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

[HunterTech 987]

I wouldn't think the sound is the problem, since the Sony GB1 release at least feels like something that could've been assembled in the 80s/90s, compared to the unnecessary modernization the VS release was.

 

I think with LLL, they actually would've been more likely to find the full set of tapes, since it seems fairly likely to me that Sony just dug up whatever they had lying around. Of course, there's no way of really knowing since their efforts were cut short so soon, but it's something to think about.

[Big Bob 5]

And...It’s up. So the listening begins  

[StarFox 25]

"In Liberty's Shadow" is everything I could have wanted and more with that opening. What an ending too!

 

32 years waiting!

[Big Bob 5]

Oh boy, that was....interesting. First and foremost, I loved it! These sound so much better them how their heard in the film. For the most part I didn’t have a problem with the sound quality, only really a few parts here and there. Plus, as others stated, most of the important cues are accounted for. I was praying that the flight of the bumblee-esc cue with the Scoleri brothers would be included, so it was a joy to hear that cue! That, and of course the Statue of Liberty stuff. 
 

However, the presentation leaves a lot to be desired. The most aggravating thing by far is when little tid bits of cues are thrown in, just to be cut short for no apartment reason.  For instance, in “Vigo’s Last Stand” at the 1:54 mark, we hear the beginning of the cue when Dana returns to the museum to rescue Oscar after his kidnapping and the museum is covered by slime, but this is almost immediately followed by the carpathian kitten loss scene. This is the case for a lot of the cues here. The end of “A Baby Carriage Meets Heavy Traffic” is cut short, and instead replaced with the end of the aforementioned museum cue, “Good With Kids” ends way too abrupt, leaving out a good chunk of the ending, and many other examples. 
 

With all that being said, I’m still crazy happy to have this at all. Just to hear these cues in clean audio for the first time has been a dream for years! Despite it’s flaws, I’m still incredibly happy with this release and can’t wait to get the actual cd in. I’m curious if there are any liner notes that might explain some of the reasoning for the way this release is arranged?

[Richard Penna 3,675]

Very initial listen (I've just come back from being away), and I went straight away for In Liberty's Shadow.

 

It might suffer a tad from a slight bit of interference/muffling that you could expect from an older recording, but honestly, it still sounds really good. The brass is clear, and those brass 'hits' just after the fanfare bits, aren't even audible very well in the film. I'd say this is essentially what I'd have expected it to sound like, and actually, I rather like how this suite is put together, with the statue 'break in' at the end.

 

The rest of what I'm playing right now sounds fine too - honestly, those comments at FSM about it sounding like an internet stream from the 80s, are talking rubbish in my view. Maybe they were simply expecting it to sound like a newly recorded score would?

 

Thankfully I'm nowhere near attached to the film (outside of the statue/final cues) to mind about any alternates or missing microseconds here or there.

 

The only question I have is whether the cue for finding the slime river underneath the road works is here? I vaguely remember that from the film.

[mstrox 6,647]

I have decent memories of the score and I suspect my general awareness of the movie but complete lack of awareness for the order the score or where tracks end will benefit me.

 

Do the newly recorded bits sound “of a piece” with the old recordings, or is it jarring?

[Richard Penna 3,675]

The new bits seem mostly to be piano, with a few other instruments here and there. I wouldn't say it's jarring at all, but I think you can tell what's newer.

 

Oddly, it's the first cue, which is heard over the credits, which sounds the worst to me - similar issues that the Mummy Returns has in a few tracks.

 

On comparing a bit further, the Tully's a Ghostbuster section of In Liberty's Shadow is noticeable more muffled than the rest. So there definitely are sound issues, but I don't think they're as bad as FSMers are making it out.

 

Oh, and the booklet contains absolute zero notes on the source elements/album arrangement, or anything.

 

The only info it has is:

 

Tracks 9 & 12 contain fragments of the Ghostbusters theme.

Tracks 3, 6 and 10 are new recordings for this album.

Track 12 was recorded for the film, but not used.

 

And the album was 'Produced by' Edelman.

 

If @Thor reads this - this album was literally created for you   It couldn't possibly be more arranged for listening.

[Turbo 54]

After a few hours of fun, here's the score in film order:

 

S2 - A Baby Carriage Meets Heavy Traffic (2:01)
S8C - Rooftop Broom Kidnap (2:42-End) [Rename to "No More Parties"]
S14 - Good With Kids (1:23)
S15 - Enlightenment (1:32)
S9A - The Scoleri Brothers (:00-:59) [Rename to "The Verdict"]
S4A - Order in the Court (:00-:2:09.4)
S13C - Vigo’s Last Stand (2:05.65-End) [Rename to "Carpathian Kitten Loss"]
S4B - Order in the Court (2:09.4-3:05.5) [Rename to "Bath Time"]
S9C - The Scoleri Brothers (1:20-End) [Rename to "Suck in the Guts (Alternate)"]
S4C - Order in the Court (3:05.5-End) [Rename to "She Cleaned"]
S8A - Rooftop Broom Kidnap (:00-:38) [Rename to "Asking Janine Out"]
S11B - A Slime Darkened Doorway (1:16.8-End) [Rename to "Developing Photos"]
S11A - A Slime Darkened Doorway (:00-1:16.8) [Rename to "River of Slime"]
S9B - The Scoleri Brothers (:59-1:20) [Rename to "No Reservations"]
S8B - Rooftop Broom Kidnap (:38-2:42) [Rename to "Rooftop"]
S7 - In Liberty’s Shadow (3:48)
S13B - Vigo’s Last Stand (1:15.9-2:05.65) [Rename to "Janosz is Hosed"]
S5 - He’s Got Carpathian Eyes (2:34)
S13A - Vigo’s Last Stand (:00-1:15.9)
S16 - Family Portrait (:00-1:29.86)
S1 - A Few Friends Save Manhattan (2:01)

 

Unused/Newly Composed Tracks:
S12 - One Leaky Sewer Faucet (1:13)
S3 - Venkman’s 6th Ave. Strut (3:06)
S6 - The Sensitive Side of Dana (4:08)
S10 - Oscar is Quietly Surrounded (4:23)

S16 - Finale (1:29.86-End)
 

https://chrono-score.blogspot.com/2021/08/ghostbusters-ii-1989.html

 

S14 is tracked into a few other areas and the fanfare from S7 is also heard elsewhere. Many of the tracks are alternates of some sort. The only reason S9C is marked as an alternate is because it is 100% different from what was heard in the film but the instrumentation heard is similar to pieces from that section. The finale of S16 is heard on S1 with a piano track preceding it that is unheard in the film.

 

Enjoy.

[crumbs 14,304]

Well, that is... non-chronological.

[Richard Penna 3,675]

That's insanely non-chronological. Wiliams would be very proud.

 

Thankfully in this case it does generally play well, and breezes by at 45 mins. The sections that had to be there for my enjoyment are basicallyVigo's Last Stand, In Liberty's Shadow, and Family Portrait.

[Kusi 16]

beside of "insanely non-chronological" I am sooooooo happy to finally have the possibilty to listen to this music. I'm happy with this release. I fully agree with Richard: those three tracks with the addition of He's Got Carpathian Eyes  !!! just awesome  childhood memories 

 

and thank you @Turbo for this fast analysis

[Richard Penna 3,675]

Ah yes, add He's Got Carpathian Eyes to my list too - I had the tracks in the wrong order when selected them earlier.

 

I'd also add Rooftop Broom Kidnap to that list - those screeching strings and synth as Oscar is taken, are also very memorable.

 

Essentially, when put into an order roughly following Turbo's chrono order, the first half of the album is nice, and the second half from A Slime Darkened Doorway is just over 20 mins of awesomeness. It was essentially everything from the museum sequences that I remember from the movie.

When I first saw the tracklist, I hoped that the sequence of music from the fanfare when they arrive, through to transitioning to the statue, was one cue. It was speculated that the 'fifth ghostbuster' scene would be in here too, but I didn't expect the bit where they break through the roof to be here as well - it works so well as a suite, and by miles the best track on the album.

[MedigoScan 324]

So will a complete score even be possible?

 

[Kusi 16]

and I kinda like the suite Oscar is Quietly Surrounded - the addition of the organ omg I didn't expected that.

 

the music from the finale and the court scenes were the only ones which I remembered. I just started to watch the movie again  sadly the court scene music on the soundtrack is an alternate. But it's still great music. 

 

3 minutes ago, MedigoScan said:

So will a complete score even be possible?

 

 

only if they find all the music. There's a YT video with Randy Edelman where he speaks about this release. And Sony only found this music. I think this why they only released this amount of the score.

[Richard Penna 3,675]

Yeah, it was mentioned at FSM that the court scene is different in the movie - I guess the only conclusion we can draw is that this one was all they could find on the source they had.

 

I only ever got properly nostalgically attached to the museum scenes but I couldn't even have hummed any of the themes/fanfares until pretty much when we got the samples.

[MedigoScan 324]

I see, its like a Robin Hood Prince of Thieves situation then.

I dont remember much from GB2 myself, but I am glad that the fans got something now at least.

[Kusi 16]

I first thought that the music is tracked but there are some different parts in the last cue of the scene and also one cue is missing (throwing chairs-part)

[Richard Penna 3,675]

I think this will satisfy most people, especially those not overly attached to the film.

 

There's clearly scope down the road, if someone finds better elements, for a C&C + alternates presentation, and better sound quality for parts, but this is a good substitution. Just a shame we never got to hear this at release time. (well... I'd have heard it many years later as I was 4, but you get the idea)

[Kusi 16]

I was 9  but already loved the music. Yeah - I still hope that some speciality label is preparing a bigger release of this. Hope is never lost  

[Big Bob 5]

Even if this is all that could be currently found, it’s opened up the doorway (hopefully not a “slime darkened” one of course  ) of possibilities. After all, Randy did say that they claimed to have “misplaced” it, not destroyed or found them damaged. Perhaps given time, a speciality label will be able to take a deeper look. Or hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if Sony themselves comes out with some remastered version with “bonus” tracks after a while. Anything to make a buck for them.

 

Until then, I’m very content with this release. I swear I haven’t been able to stop listening to that opening cue that plays as the Scoleri’s first trash the court room in “Order In The Court”. I’d have to say it’s my personal favorite out of the set. 

[Thor 7,478]

20 hours ago, Richard Penna said:

That's insanely non-chronological.

 

Thank God! Currently playing it for the first time. Pretty good; more interesting that Bernstein's original, IMO. Could be without a couple of tracks (like "He's Got Carpathian Eyes") that are just grating, but overall pretty straightforward and lovely. Edelman has always been good at homophonic tunes.

 

I'm absolutely thrilled to see a properly weeded down and re-arranged album experience. They are rare these days.

[mstrox 6,647]

I jumped my pretty substantive CD queue and listened to Ghostbusters II a few times. Wanted a score to listen to that I didn’t have to/want to pay a ton of attention to while I baked.

 

Pretty good.  Sounds good.  I’m grateful for the new recordings, which focus on an idea for a longer amount of time than the score for a Ghostbusters movie would otherwise allow.   I liked the flow of the track reordering, and since I’m not super familiar with the score, I’m not losing it about any of the supposed shortcomings.  It also feels a lot longer than it is, so while I get why Ghostbusters fans specifically would be upset that it’s not C&C, I personally wouldn’t want any extra bits and bobs.  All the memorable parts were there.

[1977 1,743]

Are the rerecorded parts isolated into their own tracks?

 

Are the rerecorded parts scaled down i.e. using fewer instruments? Sounds like it.

[HunterTech 987]

So I gave this a listen when it was release day, and was pretty content with what I heard. I had consumer Sony BT buds on as a means of gauging what it'd sound like on average equipment, and the sound was generally solid. I could definitely tell areas where things certainly weren't quite up to snuff, but given the odd barrage of sources they had (if the spectrograms on the HiRes files are any indication), it turned out pretty well.

 

That being said, I don't really understand some of the hype surrounding it. Sure, I do think it's a pretty decently made score, but it definitely is a more standard feeling one compared to the first outing. I can imagine my lack of general familiarity with Bernstein is what's clouding my judgement here, but I find that score much more unique and appealing compared to this one, which feels like any regular comedy adventure score. Especially since I didn't sense too much variation out of it on initial go, likely thanks to the missing material (TMNT II has the same problem on all copies of that score). Mummy 3 was honestly more appealing to me (though that very likely is nostalgia speaking there).

 

Still, there's definitely plenty to admire here. I particularly admire the blend of orchestral and synth, which certainly adds a lot of flavor to the sound (if still a tad dated in areas). The general presentation, while certainly jumping all over the place, definitely felt well organized musically. At 45 minutes, it's a pretty breezy listen, so even if you don't have an attachment to the series, I think there's plenty here for folks to enjoy.

[mstrox 6,647]

On 8/15/2021 at 2:53 PM, JTWfan77 said:

Are the rerecorded parts isolated into their own tracks?

 

Are the rerecorded parts scaled down i.e. using fewer instruments? Sounds like it.

3/4 are in their own tracks, and the finale portion is appended to the Family Portrait track.  
 

For the most part, the new recording sound “of a piece” with the rest of the album, musically and instrumentally.  You’d probably be able to pick them out because they develop musical ideas longer than the scenes in a Ghostbusters movie allow, but they’re fine where they are.  The only weird one is the finale cue, which for the most part is piano only and feels a bit out of place.

[1977 1,743]

I listened to this on Spotify today. Sound quality seems perfectly acceptable.

 

The quieter/romantic bits sound very late 80s/early 90s rom-com. The action/suspense bits are okay. It's all quite nice but rather inconsequential.

 

I have to say this is nowhere near the level of Bernstein's original, which is a vastly superior score, with the exception of the pop bits which are very out of place and were wisely dialed out of the film in favour of the songs.

[Richard Penna 3,675]

There's most definitely an element of the score being completely unreleased until now.

 

I agree that there's nothing earth-shattering about it, but for those of us who liked what we heard in the film, and couldn't buy it, it's a pretty big deal.

 

It'll be the same case with a lot of completely unreleased scores - had they received a release with the film, they'd be far less coveted.

[mstrox 6,647]

It’s a score that I probably wouldn’t have been interested in buying outside of nostalgia.  Like the original, it gives me that little endorphin rush just because I remember hearing it so much as a kid.

[Ollie 1,059]

This album is all over the place. But having In Liberty’s Shadow makes up for the faults of this release.

 

Kudo’s to Edelman for going in a recording some of the material. 
 

Maybe someday down the line they can find the proper elements and do it right.

[Mr. Gitz 85]

So I’m a bit confused. The tracks that were re recorded, are they the exact compositions he composed in 1989 & just re recorded exactly as how they originally sounded? Or did he add in things and make changes? 
 

like the Instrumental Ghostbusters theme, was that something he just did for this album? Or was it an idea that just wasn’t used in the final film?

[Richard Penna 3,675]

No, it sounds like they're new arrangements, based on material that they couldn't locate.

 

I like the Dana material, the Venkman and Oscar tracks are ok I guess.

[Edmilson 7,397]

Edelman is scoring a documentary about Ghostbusters II, which will have interviews with cast and crew:

 

http://filmmusicreporter.com/2021/09/27/randy-edelman-to-score-anthony-claire-buenos-too-hot-to-handle-remembering-ghostbusters-ii/

[1977 1,743]

On 13/08/2021 at 5:15 PM, Turbo said:

After a few hours of fun, here's the score in film order:

 

S2 - A Baby Carriage Meets Heavy Traffic (2:01)
S8C - Rooftop Broom Kidnap (2:42-End) [Rename to "No More Parties"]
S14 - Good With Kids (1:23)
S15 - Enlightenment (1:32)
S9A - The Scoleri Brothers (:00-:59) [Rename to "The Verdict"]
S4A - Order in the Court (:00-:2:09.4)
S13C - Vigo’s Last Stand (2:05.65-End) [Rename to "Carpathian Kitten Loss"]
S4B - Order in the Court (2:09.4-3:05.5) [Rename to "Bath Time"]
S9C - The Scoleri Brothers (1:20-End) [Rename to "Suck in the Guts (Alternate)"]
S4C - Order in the Court (3:05.5-End) [Rename to "She Cleaned"]
S8A - Rooftop Broom Kidnap (:00-:38) [Rename to "Asking Janine Out"]
S11B - A Slime Darkened Doorway (1:16.8-End) [Rename to "Developing Photos"]
S11A - A Slime Darkened Doorway (:00-1:16.8) [Rename to "River of Slime"]
S9B - The Scoleri Brothers (:59-1:20) [Rename to "No Reservations"]
S8B - Rooftop Broom Kidnap (:38-2:42) [Rename to "Rooftop"]
S7 - In Liberty’s Shadow (3:48)
S13B - Vigo’s Last Stand (1:15.9-2:05.65) [Rename to "Janosz is Hosed"]
S5 - He’s Got Carpathian Eyes (2:34)
S13A - Vigo’s Last Stand (:00-1:15.9)
S16 - Family Portrait (:00-1:29.86)
S1 - A Few Friends Save Manhattan (2:01)

 

Unused/Newly Composed Tracks:
S12 - One Leaky Sewer Faucet (1:13)
S3 - Venkman’s 6th Ave. Strut (3:06)
S6 - The Sensitive Side of Dana (4:08)
S10 - Oscar is Quietly Surrounded (4:23)

S16 - Finale (1:29.86-End)
 

https://chrono-score.blogspot.com/2021/08/ghostbusters-ii-1989.html

 

S14 is tracked into a few other areas and the fanfare from S7 is also heard elsewhere. Many of the tracks are alternates of some sort. The only reason S9C is marked as an alternate is because it is 100% different from what was heard in the film but the instrumentation heard is similar to pieces from that section. The finale of S16 is heard on S1 with a piano track preceding it that is unheard in the film.

 

Enjoy.

 

Thanks for this (belatedly).

 

I decided to give this release another try after my initial ho-hum reaction and have to say it's definitely doing more for me now. Perhaps having recently picked up Edelman's surprisingly synth-heavy Gettysburg helped (although this is admittedly a lot more orchestral).

 

I'd like to try the sequence above to eliminate the re-recorded stuff.

[Richard Penna 3,675]

I'd have been more than happy with the release as it was before the re-recorded tracks - they don't add a lot to the album for me.