WAR OF THE WORLDS (2005) 2CD edition from Intrada Records 2020

[Smeltington 1,436]

This is the clue we need to unravel the hisstory of the synth!

[Faleel 5,326]

Revenge of the Synth

 

I am all the synth!

[UK_Tubist 6]

18 minutes ago, Jay said:

I think you're hearing a synth line in the music and confusing it with hiss

 

Yes, I did wonder that, as in the Prologue it seems to coincide with the change of synth texture at 00:20. It still sounds to me more like hiss rather than a synth sound, though. Having said that, I notice the synth parts in the sketch for "What Happened" ask for "awe" and "haze", so perhaps one man's hiss is another man's haze...

[Jay 37,250]

On 10/28/2020 at 3:12 AM, Chewy said:

The ending of Probing the Basement 

definitely has a different take on the OST, and I wonder if there are more similar minor differences between film version takes and the ones chosen for the OST.

 

On 10/28/2020 at 10:56 AM, Jay said:

IIRC, the OST version is just edited down at the end.  I remember comparing both after I got the new edition and thinking the main program ending sounds sooo much better than the OST ending.

 

I did not recall correctly!  The film used a different take of the ending of the cue than the album did (the album version has microedits earlier in the track, also)

 

Also it hasn't been mentioned, but for The Intersection Scene, the new main program debuts the clean ending as recorded; On the OST, that extra stuff at the end is actually them looping back in stuff from earlier in the cue for some reason

[Jurassic Shark 12,008]

For the sake of a more satisfying musical structure, I'd guess.

[Holko 9,491]

2 minutes ago, Jay said:

On the OST, that extra stuff at the end is actually them looping back in stuff from earlier in the cue for some reason

Probably because the cue as is ends pretty abruptly and unsatisfyingly.

[Jay 37,250]

I suppose so, but it doesn't really that bad of an ending to me >shrug<

 

In the film the ending is kind of masked by abruptly switching from Cruise on the streets to him coming home as What Happened? is starting

[Brundlefly 2,385]

54 minutes ago, Jay said:

Also it hasn't been mentioned, but for The Intersection Scene, the new main program debuts the clean ending as recorded; On the OST, that extra stuff at the end is actually them looping back in stuff from earlier in the cue for some reason

I think, it is just the last few seconds of the OST track which are taken from the very first few seconds of the same cue. I don't know why an artificial fade-out seemed necessary to Williams.

[Chewy 2,372]

2 hours ago, Jay said:

In the film the ending is kind of masked by abruptly switching from Cruise on the streets to him coming home as What Happened? is starting

I think the looped drums edit from the OST is in the movie too! 

[Jay 37,250]

I can't recall honestly

[JohnnyD 1,220]

It is not. I just re-watched the film, and I can confirm that "The Intersection Scene" ends as recorded and segues directly into "What Happened?".

[Chewy 2,372]

It IS in the movie, you can clearly hear the drums at the end of the cue as it segues into "What Happened?", these drums are not there on the CD 1 track:

 

[Amer 2,078]

My copy has arrived! 

[crumbs 14,287]

Mine's been in Tokyo for nearly 4 days now with no tracking update. Getting a little concerned.

 

Still have no idea why it went San Fran > Tokyo when there's direct flights from San Fran > Sydney (which is how @Arpy's copy reached Australia).

 

Seriously USPS

[Arpy 4,145]

It's strange, but the post has been jammed for months in most countries. Australia Post started rerouting parcels to Sydney to handle the overflow of sorting. I've got things I've been waiting on for a few months now somewhere in the system.

[Jurassic Shark 12,008]

My LLL order (to Norway), placed some time in May, went on a long detour to Japan. I'm sure it had an interesting time!

[crumbs 14,287]

14 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

My LLL order (to Norway), placed some time in May, went on a long detour to Japan. I'm sure it had an interesting time!

 

Out of interest, what port does it usually enter Europe to reach Norway?

 

Japan seems a lot more logical for a European destination than an Australian one.

[Jurassic Shark 12,008]

11 minutes ago, crumbs said:

 

Out of interest, what port does it usually enter Europe to reach Norway?

 

Japan seems a lot more logical for a European destination than an Australian one.

 

Well, Japan sure is closer to Australia than to Norway. 

 

I believe packages usually enter Europe through Germany or the Netherlands, because of their huge airports. 

[crocodile 7,973]

I received my copy almost a week ago but didn't get to share my thoughts on it.

 

It has been one of my holy grails. I really dislike the OST which makes the score seem meandering and aimless. It wasn’t even about the missing material as much as the presentation and sequencing. I never understood why you'd have the militaristic climactic cue before the basket sequence. The music culminates by track 12 and never really recovers after that and just falls flat as a listening experience. 

 

It's clear right off the bat the score is better in chronological form. Yes, there are some low-key cues here and there but they placed all over the programme. True, the basement sequence is really slow as a result but that serves as a break of sorts between the high emotion of the hill scene and the adrenaline of the three climactic that follow. And it is also true to the book so dramatically makes sense given how the plot becomes more introspective and claustrophobic. It is interesting to hear so many of the bigger cues undoing some of the more curious album microedits.

 

I like how the "epilogue" string adagio is threaded throughout the score serving as a principal theme of sorts before "resolving" in the reunion scene and Epilogue. It wasn't clear from the old album where it first appeared in track 11 (I think?). But here it serves as a steely and cold elegy for the outmatched human kind. It’s a loss of innocence theme for Ray’s family. One of the more interesting concert pieces as well, shame it is never performed and/or recorded. I absolutely adore the three trumpets at the end of the epilogue. Very Herrmanesque.

 

The new mix really helps to appreciate just how dark and oppressive some of the score is. The old album wasn’t bad sounding or anything but you can definitely hear more detail this time (like synths in The Ferry Scene, for example). It is really in your face during the bigger action setpieces that pound away without mercy. It’s just pure adrenaline. Some of those must have been really challenging to perform.

 

Assembly-wise or sound-wise, I have absolutely no complaints. Placing two reunion cues right next to each other is a nice and elegant solution to the “four alternates” dilemma. I don’t necessarily need to have the old album on here but it’s nice to have it in upgraded sound. Plus I actually like the album version of Escape from the City. And it's nice to hear a slightly different performance of Epilogue in the bonus section. Very happy with this album but I wouldn't expect anything else from Mike.

 

Karol

[Jay 37,250]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Karol!

[Holko 9,491]

2 minutes ago, crocodile said:

I never understood why you'd have the militaristic climactic cue before the basket sequence. The music culminates by track 12 and never really recovers after that and just falls flat as a listening experience. 

 

It's clear right off the bat the score is better in chronological form. Yes, there are some low-key cues here and there but they placed all over the programme. True, the basement sequence is really slow as a result but that serves as a break of sorts between the high emotion of the hill scene and the adrenaline of the three climactic that follow. And it is also true to the book so dramatically makes sense given how the plot becomes more introspective and claustrophobic. It is interesting to hear so many of the bigger cues undoing some of the more curious microedits.

 

Assembly-wise or sound-wise, I have absolutely no complaints. Placing two reunion cues right next to each other is a nice and elegant solution to the “four alternates” dilemma. I don’t necessarily need to have the old album on here but it’s nice to have it in upgraded sound. Plus I actually like the album version of Escape from the City. And it's nice to hear a slightly different performance of Epilogue in the bonus section. Very happy with this album but I wouldn't expect anything else from Mike.

 

The score's pretty new to me and I didn't feel I could do a proper writeup after just a couple listens so far but I very much agree with all this!

[theMaestraX 106]

On 10/31/2020 at 2:09 PM, Jurassic Shark said:

My LLL order (to Norway), placed some time in May, went on a long detour to Japan. I'm sure it had an interesting time!

Maybe the Pilots had played it all through that flight!

[Seth 67]

I was finally able to play this through today. I had either forgotten--or never realized--how unforgiving this score is. I can't think of much more music in Williams' output that is so relentlessly oppressive and unnerving. Even the lighter material has a shadow over it. It's very much a companion to AI  and Minority Report in that loose sci-fi trilogy Spielberg made in the early 2000s. I really appreciate the action music for its unrelenting rhythmic drive and reliance on mid- and low-range colors--the antiphonal timpani (!) and massed horns and trombones with low strings that mark The Intersection Scene and The Ferry Scene, but I had forgotten about the textural elements--I really love repeated figures for high muted trumpets--in the basement scenes and the lurching, unstable chords in the horns near the climax of The Red Planet. I wish there were more examples outside of this score of the emotionally aloof, icy string writing that Williams used so well here, where two contrapuntal lines sort of move around each other. In terms of atmosphere, cues like Refugee Status remind me a little of how Williams scored the family separation/Shanghai street scenes in Empire of the Sun and I have no complaints. It's definitely a score I'll have to be in the mood to listen to, but I'm glad to have a treatment that emphasizes the musical narrative.

[Bespin 8,472]

I just saw that the score presentation fits on 1 CD, I like that!

[Chewy 2,372]

So while starting work on the isolated score, I noticed how different the Intersection Scene choir sounds in the movie, compared to the version presented on the Intrada release.

 

Intrada version (track 1-03):

 

Film version:

 

Do we have information on what happened here? It almost sounds like totally different takes of the choir were used for the movie, maybe tracked from somewhere else but I can't think of any similar choir in the score.

[Holko 9,491]

To me it almost sounds artificially extended or slowed down a bit.

[Jay 37,250]

Dunno but playing those 2 clips I like the Intrada sound better

[King Mark 3,624]

Slight annoyance but the booklet is too thick and the jewel case doesn't close properly

[theMaestraX 106]

26 minutes ago, King Mark said:

Slight annoyance but the booklet is too thick and the jewel case doesn't close properly

Damn yes the booklet....oh the horror!

[Faleel 5,326]

Does the Intrada set use the CD extensions for Who Will Take Care of Me (Ray and Rachel) and Refugee Status?

[Jay 37,250]

Yup

[Jurassic Shark 12,008]

That's weird, considering the release also includes the OST.

[Faleel 5,326]

1 hour ago, Jurassic Shark said:

That's weird, considering the release also includes the OST.

Perhaps that is where those extensions are used.

[Jurassic Shark 12,008]

If that's the case I misunderstood the question.

[Jay 37,250]

The extensions are on both discs, but in the main program the original film cue finishes completely, debuting each cue's natural ending for the first time (even the session leak didn't have them), and then the CD extension starts clean after.  On the OST (and session leak), the CD extensions replaced the ending of the film cues with their openings (which is how they were intended to be used)

[Smeltington 1,436]

Oh weird. Looks like I picked the wrong week to think I was done with my edit.

[Jurassic Shark 12,008]

Interesting! But doesn't that make the extensions superfluous in the score program?

[Jay 37,250]

How so?

If you play the main program, you get the entire score, including the extensions he wrote for those 2 cues

[Smeltington 1,436]

But not "Before the Escape", the extension he wrote for another cue. It doesn't make logical sense, other than the "Mike couldn't get this stuff on there any other way" perspective.

[Jay 37,250]

The CD was too long to fit that one in.  If Spielberg hadn't had Williams rewrite the ending 5 times, it could have fit

[Jurassic Shark 12,008]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

How so?

If you play the main program, you get the entire score, including the extensions he wrote for those 2 cues

 

Yeah, but he wrote those extensions specifically for the OST and not for the score proper, if I'm understanding things correctly, and they're already on disc 2.

[Smeltington 1,436]

Spielberg should have considered the CD, lol.

 

Mike does the best he can, I know. I can't help wishing that if things were going to be this complicated for even us superfans to figure out, that all the material was carefully documented in the liner notes so it would be easy to decode.

[Jay 37,250]

I hear what you're saying but.... if you put in disc 1 and press play and listen to the whole thing, is there anything wrong with it?

Because that's the primarily goal of these things.  Everything on disc 2 is just bonus.

[Jurassic Shark 12,008]

I'm just worried about the flow of those pieces, that the OST endings will sound tacked on when there's a gap. I haven't heard this release yet so I have no idea.

[Smeltington 1,436]

Yes, for an ideal listening experience, I think the album inserts should be treated consistently... either all of them edited into their respective cues as they were intended, or else all of them left out. You could make a case for either. Personally I hope to edit all of them into their respective tracks.

 

Otherwise there's nothing wrong with it that I know of. I'm cool with the two versions of 6m3 back to back.

[Faleel 5,326]

Nah, treat them musically.

 

Consistancy is just OCD archival nonsense

[Brundlefly 2,385]

6 hours ago, Smeltington said:

Yes, for an ideal listening experience, I think the album inserts should be treated consistently... either all of them edited into their respective cues as they were intended, or else all of them left out. You could make a case for either. Personally I hope to edit all of them into their respective tracks.

"Before the Escape" doesn't work as an opening to "Driving Away from Trouble" without the special edit from the OST. A section from the end of the latter replaces the beginning of the same cue.

 

The other two OST extensions are musically reasonable.

[Holko 9,491]

3 minutes ago, Brundlefly said:

"Before the Escape" doesn't work as an opening to "Driving Away from Trouble" without the special edit from the OST. A section from the end of the latter replaces the beginning of the same cue.

It works alright, much better than just joining What Happened and Driving Away. Or leaving them unjoined.

[Brundlefly 2,385]

7 minutes ago, Holko said:

It works alright, much better than just joining What Happened and Driving Away. Or leaving them unjoined.

You're right "What Happened" belongs to "The Basket".

[Jay 37,250]

27 minutes ago, Brundlefly said:

"Before the Escape" doesn't work as an opening to "Driving Away from Trouble" without the special edit from the OST. A section from the end of the latter replaces the beginning of the same cue.

 

21 minutes ago, Holko said:

It works alright, much better than just joining What Happened and Driving Away. Or leaving them unjoined.

 

I disagree with Brundlefly and agree with Holko.  I took "Before The Escape" and mixed in "Driving Away from Trouble" over the final chord as Williams intended and it sounds great!

 

The OST edit doesn't sound bad either, but I don't think it was only created because the intentions didn't work like they thought they would.  I think he just got some wacky idea to extend the overall cue with looping and they went with it.