What scores are you most proud to own

[Indianagirl 298]

You guys sometimes talk about scores and movies I've never heard of. Which is exciting to know that there might be something out there in which I will love that I haven't heard yet. So in an effort to catch up, and rather than an attempt to say one composer is better than another, I am kind of wondering what are the scores in your personal collection that you are most proud to own.

I will start. The scores I am most proud of owning are:

1. A.I. (3cd extended collection)

2. Empire of the Sun (2cd extended collection)

3. Indiana Jones box set

4. Hook (2cd extended set)

5. Doctor Zhivago

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

All three complete LOTR scores, which are now rare and hot commodities. The LLL A.I., the nice Interstellar box. Various complete scores from unofficial sources....

Oh, also, Brian Eno's Textures. Not a score but it was made to be used in documentaries and stuff like that. Very sought after album.

[Jay 37,511]

Proud? None.

But what I think of as the best examples of great soundtrack releases that represent the best our hard-working producers have put out include:

• Jerry Goldsmith - Alien - Intrada 2CD (Mike Matessino)
• John Williams: Superman: The Movie - FSM 2CD (Inside the 8CD Blue Box) (Mike Matessino)
• Jerry Goldsmith - Star Trek TMP - LLL 3CD (Mike Matessino)
• John Williams - Empire of the Sun - LLL 2CD (Mike Matessino)
• John Williams - AI Artificial Intelligence - LLL 2CD (Mike Matessino)
• David Arnold - Independence Day - LLL 2CD (Mike Matessino)
• Michael Kamen - Die Hard 3 - LLL 2CD (Mike Matessino)
• Alan Silvestri - Back to the Future - Intrada 2CD (Doug Fake)
• Alan Silvestri - Predator 2 - Varese 2CD (Robert Townson)
• John Williams - Hook - LLL 2CD (Didier Deutch) - Despite the many, many, many flaws the set has, the MUSIC itself is so great, and the sound quality of what they didn't have to take from the film stem is so remarkable, and those parts are expertly edited, so it still earns a spot despite the fact it doesn't represent a model other releases should follow)
• Howard Shore - The Fellowship of the Ring - 3CD Complete Recordings (Howard Shore) - Against despite the fact that they retained too much of the final film's tracking and sound mix, the fact that one of the best scores ever written got such an extensive release with a lot of care put into it so soon after its original run is just awesome. Plus mine's signed by Shore and Doug!
• and a tie between the major label expansions of the original Star Wars trilogy, ET, CE3K, Superman, Jaws, and the Indiana Jones trilogy.... none of these are perfect examples of how a soundtrack release should be handled (the specialty labels all do it better), but just the fact that these came to be, sold well, and let the right people know that there was a market for these types of releases is also worth mentioning as they all paved the way for the boon of specialty label releases we get every week now.

[Wojo 2,453]

Tadlow's El Cid

Intrada's Conan the Barbarian

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Proud? None.

Same here, except for one.

My The Phantom Menace LP, because John Williams himself signed it for me.

The rest are just stuff I bought. No reason to feel particularly proud about that.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

All my Godzilla CDs. And my Friday the 13th box. The stuff I would've loved when I was 10.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

I'm proud to own scores that are unjustly ridiculed and hated. And material that's rare; I'm glad, if not necessarily proud, to have gotten it. And stuff that I've access to only by virtue of what I do. That, I am proud of.

[Indianagirl 298]

Okay maybe proud is the wrong word but you guys get the idea.

All my Godzilla CDs.

The old Japanese ones?

[Richard Penna 3,770]

• Howard Shore - The Fellowship of the Ring - 3CD Complete Recordings (Howard Shore) - Against despite the fact that they retained too much of the final film's tracking and sound mix, the fact that one of the best scores ever written got such an extensive release with a lot of care put into it so soon after its original run is just awesome. Plus mine's signed by Shore and Doug!

That's probably my top one - and mine is also signed by Shore and Doug! (well, inside the booklet - I prioritised positioning over visibility).

Probably all 3 of them actually, considering that some of them are OOP. (Fotr and Rotk according to Amazon)

[Jay 37,511]

They signed the cover of the booklet inside, not the outside cover of the whole package

[Richard Penna 3,770]

I chose one of the pages inside which had a nice gap at the top. It felt wrong at the time to get writing on the cover, and it looks really nice where it is.

[Uni 306]

There was a time, my dear, in distant ages past (like the 80s 'n' stuff), when the physical acquisition of rare film score releases was something akin to Indy going after the lost ark or the holy grail. These days it's just not the same thing; once Indy could jump online and order these artifacts for a modest shipping charge, the whole bullwhip-and-fedora thing kinda lost its verve. I still haven't decided which era is better; it is nice to have access to all this wonderful music these days, but something in me misses the hours I spent flipping through hundreds of LPs at WaxTrax and the inordinate thrill that came with finding a piece I knew was a rare find.

It's been a while since I've stopped to think about those—nowadays it's all about the value on eBay, and I'm not one to sell even my less-than-useful scores—but here are a few I can recall:

• Dragonslayer by Alex North: the edition I owned was listed in the yearly Soundtrack Market book (yes, they used to have those) as being worth at least $300. Not a great score for listening, but it once had crown-jewel status in my collection.
• Krull by James Horner: I owned the SCSE Edition from the beginning, which was the only near full-length version on the market at the time.
• High Road to China by John Barry: I don't think this one was released at all other than in the limited-edition SCSE version, which I owned and treasured.
• The Lord of the Rings by Leonard Rosenman: The Ralph Bakshi animated version of Tolkien's epic was a galactic turd, but the score was a passable effort by a good composer. I owned the double-LP set that featured art from the film on each side of both records. Another fairly rare and valuable piece.
• Superman II by Ken Thorne: the score was a dim shadow of the original Williams classic, but the LP had the "S" symbol laser-etched into the record at each compass point. Very cool-looking.

There were others, I think, but they escape me at the moment. I was "proud" of having the physical copies of these back in the day. There are others (such as many of the multi-disk releases already mentioned above) that I love having because I've wanted the music for years, but—like I said—most of them are readily available these days, so actually possessing the CDs themselves isn't the special aspect.

For what it's worth, I like how you're approaching the hobby of collecting film scores. I agree with you that comparing composers competitively, as one being "better" than another, isn't the best way to chase the classics. It makes for interesting conversation in places like this, but if you really want to broaden your perspectives you should view each composer simply as having their own voice and style, and make a conscious effort to listen to the best of that voice and style that each one has to offer. That's where the folks around here will be able to help you best.

[Indianagirl 298]

Oh, also, Brian Eno's Textures. Not a score but it was made to be used in documentaries and stuff like that. Very sought after album.

Don't know it. I'll look into it.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Brian Eno hates John Williams!

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Dragonslayer by Alex North

Not a great score for listening

Good one, most amusing!

Brian Eno hates John Williams!

Bullshit. I'd like to see proof of that.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

All my Godzilla CDs.

The old Japanese ones?

Those and the American films.

A former member here from Texas sold me about a dozen of his Futureland 1990s releases of the Japanese Godzilla scores for a bargain price of about $100. These are rare and sell individually for gargantuan prices on eBay. He offloaded them to make room for the Godzilla Perfect Collection boxsets, which I've bought most of those too.

[Indianagirl 298]

There was a time, my dear, in distant ages past (like the 80s 'n' stuff), when the physical acquisition of rare film score releases was something akin to Indy going after the lost ark or the holy grail. These days it's just not the same thing; once Indy could jump online and order these artifacts for a modest shipping charge, the whole bullwhip-and-fedora thing kinda lost its verve. I still haven't decided which era is better; it is nice to have access to all this wonderful music these days, but something in me misses the hours I spent flipping through hundreds of LPs at WaxTrax and the inordinate thrill that came with finding a piece I knew was a rare find.

I suppose, even though it is easy to own anything your heart desires via the internet, I look at film scores being rare in today's world because I don't know anyone outside of this board who listens to them. Let alone buys them. I listen to popular music today along with my friends as well but to me film scores are more special. Maybe I'm just weird but orchestrated music feels deeper and more emotionally complex than pop music. Well actually acknowledging that I don't think makes me weird. Even still buying and listening to film scores, despite them being more easily acquired in this age, feels rare and special to me. Perhaps that makes me weird lol

On another note I am definitely going to have to listen to Krull. It has been mentioned a lot since reading these boards.

[Uni 306]

I suppose, even though it is easy to own anything your heart desires via the internet, I look at film scores being rare in today's world because I don't know anyone outside of this board who listens to them. Let alone buys them. I listen to popular music today along with my friends as well but to me film scores are more special. Maybe I'm just weird but orchestrated music feels deeper and more emotionally complex than pop music. Well actually acknowledging that I don't think makes me weird. Even still buying and listening to film scores, despite them being more easily acquired in this age, feels rare and special to me. Perhaps that makes me weird lol

I was going to tell you you're no weirder than anyone else around here, but . . . well, that's probably a mixed compliment at best.

Suffice to say that your interest in film music doesn't make you strange. It just makes you you. And there's nothing at all wrong with that.

I'm guessing you're one of our younger members. Back in the days when I started collecting—maybe right around the age you are now—I had already developed an aptitude for recognizing and retaining the music from movies in my head as being a component every bit as important as the acting and cinematography. When I learned that one could actually own this music for themselves, and listen to it apart from the film that inspired it, I was ecstatic and began grabbing up everything I could get my hands on. I didn't think this made me weird; on the contrary, I valued the idea of being unique, and therefore thought it made me great!

Of course, I had to learn during those years that not everyone shares my interests, and didn't necessarily think I'm awesome just because I listened to movie music. And that's fine. Like you, I also was a fan of a lot of pop music back then, so it wasn't like I was a total alien to my friends. But I also felt, like you, that none of that music could plumb nearly the same depths as film scores could. These days, I listen to instrumental music almost to the exclusion of everything else (except for some occasional forays back into my old pop favorites), and I feel less need than ever to have to explain myself to people who don't understand.

All this to say that you're cultivating an eclectic taste for a very specific kind of music, one that (as you said) doesn't appeal to most of the public, at least on a conscious level. But that is one of the great things about the advent of the internet: before forums like this existed, I almost never got the chance to discuss my interests with anyone else, much less debate the merits of certain composers/scores/periods of music, etc. The journey has certainly improved since I've been able to start sharing it with others. (That's the one area where our experiences differ; you're lucky, in that you'll never know what it's like not being able to do what we're doing right now.)

On another note I am definitely going to have to listen to Krull. It has been mentioned a lot since reading these boards.

This would be a great step in the right direction. It's got a fixed place in my JH Top 10 (which I hope to post today. . . .)

[DreamTheater 131]

I suppose, even though it is easy to own anything your heart desires via the internet, I look at film scores being rare in today's world because I don't know anyone outside of this board who listens to them. Let alone buys them. I listen to popular music today along with my friends as well but to me film scores are more special. Maybe I'm just weird but orchestrated music feels deeper and more emotionally complex than pop music. Well actually acknowledging that I don't think makes me weird. Even still buying and listening to film scores, despite them being more easily acquired in this age, feels rare and special to me. Perhaps that makes me weird lol

I was going to tell you you're no weirder than anyone else around here, but . . . well, that's probably a mixed compliment at best.

What... you kidding me? Is this place populated by weirdos??? I was under the impression this was a nice place full of normal people.

That's it, I'm outta here and I'm never coming back to this weird place !!!

Goodbye, everyone.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Vaarwel manneke!

[DreamTheater 131]

Hey I was just kidding, I'm every bit as weird as you are, probably even more.

I'll stay for a little while longer if that's okay.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Vast en zeker!

[Indianagirl 298]

I wasn't tyring to imply that we were weird in a bad way lol Just that our taste in music is, as Uni said, a bit more eclectic.

[Sir Hilary Bray 235]

No, this place is weird. Nutty as a fruitcake.

[Bespin 8,505]

[Balto's Claws 2]

Angela Morley's Watership Down

This will probably not ever get another physical release--maybe a digital one someday. A lot of stuff from this album reminded me a lot of what Williams might write, and then I later discovered they worked together. Small world.

[Uni 306]

I can say that no release ever made me happier than the one on the lower right. The one that started it all.

[Wojo 2,453]

Infuckingdeed.

[Jay 37,511]

Yup, started it all for me too. Paved the way for everything that came later

[Josh500 1,615]

Proud... I don't know, I'm proud to be the owner of my whole JW collection.

But if you're talking about individual releases, I think right now I'm most proud of the A.I. 3-CD set.

[Indianagirl 298]

I just looked up the complete scores to Lord of the Rings and they are going for hundreds of dollars

[Jay 37,511]

They aren't officially OOP, and Doug Adams often posts that they should come back in stock in the future.... but at this point they haven't been in stock anywhere in months if not years and no one seems to REALLY know if they'll ever be again or not.

The ROTK one is on Spotify

https://player.spotify.com/album/2Re6RMBEfD8iv1HMxLMdzI

[Incanus 5,733]

Well I am proud of my entire JW collection.

Happy to own many individual releases like the recent A.I. set, The LotR Complete Recordings, the Star Wars Anthology, the RCA Star Wars releases, the original E.T. album, the 3 disc El Cid re-recording, the Indy Box, and many more besides.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

The Elfman box.

[Indianagirl 298]

They aren't officially OOP, and Doug Adams often posts that they should come back in stock in the future.... but at this point they haven't been in stock anywhere in months if not years and no one seems to REALLY know if they'll ever be again or not.

The ROTK one is on Spotify

https://player.spotify.com/album/2Re6RMBEfD8iv1HMxLMdzI

I hope they comeback in stock. I'd love to have them.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I use them to treat my insomnia. The DVD-A is ideal because I don't have to get up to switch discs.

[Incanus 5,733]

I use them to treat my insomnia. The DVD-A is ideal because I don't have to get up to switch discs.

Except with RotK of course.

[Not Mr. Big 4,655]

Racing Stripes

[DreamTheater 131]

I might as well say those 3 in the upper corner are the ones that I'm most proud of but for some reason mine didn't come in those slipcovers. Or maybe I threw them away and don't remember doing that.

Also the Superman blue box... if there's a fire I will be sure to save that one before I save my ass.

[Bespin 8,505]

I might as well say those 3 in the upper corner are the ones that I'm most proud of but for some reason mine didn't come in those slipcovers. Or maybe I threw them away and don't remember doing that.

Those are the splicases first Editions, They now come as jewel cases:

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I think he meant he has the jewel case versions of the RCA releases. I have these too. I never knew there were slipcase versions until later.

[DreamTheater 131]

Yes, the jewel case editions, with the awesome logo's printed on the discs. Empire having the imperial logo and Jedi the rebel alliance logo. Star Wars has the death star.

Love these releases more than life itself.

[Bespin 8,505]

Yes, the jewel case editions, with the awesome logo's printed on the discs. Empire having the imperial logo and Jedi the rebel alliance logo. Star Wars has the death star.

Love these releases more than life itself.

The slipcase first edition had a glue problem... My ESB first CD is indeed dead because of it.

Don't ever buy them used!

[Marian Schedenig 8,249]

Glue problem? In what way? The sleeves slightly scratched my CDs over the years, but otherwise they're fine.

[Matt C 456]

There was a time, my dear, in distant ages past (like the 80s 'n' stuff), when the physical acquisition of rare film score releases was something akin to Indy going after the lost ark or the holy grail. These days it's just not the same thing; once Indy could jump online and order these artifacts for a modest shipping charge, the whole bullwhip-and-fedora thing kinda lost its verve. I still haven't decided which era is better; it is nice to have access to all this wonderful music these days, but something in me misses the hours I spent flipping through hundreds of LPs at WaxTrax and the inordinate thrill that came with finding a piece I knew was a rare find.

I suppose, even though it is easy to own anything your heart desires via the internet, I look at film scores being rare in today's world because I don't know anyone outside of this board who listens to them. Let alone buys them. I listen to popular music today along with my friends as well but to me film scores are more special. Maybe I'm just weird but orchestrated music feels deeper and more emotionally complex than pop music. Well actually acknowledging that I don't think makes me weird. Even still buying and listening to film scores, despite them being more easily acquired in this age, feels rare and special to me. Perhaps that makes me weird lol

On another note I am definitely going to have to listen to Krull. It has been mentioned a lot since reading these boards.

Please take the time to listen to Krull. It's wonderful.

[Bespin 8,505]

Glue problem? In what way? The sleeves slightly scratched my CDs over the years, but otherwise they're fine.

It seems there was to much glue in my slip case, so it went on the CD. Even after a strong cleaning some tracks are now unreadable, even with EAC.

[DreamTheater 131]

Man that would seriously piss me off.

I'm glad I never came across those releases.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Those were the best! Pity I didn't find the booklet version of TESB

[DreamTheater 131]

No the jewel case editions were the best. Because they was no glue holding those together.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

The glue on mine is fine, they are still in excellent condition.