Guest Posted February 1, 2003 Share Posted February 1, 2003 Hi, I'm new to this board. I know there are two releases of the 1941 Soundtrack, an out of print Bay Cities version and the current Varese Sarabande edition. I've read opinions both ways online as to quality. Since I figure the people here ought to be the experts, which one has the best sound quality?Thanks,James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattris 416 Posted February 1, 2003 Share Posted February 1, 2003 Forget the CDs. The 1941 DVD has the ENTIRE score isolated in fantastic sound quality - source music included. Plus, you get the movie itself with deleted scenes and great (JW) bonus features all on one side of a single DVD! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker 5 Posted February 1, 2003 Share Posted February 1, 2003 The 1941 DVD has the ENTIRE score isolatedNo it doesn't. The Jaws music in the beginning is literally tracked from Jaws, whereas the 1941 soundtrack album has the original music that Williams wrote for the sequence.Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattris 416 Posted February 1, 2003 Share Posted February 1, 2003 Other differences between the film (DVD) version and Varese Sarabande CD release:On the DVD,1) the "Swing, Swing, Swing" arrangement the slightly changed.2) the ferris wheel seqeunce is extended.3) the end credits have no annoying explosions.The only problem I have with the DVD's isolated score is that there are chunks of the movie that don't have any music - so you have to sit in silence (of fast forward) until the music comes around again.Two solutions for listening to the score as the DVD presents it:1) Mark down the times of the DVD that the music enters after silence, so you don't have to guess.2) Using analog recording (or digitally ripping it... ?), make you own soundtrack by getting the music onto CD, minidisc, or computer (with a .wav editor before burning the CD-R). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Andrade 1,260 Posted February 1, 2003 Share Posted February 1, 2003 The Bay Cities and Varese releases are identical in content (this was released by Alhambra in Europe). A 70+ minute bootleg with more music reportedly taken from the laser disc isolated score track was made available around 1999.And you can find private double disc sets of the complete score, taken form the dvd easely... just ask for it at the trading board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesluckard 80 Posted February 1, 2003 Share Posted February 1, 2003 I forgot to sign in when I asked my question, but it's still me.Anyway, I actually have the 1941 DVD. Just got it yesterday at Circuit City for 9.99, less than the CD will end up being, which is slightly crazy.However, I want to get the CD too, since it'll pesent the music as Williams intended it to be heard outside the film.I used to object to how different Williams' albums are from his actual film versions, but I saw him in concert last week, and his argument for the validity of soundtrack rerecordings was quite strong. (Basically, that it's how he'd prefer you to hear his music.)Anyway, I just bought the Jaws soundtrack album, which I know is signifigantly different from the actual film cues on the new Decca CD, and I'd like to do the same with 1941.I have read, though, that there is a noticable diference in sound quality between the two CDs of 1941, even though they contain identical tracks. One person claims the newer Varese CD is best, while somebody at eBay who's selling the older Bay Cities CD claims it's superior. Anyone aware of this?Thanks again,James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Andrade 1,260 Posted February 1, 2003 Share Posted February 1, 2003 I only have the Alhambra release, and has some sound flutuations -- very anoying. But I have a few tracks on a complete private release that were taken from the Varese cdc and they seem quite better... So I would go Varese. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricard 2,242 Posted February 2, 2003 Share Posted February 2, 2003 From Chris ChrusherComix Trade List:Original Varese Sarabande (Same as Bay Cities, but MUCH Better Sound Quality and art) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Andrade 1,260 Posted February 2, 2003 Share Posted February 2, 2003 If Chris said it, is because it's true! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Andrade 1,260 Posted February 2, 2003 Share Posted February 2, 2003 And I just cecked an article on Alhambra records, and there is a quick mention of their Varese partnership -- so this must be tha same as the Varese release... with poor sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesluckard 80 Posted February 2, 2003 Share Posted February 2, 2003 Sorry, only now I'm even more confused. Chris says the Varese CD sounds better, but Miguel says the Varese CD is identical to his Alhambra CD, with poor sound. Huh?If anyone can clear this up, having heard BOTH CDs I'd really appreciate it.Thanks,James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricard 2,242 Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 Chris says the Varese CD sounds better, but Miguel says the Varese CD is identical to his Alhambra CD, with poor sound. Huh?No. Miguel says the Alhambra CD has poor sound compared to the Varese one. I only have the Alhambra CD so I can't compare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris ChrusherComix 46 Posted February 5, 2003 Share Posted February 5, 2003 Hi To answer a few questions... I bought the 70 minute bootleg 1st and wasn't that crazy about it. I didn't care for the sound quality. And, it is missing quite a bit (I later discovered that it left off Swing, Swing, Swing... the best track, IMO. ).Then, I got the Varese CD and was blown away at the sound quality improvement over the longer boot. After that, I got the Alhambra CD on ebay (just for my obsessive-compulsive-completist reasonings only), and noticed that it sounded clearly inferior to the Varese recording. The highs are far more crisp on the Varese release. In fact, I just skimmed through it, then threw in the Varese disc because I wanted to listen to it. However, I listen to my music mostly in Pro-Logic surround mode, so I may be missing something that a sweet, expensive pair of headphones may pick up (King Mark has been yelling at me for years to invest in some).Then, I got the DVD (which was a pain, because it's not too easy to find, and expensive when you find it). And the sound quality on that takes the cake, IMO. My "private" () release has the entire DVD isolated score, with Boston Pops concert versions (which are tremendous), and the Varese OST album (which, as some have already mentioned, has slightly different versions here and there, the usual hybrid-combining of different cues, and also includes a very small part... around 10-30 seconds or so -I forget now- that I can't locate on the rest of the complete isolated score). Hope that helps. -Procrastinatin' Chris, Who has wanted to make a Williams CD price list for years now and keeps putting it off... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Andrade 1,260 Posted February 5, 2003 Share Posted February 5, 2003 Chris, but you can easely (and cheap too) find the 1941 dvd on Amazon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Ware 526 Posted February 5, 2003 Share Posted February 5, 2003 The DVD isolated score is quite heavily edited in places, with a fair amount of looping and tracking. The OST is out of order and features some extremely poor editing and sound effects (and is missing most of the music from the film's finale).Both releases need to be combined and tweaked a bit in order to produce the best representation of the score.Incidentally, the entire score (minus non-Williams source cues) will fit on one CD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris ChrusherComix 46 Posted February 6, 2003 Share Posted February 6, 2003 Chris, but you can easely (and cheap too) find the 1941 dvd on Amazon!Damn! I got mine for $35 US... retail. The DVD isolated score is quite heavily edited in places, with a fair amount of looping and tracking. The OST is out of order and features some extremely poor editing and sound effects (and is missing most of the music from the film's finale). Both releases need to be combined and tweaked a bit in order to produce the best representation of the score. Incidentally, the entire score (minus non-Williams source cues) will fit on one CD. Too much effort for lazy Chris. Plus, I like the album arrangements, concert versions and the source cues... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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