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THE TOWERING INFERNO - LLL Music discussion


Jay

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The thread for the box set as a whole will be filled with discussion of ordering, shipping, receiving, delays, excitement, etc etc for a while, so here's a thread to simply discuss the musical content (and liner notes) of THE TOWERING INFERNO without all that clutter. 

 

Discuss away!! 

 

 

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THE TOWERING INFERNO

 

 

DISC ONE

 

SCORE PRESENTATION 77:42
1 Main Title (Film Version) 5:07
2 Something For Susan (Film Version) 2:45
3 Lisolette And Harlee (Film Version) 2:36
4 The Flame Ignites 1:01
5 More For Susan 1:57
6 Harlee Dressing 1:43
7 Let There Be Light :40
8 Alone At Last :53
9 The First Casualty 2:09
10 The Elevator Victim 1:26
11 Trapped 1:20
12 Facing The Flames 3:33
13 Immolation 1:31
14 The Rescue Of Angela And The Blocked Door+ 2:16
15 Departmental Pride And The Cat 1:03
16 Doug’s Fall And Piggy Back Ride 2:31
17 Lisolette’s Descent 3:10
18 Down The Pipes 1:15
19 Down The Ropes 1:23
20 Out Of The Shaft+ 1:23
21 The Door Opens And The Hot Wire 2:56
22 Couples 2:48
23 The Mayor’s Wife :58
24 The Helicopter Explodes 2:34
25 Short Goodbyes 2:28
26 Hanging 1:47
27 Lowering The Elevator 1:29
28 What Explosion? 1:28
29 Passing The Word 1:15
30 The Solution 2:50
31 Setting The Charges 6:32
32 Waking Up 2:38
33 Finale 3:58
34 An Architect’s Dream – End Cast 3:34

 

 

DISC TWO

 

ADDITIONAL MUSIC 18:33
1 Main Title (Alternate) 5:07
2 The Elevator Victim (Alternate) 1:26
3 Piggy Back Ride (Alternate) 2:03
4 Down The Pipes (Alternate) 1:18
5 Short Goodbyes (Alternate) 2:13
6 The Solution (Alternate) 2:49
7 An Architect’s Dream – End Cast (Alternate) 3:31

 

SOURCE MUSIC 22:43
8 We May Never Love Like This Again (Film Version) + 2:07 Performed by Maureen McGovern
9 We May Never Love Like This Again / Love Theme + 3:05
10 Again 2:44
11 You Make Feel So Young 2:58
12 The More I See You 3:51
13 The Morning After 2:09
14 Maggie Shoots Pool 2:58
15 The Promenade Room 2:37

 

1974 ORIGINAL ALBUM 36:33
16 Main Title 5:04
17 An Architect’s Dream 3:29
18 Lisolette And Harlee 2:35
19 Something For Susan 2:45
20 Trapped Lovers 4:32
21 We May Never Love Like This Again 2:13
Performed by Maureen McGovern
22 Susan And Doug 2:32
23 The Helicopter Explosion 2:51
24 Planting The Charges– And Finale 10:25
Total 2-Disc Time: 2:35:40
+ monaural source

 

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13 minutes ago, Jay said:

Sounds great, one of my favorite tracks

 

7 minutes ago, MainTitle said:

 

As one of the tracks that was earmarked as 'damaged' (or sonically challenged) on the previous release, you'll be happy to know that all tracks in this edition sound the best they ever have.

 

It's a great cue and in a sense a satisfying conclusion to the aftermath of the events in the story.  

 

1 minute ago, tranders65 said:

All of Towering Inferno sounds fantastic, best I can tell - a huge step up from the old FSM release.  

 

Thanks, guys. By the way; you're all bastards, and can one of you lend me $75 plus shipping?

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1 minute ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

 

Thanks, guys. By the way; you're both bastards, and one of you lend me $75, plus shipping?

 

 

I am inserting it into the laptop holes as we speak.  

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The cover should have been busier, like The Poseidon Adventure. The artwork of the skyscraper would have been a great basis for that.

 

And what a creepy alien skull Steve McQueen has... and is he wearing a wig?

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10 hours ago, King Mark said:

that's a cool poster. I should try to find a print

Really? As one of the old farts here your just figuring out what great artwork that was. 

 

Allegedly Januz Kaminski is scared of this poster because it uses colors.

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TTI had some remarkable artwork and designs for its multi-faceted publicity campaign for the original theatrical release all  geared and designed for maximum viewer identification.  This alternate title design was one featured on the rear of the 1975 vinyl LP cover. 

 

 

FB_IMG_1517784905685.jpg

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1 hour ago, King Mark said:

Hey this release is a huge improvement over the previous one

 

Sounds fantastic

Out of the Shaft .what a cool cue.Didn't remember it

 

The triumphant march went unused in the movie and only the second movement after that part quietly subsides was segued in from the actual scene of the firemen rappeling down the elevator shaft because this was actually a revised version of "Down the Ropes".  The march should have been kept; it actually had some good thematic elements that Williams capitalized on later in the score (ie. "Setting the Charges").   

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13 hours ago, King Mark said:

Hey this release is a huge improvement over the previous one

 

Sounds fantastic

Out of the Shaft .what a cool cue.Didn't remember it

No the sound might be better but the music is 45 years old and it is good as it ever was. The Main Title is stunning and Planting the Charges remains one John's best long tracks.

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1 hour ago, King Mark said:

The problem I have with Poseidon Adventure and Towering inferno is that the main theme is hardly used in the main body of the score. 

 

Not necessarily true with respect to TTI.  The main theme is quoted throughout the feature in the form of the 'rescue motif', complemented by a pair of love themes used for two sets of main characters which easily highlight the emotional impact of the score in the dramatic moments. I believe this was also facilitated by Williams' subtle use of the Wagnerian leitmotif technique. 

 

I've always believed that his skill in this area is what has made his composing talent stand out over the course of his career as he just has the perfect knack of capturing the essence of raw emotion in any given scene, thus putting the viewer/listener at the heart of the action. 

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3 hours ago, King Mark said:

The problem I have with Poseidon Adventure and Towering inferno is that the main theme is hardly used in the main body of the score. 

 

1 hour ago, MainTitle said:

 

Not necessarily true with respect to TTI.  The main theme is quoted throughout the feature in the form of the 'rescue motif'...

You're right, dude. The main theme, is used throughout THE TOWERING INFERNO.

It's all over WAKING UP, and there are some nifty variations, in PLANTING THE CHARGES.

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Anyone know where the source cue You Make Me Feel So Young shows up in the film . I've been making a chronological playlist including the source cues, but Im darned if I can find this one? 

The score plays great with the source cues included BTW.

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19 hours ago, Steve H said:

Anyone know where the source cue You Make Me Feel So Young shows up in the film . I've been making a chronological playlist including the source cues, but Im darned if I can find this one? 

The score plays great with the source cues included BTW.

 

This cue has a unique background history in the sense that according to the official cue sheet, the song was initially slated to appear over a scene prior to the building's dedication ceremony featuring dialog between Wm. Holden, Faye Dunaway and Robert Wagner.  However the song was dropped and is in fact scored with a brief snippet from the track "Susan and Doug".  A longer deleted scene from the broadcast tv-version (found as an extra on the Bluray) confirms this as the music continues to play across the scene that was edited out of the theatrical cut.

 

In any case it was probably felt that because all of the source music is coming from the same party, which essentially it is, and as the studio documentation indicated its potential use then why not just use it in this instance, especially as a master recording was found amongst the variously archived audio elements. 

 

It's a pleasant enough old standard, familiar to many people and certainly doesn't appear out of place here.  

 

 

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Thanks for the info. I think i know the scene you're referring to... "Find me the architect who designed you..and who needs Doug Roberts?" 

It probably makes more sense that the cue goes there since it would be source music coming from the lobby and not a piece of Williams' underscore as such.

Cheers.

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25 minutes ago, Steve H said:

Thanks for the info. I think i know the scene you're referring to... "Find me the architect who designed you..and who needs Doug Roberts?" 

It probably makes more sense that the cue goes there since it would be source music coming from the lobby and not a piece of Williams' underscore as such.

Cheers.

 

That's exactly the scene Steve.  And you're very welcome. 

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Hello can anyone tell me if the previously unreleased tracks on Disc #1 of Inferno are now true Stereo even if they were built up from Mono sources? Would they have been created the same way the scores for Jaws and Earthquake were assembled? I mean from separate Mono stems now remixed to Stereo? Because they sound Stereo to me. 

       Track 19 has no asterisk beside indicating it is Stereo whilst the fantastic track which follows it (Out of the Shaft) does have an asterisk. I'm confused. Would the treatment of these Mono tracks be similar to the way old LPs in the 70s presented Mono as "Fake Stereo? 

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 7 months later...

I listened to Towering Inferno again today and must admit overall I am still a little disappointed in the quality of sound which to my ears sounds just about the same as the old FSM release. Also the best of the previously unreleased tracks (Out of the Shaft) is regrettably in Mono. A great shame because this is the best we'll get. Don't get me wrong it's fantastic to have this but the sonics weren't what I was hoping for. 

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Yes the FSM s fine for what it is. Its just the way the guys were talking on here I thought this release was going to be a sonic revelation. Maybe the sonics also had something to do with where the score was recorded. Who knows. 

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