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Randy Edelman's GHOSTBUSTERS 2 (1989) - 2021 Sony premiere release


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Ghostbusters 2 is third on my list of the Ghostbusters movies at the moment, and we’ll see whether it stays there or drops to fourth this year I guess!  It’s a fun movie and I agree with Justin’s thoughts he’s expressed before that it’s very quotable.  It has some decent scary moments, but it lacks a lot of the shaggy charm of the original.  Bill Murray’s heart especially doesn’t really seem in it.

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The first film was proper comedy for adults

 

After it was a megahit and they made a Saturday morning cartoon out of it and everyone got rich, the sequel really feels like it was aimed at a younger crowd, with the returning cast reluctantly returning to these characters because they felt they had to

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42 minutes ago, mstrox said:

Track list controversy doesn’t seem to have made it here, but maybe they made some judicious cuts to fit it on one LP and the CD will be complete?

 

33 minutes ago, Jay said:

Could be! 

 

Of course, it's also possible no CD edition is planned 

 

Given the Waxwork TMNT II release leaves off quite a few cues for its set, and that program is the same across every format it was released on, it wouldn't surprise if it was the same case with GBII (especially since GB1 2019 didn't differ across the different variants).

 

We do also have to remember that the last Ghostbusters release essentially was the closest thing to a composer approved album presentation, so who's to say this isn't what Edelman decided on for the tracklist?

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Oh I'm sure that's exactly what it is - what Edelman wanted us to hear. 

 

That doesn't prevent fans of the score, who have been hoping to get it for 32 years, from being bummed their favorite cue is left off (if any are) 

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How long does the average cue in GBII last? Because I could maybe see it as a whole bunch of cues condensed, but I doubt it if we already know what the full runtime is supposed to be.

 

Looking through the FSM forum, someone did make this comment:

 

Quote

 

Important to note the film re-used music.

 

Would like to know to what extent this goes, given that it could easily just be a handful of tracked instances instead of full on cue reuses.

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Several things could be going on with the score, but it seems to me that particularly the early parts of the film aren't very musically heavy, so if you took that mindset and perhaps joined some cues, it doesn't seem unreasonable for that tracklist to be the complete score. I don't mind at all if it's been arranged for listening - just don't leave cues off after this long.

 

Also, take into account the major scenes with songs - sliming the state of liberty, arriving at the museum. I think that mostly leaves the climax sequences at the museum (which seem to be well represented), and a smattering of cues from the first 2/3 of the film.

 

On 4/7/2021 at 3:08 AM, Gruesome Son of a Bitch said:

Anyone else prefer Ghostbusters II to the original?

:wave:

 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

And now it's listed on Randy Edelman's website again, with different text then before

 

Last year when it was on his site, it looked like this:

 

image.png

 

Then his whole site went down, and then when it came back, it wasn't listed

 

Now it's listed again, looking like this

 

image.png

 

 

https://www.randyedelman.com/

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  • 3 weeks later...
Quote

A few months ago, we broke the news that the Ghostbusters 2 film score by composer Randy Edelman was finally set for an official release, over 30 years after the film’s original theatrical release.

 

The news leaked out after listings for the vinyl popped up on Amazon Canada, showing a June 11th release. Recently the listing was updated, simply stating that the score was “currently unavailable” with the release date removed.

 

We reached out to our contacts and can confirm that the score has not been canceled, as some fans were speculating. Instead, it has experienced a manufacturing delay due to COVID-19. The release is still expected for later this year.

 

https://ghostbustersnews.com/2021/06/10/the-long-awaited-ghostbusters-2-film-score-release-has-been-delayed/

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Someone on a different forum surmised that this release should contain 99% of the score, albeit in combined cross faded form. I wonder what he did to deduce that, given I think we don't even have a total runtime currently.

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  • 4 weeks later...

additional news from cede.ch:

"For the first time ever - 32 years after the film's 1989 release - the Original Score to Ghostbusters II by Randy Edelman will be available across digital and physical formats from Sony Classical. The album includes original tracks as well as 3 newly re-recorded tracks and an additional track originally recorded for Ghostbusters II but not featured in the film."

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There have always been rumors of source issues on this score - I wonder if this is their workaround.  If that’s the case, I’d rather they re-record than leave big gaps.

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A track:

 

http://filmmusicreporter.com/2021/07/08/first-track-from-ghostbusters-ii-score-album-released/#more-80064

 

Quote

the soundtrack is set to be released on August 13 and is now available for pre-order on Amazon

 

 

Even released as a single:

 

 

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49 minutes ago, Jay said:

Does it sound like what you've always wanted, Richard? 

 

Quick skim through the film suggests at least some of it is from the courtroom scene, and the brief bit from 1:20 stylistically sounds very much like the bit I always loved outside the museum when their proton packs fail to break the slime. (although this bit will just be a similar part of the score)

 

I suspect Order in the Court is additional music from that scene, and Edelman decided to move this later in the album for some reason.

 

I'd imagine this is rearranged/intended/similar, but if this track representative of what the rest of the score sounds like, and it's complete, this could be really good :)

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This is clearly a mix of different tracks to appease the fans. The Edelman score is surprisingly orhestral (considering how much his 'conducted by' monicker eventually meant nothing as he would normally be conducting a very small sample of players). There actually does seem to be an orchestra here. Doesn't say much about the music as such, which is to say the music does not account to much.

 

Some Stravinski rip-offs and semi-heroic fanfares - which again are surprisingly orchestral for Edelman as by the mid-1990s you'd think he'd never stood in front of an orchestra but just blasted out crap on his old-time synthesisers.

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Samples are up:

 

https://www.cede.ch/de/music/?view=detail&branch_sub=1&branch=1&aid=17399951

 

People on FSM are saying after listening to the samples that "Venkman's 6th Avenue Strut," "The Sensitive Side of Dana" and "Oscar is Quietly Surrounded" are the three newly recorded tracks.

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On 7/12/2021 at 12:42 PM, Richard Penna said:

Sounds pretty good, although the samples are compressed.

 

Definitely a very arranged album but hopefully nothing's missing.

Hey y’all, I’m new here but thought I could contribute to this thread :) 

 

So... from what I’ve checked myself out and seen from other threads, here’s what seems to be the case. 
 
1: A Few Friends Save Manhattan= appears to be a part of the end credits sequence heard toward the end of the film

2: A Baby Carriage Meets Heavy Traffic= The opening “5 years later” part is longer, and noticeably different from the film version. The rest of the track appears to be normal, though the length is shorter then that of the film version, so it probably features some minor cuts

3: Venkman’s 6th Ave Strut: a newly re recorded concert arrangement not used in film.
4: Order In The Court= Most likely features the first reveal of the Scoleri brothers (due to the track’s length) as well as featuring the “Putting On The Packs” and “Busting The Scoleri’s” cues too. Though the “Busting” cue appears to be a slight alternate from the film version. 

5: He’s Got Carpathian Eyes= Seems to be the “We Got Him” Part before Vigo’s finale defeat. 
6: The Sensitive Side Of Dana= A Re Recorded Concert Arrangement of the love theme between Peter and Dana. Also not used in the film. 
7: In Liberty’s Shadow : Seems to contain the “ No Dent / A Symbol” cue as well as the “Tully, The Ghost Buster” cue. Due to the length, I believe it also contains another cue but I can’t be sure of which one. 
8: Rooftop Broom Kindap= Features Oscar’s Kidnapping, though it does have a minor cut. It also appears to have another cue as well, possibly the “Museum / Slime Trap“ if I had to guess 

9: The Scoleri Brothers = Features the “Verdict” cue and what seems to be an alternate of the “Tuck In The Guts” cue, though I believe the intro was used in the date scene later in the film.

10: Oscar Is Quietly Surrounded = Seems to be The last of the newly re recorded cues, and is also an unused concert arrangement. 

11: A Slime Darkened Doorway= Features the “River Of Slime ” Cue and appears to have another, though I’m not sure what. 
12: One Leaky Sewer Faucet: Possibly an unused song written for one of the slime scenes though I can’t be sure of that. It’s definitely not in the film though. 
13: Vigo’s Last Stand: Features “Vigo’s Demise“, though oddly enough seems to  feature more music from earlier during the confrontation? 

14: Good With Kids= Features the “I think She Likes Me” cue, as well as the “Named After A Hot Dog” cue. The track length suggests it doesn’t feature the ending portion of that cue though. 
15: Enlightenment: This one is pretty open and shut. It seems to be the full “Janosz Possesed” cue.

16: Family Portrait / Finale= Features the “Fettuccine portrait” cue as well as what seems to be an unused bit of Music written for the finale. 
 

So from what I’ve gathered from the samples and some educated guesses, it appears that we are missing some stuff which is unfortunate, but until the release is officially dropped it’s hard to say exactly what.  Nonetheless, it’s still very exciting to get this release and a majority of the highlights appear to be there! 
 

 

 

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The last page of FSM's thread has some very detailed potential track breakdowns, and someone's worked out that the release (accounting for the non-film suites) is around 10 mins shorter than the film so there's been a bit of discussion over what may be missing. It's very clear that this is an album completely arranged for listening. However, it's only got to really be missing one cue (which is hopefully in In Liberty's Shadow) for me to be properly disappointed.

 

And a pre-order link:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B098V3N7FV/

 

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5 hours ago, Richard Penna said:

The last page of FSM's thread has some very detailed potential track breakdowns, and someone's worked out that the release (accounting for the non-film suites) is around 10 mins shorter than the film so there's been a bit of discussion over what may be missing. It's very clear that this is an album completely arranged for listening. However, it's only got to really be missing one cue (which is hopefully in In Liberty's Shadow) for me to be properly disappointed.

 

I'm guessing this is the potential breakdown you were mentioning:

 

Quote

I've gone through and compared the available music to the score as heard in the film. Based on the samples and the Scoleri Brothers cue, this is a rough order with notes:

02 - A Baby Carriage Meets Heavy Traffic (2:02) - Seems Complete
09A - The Scoleri Brothers (:00-:59) [Sentencing Scene]
04 - Order in the Court (3:48) [Putting the Packs On / Behind You, Ray] - Microediting
14A - Good With Kids (:00-:24) [Hitting on Dana (Bad Breath)] - Microediting
15 - Enlightenment (1:33) [Janosz Possessed] - Seems Complete
12 - One Leaky Sewer Faucet (1:13) [Mini-Suite] - Unused alternate?
14B - Good With Kids (1:24 - Sample :24-End) [Dana and Oscar at Venkman’s]
09C - The Scoleri Brothers (1:20-End) [Suck in the Guts Alternate or Unknown Scene]
11 - A Slime Darkened Doorway (2:24) [River of Slime] - Seems Complete, likely has other cue included
09B - The Scoleri Brothers (:59-1:20) [Interrupting the Date]
08 - Rooftop Broom Kidnap (3:48) - Seems Complete, likely has other cue included
07 - In Liberty’s Shadow (3:48) [In Liberty's Shadow / Tully the Ghostbuster] - Micro-editing
13 - Vigo’s Last Stand (3:03 - Sample :21-End) [Janosz is Hosed]
05 - He’s Got Carpathian Eyes (2:34) - Seems complete
13 - Vigo’s Last Stand (3:03 - Sample :00-:21) [Vigo’s Demise]
16 - Family Portrait / Finale (3:48) - Also includes mini-suite or unused end credits intro?
01 - A Few Friends Save Manhattan (2:01) [Post-Song End Credits]

Other:
03 - Venkman’s 6th Ave Strut (3:06) [Suite]
06 - The Sensitive Side of Dana (4:08) [Suite]
10 - Oscar is Quietly Surrounded (4:23) [Suite

 

I will just say when I get my copy I will be dropping it into my audio editor immediately to see what goes where and have the most accurate film version possible, albiet without the missing music.

 

So which track/cue are you hoping will be present?  I'll admit the Statue of Liberty scenes are my personal favorite and I'm anxiously awaiting those.

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10 hours ago, Turbo said:

So which track/cue are you hoping will be present?  I'll admit the Statue of Liberty scenes are my personal favorite and I'm anxiously awaiting those.

 

Essentially, the section from their first arrival at the museum, their proton packs failing, and the transition to the statue. It sounds like one continuous piece in the film.

 

Sounds like this will be in In Liberty's Shadow. In the film though, it sounds like a bit of an edit from the more mysterious cue inside the museum, to the fanfare as they arrive. I'm guessing some film re-editing went on here and the music was appropriately changed.

 

Given that breakdown reckons Tully the Ghostbuster is in the same cue, that may end up as my favourite cue from the set.

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Track times:

 

01 A Few Friends Save Manhattan (2:00)
02 A Baby Carriage Meets Heavy Traffic (2:00)
03 Venkman's 6th Ave  Strut (3:04)
04 Order in the Court (3:46)
05 He's Got Carpathian Eyes (2:32)
06 The Sensitive Side of Dana (4:07)
07 In Liberty's Shadow (3:47)
08 Rooftop Broom Kidnap (3:47)
09 The Scoleri Brothers (2:17)
10 Oscar is Quietly Surrounded (4:22)
11 A Slime Darkened Doorway (2:23)
12 One Leaky Sewer Faucet (1:11)
13 Vigo's Last Stand (3:01)
14 Good With Kids (1:22)
15 Enlightenment (1:32)
16 Family Portrait / Finale (3:48)

 

Total Album Time: 45:08
 

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  • 2 weeks later...

So I feel like I should probably add my two cents in here. I think the music might be in such messy shape because the post production on Ghostbusters 2 was….insane. The movie came out in June ‘89 and they were still adding major sequences in reshoots in April. 
 

There were sequences, with complete ILM VFX, that were cut out at the last minute. These include Rick Moranis’s character having multiple encounters and trying to catch Slimer. Eugene Levy had a cameo as Rick Moranis’s characters cousin that breaks the GBs out of the mental asylum. So I’m thinking some of the unused tracks might come from these scenes. 
 

The title of one of these cues, Rooftop Broom Kidnap, is very curious. It doesn’t correspond to anything that happens in the movie. Very odd. 
 

So what I think happened here is, just like Elmer Bernstein before him on GB1, Randy’s score was chopped up into pieces and used in scenes they maybe weren’t originally meant for. What’s funny is, as much as I love Elmer’s GB1 score, boy oh boy did Ivan Reitman make the right call by putting in the Bus Boys “Cleaning Up The Town” and Parker Jr’s “Ghostbusters” theme rather than using the truly awful GB theme Elmer Bernstein came up with. Elmer wrote this hilariously dated funk/disco theme that probably would’ve ruined the movie for audiences today.

On 5/6/2021 at 7:12 PM, Disco Stu said:

TBH I don't even like the first one much


Wow. Sometimes I just don’t understand some human beings. You don’t like Ghostbusters? Or the score?

 

How could anyone not like Ghostbusters? It’s so great. 
 

It actually shocks me how many people dislike the sequel. I think the sequel is extremely underrated. Peter MacNicol steals every scene he’s in. Plus I’ve never understood how some people say it’s more kid friendly. No way. There may be less swearing but that subway sequence with the decapitated heads on spikes? Wow. Or Vigo? The second film is far scarier. 

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I think the second is less funny and less scary overall (and has a lesser score).  It’s a fun companion to the first, which I do really like, but neither is really a classic, IMO.  I agree that MacNicol is a standout.

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Just found this vid which seems to explain things a little better. At about 9:42 is when Randy goes into detail about the process of this album coming about. 

 With the release date right around the corner, I figured this might be of interest ;) 

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36 minutes ago, mstrox said:

There’s a good amount of orchestra in this score, but there’s also a lot of synth.  A good mix.

Most definitely! A lot of the scenes that strictly deal with the characters are more synth heavy, and the more action oriented scenes feature more orchestra (particularly the climactic scenes). 
 

Of course, everybody’s taste is different, but I actually rather enjoy some of the synth stuff! Not all of it of course, some of it’s definitely dated (lookin’ at you “one leaky sewer faucet”…) But, some of the scarier scenes that feature synth are some of the most memorable parts of the score in my opinion. Especially that “spirit Doug-e-fresh” theme that was brought up earlier. Hopefully some of that will be featured in this release. I suppose we’ll know for sure in a few days…

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I have no issues at all with the mix - I rather like Edelman's synth-heavy approach for most of his scores, although come to think of it, Six Days, Seven Nights clearly has orchestra for much of it.

 

I guess I assumed that the more action oriented scenes were synth too, but clearly with no release it's a bit difficult to study the sound outside the movie.

 

I'm heading straight for In Liberty's Shadow when I get mine, assuming it has what we believe it does. The Vigo/museum material should also be very cool - it's essentially everything from the last act of the film I'd like to hear the most - the rest is a bonus.

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First review, from the FSM thread:

 

Quote

So, I got mine through Amazon today, that was fast! Unfortunately I have to say, the soundtrack is really a disappointment. The audio quality is the worst, partly it sounds like an internet audio stream from 1998 and the rest sounds like they ripped it from a DVD. Some parts are fine, especially the quieter and tender parts of the music.

I could accept that, I couldn't stand the mix of the Bersntein score from Sony as well, the Varese is way superior in my opinion. So I didn't expect much from another direct Sony release. But what really hurts is that the court room action/adventure track is completely missing. There is an “alternate version“ of it on the CD, but not the film version. That is really really bad! And it's not that they cut the stuff together for the movie, no, you can hear it's a different version, but it's not on this release. :(

 

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24 minutes ago, Jay said:

First review, from the FSM thread:

 

 

I read a review a few days ago from someone who was sent a digital copy by Sony for promo review. They had more or less the same complaints. A lot of music cues were mixed together into one long track, things were out of order, etc. However, they did say that the sound quality was just fine. 
 

While all of those things are definitely a bummer, it’s important to take into account what Mr. Edelman said. This was probably all that was found, so they had to work with what they got. That would explain why alternate versions of cues are featured instead of the film versions. Not to excuse the random pointless mixing of cues though. If memory serves correct, from the review I read it sounds like portions of cues have been cut, and even placed into other tracks. Wtf. If I can find the review again, I’ll link it here. 
 

I’m still glad we got this release at all though. I’d rather have this then the countless rips that have surfaced over the years. 

https://www.theraffon.net/~spookcentral/scblog/2021/08/07/randy-edelman-ghostbusters-ii-score-sony-cd-review 
 

Here ya go

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I immediately distrust the FSM review on the basis of it dissing the 2019 mix of the first score, which I find superior to the Varese in spite of the odd revisionism in spots.

 

Given what Edelman mentioned in the interview, I'm not too surprised this is what the end result was, though things being so out of order raises a few questions. Just how exactly were the tapes they did have found? Was it in recording order or something? While I expected this to be arranged for an "ideal listening experience," this just seems a bit random. I am happy to listen to it still, since I at least know the bit I personally remembered from the score is here.

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I am sure if the raw transfers of whatever tapes were found were given to Mike and/or Neil instead of whoever produced this for Sony, we would have ended up with a better (sounding and assembled) album

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