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The Poseidon Adventure by John Williams


Jay

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The cover is good. We've gotten some real winners in regards to bad cover art. Angela's Ashes kid, Indiana Jones Disc 5 kindergarten artwork of the hat and whip, glittery blue smiling Darth Maul...

This is like a Van Gogh in comparison.

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My copy arrived today. Looking forward to checking it out - never heard the score before

Has anybody thought to ask Neil about this stereo/mono end title issue?

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Surely he must be reading this thread.

so far the people I asked think that End Title(The Rescue) is a "widened" mono recording

At the end of the day it has better sound than the FSM release so it's an improvement but I'd like to know too

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Looks fine to me.

Although I don't go all Rambo fanboy over cover art like most do.

Yeah, the important thing is what is inside, the music.

Oh wait, it is somewhat screwed too ;)

The cover is good. We've gotten some real winners in regards to bad cover art. Angela's Ashes kid, Indiana Jones Disc 5 kindergarten artwork of the hat and whip, glittery blue smiling Darth Maul...

This is like a Van Gogh in comparison.

dont overrate it.

It's just another cd cover in thousands of them. Not a masterpiece (CD cover wise).

BTW, at least Those three covers you mentioned have a text font and layout that does not look like someone just started making his custom covers.

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Got mine today and just gave it a listen. The sound quality is quite an improvement! Yes, the End Title is a little disappointing in comparison the rest, but I'm not too bothered by it. It's nice to have all the source cues, too.

And speaking of, has anyone checked to see what order the source cues go in? I would, but my DVD got damaged a while back, and I never got around to replacing it.

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So from what I understand the film version of the Main Titles and End titles are in synthesized stereo to match the rest of the cues

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Yes but from what I can tell, there are also a few more cues that fall into this category.

I checked out the special edition DVD today and it's interesting because to me the Main Title sounds like genuine stereo, quite different to the La La Land version regarding its mix, the End Title however still sounds mono.

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Ha .....it's acually up to page 12 and still going!! but you could count on both hands the amount of posts that are actually relevant to the topic in question, it's just incredible man :beerchug:

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It's not surprising that there's the usual bitching. Someone on FSM posted an excerpt as to the reason why one (or two?) cue(s) was mono and the rest stereo. Ya maybe LLL should have addressed it in the PR but they didn't. I think that's what everyone's still bitching about because it wasn't announced in the PR. :beerchug:

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As I stated at FSM, LLL only ever said that the score was being presented in stereo, which it is, not that the original elements were all stereo.

Of course it wouldn't of hurt to have mentioned though that within the stereo presentation, some of the source material was from mono elements.

I'm not sure which excerpt you mean exactly but I posted picture examples of the stereo 'energy' of the various versions of the End Title (FSM,LLL, LLL alt) to show somebody that the LLL version was indeed a stereo version even if it's source was originally mono, this was because the person didn't believe the idea of a created 'fake' stereo sound.

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I heard it on my first listen .I guess your ears pick up more things after a few years of Prequel expanded score tinkering

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As I stated at FSM, LLL only ever said that the score was being presented in stereo, which it is, not that the original elements were all stereo.

Of course it wouldn't of hurt to have mentioned though that within the stereo presentation, some of the source material was from mono elements.

I'm not sure which excerpt you mean exactly but I posted picture examples of the stereo 'energy' of the various versions of the End Title (FSM,LLL, LLL alt) to show somebody that the LLL version was indeed a stereo version even if it's source was originally mono, this was because the person didn't believe the idea of a created 'fake' stereo sound.

mxmx posted an excerpt from the liner notes.

In 1998, the deteriorating 6-track 35 mm mag was transferred to a 2" protection tape while simultaneously mixed in stereo to DAT. For the FSM release only a few of those stereo mixes were acceptable enough to include, the rest of the score coming from a 1/4" mono back-up source. For the La-La Land release the 2" tape was recalled and I was able to work with the 6-track material for a considerable length of time to save the score in stereo. This involved an occasional compromise and every trick in the book to pull off, but obviously this is an important enough title to warrant a full restoration effort. Everyone was very excited by the results, but in the end we still found that it was best to use the mono source for a few tracks and to process them in a synthesized stereo. The purpose of this was not to deceive anyone, but to make sure the entire score played cohesively, hence the accurate statement that the score is presented in stereo. (To my knowledge, the 6-track elements were not used for the DVD mix.)

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mxmx is Mike Matessino. That's not an excerpt from the liner notes; That's him posting an original message

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Oh I didn't know that, thanks Jay for the info. I feel kinda dumb now lol.

Well there you have it from the man himself then. :beerchug:

By the way Poseidon has probably about or maybe even less now than 400 copies. Supposedly ID-4 has sold really well too.

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Ah, sorry man ...I thought you were talking about something else.

Yeah, I've read that post cheers and hopefully Mike will get a chance to answer a question I asked.

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The Poseidon Adventure arrived today. Took about 10 days as per usual. A pretty impressive early disaster movie score from the Maestro. A nice surprise infact. More thematic than I thought even though it retains a dark and brooding atmosphere throughout. The alternates are also a very nice comparison to the more melodic and dramatic film version of the main title. It is interesting how Johnny initially chose such a dark, eerie and atonal approach. I wonder what were his original instructions because these alternates sound as scary and eerie as Jerry's Alien. ;) Thanks La-La Land for this release! ;)

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Sold out, at least at LLL.

Crap.

Appears to be sold out at all the other retailers as well. Kinda wish I had ordered 2 copies

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Wow! I had no idea this title was so sought after. I am all the more glad I got it as soon as it was announced and little sad for everyone else who did not get it in time.

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I'll post here what I just posted on FSM:

The fast sell-out of Poseidon isn't exactly surprising, but I sense a tad too much speculation this time, especially because the frenzy started just right after MV said on the FSM board that they were down to 400 or so copies left.

Sorry guys, but this is nonsense. This score was already released (even if from mono sources and not uber-complete). Ok, it was a sold-out item and very much in demand on eBay. Ok, it's John Williams, but this isn't STAR WARS or HARRY POTTER. The AICN article published yesterday surely helped to point out to people who doesn't watch film music boards regularly, but the crazy sell-out that happened in a matter of few hours across ALL online soundtrack retailers doesn't make any sense other than probably only helping greedy people to secure themselves a few more copies just for speculating reasons.

My copy has yet to arrive and I hope the SAE package will arrive safe and sound here, otherwise... well, I have the FSM CD, so I shouldn't complain, but let's say that if this is the trend, I will probably restrict my purchases even more than I'm doing now. I do not live attached to the internet all day long with the credit card pronto.

I'm happy the labels are in full swing and healthy with all these amazing releases that are pouring on us. They very much deserve all the success and all the film music fans deserve the goodies thar are released almost on a weekly basis. But I'm not rich and I don't want to turn a deep passion for an artform into a crazy compulsive collecting behavior.

End of rant. Sorry if I'm not contributing with something positive, usually I'm not the type of person who enjoys doing this kind of banter here.

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I agree man, that's why I posted the above link, so someone can get one before the price gets crazy!

It's worrying to think that a score I may consider a grail could possibly be sold out within hours or days just because the greed has gotten worse with limited editions by the money that can be made from them, we can't be at the pc 24/7.

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I think the labels should stop making pre-announcements, guessing games, clue hunting and all that kind of useless stuff. It only makes the things more anxious and obsessed than they already are. Things now are pre-announced/hinted/sneak-peeked everywhere, from the message boards to Facebook and Twitter and whatever. All these reverberations probably make a lot of people more anxious than they already are. LLL's April 20th announcement was expected as if it was the Second Coming (cue Goldsmith ;)) and they said their server almost crashed if I remember well. Sometimes I wish they just release the CD, period (like FSM does all the time).

However, the responsability of this situatuon doesn't fall on the labels' shoulders. They just do their job and sell CDs. They cannot prevent speculation from eBay sellers.

But maybe it's time they start evaluating the possibility of releasing also digital downloads for selected titles in the future.

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It's entirely possible that Poseidon Adventure is a popular movie and a title from arguably the most popular living composer and that this release was attractive to some 2,000-something film score fans out there on the internet. I KNOW there are plenty of people out there that buy limited editions with the intention of profit, but let's not credit the sale of a majority of these 3000 CD's to people like that.

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I like pre-aunnoncements/clues. I know what labels to check on what days. If every label released stuff without any warning, there'd be a better chance of missing it...I too don't wait around by my computer all day to check for new releases.

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I must admit Maurizio, that I like pre-announcements because if it's a score I really want, I know that the way in which these things can now sell out so quick, I'll make sure to be online when it's available to order and if I can't, I'll try and find somebody to do it for me .....oh, it's crap indeed man that it's come to this but that's the nature of the beast now.

The guessing games and clue hunting though I despise with every fibre in my body!

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Well if you really wanted the physical c.d. you had plenty of time to order it

If not you can download it guilt free now

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I can't remember now the date that it got released but it's been a couple of weeks hasn't it? ...or almost?

That's not much time though and I honestly believe that there were, at least in the time it's sold out, less than 1000 people genuinely interested in this particular score with a sincere interest in the music itself. I think the majority have just been limited edition hunters who love stroking their collections and ebay speculators. I believe 3000 easily exist but that they haven't had the chnace to buy it yet for whatever reason.

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It's entirely possible that Poseidon Adventure is a popular movie and a title from arguably the most popular living composer and that this release was attractive to some 2,000-something film score fans out there on the internet. I KNOW there are plenty of people out there that buy limited editions with the intention of profit, but let's not credit the sale of a majority of these 3000 CD's to people like that.

No, it would be silly if I would say something like that. It's a John Williams' score, it's absolutely normal that a 3,000 pressing would be sold out in short time. What really makes me suspicious is that 500 or so copies went out of the window within a matter of hours, right after it was announced that the title was selling out. Ok, small numbers, I see. But it appears to me that several people clearly saw an opportunity to increase the speculating value of the item. That's it.

It's kinda sad for all those people who maybe didn't have the money to snag a copy immediately and now are probably screwed up for the second time.

I can't remember now the date that it got released but it's been a couple of weeks hasn't it? ...or almost?

That's not much time though and I honestly believe that there were, at least in the time it's sold out, less than 1000 people genuinely interested in this particular score with a sincere interest in the music itself. I think the majority have just been limited edition hunters who love stroking their collections and ebay speculators. I believe 3000 easily exist but that they haven't had the chnace to buy it yet for whatever reason.

Very well said, my friend.

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Very well said, my friend.

Ha ...cheers man ;)

What's also crazy now though is the amount of FSM versions on ebay, a month or two back it was almost impossible to find one.

Either these people really couldn't care less about The Paper Chase and Conrack or the speculators are upgrading and letting go of the old stock.

I've never and would never by a CD just as an investment, I don't want to make it sound like I think it's the crime of the century, I don't, I just ....I dunno??? :(

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For me a c.d. is a c.d. .I 'd find it a complete waste of time to put extra copies on ebay and sell them for a few extra bucks. I'm too lazy actually

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I read from one or two posters on FSM that they got rid of their LLL Poseidon Adventure discs all because two cues weren't in true stereo. That's just sad and LAME.

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That IS stupid . Yes I would like to have known in advance instead of finding out while listening but it sounds way better than the FSM and we are NOT going to get a better c.d.

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It is stupid but hopefully they've gone to a better home and perhaps the people who got rid of them will regret it at some point ....let's hope so :(

I know alot really wanted the Main & End Title in true stereo but there are a good handful of other cues also sourced from mono.

I'm still waiting to hear back from Mike M as to why the special edition DVD Main Title wasn't used, which is stereo, hopefully he'll give an answer.

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It is stupid but hopefully they've gone to a better home and perhaps the people who got rid of them will regret it at some point ....let's hope so ;)

Indeed, I am sure later down the road they'd regret selling it off. I wouldn't doubt it though if they ripped it to their computer first. :(

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I think pre-announcements are good in that they give people time to plan out purchases and secure funds, etc. I don't like the guessing games, and I'm not too big a fan of pop-releases. Like someone said earlier, you can miss them in a snap.

I think this went so quickly because a lot of people were there for ID4, and when they saw Poseidon Adventure was the other release, they said "Why not?" and added it in the cart for the $5 off.

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It sold quick because; it's John Williams, the sound is improved, the FSM release was issued 12 years ago and the internet is a much bigger place now. Plus you can add the hoarders to list, more probably exist now than they did back in 1998.

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Plus you can add the hoarders to list, more probably exist now than they did back in 1998.

I agree. Don't be surprised if this time next year you'll see some pop up on evilbay for a ridiculous price.

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