Yes, Joe, the good guy theme (or whatever) from Jaws has a cameo, but the adaptation of it is original. Williams reuses the melody but devises a completely new orchestration around the theme. Home Alone 2 borrows complete orchestrations, by contrast.

I don't see where it's any more or less aimless than the first one. And except for a few selected tracks (some of them being concert suites), most of it is original, except for some themes. The new material is outstanding. By comparison, Jaws 2 is certainly mostly original, but it still relies on the basic motif (though that gets a much more varied workout than in the first score).

I still don't get it. Home Alone 2 relies on "Somewhere in My Memory" and Kevin's theme and the Burglars' theme and the title theme much more than Jaws 2 relies on previous themes.

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It still incorporates those parts more organically than, say, KOTCS does. Perhaps the direct comparison was an exaggeration, but I'd still say it's as original as ROTJ.

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I'm not saying HA2 is bad per se, because it isn't. It has it's moments, but the overall score doesn't match the original.

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It still incorporates those parts more organically than, say, KOTCS does. Perhaps the direct comparison was an exaggeration, but I'd still say it's as original as ROTJ.

It's not hard to incorporate material when the tone of the score is identical to that of the first.

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Recording issues asside, all the carols are stunning. I also think this is an album that works particularly well in chronological order and as a complete listening experience (something I don't applies to every score, as some members here do). I only wish most JW scores could get this kind of treatment.

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As I don't own or have found the first score, this one was a wonderful opportunity to experience JW's Home Alone stuff. As previously stated, there's a lot of older material but the developments and arrangements are very nice.

While I agree that it certainly wouldn't be my first choice for an expanded release, it's definitely a good buy. I listen to it a lot around the holiday season, along with Philosopher's Stone.

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I'd also like to throw my vote in for an expanded/complete Home Alone score. I would dump all the Christmas songs that were on the original album because those are already available elsewhere.

Not any arranged by Williams but the ones sung by Mel Torme etc etc etc.

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Isn't the orchestra track for the film version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" original, though? It's not on the OST, and I don't know where else it could be.

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It's possible that Williams did record an instrumental but I'm not sure. I don't think we watched Home Alone this past Christmas.

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I'd also like to throw my vote in for an expanded/complete Home Alone score. I would dump all the Christmas songs that were on the original album because those are already available elsewhere.

Not any arranged by Williams but the ones sung by Mel Torme etc etc etc.

I gotta agree with you on this one. They should have filled the CD up with nothing but score. I mean I know it was a Christmas score...but still, I'd rather have an entire CD filled up with the Home Alone score then score plus songs. I always skipped over the songs.

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That's one of the few instances where I enjoy the songs on the album. There's not any vital unreleased music as far as I know, and the songs balance out the score to create a wonderful Christmas feel. My only complaint is that "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," arguably the most memorable song from the film, wasn't included.

As for Home Alone 2, I echo what most people have already said: it does have too much rehash from the first score (yes, more than Jaws 2 or almost any other Williams sequel), but the new material is just as magical as anything from the first score. "Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas" and "Christmas Star," in their concert versions and score renditions, are great additions to the canon of carols Williams wrote for the two films, and setpieces like "Arrival in New York," "To the Plaza, Presto," and "Plaza Hotel" are essentials. The score as a whole is much less focused and original than the first, but it's certainly worth owning.

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It's not one of Williams best sequel scores, but it's still great music and the release is about as excellent as all expanded Williams releases come these days.

Chronological order, terrific presentation, great sound quality, etc. etc.

Hell, the complete Arrival in New York is worth it alone!

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I'd also like to throw my vote in for an expanded/complete Home Alone score.

I don't recall any notable music missing from the album. Apparently I'm a mistaken though?

I would dump all the Christmas songs that were on the original album because those are already available elsewhere.

Except Carol of the Bells that is. And it should be properly sequenced. How surprised I was when I re-watched the movie after a long time, and when the carol segued into Setting the Trap, I suddenly noticed that it's the same theme.

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It's not one of Williams best sequel scores, but it's still great music and the release is about as excellent as all expanded Williams releases come these days.

I don't care if most of the music is rehashed, its a great release. Any Williams score that gets a Deluxe Treatment is worthy of my purchase.

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Yes, that "Carol of the Bells" segue into "Setting the Trap" is one of the score's more brilliant moments.

Although it's an awkward edit in the film. I wonder if Williams intended something different.

A couple unreleased pieces that stands out to me are the string-based statement of "Somewhere in My Memory" when Kevin looks at the photo of his family and the music at the beginning for Old Man Marley.

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Home Alone 2 is the closest JW has ever come to scoring the same film twice. Of course there are plenty of differences but the two stories follow the same exact formula in a very deliberate, unapologetic kind of way. I was initially disappointed by the similarities in the scores but quickly came to realize that the approach was appropriate to the director's vision of Home Alone as a kind of Christmas tradition with all of the same elements thrown in.

But I like the new musical material and the reworking of old material like the setting the trap sequences and main titles, for example. Its fascinating to hear how subtle changes in the tone of the movie affects his process the second time around.

- Adam

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btw, it's not a choice between a complete Home Alone 2 and a complete Temple of Doom when it comes to making these albums. It's a choice between a complete Home Alone 2 and no complete Home Alone 2 at all. Considering, I'll take the former over the latter any day.

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btw, it's not a choice between a complete Home Alone 2 and a complete Temple of Doom when it comes to making these albums. It's a choice between a complete Home Alone 2 and no complete Home Alone 2 at all. Considering, I'll take the former over the latter any day.

Nope. It's a choice between a complete Home Alone 2 and a Complete Edition of some other John Williams score when it comes to making these albums. And Home Alone 2 was not the most inspired choice, you have to admit that.

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I just watched the original film to properly hear Williams' score in context. I think I prefer the sequel score, just because it seems more robust and the New York setting gives it that larger, much grander landscape to work with. I love this score and am so glad I bought it. It is worth every cent.

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I've always preferred the opening credits of Home Alone 2 over the opening credits of the original. Dunno why, sounds more fun, somehow.

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Nope. It's a choice between a complete Home Alone 2 and a Complete Edition of some other John Williams score when it comes to making these albums. And Home Alone 2 was not the most inspired choice, you have to admit that.

You obviously didn't understand what Marc was saying. HA2 was available. They could pick it up for release, or they could leave it. They released it. Good for us.

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