Basil Poledouris' STARSHIP TROOPERS - 2016 2CD Varese Deluxe Edition

[Yavar Moradi 2,593]

7 hours ago, Brundlefly said:

 But wasn't that because it would've required a second disc which no one considered to be worth it?

Nope. The Varese is 75 minutes. The missing significant alternate is 3 minutes. Varese has put out 78 minute discs before. It would have fit. I think maybe they didn’t even realize how significantly different it was!

 

6 hours ago, publicist said:

For Yavar it's never enough. 

There are countless releases I think are enough. Like for example 95% of everything FSM put out; they were above and beyond exhaustive in their treatment of each score. Most Goldsmith releases are reliably thorough.

 

Yavar

[Brundlefly 2,385]

5 hours ago, Yavar Moradi said:

Nope. The Varese is 75 minutes. The missing significant alternate is 3 minutes. Varese has put out 78 minute discs before. It would have fit. I think maybe they didn’t even realize how significantly different it was!

So you are not talking about the alternate of Drill Team?

[Yavar Moradi 2,593]

8 hours ago, Brundlefly said:

So you are not talking about the alternate of Drill Team?

 

Oh, I am...and I see now that it's over 5 minutes long. But somehow on the version I have with that (SonicAdventure's own "Deluxe Edition"...which frankly has better sound than the Varese as well), the total play time is 78 minutes. Very odd. I guess maybe the Varese includes something that SonicAdventure did not?

 

Yavar

[Trent B 337]

What's this alternate of "Drill Team" you guys are talking about and from what score? Starship Troopers?

 

Edit: Nevermind I see what it is.

[Jay 37,336]

18 minutes ago, Trent B said:

What's this alternate of "Drill Team" you guys are talking about and from what score?

 

On 10/27/2019 at 11:30 AM, Yavar Moradi said:

The Varese DE of Executive Decision also left off a very significant alternate that was on the boot. (Really a great and very different piece of music.)

 

12 hours ago, Brundlefly said:

So you are not talking about the alternate of Drill Team?

 

4 hours ago, Yavar Moradi said:

Oh, I am...and I see now that it's over 5 minutes long.

 

[Trent B 337]

You apparently didn't 'see I said "Edit: Nevermind I see what it is". I saw what they were talking about shortly after my post.

[Jay 37,336]

On 10/27/2019 at 3:32 AM, Trent B said:

I noticed another cue they didn't include. 11m3 Zander and Carmen.  That cue can be found on one of the boots for this score. Even though in the film it was dropped but it was definitely recorded.

 

Didn't Varese tuck that into "1-13 Call To War / Bad News From Home (2:25)"?  "6m1a Boot Camp Fed-Net" ("Tragedy At Buenos Aires" on some boots) only runs for 1:27, and yet the Varese track runs 2:25, I thought because they added 11m3 (which runs 1:11) into it.

[Trent B 337]

On 10/29/2019 at 12:02 PM, Jay said:

 

Didn't Varese tuck that into "1-13 Call To War / Bad News From Home (2:25)"?  "6m1a Boot Camp Fed-Net" ("Tragedy At Buenos Aires" on some boots) only runs for 1:27, and yet the Varese track runs 2:25, I thought because they added 11m3 (which runs 1:11) into it.

 

I'm 100% sure that "11m3 Zander and Carmen" is completely different.  You hear a fade out at the end of "Death Of Dizzy" and when in fact it should go into 11m3 Zander and Carmen which is a deleted scene. In the deleted scene Zander and Carmen are in her cabin getting ready for Dizzy's funeral. You can hear this music in the deleted scene. There's a version of the score that I downloaded called "expanded isolated score" when in fact it's not quite the isolated score as it has unused music like the Zander and Carmen sequence.

 

"Bad News From Home" is an a previously un-heard piece which I do believe would play when Rico goes into the Major's office and tells him he doesn't want to drop out as his whole family was in Buenos Aires. It should sync up to how the track is played on this release.

[Jay 37,336]

Oh interesting.  I wonder why Bad News From Home never leaked before and isn't on the cue list

[Trent B 337]

Who knows.

[Jay 37,336]

The Deluxe Edition program is now available on vinyl

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTDW6TCQ

[Jurassic Shark 12,051]

Pre-worn...

[DangerMotif 1,037]

Annoying it’s on everything except digital

[Marian Schedenig 8,191]

That's an odd cover design.

[Richard Penna 3,679]

Looks like a cover from the 50s. I rather like it.

 

Being available on vinyl but not streaming is not the ideal situation though.

[JTN 2,002]

5 hours ago, Jay said:

The Deluxe Edition program is now available on vinyl

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTDW6TCQ

Great cover. It would be great if they released it on CD with this artwork. 

[Romão 2,274]

I love that cover. I really wish this was a CD release

[Yavar Moradi 2,593]

8 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

That's an odd cover design.

 

8 hours ago, Richard Penna said:

Looks like a cover from the 50s. I rather like it.

 

5 hours ago, JTW said:

Great cover. It would be great if they released it on CD with this artwork. 

 

4 hours ago, Romão said:

I love that cover. I really wish this was a CD release

I personally really dig this cover art too. I’m certain it’s an homage to scifi paperback book covers from the 50s-70s.

 

Yavar
 

 

 

[thestat 348]

I cannot over emphasise how awesome this score is - for example, simply this track is like a crazy modernistic percussion ballet that would win a Pulitzer if it was in any other format than film music:

 

[Manakin Skywalker 4,891]

21 hours ago, thestat said:

I cannot over emphasise how awesome this score is - for example, simply this track is like a crazy modernistic percussion ballet that would win a Pulitzer if it was in any other format than film music:

 

Actual footage of Don Williams on the timpani:

 

[Steffromuk 386]

On 31/05/2023 at 5:37 AM, Yavar Moradi said:

 

 

 

I personally really dig this cover art too. I’m certain it’s an homage to scifi paperback book covers from the 50s-70s.

 

Yavar
 

 

 

Too bad it's ruined by a poor choice of font and text composition.

I want it though, but I wish the designer had made more of an effort to integrate the text better. In the old pulp magazine fashion.

[bruce marshall 1,315]

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/548316890712730/

[Andy 4,117]

On 30/5/2023 at 7:30 PM, Romão said:

I love that cover. I really wish this was a CD release

 

Is there any reason to expect a reissue of the CD would accompany this LP release?  Is there any precedent for that sort of thing?

[Jay 37,336]

I can't remember any Varese CD Club titles coming back into print.

The only examples I can think of are something appearing in a boxset first and then an individual release later (Dreamcatcher), and something appearing as a standalone first and then in a box set later (Scream 1 and 2)

 

Frankly, what Starship Troopers deserves is for them to hire Mike or Neil to redo it from scratch, and release the complete score this time, instead of reissuing the incomplete 2016 expansion again.

[Richard Penna 3,679]

Is there anything missing except alternates?

[Jay 37,336]

There's 11 score cues recorded that do not appear on the Varese DE. 

 

1 of those is a cue that just isn't there for unknown reasons (best guess is because the scene it scored was deleted from the final cut, however the Kiss In The Park cue is there so 🤷). 

 

The other 10 unreleased cues are alternate versions of cues that are - some of them wildly different from the versions released (like the film version of Bug Attack on Cameraman)

 

Beyond that, there's a ton of source music unreleased too - 8 more cues I believe.

 

There's also 2 portions of the end credits suite that don't match the released versions of cues or the known alternates, so could be from other alternates or alternate takes that could be neat to hear in full.

[Brónach 1,302]

ages ago, I had a detailed bootleg (emphasis in past tense), i don't know if maybe some of these would have been there. it had source music i think.

[Jay 37,336]

Well all the source music used in the film is on the DVD's isolated score track, so that's 7 of the 8 source music cues.  None of the source stuff has ever leaked in its unedited form (not that there's any way to tell if they were edited down for the final cut or not).

 

Likewise, 6 of the unreleased cues are film versions of cues where the Varese DE has an alternate instead, so those film versions are also all on the isolated score track - so the film version of Fednet #1, Bug Attack on Cameraman, Friends Forever, The Fleet Limps Home, Bugs!!!, and Whiskey Outpost Part 2

 

2 of the remaining unreleased cues appeared on bootlegs - Transporting early shorter version, and Zander and Carmen (the completely unreleased cue for a deleted scene)

 

Which leaves 3 unreleased cues that aren't in the film, aren't on the Varese DE, and have never leaked on any bootleg - Kiss In The Park early version w/ solo flute, Carmen's Shuttle Ride early version w/ different orchetration, Captured Brainbug early version w/ Carmen's theme

[LSH 968]

On 01/06/2023 at 12:19 AM, thestat said:

I cannot over emphasise how awesome this score is - for example, simply this track is like a crazy modernistic percussion ballet that would win a Pulitzer if it was in any other format than film music:

 

 

Excellent stuff.

 

Ah man, Poledouris would be 77 now, if he was still alive. If he'd have even been allowed to write anything close to this now, imagine the music we could have... and still be getting. Massive loss.

[Yavar Moradi 2,593]

6 hours ago, Jay said:

I can't remember any Varese CD Club titles coming back into print.

 

 

 

(Technically a slight expansion, and technically both Masters Film Music releases even though that was treated as a subset of the Varese Club for many years.)

 

I’m sure there are others… especially if both incarnations of the Club are counted.

 

Yavar

[Romão 2,274]

Ah, so there's some hope 

[Yavar Moradi 2,593]

I was going to offer the caveat that the Encore Editions ended when Robert Townson left, Varese saying they wouldn’t do any straight reissues any more. But then they released this Deluxe Edition with had new artwork/packaging but the same program as the previous Deluxe Edition:

And if we are counting Club expansions of previous Club titles… well, The ‘Burbs like Raggedy Man was in the original Club line, and later got expanded (unlike Raggedy Man) in the revived Club:

 

(And then of course recently La-La Land further expanded on the Varese DE, having found a better sounding earlier generation source.)

 

Theres also these two slight expansions (which as Jay points out is what Starship Troopers could be, if it were revisited):

 

 

(Note: the original Deluxe Edition of The Omen was actually a semi-unlimited wide release, not a Club title. But it was a Varese expansions further expanded in the Club line.)

 

Yavar

[A. A. Ron 1,742]

Also the deluxe Star Trek 2009 was reissued in a jewel case.

[Steffromuk 386]

And the straight re-issue of Shadows of the empire with the exact same design.

 

[Yavar Moradi 2,593]

Didn’t that get a fresh transfer/mastering of some kind though @Steffromuk? But — it wasn’t a Club title.

 

Oh, but if we are discussing regular releases, didn’t they reissue some other Star Wars recording of theirs on CD? Either the Kojian or the Gerhardt?

 

Yavar

[Manakin Skywalker 4,891]

18 minutes ago, Yavar Moradi said:

Didn’t that get a fresh transfer/mastering of some kind though @Steffromuk?

 

The vinyl release did I believe; The CD reissue was identical in every way.

[Yavar Moradi 2,593]

Maybe I’m mixing it up with Army of Darkness which was also reissued on CD (but also not a Club title)?

 

Yavar

[crocodile 7,999]

One way or another, it would be nice to have this back in print for everyone to enjoy. If they were to updated and expand it further I would even buy it again. It's a terrific score. In the meantime, I will definitely add the vinyl release to my collection.

 

Karol

[JTN 2,002]

I think Varèse Sarabande has confirmed in one of the forums that the CD is coming soon. 

[Yavar Moradi 2,593]

Just now, JTW said:

I think Varèse Sarabande has acknowledged in one of the forums that the CD is coming soon. 

I think they just acknowledged a CD batch was coming soon, not specifically Starship Troopers.

 

Yavar

[JTN 2,002]

1 hour ago, Yavar Moradi said:

not specifically Starship Troopers.

I think someone copied one of VS’ replies where they confirmed that the CD is coming soon, but alas I don’t remember where I read it, could be on this forum… I’ll try to find it.

[Jay 37,336]

You're just remembering wrong. The Varese account said that a CD Club batch was coming soon, not that Starshio Troopers DE was coming back to CD soon. Here. 

[JTN 2,002]

Correct, thanks.

[Richard Penna 3,679]

Am I alone in not caring that much about music that was recorded but not used? It feels like a modern expansion isn't considered complete until they've released basically everything recorded on the stage.

 

I think I'm just easily satisfied as long as everything featured in the final film is included, as close to the form of its appearance as possible.

[Jay 37,336]

For me whether it was used in the film or not is 100% iirelevant.  What matters is the score that the composer conceived, wrote, and recorded.

 

Often rewrites make cues less interesting and their first recorded ideas are more satisfying.  In Starship Troopers, Poledouris' original versions of THREE major sequences (Bug Attack On Camera Man, Klendathu Battle, Bugs!!) were initially high-octane thrill-ride cues, that got turned into more suspense-driven atmospheric cues in their revisions (Bugs!! at least only partially).  In all 3 cases I enjoy Poledouris' original vision for those cues significantly more than what Verhoeven had him do at the last minute after the fact.

[Holko 9,516]

Yes you are. Who knows what's rotting in the vault that could be much more interesting than some copypaste rewrite with removed flowery solo lines that the director ordered in the last week of postproduction?

 

And it seems you misunderstood Jay's posts, the Varese of this score features alternates in place of the film versions.

[Jay 37,336]

It's a mix. 

 

Sometimes it contains the film version and the alternate isn't on it (Transporting, Carmen's Shuttle Ride, Captured Brainbug)

 

Sometimes it contains an alternate and the film version isn't on it (Fednet#1, Bug Attack on Cameraman, Friends Forever, The Fleet Limps Home, Whiskey Outpost Part 2)

 

There's only one time where both versions recorded is on it (Klendathu Battle)

 

And finally for Bugs!!, they included the first and second version recorded, while the final film version (the only cue with 3 versions that we know of) isn't there - though it's almost identical to version 2, just with more percussion added, anyway

[Richard Penna 3,679]

5 minutes ago, Holko said:

And it seems you misunderstood Jay's posts, the Varese of this score features alternates in place of the film versions.

 

Oh I'd got it the other way round, sorry. Yes, I agree that if the set is missing versions heard in the movie then it does warrant another edition at some point.

 

Does this set in particular point to someone producing the album who hasn't paid proper attention to what's in the film vs an alternate version?

[Manakin Skywalker 4,891]

I was under the impression that the new vinyl sets start shipping in August (yep, the site still says August 4), yet my package literally just showed up.