Thor 8,504 Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 This doesn't have a previous thread either, it seems. The film is a forgettable, soapy Chris Columbus melodrama, but the score is great -- especially considering it's a replacement score (not sure how much time he had). Paints wintery landscapes in broad strokes, with gorgeous writing for woodwinds and solo guitar (Chris Parkening is one of our greatest masters). I've become more and more enamoured with this particular sound of Williams in later years (STANLEY & IRIS, PETE'N'TILLIE, THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST etc.). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Sítrónu 528 Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 1 hour ago, Thor said: The film is a forgettable, soapy Chris Columbus melodrama disagreed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 8,504 Posted March 25, 2017 Author Share Posted March 25, 2017 That's fine. Don't get me wrong -- I do like it sometimes when he goes all out mushy; when it's kind of a "celebration" of all those aspects, like HOME ALONE or the HARRY POTTERs or MRS. DOUBTFIRE. But it may also result in misfires, like BICENTENNIAL MAN and STEPMOM. Great melodrama is a tricky genre to get right. At least we almost always get great scores out of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete 993 Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 I love this score. Especially the tracks that feature the guitar as well as the sprightly Horse and Buggy cue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naïve Old Fart 10,523 Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 It's very nice, and I also like the guitar pieces, but...geez, doesn't JW get bored conducting his own music, all the time? Has he ever had the urge to conduct THE RING CYCLE, or the complete works of BRAHMS? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incanus 5,818 Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 It is a charming little score with a lovely autumnal feel to it, very much in line with lyrical intimate JW scores like The Accidental Tourist and Stanley & Iris. The Days Between (aka the End Credits) is a particular highlight, both the guitar and oboe versions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom 5,148 Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 1 hour ago, Richard said: It's very nice, and I also like the guitar pieces, but...geez, doesn't JW get bored conducting his own music, all the time? Has he ever had the urge to conduct THE RING CYCLE, or the complete works of BRAHMS? Your avatar is Rush. Do their concerts typically feature a lot of music by other bands? Does that irritate you as well? Or are you being sarcastic and I am just not getting it? Jurassic Shark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naïve Old Fart 10,523 Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 Rest assured, Tom, you are getting it, and that's a good point, but even Rush had a FEEDBACK tour (which I saw, btw). I know that JW is, primarily a composer, and that composers - usually - conduct their own music, but I wonder what JW's "spin" on, say, Vaughn Williams' 4th Symphony might be? I'm not sure that he's ever stretched himself, as an interpreter of other people's music. After all, he is influenced by a lot of people. Then again, one could argue "why would he want/need to?". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom 5,148 Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 In the heyday of his conducting (BPO years), the ratio of other people's music to his was like 10 to 1. At this point, when he does conduct, he seems like he is on an extended farewell tour, giving the largest segment of the audience what it wants. At the end of the day, I think he sees conducting only as a means to an end. Composing he seems to find his artistic fulfillment. Once 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bespinGPT 8,853 Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 I love this score! Worth mentioning is the recording of "The Days Between" by Keisuke Wakao, accompanied on the piano by the Master himself. Keisuke Wakao plays music of John Williams (1999, Denon, COCQ-83115; Pilot, Maruyama, Williams, Wakao, Borromeo String Qt) Featuring John Williams (p): The Days Between from "Stepmom". Incanus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 8,504 Posted March 25, 2017 Author Share Posted March 25, 2017 The Keisuke Wakao CD is a must-have for all Williams fans, and not only for the STEPMOM piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incanus 5,818 Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 1 hour ago, Thor said: The Keisuke Wakao CD is a must-have for all Williams fans, and not only for the STEPMOM piece. Absolutely! Among the top re-recordings done of Maestro's work. The arrangements are all top notch. E.g. the rarely performed The Accidental Tourist piece is fantastic and perfect showcase for oboe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 8,504 Posted March 25, 2017 Author Share Posted March 25, 2017 And while you're at it, get the oboe concerto, which was written specifically for Wakao. It's not as strong as the bassoon concerto ("Five Sacred Trees"), but it's growing on me. Sorry, that was a total detour. Back to STEPMOM, I've always contemplated how cool it would have been if John Williams had employed John Williams instead of Parkening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John 2,032 Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 39,755 Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 On 3/25/2017 at 5:33 AM, Thor said: This doesn't have a previous thread either, it seems. http://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?/topic/17434-rate-stepmom/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GerateWohl 5,159 Posted February 28, 2021 Share Posted February 28, 2021 On 3/25/2017 at 6:43 PM, Bespin said: I love this score! Worth mentioning is the recording of "The Days Between" by Keisuke Wakao, accompanied on the piano by the Master himself. http://www.goplanete.com/johnwilliams/images/disco/p_cocq83115.jpg Keisuke Wakao plays music of John Williams (1999, Denon, COCQ-83115; Pilot, Maruyama, Williams, Wakao, Borromeo String Qt) Featuring John Williams (p): The Days Between from "Stepmom". I mentioned it several times. I prefer the piano only version. Unfortunately, no recording exists to my knowledge. So, I had to take piano lessons to play it myself (more badly than well, but betterthan nothing). Together with Theme from Sabrina probably my favourite piano piece from Williams. But I would not need an expansion of the original album unless the piano arrangement is on it. bespinGPT 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Guernsey 2,735 Posted March 21, 2022 Share Posted March 21, 2022 Any thoughts on the FYC versus OST? I know the contents are the same but I'm sure someone mentioned that it was mastered differently/better? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thx99 1,896 Posted March 21, 2022 Share Posted March 21, 2022 @Tom Guernsey, the FYC is an HDCD and with a little effort, one can extract the tracks as 20-bit WAVs (actually 24-bit WAVs but the audio data has 20-but resolution). There are slight, relative amplitude differences between them and the commercial CD, given the higher bit depth, but I think that’s about it. I’ll see about posting a waveform comparison later today. Jurassic Shark and Amer 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Guernsey 2,735 Posted March 21, 2022 Share Posted March 21, 2022 4 minutes ago, thx99 said: @Tom Guernsey, the FYC is an HDCD and with a little effort, one can extract the tracks as 20-bit WAVs (actually 24-bit WAVs but the audio data has 20-but resolution). There are slight, relative amplitude differences between them and the commercial CD, given the higher bit depth, but I think that’s about it. I’ll see about posting a waveform comparison later today. Thanks @thx99. Don't go to too much effort on my account, it was a fairly casual query. Of course, if you want to do it for your own interest and want to share the results, that would be cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurassic Shark 13,360 Posted March 21, 2022 Share Posted March 21, 2022 6 minutes ago, thx99 said: @Tom Guernsey, the FYC is an HDCD and with a little effort, one can extract the tracks as 20-bit WAVs (actually 24-bit WAVs but the audio data has 20-but resolution). There are slight, relative amplitude differences between them and the commercial CD, given the higher bit depth, but I think that’s about it. I’ll see about posting a waveform comparison later today. Since you know so much about these things, is it possible to rip the high resolution formats of SACD, DVD-A, or blu-ray audio with a USB blu-ray player (I've got a Verbatim blu-ray burner)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thx99 1,896 Posted March 21, 2022 Share Posted March 21, 2022 1 hour ago, Jurassic Shark said: Since you know so much about these things, is it possible to rip the high resolution formats of SACD, DVD-A, or blu-ray audio with a USB blu-ray player (I've got a Verbatim blu-ray burner)? It's been many years now, but I've personally ripped the "Advanced-Resolution" stream from a DVD-A before using "DVD-Audio Explorer". I've never ripped SACDs or Blu-ray audio discs, though. The last time I looked into it, I believe SACDs required a PlayStation that might have been hacked or something. Granted, things may have progressed since then. Jurassic Shark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurassic Shark 13,360 Posted March 21, 2022 Share Posted March 21, 2022 Just now, thx99 said: It's been many years now, but I've personally ripped the "Advanced-Resolution" stream from a DVD-A before using "DVD-Audio Explorer". I've never ripped SACDs or Blu-ray audio discs, though. The last time I looked into it, I believe SACDs required a PlayStation that might have been hacked or something. Granted, things may have progressed since then. Thanks. I was just wondering how I could transfer my high-res physical discs to a high-res portable player. Of course, they rather want us to purchase high-res downloads. thx99 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thx99 1,896 Posted March 21, 2022 Share Posted March 21, 2022 This article may be a few years old but it goes into gory detail of all that is (or was back then) required to rip an SACD: Down the Rabbit Hole of SACD Ripping and DSD Extraction https://www.psaudio.com/copper/article/down-the-rabbit-hole-of-sacd-ripping-and-dsd-extraction/ Jurassic Shark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toillion 268 Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 First vinyl release limited to 500 numbered copies. https://atthemoviesshop.com/collections/just-announced/products/stepmom-vinyl-soundtrack That_Bloke 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJH132 49 Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 On 21/03/2022 at 5:07 AM, thx99 said: This article may be a few years old but it goes into gory detail of all that is (or was back then) required to rip an SACD: Down the Rabbit Hole of SACD Ripping and DSD Extraction https://www.psaudio.com/copper/article/down-the-rabbit-hole-of-sacd-ripping-and-dsd-extraction/ Yes, I went down that particular rabbit hole... I procured a supported blu-ray player, bought an aging MacMini and read thousands of posts until I was able to get my first SACD to rip properly. And it seems to work just fine! Files are saved as .dsf which I convert (losslessly) to .FLAC for storage on my server. I mostly went through all this trouble to get to the multichannel programs on certain SACDs I've taken advantage of the new-ish Vocalion re-releases of the Charles Gerhardt discs to get hi-res and multichannel rips of some of the best film music collections ever released! thx99 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-8 4,047 Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 Any ideas why they chose translucent green? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toillion 268 Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 36 minutes ago, BB-8 said: Any ideas why they chose translucent green? I can't think of a color that really fits thematically with the movie. So it was probably just one of the options available and there is a lot of green on the cover. Or someone asked their stepmom what her favorite color is. BB-8 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not Mr. Big 4,741 Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 6 hours ago, Toillion said: I can't think of a color that really fits thematically with the movie. So it was probably just one of the options available and there is a lot of green on the cover. Or someone asked their stepmom what her favorite color is. Orange/brown. A quintessential fall movie Thor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 8,504 Posted April 11 Author Share Posted April 11 5 hours ago, Not Mr. Big said: Orange/brown. A quintessential fall movie Agreed. Very autumny. Even if HowardL over on FSM somehow gets winter out of it. Either way, I adore this score. And the existing presentation is perfect as-is. Not Mr. Big 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard P 4,267 Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 The OST feels a bit overly long to me for the type of score and movie, given we're not dealing with large numbers of themes and concepts that need representing. I had the full album at one point and gradually lost tracks I never listened to, and it came down to Isabel's Horse and Buggy and one of the tracks with Parkening's extended performance. I've seen the film and the score works well and it's perfectly fine as a nicely crafted domestic score, but for listening purposes The Village is more to my tastes for an Autumnal sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 8,504 Posted April 11 Author Share Posted April 11 Well, to each their own. These days, I tend to prefer these types of scores. I don't need umpteen number of themes, oodles of action music and cymbal crashes and whatnot. Rather, these impressionistic, calm, beautifully atmospheric scores do it for me. It easily sustains its 58 minutes (56 1/2 if you take away the song), but I wouldn't want it any longer either. It's perfectly curated the way it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-8 4,047 Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 8 hours ago, Not Mr. Big said: Orange/brown. A quintessential fall movie Not Mr. Big 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-8 4,047 Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 On 25/03/2017 at 12:29 PM, pete said: I love this score. Especially the tracks that feature the guitar as well as the sprightly Horse and Buggy cue. Is it only me, but the guitarist somehow seems a little tense. And why is his sheet music placed on the floor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurassic Shark 13,360 Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 He's far-sighted. Tom 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joni Wiljami 1,212 Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 On 11/04/2024 at 12:34 PM, Richard Penna said: The OST feels a bit overly long to me for the type of score and movie, given we're not dealing with large numbers of themes and concepts that need representing. I had the full album at one point and gradually lost tracks I never listened to, and it came down to Isabel's Horse and Buggy and one of the tracks with Parkening's extended performance. I've seen the film and the score works well and it's perfectly fine as a nicely crafted domestic score, but for listening purposes The Village is more to my tastes for an Autumnal sound. Oh! I must listen to The Village because it is so much better Autumnal score. Thank you. So many good scores not by JW that I almost cry, so emotional. artguy360 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 8,504 Posted April 13 Author Share Posted April 13 I agree, THE VILLAGE outshines STEPMOM as far as autumnal scores go, but only by a tiny margin. artguy360 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toillion 268 Posted May 14 Share Posted May 14 My copy came in today and I got #220/500. I just put it on and so far it sounds really good. I feel like Music on Vinyl's quality is always so much better than some of the other labels. My only complaints are that the packaging has seemed to gotten a little cheaper. It's not a gatefold so just two LPs in a sleeve, and the number isn't embossed on the cover. I think all my other releases it has it embossed on the back but this just has it printed on the sticker. Thor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurassic Shark 13,360 Posted May 14 Share Posted May 14 The colour of vomit nicely sums up this score. johnmillions 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not Mr. Big 4,741 Posted May 14 Share Posted May 14 4 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said: The colour of vomit nicely sums up this score. No it doesn't! Jurassic Shark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toillion 268 Posted May 14 Share Posted May 14 7 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said: The colour of vomit nicely sums up this score. I disagree! but still laughed at the comment. Jurassic Shark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuartalHarmony 692 Posted May 14 Share Posted May 14 If your vomit is ever that colour, please promise us you’ll seek medical attention immediately. Edmilson and Jurassic Shark 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 8,504 Posted May 14 Author Share Posted May 14 Fantastic vinyl release of a fantastic score. I’m envious, Touillon! Toillion 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigjimwilson 268 Posted May 15 Share Posted May 15 Mine arrived too. I got number 10. Also surprised though to see they've not embossed the sleeve as usual. So the only indication of which number you have is the sticky label on the front. But...... doesn't really matter does it! Not had chance to play it yet, but looking forward to it. I know there's no new content, but somehow a new copy of something, in a different format, always has me discovering something new or listening in a different way. It's only the second "double LP in one sleeve" release I have seen, or own. The other being the Netherlands release of Hook. Toillion 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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