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JW fan starting CD collection


Pellaeon

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If you could recommend exactly five purchases as a JWFan “starter set,” what would they be? Regardless of price—but the FSM blue box would perhaps be overkill (as a programme), though feel free to disagree. Working on my own list—

 

1. Star Wars Trilogy: The Original Soundtrack Anthology (1993)

2. John Williams • Steven Spielberg: The Ultimate Collection (2017)

3. Lights, Camera...Music! Six Decades of John Williams (2017)

4. Superman: The Movie (2018 as yet unannounced LLL edition?)

5. ?

 

Please, no “it depends” answers; just offer your own opinionated opinion! Thanks!

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1.  John Williams Greatest Hits 1969-1999.  This is a great compilation which will give you a taste of Williams in all of his settings, and from there - a starting point to guide your future purchases.

2.  A Star Wars set - either Star Wars Trilogy Anthology (if you value the better sound quality), or, the 6 film set that includes all 3 OT special editions and all 3 prequel OSTs (if you value completeness)

3. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (LLL)

4. Home Alone (OST)

5. Schindler's List

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Definitely the LLL Jurassic Park / Lost World set. You could consider the Indy box set as well. Too bad there's not an HP box set, just so you could include it in your list, haha. I like HPSS best, and it has a very good OST, but many prefer PoA.

 

Personally I would take out Superman, especially when you already have Star Wars. And maybe pick a drama or a non-Spielberg, non-franchise score to keep it well rounded. Geisha might work, it's pretty unique and not redundant with the other selections.

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4 minutes ago, mstrox said:

1.  John Williams Greatest Hits 1969-1999.  This is a great compilation which will give you a taste of Williams in all of his settings, and from there - a starting point to guide your future purchases.

 

This. An excellent place to start for anyone interested in Williams' work or film music in general.

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1 minute ago, mstrox said:

1.  John Williams Greatest Hits 1969-1999.  This is a great compilation which will give you a taste of Williams in all of his settings, and from there - a starting point to guide your future purchases.

2.  A Star Wars set - either Star Wars Trilogy Anthology (if you value the better sound quality), or, the 6 film set that includes all 3 OT special editions and all 3 prequel OSTs (if you value completeness)

3. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (LLL)

4. Home Alone (OST)

5. Schindler's List

Oh, yes.

Perhaps Close Encounters rather than #3 or #4, though.

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19 minutes ago, Steve McQueen said:

Oh, yes.

Perhaps Close Encounters rather than #3 or #4, though.

 

The Close Encounters OST would be a good replacement for #3 - if it weren't well represented on the Greatest Hits discs, I would have included it instead. 

 

I think any of his Harry Potter OSTs would be a good replacement for #4, and I was down to HP1 and that.  I wanted something in kind of his jolly style there.

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34 minutes ago, Smeltington said:

You could consider the Indy box set as well.

No, god no, just wait till it eventually gets done properly by someone who knows what he's doing (KHMMMMatessino...)

I'd definitely place the LLL CE3K on the list somewhere.

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I'd recommend waiting on Indy to any hardcore JWFan, but I don't think the shortcomings of the existing set would be apparent to a new fan. Although the necessity of owning ToD and Last Crusade in any form is debatable, compared to some of the other scores named in this thread.

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Hard to argue with that list, though frankly I've listened to AI far more times than Schindler

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1. Star Wars, OST 2-CD Polydor, 1986

2. Jaws, OST MCA, 1992

3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind, OST Arista, 1986

4. Raiders of the Lost Ark, OST Polydor, 1985

5. E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial, OST MCA, 1986

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First, a Top 5, not going into OST, but re-recordings:

 

1-"John Williams: A Life in Music". London Symphony Orchestra/Gavin Greenaway (2018)

2-"Lights, Camera...Music! Six Decades of John Williams". Boston Pops Orchestra/Keith Lockhart (2017)

3-"John Williams/Steven Spielberg: The Ultimate Collection" (2017, Sony Classical, Compilation, 3 CD)

4-"John Williams conducts John Williams – The Star Wars Trilogy" (1990, Sony Classical)

5-"The Music Of America: John Williams" (2010, Sony Classical, 770636, Compilation, 3 CD)

 

Then, a second list, if you only want OSTs:

 

1-The John Williams Jurassic Park Collection: Limited Edition (2016, La-La Land Records)

2-E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial - 35th Anniversary Remastered Edition (1982) (2017, La-La Land Records)

3-Close Encounters of the Third Kind - 40th Anniversary Remastered Edition (1977) (2017, La-La Land Records)

4-Jaws [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] (1975) (2015, Intrada, INT 7145)

5-A.I. Artificial Intelligence [Expanded Archival Collection] (2001) (2015, La-La Land Records)

 

(Sorry, I list no Star Wars album... 'cause the "definitive" expanded sets, we are still waiting. And the old trilogy OST sets that just came out is for old ears, not young ears.)

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- Greatest Hits 1969-1999 compilation

- Star Wars Ep. IV (1997 2 CD set)

- Home Alone (LLL 25th anniversary edition)

- Superman (2000 2 CD set, if you can't afford or don't want to invest that much money in The Blue Box)

- ET (LLL 2 CD edition)

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The true masterpieces are ET, Jaws, Superman, Star Wars, CE3K, Raiders, TOD, Home Alone, JP, HPSS.

Pass on the dust collector AI awful film and non-essential score (snoozer).

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In no particular order:

 

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starwars-trilogy-box.gif

 

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No doubt the last inclusion will be controversial, but it does offer a very broad cross-section of Williams music from a range of films and covers all the highlights, even if a few of the performances are iffy.

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I would say don’t bother buying the OSTs and try and get as many of the limited edition special edition releases as you can afford as quick as you can. 

 

Use Apple Music or Spotify to try out the OSTs if you don’t want to buy sets you’re unfamiliar with. 

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The Greatest Hits CD 1969-1999 always was a top first choice (and it is again, if you have only one CD to buy).... But it stops in 1999!

 

Now, with the new LSO CD + the 3 Spielberg collabs compilation + The excellent "The Music of America" compilation.... what is really left a part... apart very old stuff like The Reivers and The Cowboys Overture?

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I am curious to know the reason behind all the box sets that people recommend... I get it, this is a theoretical question/topic, but still.

 

”Want to get to know JW?”

”Yeah sure, but I don’t know where to start. Could you recommend five releases?”

”Absolutely! Here, start with these 20 CDs and let me know what you think!”

...

 

Stupid.

 

If Introductory music to JW’s catalogue and thematic material is the main idea, then even five CDs seems a bit much for a starter set.

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Actually the new LSO CD is the #1 first choice, for a new fan that wants to discover JW (it have Harry Potter, it have Harry Potter!!!).

 

And the UK charts prove it.

 

Do you find this choice stupid, @rough cut? :sarcasm:

 

(It was the #1 in previous my list)

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6 hours ago, rough cut said:

I am curious to know the reason behind all the box sets that people recommend... I get it, this is a theoretical question/topic, but still.

 

”Want to get to know JW?”

”Yeah sure, but I don’t know where to start. Could you recommend five releases?”

”Absolutely! Here, start with these 20 CDs and let me know what you think!”

...

 

Stupid.

 

If Introductory music to JW’s catalogue and thematic material is the main idea, then even five CDs seems a bit much for a starter set.

 

Stupid is thinking 5 single CDs or less can ever do justice to Williams' vast and varied output...

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21 minutes ago, Trent B said:

If you don't mind bad edits The Phantom Menace Ultimate Edition is a good choice too.

 

Disqualified. :mellow:

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I do believe that Williams is much, much more than Star Wars, Superman and Indiana Jones so I've selected five which try to illustrate a broader cross section of his work across a range of movies. 

Jaws
Dracula
ET
Nixon
The Eiger Sanction

If I was looking to add five more, I'd go for
Lincoln (one of his best later scores)
Superman
Memoirs Of A Geisha
AI
Close Encounters 

 

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I’d probably go for

  • E.T.
  • Jurassic Park
  • Schindler’s List
  • Hook
  • The Star Wars Trilogy (Skywalker Symphony Orchestra)

The first four, all OSTs, of course. But depending on the receiver, I might as well swap Jurassic Park and Hook for

  • By Request
  • Williams On Williams
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On 5/16/2018 at 10:24 PM, JTWfan77 said:

In no particular order:

 

MI0000978509.jpg?partner=allrovi.com

 

R-1586684-1449338444-7471.jpeg.jpg

 

starwars-trilogy-box.gif

 

81kb2j1ud3l-_sl1500_.jpg

 

51Ke8oqGcmL._SS500.jpg

 

No doubt the last inclusion will be controversial, but it does offer a very broad cross-section of Williams music from a range of films and covers all the highlights, even if a few of the performances are iffy.

 

That's a rather nice selection and I totally agree with your comments on the last inclusion.

 

BTW am I the only one that keeps reading "JW farting CD collection"?

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15 hours ago, Ricard said:

BTW am I the only one that keeps reading "JW farting CD collection"?

 

Well you must be unconsciously concatenating "fan" and "starting".

 

Gosh darn it, now I'm doing it too!

 

:D

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GREATEST HITS 1969-1999 is a great port of entry.

Any OST investigation must begin with STAR WARS, as it's his most famous, and most popular score. Follow that with E.T., and, then, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, as these three will give any potential fan a good overview of his "golden" phase. Then, start to branch out, with SUPERMAN, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, and JAWS. 

Don't throw yourself in at the deep end (as I did :lol:),  don't listen chronologically, and for fuck's sake...don't attempt IMAGES until you're confident that you won't have a fucking heart attack, half way through it!

 

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On 15.5.2018 at 8:47 PM, Sandor said:

Williams’ 10 true masterpieces deserve a place in anyone’s collection:

 

1975 Jaws

1977 Star Wars

1977 Close Encounters Of The Third Kind

1978 Superman The Movie

1980 The Empire Strikes Back

1981 Raiders Of The Lost Ark

1982 E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

1993 Jurassic Park

1993 Schindler’s List

2001 Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone

These are the 10 scores that make every John Williams Top 10 list boring, because every list consists of 9 of them + 1 surprising choice.

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Could you please avoid Top 10 including CDs I CAN'T F****** FIND ANYMORE????  MERCY!

 

(Like Dracula and the Reivers) 

 

:sarcasm:

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