vwing 0 Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 I just reviewed A.I. for my blog, and in reviewing it, I realized how great the score actually is. I'd even go one of the top 5 of the 2000s. The film, which left me cold the first time I saw it, has also grown on me, and the score works beautifully in the film. Much of that score, unfortunately, was not represented on album; I'd say there's at least a good hour of music not on CD. What are everyone's thoughts on the score itself, and how much would you shell out for a 2CD Complete Score Soundtrack? I might go up pretty high for it, the music's just that good, a masterwork by the Maestro. I'd even say I'd take a complete A.I. over a complete Hook, and that is saying something.http://score-points.blogspot.com/2011/02/review-ai-john-williams.html for the review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,355 Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 Have you never heard the 2CD academy promo?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crocodile 8,012 Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 You see, while I'd like to have a complete and good sounding release of A.I., I must say the original album is one of the most interesting JW CD's in my collection. The score itself is so disjointed stylistally that every single piece on this disc serves almost as mini-suite of different ideas than a coherent story. Which in itself mirrors how Kubrick would approach his movies. I'm not saying Williams tried to mimmick precisely the style of the late director's favorite composers, but there are some pieces that seem to recall his school (Cybertronics serves as a Gayene adagio here).It is worth mentioning many of the pieces on the album are among the best John Williams has written in the past decade and very unlike his usual fare. They feel more like concert pieces than film score cues. Which is exactly what makes this music almost as transcendental as CEOTTK.If not for the terrible sound quality and the inclusion of the two abysmal versions of the song, it would have been an almost perfect album. Not in a sense the usual Williams stuff is, but at least different and intriguing. From a purely musical perspective, not as a film score.Karol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,355 Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 How can anyone call AI a perfect album?Its missing SO MANY important cues from the film.... entire themes from the film are not present on the CD...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crocodile 8,012 Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 How can anyone call AI a perfect album?Its missing SO MANY important cues from the film.... entire themes from the film are not present on the CD......You obviously haven't read my post carefully. I see the album as an almost a separate entity from the film score.Karol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vwing 0 Posted February 17, 2011 Author Share Posted February 17, 2011 I have, I even mention it in my review. The average person does not have access to Academy promos. Academy promos also tend to cost tons more to buy off sites like Ebay because there's no other option. And because it's Ebay, it's not even guaranteed you'll get it if you can actually find it (which I can't; at the moment there are two "2CD" sets but the cover art's obviously fake as it does not say "For Your Consideration" with the blank white background).If you can find me a legitimate Academy promo for less than 40 bucks (hey, even less than 50), then I'll be indebted to you.And I agree that the album itself is wonderful, near-perfect, as you say. And I'm not normally one who needs every note to every score ever. But this case is different, as there's so much material (especially big thematic material) not on the CD, and it's the rare score that I think would work as a complete release (as opposed to something like Star Wars: Episodes II and III, which would be disjointed and, despite some worthwhile unreleased music, would be unsatisfying as a flowing album.Have you never heard the 2CD academy promo??EDIT: You said heard, not heard of. No, I've never heard it, as I never was able to get it, and was not willing to DL it illegally. I came close on Ebay once, but the price just got a little too out of my range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Skywalker 1,795 Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 I rather push for a score that has not a good quality boot arround...just my way of thinking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faleel 5,347 Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 I.....was not willing to DL it illegally.and buying a unofficial promo is not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Penna 3,687 Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 EDIT: You said heard, not heard of. No, I've never heard it, as I never was able to get it, and was not willing to DL it illegally. I came close on Ebay once, but the price just got a little too out of my range.A friendly tip... you're denying yourself a huge amount of unreleased music if you're not willing to obtain anything that's not 100% legit.Just saying Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry B 50 Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 A.I. works marvelously in complete form. However, something I've never done, and maybe should do, is listen to the Academy promo in all its out of order glory. It's the only Williams promo, to my knowledge, that isn't just a copy of the OST. That suggests to me that Williams wasn't happy with the OST and its two pop songs, and was actually interested in doing a complete, albeit out of order listening presentation. So from an album arranger's perspective, it's interesting.Then again, maybe Williams wasn't involved and some random assistant just slapped every cue onto a CD in random order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vwing 0 Posted February 18, 2011 Author Share Posted February 18, 2011 It's an official promo, I believe. Has the WB logo and everything. But not getting into that subject at the moment, more interested in thoughts on the score proper. I.....was not willing to DL it illegally.and buying a unofficial promo is not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 I like it, but I seldom listen to it. I will get in the mood for it, though, and think it's the best thing ever.I do find some of the futuristic robot material employing electronics and techno sound kind of pedestrian for some reason. Prime moments are obviously Hide and Seek (which sounds like Heartbeeps, a goof of a JW score at points) and Moon Rising. It doesn't even fit for those bikers, who are in the next scene portrayed as listening to shitty metal music. It strikes me that Williams never resorted to silly electronic sound for the droids in Star Wars. Still, Hide and Seek is good overall and these are brief moments.The film version of Search for the Blue Fairy is absolutely phenomenal.I've mentioned before this score sounds pretty bad. It's like they left the studio door open during a God damn tsunami. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,355 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 It's an official promo, I believe. Has the WB logo and everything. But not getting into that subject at the moment, more interested in thoughts on the score proper. Yes, it's an official promo, but its just as illegal for you to pay an ebay seller for it as it is for you to download it. Probably more illegal when money is exchanged, actually Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taikomochi 1,136 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 If only the quality on the promo weren't shit... Even though this music is available, it'd probably be the top Williams score I'd like to get an expanded release of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vwing 0 Posted February 18, 2011 Author Share Posted February 18, 2011 One, I don't think it was ever illegal to buy promos, even if it was illegal to sell. Two, it's not illegal to sell promo albums. http://blogcritics.org/music/article/music-collectors-can-rejoice-promo-cds/Cool article too.It's an official promo, I believe. Has the WB logo and everything. But not getting into that subject at the moment, more interested in thoughts on the score proper. Yes, it's an official promo, but its just as illegal for you to pay an ebay seller for it as it is for you to download it. Probably more illegal when money is exchanged, actually Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dark Trilogy 39 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 If only the quality on the promo weren't shit...I don't know which version do you own, but I have the original factory pressed academy promo 2CD and the quality is marvelous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TownerFan 4,983 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 A.I. works marvelously in complete form. However, something I've never done, and maybe should do, is listen to the Academy promo in all its out of order glory. It's the only Williams promo, to my knowledge, that isn't just a copy of the OST. That suggests to me that Williams wasn't happy with the OST and its two pop songs, and was actually interested in doing a complete, albeit out of order listening presentation. So from an album arranger's perspective, it's interesting.I'm quite sure that Disc 1 of the Academy Promo is more or less Williams' original album presentation before it was decided to add the pop arrangement of "Monica's Theme" and further trim out several cues (including the beautiful Der Rosenkavalier quote). I still remember that a tracklist was initially announced and included two tracks that then disappeared from the final Warner/Sunset OST album ("The Ice Planet" and the cue for Teddy introduction scene). As for Disc 2, I guess they just put the remaining cues in somewhat chronological order.I wish one of the labels will release a complete 2-Disc presentation of this score--A.I. is a score both poignant and epic at the same time. Ok, we have the boot, but I'd love to see this score to get the "specialty label treatment", with improved sound and informative liner notes. Considering their relationship with WB and their penchant for releasing scores from the more recent past, I guess La-La Land would be an ideal candidate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taikomochi 1,136 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 If only the quality on the promo weren't shit...I don't know which version do you own, but I have the original factory pressed academy promo 2CD and the quality is marvelous.Oh... Well, I don't Hunting it down on the internet has proven to be a futile task as all the versions I've downloaded have too much ringing or hiss or skipping, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,355 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 A.I. works marvelously in complete form. However, something I've never done, and maybe should do, is listen to the Academy promo in all its out of order glory. It's the only Williams promo, to my knowledge, that isn't just a copy of the OST. That suggests to me that Williams wasn't happy with the OST and its two pop songs, and was actually interested in doing a complete, albeit out of order listening presentation. So from an album arranger's perspective, it's interesting.I'm quite sure that Disc 1 of the Academy Promo is more or less Williams' original album presentation before it was decided to add the pop arrangement of "Monica's Theme" and further trim out several cues (including the beautiful Der Rosenkavalier quote). I still remember that a tracklist was initially announced and included two tracks that then disappeared from the final Warner/Sunset OST album ("The Ice Planet" and the cue for Teddy introduction scene). As for Disc 2, I guess they just put the remaining cues in somewhat chronological order.I wish one of the labels will release a complete 2-Disc presentation of this score--A.I. is a score both poignant and epic at the same time. Ok, we have the boot, but I'd love to see this score to get the "specialty label treatment", with improved sound and informative liner notes. Considering their relationship with WB and their penchant for releasing scores from the more recent past, I guess La-La Land would be an ideal candidate.Except for the sad fact that nobody except Bouzereau has ever been hired to work on an expanded Spielberg/Williams collaboration score Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TownerFan 4,983 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Except for the sad fact that nobody except Bouzereau has ever been hired to work on an expanded Spielberg/Williams collaboration score The 1995 Raiders expanded CD was produced by Nick Redman. Yes, it was eons ago, but we can hope, especially if LLL is truly working on Hook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,355 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Ah yes, I forgot about the DCC Raiders!Its just too bad CE3K, Jaws, and the Indy box were handled by him as I'm sure FSM/LLL/Intrada would have all done better jobs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TownerFan 4,983 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Those are some of the most popular movies/scores ever made, so maybe JW wanted a different approach, who knows. Also, major labels (Decca, Universal, etc.) can make quite a bit of money from their reissues.But Hook and A.I. are a different story, they're projects more in line with the film score niche. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,355 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 OOoh, good points Maurizio! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ollie 1,059 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Wasn't it reported by FSM, or someone in the business, that the 2 disc promo was actually a mistake?It wasn't supposed to go out as a 2 disc set, only the single version. Whoever did just took the entire completed sessions and just slapped them on two discs in error. WB halted the 2 disc set from being sent out for promotional purposes and issued a single disc to those who hadn't received their copies yet.Anyhoo, I love this score, I have the original CD, The DVD-A and the 2 disc Oscar promo. I know the film can be debated for its pros and cons but the music is the one thing that comes out untouched as far as I'm concerned. Such a haunting and beautiful score, unfortunately the mix is awful, the DVD-A even sounds a bit muddy. I wouldn't hesitate spending cash on a complete and properly done version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,355 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Wasn't it reported by FSM, or someone in the business, that the 2 disc promo was actually a mistake?It wasn't supposed to go out as a 2 disc set, only the single version. Whoever did just took the entire completed sessions and just slapped them on two discs in error. WB halted the 2 disc set from being sent out for promotional purposes and issued a single disc to those who hadn't received their copies yet.Sounds like a weird rumor / made up story that will never be proven Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewdog1 50 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 A.I. is also one of my favorite scores of all time. Maybe even consider it #2 behind ESB.But as for the OP, I find it odd that he would be willing to shell out money to a no-name bloke to profit from rather than ask nicely one of the members here for a copy.But to each their own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naïve Old Fart 9,524 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Wasn't it reported by FSM, or someone in the business, that the 2 disc promo was actually a mistake? Whoever did just took the entire completed sessions and just slapped them on two discs in error. The DVD-A even sounds a bit muddy. If it was an error, then it's an error that I'm grateful for! Mark, how often do you listen to "A.I." in 5.1? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corellian2019 386 Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 If the promo was truly complete, then I'd be happy even if the sound quality was terrible (eh, maybe not). But as it happens, we're still missing several pieces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ollie 1,059 Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Wasn't it reported by FSM, or someone in the business, that the 2 disc promo was actually a mistake? Whoever did just took the entire completed sessions and just slapped them on two discs in error. The DVD-A even sounds a bit muddy. If it was an error, then it's an error that I'm grateful for! Mark, how often do you listen to "A.I." in 5.1?It's been a while, plus my current DVD player does not support DVD-A. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wojo 2,453 Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Penna 3,687 Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 Wasn't it reported by FSM, or someone in the business, that the 2 disc promo was actually a mistake?It wasn't supposed to go out as a 2 disc set, only the single version. Whoever did just took the entire completed sessions and just slapped them on two discs in error. WB halted the 2 disc set from being sent out for promotional purposes and issued a single disc to those who hadn't received their copies yet.Sounds like a weird rumor / made up story that will never be provenBut have there been any other Williams FYC promos with more music than the OST? I'm not aware of any. Even if the 'completed sessions' bit isn't quite true, I can see truth in this story, in conjunction with Williams' album mentality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488 Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Consider this. 10th anniversary, soundtrack recently out of print, imminent Blu-ray release. Is the complete A.I. being released soon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fommes 153 Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Knowing our luck? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gkgyver 1,645 Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 I thought the thread title referred to the stoned creep who molested women around here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewdog1 50 Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 I thought the thread title referred to the stoned creep who molested women around here.Say what?!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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