SCORE RELEASE: Die Hard (LLL)

[Admiral Holdo 16]

Despite ordering a few hours after it went up, it took an extra several days to get to me (and I live in California!), but nevertheless, it's here! But that said... I don't know...

First the good: the packaging's quite nice (though I'm not sure about the front cover... looks like a bootleg, to tell you the truth), the sound quality's great (and the mono cues are all right), and of course the music is pretty good (though in my opinion, it needs some whittling down to be a consistently listenable presentation), with standouts like "The Battle", "Under the Table", "The Vault" etc. Michael Kamen was an underrated genius, more of his work needs to be out there (like Brazil! That got a terrible soundtrack album, needs remastering/expanding pronto!).

But... I gotta ask, how are people not expressing dissent over this? Maybe I'm spoiled, but the release has quite a few aspects that bother me. The strange sequencing, for one - we know what the intended order is supposed to be, but the liners apparently don't know that "Nakatomi Plaza" is actually "Takagi Dies" (and positioned as such). The missing music is another irritant, though one that's solved by... other means. Even then, you have to wonder if it was THAT hard to add the original version of "The Chains" (I really liked the scraping sound effects there, it was a nifty touch), among other alternates. The crossfade between "Under the Table" and "Welcome to the Party" really doesn't sit right with me, and what's with the tracked music? "TV Station", "Shooting the Glass", "Happy Trails", etc.? Was that necessary?

I don't mean to bitch, it's just that I'm curious how Varese gets raked over the coals time and time again while La La Land does some of the same things here and is so far getting away with it. Don't get me wrong, LLL is an amazing label and I'm happy they put out Die Hard, but some of the choices made are truly questionable.

[Trent B 337]

Actually the music in "TV Station" is NOT tracked. Read the analysis of that track by Jeff Bond...he said the rest of the cue was dropped entirely and he's right. The rest of the cue was meant to play when John and Hans first speak to each other on the radio.

I do wish the mono cues were in stereo but it doesn't bug me too much. I too am puzzled by the missing original version of "The Chains".

Ya I noticed the crossfade between "Under The Table" and "Welcome To The Party". In the film they are clearly separate from one another.

Either way I'm perfectly happy with the release.

[Admiral Holdo 16]

The mono cues I have no problem with. They couldn't find stereo versions, it happens. It's the few other complaints I lodged that bug me.

But honestly... it's hard to be too mad with this music, haha.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

So it's still not perfect? Damn!

[Trent B 337]

So it's still not perfect? Damn!

It may not be totally perfect but it's still A LOT better than the Varèse release.

[crocodile 8,020]

It's fine for me. Though, I'm not so familiar with all the details as you, guys.

Karol - listening to it right now

[Richard Penna 3,695]

It's a bit strange that ID4 had lots of cues combined, but always left a pause instead of crossfading (I think Alien Resurrection had the same approach) - it now seems like they're doing the opposite for loads of their releases (Breakdown, The Edge, this) and I'm not a fan of that approach either.

But it's bordering on our individual tastes - I like cues being combined for a better listening experience, but I disagree with crossfading tracks. Among other reasons, it's mixing the emotions presented by two cues. One theory I've heard is that reducing the overall number of tracks reduces their costs with the AFM.

[Jay 37,374]

Reducing the total number of tracks does indeed reduce costs, at least in some circumstances; I dunno if I'll be able to find the exact quote but I believe it was MV that has posted so before.

I love the fact that Matessino left enough space in between cues when they were put into the same track (when they weren't meant to overlap, I mean) on releases such as ID4 and 1941.... allows me to easily separate them into their own tracks for my personal edit without having to fake my own clean endings and openings. And if I actually wanted to hear 2 cues overlap that weren't meant to, I can easily do that as well

[crocodile 8,020]

There is hardly any mention of the album on any forum, not counting some gripes and questions.

Is it a disappointment then?

Karol

[Jay 37,374]

You know, I've noticed that happens a lot lately. A title is begged and begged for for years... and then it finally comes out and people don't talk about it much, or at least not as much as I was expecting. In my view, there's been hardly any discussion on Gremlins, Explorers, Masada, The Black Hole, 48 Hours, etc.... and even in the case of 1941 on our own board, I feel like we only discussed 1941 about 10% as much as I was expecting. I don't even know how longtime members such as Ricard, King Mark, Stefan, Roal, Miguel, Manuel, etc etc feel about the 1941 release cause I feel like they never really even posted about it. I had to keep forcing the 1941 conversation from dying by posting in the thread and it seemed like only Incanus was interested in continuing the conversation with me. I don't really get it. If 1941 came out in say 2003, we probably would be on a Part II thread by now after hitting 100 pages.

I wonder if its just a case of there being SO MANY great releases over the past 5 years, people can't keep up with them, and spend less time enjoying big releases because there's always another one around the corner? I mean shit, the one sentence of my interview with Matessino about how there were 2 more Williams releases coming out after 1941 generated probably 5 times the discussion that the actual release of 1941 did. Kind of sad if you ask me. The heads of these labels must feel like nothing they release is ever good enough, and people always want more more more

[crocodile 8,020]

I know what you mean. But at least it sold well (1941, that is).

And yes, that's true. Gremlins, so desired for years, came and went. Weird.

On a side note: I sometimes buy and listen to so many things that it feel like I'm losing interest in the medium. You get less and less time to actually "enjoy" these elaborate albums. It's more absorbing and collecting rather than actually listening these days.

Karol

[Jay 37,374]

I know how you feel! I definitely spend more time examining clues for upcoming releases, planning my orders for new releases, analyzing them once I get them to see what's still missing or how this was mixed differently or where this alternate came from or whatever, writing some kind of analysis or review, or something else that I actually do just sitting down and listening to them. For a hobby that's supposedly about listening to music, it's been more of a sitting at the computer hobby of late for me.

[Incanus 5,716]

I know how you feel! I definitely spend more time examining clues for upcoming releases, planning my orders for new releases, analyzing them once I get them to see what's still missing or how this was mixed differently or where this alternate came from or whatever, writing some kind of analysis or review, or something else that I actually do just sitting down and listening to them. For a hobby that's supposedly about listening to music, it's been more of a sitting at the computer hobby of late for me.

I agree. It can become dissecting more than just enjoying the music. I guess I have to be glad that my budget is tight so I can't buy everything and as a result I get only the essential releases and tend to focus on them more than if I had an ever flowing hit parade of holy grails in a mile long line waiting to be listened. Of course in this day and age you can listen to this music by other means but even then I tend to focus on a more selected few than trying to listen to everything. There is just too much.

And I too noticed the strange silence about the big releases, be they Goldsmith, Williams or others. Perhaps we are getting exhausted by all the goodies the specialty labels are releasing.

[crocodile 8,020]

Well, I myself had to avoid some of the releases for the same reasons. I realized that I don't need them all, mostly because I won't spend much time listening to them. Decided to cut back a bit.

I listened Die Hard four times already since I got it (which was yesterday). That counts for something. And while this is not the kind of music that takes you by the hand (thriller/suspense being one of the least friendly genres, music-wise), the attention to detail and sense of humour make it really stand out. For all its strings plucking and darkness it is also incredibly playful and clever.

Karol

[Jay 37,374]

I haven't even had a chance to take the shrinkwrap off yet, I've had so much other stuff to listen to. That's part of the problem, for me - too much stuff coming in all the time. The "Incoming and Unsorted" folder on my hard drive is probably 10x bigger than my main score folder right now

[crocodile 8,020]

Being a film music fan is a hard work.

Karol

[Charlie Brigden 7]

I agree, this is kind of why I came back here. But I just don't have the freaking time. I have a half-written review of Gremlins that's been sitting open for days, plus other stuff I need to listen to. The other reason is, I just can't afford them like I used to. Gremlins was one I had to make time for, but I've seen so many releases like 1941 go past because I didn't have the cash. Not a complaint as times are hard for everyone, but a reason nonetheless.

Thankfully I'm getting Wolfen for christmas!

[Admiral Holdo 16]

So it's still not perfect? Damn!

It may not be totally perfect but it's still A LOT better than the Varèse release.

Oh yeah. OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH yeah. That was damn near unlistenable. I wasn't trying to say the LLL release is a failure, it's anything but, just a few oddities in it.

It's a bit strange that ID4 had lots of cues combined, but always left a pause instead of crossfading (I think Alien Resurrection had the same approach) - it now seems like they're doing the opposite for loads of their releases (Breakdown, The Edge, this) and I'm not a fan of that approach either.

But it's bordering on our individual tastes - I like cues being combined for a better listening experience, but I disagree with crossfading tracks. Among other reasons, it's mixing the emotions presented by two cues. One theory I've heard is that reducing the overall number of tracks reduces their costs with the AFM.

Honestly, I'm glad they leave a pause between cues. If I don't want some 16-second stinger at the tail end of the track on my iPod, I can snip it out without having to fake a clean ending. Intrada, much as I love 'em, could be a little less crossfade-happy.

[Trent B 337]

Actually there are some cues on the LLL release for ID-4 that do have a bit of a cross fade... IE: First Sighting / AWAC Attack, and especially with the track that the cue "Area 51" starts with.

I had to use the World Records boot do some clean separation for cues that were actually separated in the film. Of course cues that were combined IE: Mutha Ship, Virus Upload, Hide!, and Russell's Packin' I left combined like in the film since I prefer cues that way.