Remasters of the First 6 Star Wars Soundtracks now available (Shawn Murphy / Disney Records 2018)

[Jurassic Shark 12,030]

If I'm not mistaken Disney takes better care of their archives, so in this respect it might be a good thing that Lucasfilm was bought by Disney.

[Nick1Ø66 4,688]

I hope they have a better backup system than Thor.

[Jurassic Shark 12,030]

They could just get the 128kbps mp3 files from George's iPod.

[Faleel 5,340]

6 minutes ago, Nick1066 said:

I hope they have a better backup system than Thor.

?

EDIT: Oh, you mean, @Thor, not the Marvel character of the same name.

[Tallguy 3,376]

2 minutes ago, Fal said:

?

EDIT: Oh, you mean, @Thor, not the Marvel character of the same name.

 

No, he means Thor.  You saw what happened to Asgard.  Tsk tsk tsk.

[MikeH 768]

6 hours ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

One of the tracks that struck me the most with ROTS was Padme's Ruminations. On the original album, there's a decent amount of reverb being used, especially on the female singer. Here there is none; so there is this bizarre echo/delay effect being used on the singer that I never really noticed before. It just sounds strange to me personally.

 

Yeah, and why is Augie’s Great Municipal Band so bone dry? Creative choice or just an oops? There’s nothing to gel all the separate layers together. 

[1977 1,743]

7 hours ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

One of the tracks that struck me the most with ROTS was Padme's Ruminations. On the original album, there's a decent amount of reverb being used, especially on the female singer. Here there is none; so there is this bizarre echo/delay effect being used on the singer that I never really noticed before. It just sounds strange to me personally.

 

Honestly, that whole highly processed moaning female vocal was bizarre to start with, one of the few (only) missteps by JW in this saga's music (temp track love by George perhaps?)

 

The use of solo female voice in the cue where Dooku meets Sidious in Coruscant (from the end of AotC) is vastly superior, a gorgeously haunting bit of writing.

[deleted account 108]

1 hour ago, MikeH said:

Seeing as how JW is such a control freak in the best sense of the label, does he care about this stuff after the film is finished? Or is he even aware of things like TPM not being properly archived?

 

I remember reading something when the Rhino Superman CD came out that JW tended to be very much involved in the performance of the score and the editing of the album and outside of that he didn't seem to care as much, say, about fidelity or archiving of every single take.  I mean, the conductor's scores from Superman The Movie can't be found anywhere!  The Debney cd had to be reorchestrated from the sketches!  

 

I think another factor is that to him this is all just his job and he's written so much music in his life that I don't think he believes every single note he's written is at all precious.  I think he has the albums and the concert versions and to him those are the landmark things, everything else is sort of nuts-and-bolts workmanship that regular people wouldn't be interested in.  Goldsmith was the same way, he actively prevented scores from being released in their entirety, preferring instead a tastefully edited album to a head-to-toe archival presentation (i.e. the 1995 ST:TMP cd)

 

Look at how JW wanted the LLL CE3K album to be assembled vs. how we JWFAN's like to have things done.  I think that says a lot....

 

Also, I don't think they had any idea they'd ever want to go back and revisit this stuff, especially SW and ESB.  I don't think they imagined 7.1 surround and 192/24 audio files.  I think they thought "There's the movie and there's the LP" and that's it.  The music of the Beatles has a similar thing - the early albums had things committed to tape in a way that makes any real remixing kind of impossible, because they thought, who would ever want to go back and remix these things in stereo or have separation for a "Rock Band" video game?  They didn't have video games in 1962!

 

 

21 minutes ago, JTWfan77 said:

 

Honestly, that whole highly processed moaning female vocal was bizarre to start with, one of the few (only) missteps by JW in this saga's music (temp track love by George perhaps?)

 

 

You're crazy, it's terrific   (i mean that kindly, not troll-ish-ly)

 

 

[Manakin Skywalker 4,891]

I think maybe John also sees things from a conductor's perspective as well; feeling the need to meticulously adjust everything to fit his idea of perfecting. Maybe he has OCD.

[crocodile 7,984]

So how does the original SW sound on this?

 

Karol

[1977 1,743]

46 minutes ago, elvisjones said:

You're crazy, it's terrific   (i mean that kindly, not troll-ish-ly)

 

All good, to each his own. It's just not my cup of tea. Fine for things like Troy and Gladiator, but honestly not suited to SW IMO. But then I am an oddball, I actually find AotC to be my favourite Prequel score (and I still don't hear the hiss). RotS never did much for me, if I've listened to the whole ST more than 3 times it's a lot.

 

17 minutes ago, crocodile said:

So how does the original SW sound on this?

 

Karol

 

I just sampled the Main Title and Land of the Sandpeople, and compared the latter to the 2016. Honestly, I was expecting more. Not that it sounds bad, and it does sound better than the 2016, just not the leagues better I was expecting.

 

Battle in the Snow and The Asteroid Field are beyond description, they sound dreadful. Beyond all the problems explained better than I ever could, what struck me was the excessively exaggerated stereo separation (obviously with a skewing to the left channel) on my Sennheisers. The 2016 on these tracks at least is light years better (apologies), with a balanced, natural soundstage, the 2018 feels like it has a hole in the middle.

 

Honestly, for ESB at least, is anyone not considering returning the CD? Perhaps if there's enough push back Disney will take notice? Creative choices in mixing is one thing, but this is sheer incompetence and does not deserve to be rewarded.

[crocodile 7,984]

So I take it none of those discs are actually worth buying? The last edition I bought of SW scores were the RCA sets. As lacking as they might be, at least you can tell they were a labor of love.

 

Karol

[MikeH 768]

20 minutes ago, JTWfan77 said:

 I actually find AotC to be my favourite Prequel score  

 

This is getting out of hand, now there are two of us!

[1977 1,743]

Always two there are, no more, no less.

[crocodile 7,984]

I like AOTC quite a bit actually. Out of all the prequels it actually had a well assembled album. And there's a certain elegance with which Williams constructed so many extended pieces for this film. They might sometimes sound bit removed from everything else but at least there's something unique about them.

 

Karol

[Faleel 5,340]

55 minutes ago, elvisjones said:

 

 

 

Look at how JW wanted the LLL CE3K album to be assembled vs. how we JWFAN's like to have things done.  I think that says a lot....

 

 

Well, that was partly Mattesino as well

[Marian Schedenig 8,173]

12 minutes ago, crocodile said:

I like AOTC quite a bit actually. Out of all the prequels it actually had a well assembled album. And there's a certain elegance with which Williams constructed so many extended pieces for this film. They might sometimes sound bit removed from everything else but at least there's something unique about them.

 

 

I've always been a fan of AOTC's underrated action scoring, too.

[crocodile 7,984]

Just now, Marian Schedenig said:

 

 

I've always been a fan of AOTC's underrated action scoring, too.

Well, for what it's worth both the Coruscant chase, The Arena and On the Conveyor Belt are some of his most distinctive action pieces of this century. I love those.

 

Karol

[Faleel 5,340]

Doesn't hurt that Conveyor Belt made it into quite a few trailers.

[Trent B 337]

In my opinion a expanded/complete edit definitely helps the score for AOTC. I learned to appreciate it a lot more with the new material from the games and what not.

[Drew 590]

It's a shame they didn't choose to remaster On the Conveyor Belt with the rest of the soundtrack.

[Marian Schedenig 8,173]

26 minutes ago, crocodile said:

Well, for what it's worth both the Coruscant chase, The Arena and On the Conveyor Belt are some of his most distinctive action pieces of this century. I love those.

 

 

And while I like those, it's the other ones I'm really partial to. Or at least I like those at least as much, while everyone else seems to hate them.

[crocodile 7,984]

2 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

 

And while I like those, it's the other ones I'm really partial to. Or at least I like those at least as much, while everyone else seems to hate them.

Jango's Escape and Bounty Hunter's Pursuit I like too. Probably also because they are the only two action pieces in the first two prequels that are not badly butchered in the film.

 

And the Tusken cam cue as well. Probably the single darkest cue in the entire saga.

 

Karol

[MikeH 768]

I’d love to be a fly on the wall in his studio when he’s writing wild cues like Chase Through Corooskant and Jango’s Escape.  I still listen to the former and wonder just how he conceptualized that whole thing in his head 

 

I think the main reason I’m partial to AOTC is due to the pastoral writing, seeing as how Jane Eyre is my favorite JW score. 

[karelm 2,903]

Maybe we will get a MM release after episode IX that features all the scores.  I will not be purchasing this set. 

[Manakin Skywalker 4,891]

Another thing that caught my attention was the piano at the beginning of "Bounty Hunter's Pursuit". I didn't even notice there was ever a piano in that cue.

[King Mark 3,625]

Wow, .I didn't  think Asteroid Field  could be so bad just reading the comments .It's disastrous  beyond description

 

Actually it sounds like some recording it from his cell phone while the music is playing in the room

 

So even if they eventually  do "complete scores"  of the OT  , if looks like the 1997 SE's might be the definitive editions after all. We might have moved into "it's too late" territory

 

 

6 hours ago, elvisjones said:

Obv!  Their "official" archive of TPM, for example, was distressingly patchwork, with elements from the OST and UE being the only things they had for certain cues, and other cues, like "Up The Wires", missing entirely.  ROTS was the only score of the original 6 to be seemingly properly archived. 

 does this mean that a proper expanded release of TPM is basically impossible?

[Ricard 2,242]

5 hours ago, elvisjones said:

Look at how JW wanted the LLL CE3K album to be assembled vs. how we JWFAN's like to have things done.

 

That was MM's own decision according to his interview for Cinematic Sound Radio (he mentions it at around 1h37m). Do you have any inside information on Williams' involvement in the project?

[Manakin Skywalker 4,891]

1 hour ago, King Mark said:

does this mean that a proper expanded release of TPM is basically impossible?

All of the music seems to be in the video games, available in the ProTools project files that were given to LucasArts sound editors, so I doubt they are literally "missing" them completely. Perhaps just portions of the original master files and analog tapes.

[crumbs 14,301]

There were digital AND analogue recordings of the three prequels. Pardon my ignorance but how could anything be missing if there are digital masters? Digital masters that were clearly distributed internally to LucasArts, etc.?

 

The analogue masters I can understand. Studios are hopeless at preserving those tapes.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

2 hours ago, King Mark said:

So even if they eventually  do "complete scores"  of the OT  , if looks like the 1997 SE's might be the definitive editions after all. We might have moved into "it's too late" territory

 

We waited too long. We'll keep checking them! Keep lookin'!

[Balahkay 627]

I thought I read in the past (maybe 10 years ago now) that ROTJ had digital masters?  Did I read wrong information?

[Arpy 4,145]

I thought Patricia Sullivan or someone said they had already assembled complete scores for AotC and RotS akin to the TPM ultimate editions just waiting for release on day?

[Faleel 5,340]

You are probably thinking about that rumor that AOTC had a scrapped UE.

[MikeH 768]

1 hour ago, crumbs said:

There were digital AND analogue recordings of the three prequels. Pardon my ignorance but how could anything be missing if there are digital masters? Digital masters that were clearly distributed internally to LucasArts, etc.?

 

The analogue masters I can understand. Studios are hopeless at preserving those tapes.

 

Maybe someone erased them from the archive memory. 

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

But who and why...harder to answer. Meditate on this I will.

[Arpy 4,145]

14 minutes ago, Fal said:

You are probably thinking about that rumor that AOTC had a scrapped UE.

No, it was in an interview with one of the mixers/editors that they're all assembled just not yet released, I'll try and find the article.

1 minute ago, Batman's Diet Coke said:

But who and why...harder to answer. Meditate on this I will.

The dark side clouds everything though. You won't have the foggiest...

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

The Gungan parade sounds really tinny and weird.

 

AOTC comes alive more than on the OST and has nice dynamic range. Like the Rocketeer, I like it.

 

Around five minutes into Return to Tatooine, you can hear these chimes or something that weren't audible on the original album.

[Drew 590]

I did an experiment and tried to combine the old Duel of the Fates with the new version. What happened is exactly what occurred when I attempted to combine different versions of OT cues from the various releases: They progressively get more out of sync as time goes on. One version is very, very slightly slower than the other. This means that the recordings of TPM that they were using were analog, correct? I assume that digital recordings would always line up.

 

I'll try with the other two prequels and see if they line up.

[1977 1,743]

Anyone going to send back their Empire?

 

Apparently some people have no issue with it, see this exchange between myself and DMD over at FSM (emphasis my own):

DMD, have you listened to The Asteroid Field and Battle in the Snow?

The Astroid Field the old version seems more dryer than the new one, slightly more reverb on the new one. Both are interesting as they are slightly different, depends on listening taste as to which one people will enjoy better. I'm happy and glad I have these new ones and glad they tweaked some stuff. 

 

Source: 

http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?forumID=1&pageID=11&threadID=126331&archive=0

 

How could I have gotten this so wrong?

 

Another poster at FSM linked to this, some interesting discussion there: 

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/star-wars-soundtracks-its-finally-happen-but-right-this-time.742251/

 

18 minutes ago, Drew said:

I did an experiment and tried to combine the old Duel of the Fates with the new version. What happened is exactly what occurred when I attempted to combine different versions of OT cues from the various releases: They progressively get more out of sync as time goes on. One version is very, very slightly slower than the other. This means that the recordings of TPM that they were using were analog, correct? I assume that digital recordings would always line up.

 

That's interesting. When listening to ESB I could have sworn Battle in the Snow sounded sped up on the 2018.

 

I suppose digital could be sped up (I mean, in Audacity it's a few clicks and it's done) but as to why they would do that, who knows? Sheer incompetence, perhaps?

 

Mike Matessino needs to please chime in and at least let us know if the ESB masters are intact or degraded beyond repair (if he knows at all).

[Faleel 5,340]

12 minutes ago, Drew said:

I did an experiment and tried to combine the old Duel of the Fates with the new version. What happened is exactly what occurred when I attempted to combine different versions of OT cues from the various releases: They progressively get more out of sync as time goes on. One version is very, very slightly slower than the other. This means that the recordings of TPM that they were using were analog, correct? I assume that digital recordings would always line up.

IIUC Only thing that would cause that would be different takes, or incorrect transferral.

[Amer 2,080]

50 minutes ago, Fal said:

You are probably thinking about that rumor that AOTC had a scrapped UE.

Not a rumour. Shawn Murphy himself confirmed it in a Unboxing video interview when the 2016 Vinyl box set came out. It was planned and then aborted.

[1977 1,743]

5 minutes ago, Amer said:

Not a rumour. Shawn Murphy himself confirmed it in a Unboxing video interview when the 2016 Vinyl box set came out. It was planned and then aborted.

 

I'd much rather have had that (and RotS) than these releases.

[Faleel 5,340]

26 minutes ago, JTWfan77 said:

 

 

That's interesting. When listening to ESB I could have sworn Battle in the Snow sounded sped up on the 2018.

 

I suppose digital could be sped up (I mean, in Audacity it's a few clicks and it's done) but as to why they would do that, who knows? Sheer incompetence, perhaps?

Well, in the case of Raiders and Temple of Doom, the tapes were transferred at the wrong speed.

[Amer 2,080]

2 minutes ago, JTWfan77 said:

 

I'd much rather have had that (and RotS) than these releases.

After this debacle from Disney; I wont be surprised if they actually did it just to milk the cow a final time before the Definitive Editions come around (Sigh)

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Guess I'll save my money.

[Drew 590]

39 minutes ago, Drew said:

I did an experiment and tried to combine the old Duel of the Fates with the new version. What happened is exactly what occurred when I attempted to combine different versions of OT cues from the various releases: They progressively get more out of sync as time goes on. One version is very, very slightly slower than the other. This means that the recordings of TPM that they were using were analog, correct? I assume that digital recordings would always line up.

 

I'll try with the other two prequels and see if they line up.

 

Jango's Escape from AOTC seemed to sync well. Battle of the Heroes from ROTS fell out of sync, but not as much as Duel of the Fates did.

[Tallguy 3,376]

It's growing on me!  Even The Asteroid Field.  (It's so wet it sounds like a Goldsmith track.)

 

Star Wars certainly sounds remarkable.  The one segue that sounded way better (so far) was The Last Battle going from Cell Bay to Tractor Beam.  Almost disturbingly eerie.  

 

I have had all of the LP presentations for a while now, but hearing The Princess Appears (anyone else actually miss the old "whine"?) go into the Last Battle was both jarring and also like coming home.

 

I am neither a prequel expert or even fan.  But Qui-Gon's Noble Death sounded astonishing.

 

I think I'll be buying these over the course of the summer.

[Miz 139]

I have trouble navigating all of this.

 

I have the Prequel Trilogy on the same rips from CDs. Is there any new music on these remasters? If not, it sounds like the Prequel albums would be just the same?

 

I have the Original Trilogy Special Edition OSTs on 320kbs rips from CDs. I like having the complete soundtrack (their flow is much better than the Prequels' complete versions). I don't care for OT original album presentations and edits very much. I have tried the original RotJ albums for better sound quality, and some tracks are preferable. Is this RotJ version a complete one, and does it have any improvement in sound quality from the SE RotJ complete album?

 

 

[Holko 9,499]

*facepalm*