Indiana Jones set: your opinion & recommendation?

[Olivier 5]

All those thousand-page threads (on FSM & Intrada's boards and here-- and surely elsewhere I don't visit) with millions of messages are interesting and informative but hard to follow (millions of new messages to read every day just on this topic!) and disheartening:

- It's a great set with new music,

- but strange edits have been carried over or made,

- great cues which would only have taken a handful of seconds' disc space (bridge percussion) are missing,

- even though there is plenty of room left,

- and there appears to be sound issues on some tracks.

I want these scores, and I understand that showing support is the best way to eventually have complete 2CD editions, and that this set may even be the only thing we'll have ever or for another 30 years, but darn if all this is not disappointing.

Hence this poll (my first one, so I'm not sure I have wrangled those titles, questions and choices correctly).

Thanks for your input!

PS: it did not work

[Greg1138 3]

Some options would be good!

No worries - I did this with a few polls too....this board is not forgiving!

Greg

[Olivier 5]

Thanks for reading so soon, Greg!

I have fixed it. It appears you need to "close poll form" to activate it.

[publicist 4,643]

Option 2, without the shadow of a doubt.

Although i'm one of the individuals who couldn't care less about percussion cues, uninteresting snooping-around music or 30 second cues - it was not all gold Williams produced here...minor sound anomalies are my biggest gripe.

And seemingly some intro's and endings seem a bit abrupt, as if they've used CoolEdit's fade-in option. But if that has something to do with the condition of the mastertapes we don't know for sure.

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

2 or 3.

[Richard Penna 3,694]

3

It's the first I've heard of most of the ToD score, and overall, there's so much music in vastly improved quality that it's a great buy.

But, whether they be financial/master tape/legal issues, they messed some stuff up that keeps it from top marks, and should've got someone else to select/edit material who didn't have Williams' tendencies in mind.

[Ollie 1,059]

It's a must buy, although I don't agree it's great. There are some issues.

But if you have the money and are a Williams fan then this is a must buy for the music.

[King Mark 3,631]

option 2 .Not flawless but almost

[BurgaFlippinMan 7]

i'd actually say that its flawed but still a must buy

[King Mark 3,631]

Well,after months of mini freak outs and crisis on what we were getting or not, I'd say things turned out pretty well

May:unreleased ToD music in Lego game and FSM podcast: Hopes that expanded releases are on the way

June:Concord plans to re-issue OST's only ,hopes crushed

September: box set officially announced :

1)Only Raiders expanded?

2)The press release fiasco

3)unreleased music only on disk 5? Disk 2 and 3 just OST's?

4)Things looking good ,still no track list for Disk 5 (no Return to the Village? no Power of the Grail? )

5)Raiders fake leak :sound quality worse than DCC

6) all track lists released ,only a few cues missing and a few mistakes

7)release:overall sound quality better than expected

[indy4 155]

I'll vote as soon as I hear all the discs.

[Olivier 5]

Thanks for these first replies! I'm sure there will be more votes.

I appreciate your concise answers and explanations; no need to launch onther megathread here.

[King Mark 3,631]

Unlike those who think 2 c.d. sets will appear in a few years ,I think this is probably the last release we'll of these scores.

[Maxxie 1]

Unlike those who think 2 c.d. sets will appear in a few years ,I think this is probably the last release we'll of these scores.

I'm undecided on this one.

[John Crichton 4]

Option 2. The flaws and criticisms are mostly minor, and there is a treasure trove of great unreleased music we've been waiting pretty much our whole Williams listening lives for.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

The set's great for what we got, all the new material (regardless of whether it's the film version and whatnot) and improved sound quality. I gave it no second thought when I read the press release and I don't regret spending one penny.

[Trent B 337]

Option 3 for me.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

It's a must buy, although I don't agree it's great. There are some issues.

But if you have the money and are a Williams fan then this is a must buy for the music.

[Red 75]

I'll vote as soon as I hear all the discs.

This, but I predict my answer will be option 2.

[Richard Penna 3,694]

Unlike those who think 2 c.d. sets will appear in a few years ,I think this is probably the last release we'll of these scores.

The only extra material I'd want would be the 5 or 6 cues I'm keeping from the Crusade boot in CD quality. Apart from that, I'm pretty happy with what I've managed to do with the set.

[MissPadmé 17]

at first i thought 3 but now i feel more like option five

[John Crichton 4]

Well,after months of mini freak outs and crisis on what we were getting or not, I'd say things turned out pretty well

May:unreleased ToD music in Lego game and FSM podcast: Hopes that expanded releases are on the way

June:Concord plans to re-issue OST's only ,hopes crushed

September: box set officially announced :

1)Only Raiders expanded?

2)The press release fiasco

3)unreleased music only on disk 5? Disk 2 and 3 just OST's?

4)Things looking good ,still no track list for Disk 5 (no Return to the Village? no Power of the Grail? )

5)Raiders fake leak :sound quality worse than DCC

6) all track lists released ,only a few cues missing and a few mistakes

7)release:overall sound quality better than expected

That's a good summary of the long, strange roller coaster ride this release has been. I've never experienced anything like it.

[Ollie 1,059]

Of course there were those of us who didn't panic, kept our cool and suspected there was a chance that these might be expanded, but stressed for people to wait for the Indy hype from the summer to die down and see what plans Concord had for the set.

[Olivier 5]

Thank you again for your answers! The results are interesting and make things a bit clearer after all those heartbreaking pages listing the strange decisions and flaws.

at first i thought 3 but now i feel more like option five

Since reading all those accounts, I have been torn between waiting for a better edition and buying it before it runs out of print in case it's the only one we get.

I suppose the latter will have to be my decision, but it hurts, even if I can get it for a reasonable price; I cannot imagine how so many wrong decisions could be made-- starting with a trivial but eventually symbolical detail: how could one botch up a cover by printing the art half size (and for one cover only! it is not even a consistent artisitc decision)?! why no true liner notes (from what I have read, there is no such thing)?!

It is utterly baffling and sad.

- PS -

It has only just occurred to me I should have included these as first and last options, for the fun of it:

"You are not a true John Williams fan if you do not buy this magnifcent set and acknowledge its divine quality."

"You are not a true John Williams fan if you buy this hellish set and do not curse it for its evil foulness."

[Charlie Brigden 7]

I cannot imagine how so many wrong decisions could be made-- starting with a trivial but eventually symbolical detail: how could one botch up a cover by printing the art half size (and for one cover only! it is not even a consistent artisitc decision)?!

I'm assuming you're referring to the TLC cover, which was actually a picture error - the actual cover I believe is identical to the original.

[Maglorfin 196]

No. 2. It's a great box to be sure, but not as great as e.g. The Blue Box or the LotR CR sets.

[Ollie 1,059]

LOTR set the standards for expanded/complete scores.

[King Mark 3,631]

Wow ,there's 3 people who'd rather keep their old OST's instead of having all this amazing new music to listen to . You'd think this set is worse than the TPM Ultimate Edition

It is beyond me that some people would be so intransigent to outright reject this box set and can't find any redeeming value to it

[fommes 153]

LOTR set the standards for expanded/complete scores.

Actually, the Superman Box does; I think there are some editing issues with the LOTR boxes as well, but frankly, there's so much music on them that I don't really care. And apparently we're getting the rest later.

[Trent B 337]

Wow ,there's 3 people who'd rather keep their old OST's instead of having all this amazing new music to listen to . You'd think this set is worse than the TPM Ultimate Edition

It is beyond me that some people would be so intransigent to outright reject this box set and can't find any redeeming value to it

Indeed.

BTW I don't think anything can be worse than the monstrosity called the Phantom Menace "Ultimate Edition".

LOTR set the standards for expanded/complete scores.

Actually, the Superman Box does; I think there are some editing issues with the LOTR boxes as well, but frankly, there's so much music on them that I don't really care. And apparently we're getting the rest later.

I never noticed any editing issues with the LOTR sets. Anyways fommes' statement is more accurate that the Superman Blue Box sets the standard of how complete/expanded scores should be.

[Williamsfan301 11]

So, I finally listened to Raiders today - I saved it for last since that soundtrack had the least expansion - and I'm laying in bed, enjoying it. I get to Indy Rides the Statue and notice that its missing the Raider's March theme at the end. "Oh well", I thought to myself "It really should be there, but I guess it was something tracked in later in post post production." That should have been my clue to horror that was about to befall me in "Chasing the Truck." I laid there, in bed, enjoying when, all of a sudden, like a butcher to a side of beef, I hear to my horror that it has been....EDITED!!!!! And not just edited, but edited BADLY!! It's not even a musical edit!

Why, I ask!!!? Oh WHY did they have to chop it! There's no reason! It was complete in the DDC release, why chop it now!? And what makes it worse is that its my favorite cue of the entire score. Bad! Bad Concord!

So, I guess I'll be sticking with my DDC release. Having "Bad Dates" just isn't worth the chop job the did on Raider's.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

Why should Indy Rides The Statue be a clue? The Raiders March snippet was indeed tracked, but from Airplane Fight.

[Williamsfan301 11]

Why should Indy Rides The Statue be a clue? The Raiders March snippet was indeed tracked, but from Airplane Fight.

It was a clue because it wasn't complete.

[Henry B 50]

Williams only revised and recorded half of "Indy Rides the Statue," which is what you get on the Concord set. This revised cue was meant to crossfade into the original cue around the 1:00 mark for Marion's mummy shenanigans, but the original cue is unreleased (*cough* sort of).

[Charlie Brigden 7]

It depends on what your view of complete is. Desert Chase I can accept, because it was originally recorded as the DCC version (well, separated into three parts that is), so the editing is bogus. Indy Rides The Statue... it's a mix of original and tracked music. The cue is complete because that is the original version (well, the original version of the fix. I think. This is complicated.) In any case, it's what was originally recorded. It's like complaining "Snowspeeders Take Flight" is incomplete because it doesn't include the music tracked from "Hyperspace".

[indy4 155]

So, I guess I'll be sticking with my DDC release. Having "Bad Dates" just isn't worth the chop job the did on Raider's.

Why pick one when you can have both?

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

So, I guess I'll be sticking with my DDC release. Having "Bad Dates" just isn't worth the chop job the did on Raider's.

Why pick one when you can have both?

Its not just Bad dates.

[Williamsfan301 11]

...Desert Chase I can accept, because it was originally recorded as the DCC version (well, separated into three parts that is), so the editing is bogus...

Agreed.

Also, if that's what the USS Enterprise is going to look like in the upcoming Star Trek movie, I have a feeling I'm not going to like that reboot either.