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

[A. A. Ron 1,738]

7 minutes ago, ymenard said:

Hasn't the WOTW recordings leaked a couple of years back, no?  

I see a couple of alternate, some suites, a lot of variations from "Reunion in Boston".  All in all, around 150min of music.

 

To my knowledge the leak only had 3-4 alternates. Any suites or additional content would have been added from the OST or DVD by fan editors/pirates/whatever you want to call them.

[Amer 2,080]

Somebody had stated "I want my War"  in another thread. Well, he just got this War (of the Worlds). 😁

 

I have been waiting for this release for ages. Thanks Intrada. I was expecting LLL to release this but irrespective it's done by none other than good old Mike Matessino so it doesn't matter. 

 

I was saving my unopened Minority Report cd set for this. Now I'll be able to unveil and play these back to back!! 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tom 4,637]

2 hours ago, who cares said:

I've never heard this score outside the film, which I disliked so much, I sold the used my DVD that I bought when I thought I would like it. Hard pass from me. 

I found the movie to be simultaneously boring and irritating--typical Hollywood thinking the way they think as somehow representative of how everyone else thinks (e.g., "is it the terrorists?").  However, the score has some tense, dynamic moments--with some interesting callbacks to sci-fi scoring of the 50s.  

[Incanus 5,713]

Such awesome news!  

 

I really love this intense, relentless score.

[bruce marshall 1,315]

Maybe when I'm flush again....

Or,  its on sale....

😞

[Nick Parker 3,040]

Ohhhhhhhhhh snap!!!

 

This is one of my favorite Williams scores...it's like he took the melodrama of Revenge of the Sith and used it as a foundation to spread with some of the most metal writing of his career.

 

It also shows just how impressive and vast his knowledge of film repertoire can be, as he seamlessly weaves in references to the thick layers of oppressive brass of Akira Ifukube into his wholly modern and unique sensibilities.

 

One of my favorite tracks, for those unfamiliar (trying to find ad free videos available to non Americans) :

 

 

 

[crumbs 14,300]

Awesome news!

 

Suspected this was coming due to the 4K release and anniversary, just a bit surprised it landed with Intrada (expected WOTW from LLL and The Patriot from Intrada, given studio relationships). Now I can finally pull the trigger on several Intrada releases I was holding out for!

 

There's 4 alternates for Return to Boston in addition to the film version. I don't think Mike's ever included more than 2 alternates for the same cue on a JW expansion (Main Title, The Poseidon Adventure) so I'm curious if all 5 versions will be included and how he presents them in the assembly. Highly doubt JW would want all 4 stuck together at the end, so maybe they'll be merged into combo tracks? From memory that's how JW bundled some of them on the OST.

 

Also a litmus test for eventual SW ST expansions and whether JW will allow multiple alternates for individual cues, given the surplus of revisions/inserts in TFA & TROS especially.

[Wojo 2,453]

2 hours ago, ymenard said:

Hasn't the WOTW recordings leaked a couple of years back, no?  

 

Yes.

[BrotherSound 2,242]

26 minutes ago, crumbs said:

Bit of a litmus test for eventual SW ST expansions and whether JW's open to including multiple alternates for individual cues (given the multitude of revisions and inserts in the sequels).

Yeah, I was just thinking about that. An expanded TFA release could potentially have as many as 8 different versions of the opening! JW wrote all the following to potentially follow the main title:

 

1. 1M2 “Hand Opening”

2. 1M2 R “Hand Opening”

3. 1M2 R (New Ending) “Hand Opening”

4. 1M1A [v1] “Starry Night”

5. 1M1A v2 “Starry Night - Longer”

6. 1M1A v3 “Starry Night”

7. 1M1A Free Version [v4] “Opening / Starry Night”

8. 1M1A Free Version [v4] “Opening / Starry Night” [with inserts]

Though we don’t know for sure which were recorded, apart from numbers 3, 6, 7, and 8. So there’s 4 versions at the very least…

[bruce marshall 1,315]

I can't tell yet if this merits a purchase.

From a recent a recent screening, no obvious cues , not on the ost, stood out.

We shall see....😊

[Holko 9,499]

I don't know it well but I suspect even if there's not much interesting outside the OST this will be worth it just for doing away with the stupid narration and combinations.

[Arpy 4,145]

Love the brass in this score - Escape From the City and Attacking the Car have been favourites for years in just how propulsive and relentless they are in driving (no pun intended) the action and chaos of those scenes. It's Herrmann-esque in a familiar vein to Minority Report.

[crocodile 7,984]

1 minute ago, Arpy said:

Love the brass in this score - Escape From the City and Attacking the Car have been favourites for years in just how propulsive and relentless they are in driving (no pun intended) the action and chaos of those scenes. It's Herrmann-esque in a familiar vein to Minority Report.

The Ferry Scene reminds me of Alex North actually and his 2001. Primal stuff.

 

Karol

[bruce marshall 1,315]

MR and WOTW: ost satisfied me.

Even so , I  had to reprogram and whittle them down.

So, more isn't necessarily better.

Especially, if it's just a " collection of cues".

 

Both are excellent!

[Jurassic Shark 12,029]

10 hours ago, Chewy said:

The cover though looks very very similar to the OST cover, maybe too similar.

 

Well, it's for the same film.

 

10 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

Really don't care about this, but very happy for those who do.

 

Do you care about anything except HP?

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Hopefully more tracks will have a Morgan Freeman narration this time.

[Jurassic Shark 12,029]

Actually, it's an audio book.

[crocodile 7,984]

Just now, Jurassic Shark said:

Actually, it's an audiobook.

Of Morgan Freeman reading the score?

 

Karol

[Jurassic Shark 12,029]

1 minute ago, crocodile said:

Of Morgan Freeman reading the score?

 

Karol

 

He's humming it, interspersed with words from the script.

 

Kind of like a Philip Glass piece.

[Kühni 485]

10 hours ago, Jay said:

Damn I step away from the computer for 20 minutes and this happens!

 

You need to step away from the computer more often, then... 

 

I've never been a big fan of the score, which is probably among JW's meanest. "The Intersection Scene" is good stuff, though...and was later Hornerised in IJ4. That made me laugh right there in the cinema...

[Arpy 4,145]

2 hours ago, bruce marshall said:

So, more isn't necessarily better.

That's the benefit of expansions, you can whittle them down to whatever suits you. Sometimes there's music previously unheard like alternates etc. that are extremely valuable. I'd rather have the choice to hear the C&C instead of having to watch the movie and hear it buried under sfx.

[bollemanneke 3,337]

2 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

Well, it's for the same film.

 

 

Do you care about anything except HP?

Um, yes. Just not about this score.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

2 minutes ago, Arpy said:

That's the benefit of expansions, you can whittle them down to whatever suits you. Sometimes there's music previously unheard like alternates etc. that are extremely valuable. I'd rather have the choice to hear the C&C instead of having to watch the movie and hear it buried under sfx.

 

There's only so many times I feel like hitting that friggin skip button on my remote.

[Jurassic Shark 12,029]

8 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

Um, yes. Just not about this score.

 

And a bunch of others.

[bollemanneke 3,337]

I don't really know what you're referring to. The problem is that as long as those specialty labels aren't going to do post-2005 titles, 90% of the scores I discover will not be expanded. But I AM getting excited about re-discovering Bach and Mozart!

[Jurassic Shark 12,029]

14 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

I don't really know what you're referring to. The problem is that as long as those specialty labels aren't going to do post-2005 titles, 90% of the scores I discover will not be expanded. But I AM getting excited about re-discovering Bach and Mozart!

 

C'mon, you're indifferent towards every second JW expansion, or more!

[bollemanneke 3,337]

Right, that's why I bought HP, Far and Away, Home Alone 1 and 2, ET, Superman, SPR, Schindler's List...

[Jurassic Shark 12,029]

So you just like to complain then...

[Amer 2,080]

I cant wait for this 2CD set. Intrada will eventually release a 4CD set 2 years later ! too

[crumbs 14,300]

6 minutes ago, Amer said:

I cant wait for this 2CD set. Intrada will eventually release a 4CD set 2 years later ! too

 

No one said it was 2CDs.

 

 

[Jurassic Shark 12,029]

1 hour ago, bollemanneke said:

But I AM getting excited about re-discovering Bach and Mozart!

 

At least we can agree that these are great! Which soundtracks are your favorites?

[bollemanneke 3,337]

Right now, Bach's harpsichord concertos conducted by Helmuth Rilling.

[Jurassic Shark 12,029]

Just now, bollemanneke said:

Right now, Bach's harpsichord concertos conducted by Helmuth Rilling.

 

Ah, from Hänssler's Bach series. Rilling's Bach has gotten good reviews, and I like them as well. I personally love Pinnock and Mariner's takes on Bach's music. And Karl Richter's - although the recordings are old, they're of very high musical standards.

[bollemanneke 3,337]

Agreed, I grew up with Pinnock but recently suddenly found myself turning away from period instrument recordings. Might order some Rilling CDs in the future (or wait till Christmas).

[Jurassic Shark 12,029]

A healthy diet consists of both period instrument and modern instrument recordings. However, for period instrument performances involving keyboards, I prefer harpsichords (as long as they sound good and not shrill) over fortepianos.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

1 hour ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 I prefer harpsichords (as long as they sound good and not shrill) over fortepianos.

 

You know my stance on this issue.  I love the sound of a fortepiano.

[Jurassic Shark 12,029]

6 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

 

You know my stance on this issue.  I love the sound of a fortepiano.

 

I can't remember we've discussed this before, sorry. I can occasionally like the sound of a fortepiano, but it very much depends on the instrument.

[Jay 37,287]

Sometimes as time passes you appreciate a score in a new light, and that's exactly what happened for me.

 

For me personally, when this score came out, I just wasn't into it!  This was a time when I was still mostly into John Williams' big iconic franchise scores - the original three Star Wars and Indiana Jones scores were what made me a fan - and we were just coming off his return to Star Wars with three great new prequel scores, as well as the trio of fantastic Harry Potter scores.  The recent "in between" scores he had done - Minority Report, Catch Me If You Can and The Terminal - all did work for me despite being outside the sound from him I was most into at the time, but War Of The Worlds, for whatever reason, did not.  And even still, I never played those - back then I mean - as often as I returned to the favorites I already knew by heart.

 

Since that summer of 2005, so much has changed in terms of my relationship with Williams' music - I started picking up all the specialty label premieres of his older scores, and those labels continued to mine the vaults for more and more of his old scores and started to expand scores from his whole career as well.  All these released all came with liner notes that each examined Williams' music in the context of the time which really helps paint a picture of the man's whole career and music style one little piece at a time.

 

Now here we are in 2020 and with 50+ years worth of music from him all in my head... War of the Worlds was a total revelation to revisit now.  It's no longer "a score I didn't really want from him" at all, it's a fascinating descent into post-9/11 terror and brooding, with incredible pounding action setpieces and a really interesting take on an uplifting ending (that was revised 4 times....)

 

Also in a more general way, something about this score feels "autumn-y" to me, so this release is truly coming out at a perfect time for all to enjoy!

[Jurassic Shark 12,029]

1 minute ago, Jay said:

that was revised 4 times....

 

Alternates confirmed!

[Jay 37,287]

I've purposely not said a single thing about this release at all, I'm just talking bout the score in general.  We've known the ending was revised 4 times for a decade now

[crumbs 14,300]

5 minutes ago, Jay said:

Also in a more general way, something about this score feels "autumn-y" to me, so this release is truly coming out at a perfect time for all to enjoy!

 

Well, maybe if you live in the northern hemisphere.

[Jay 37,287]

Of course.

[Jurassic Shark 12,029]

1 minute ago, crumbs said:

 

Well, maybe if you live in the northern hemisphere.

 

You need a better hemisphere.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

8 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

I can't remember we've discussed this before, sorry. I can occasionally like the sound of a fortepiano, but it very much depends on the instrument.

 

In one of those classical threads some time this year.  I think it was talking about Haydn.

[TownerFan 4,983]

13 minutes ago, Jay said:

Now here we are in 2020 and I'm so entrenched in all his music from his whole career - and War of the Worlds was a bit of a revelation to revisit now.  It's no longer "a score I didn't really want from him" at all, it's a fascinating descent into post-9/11 terror and brooding, with incredible pounding action setpieces and a really interesting take on an uplifting ending (that was revised 4 times....)

 

Also in a more general way, something about this score feels "autumn-y" to me, so this release is truly coming out at a perfect time for all to enjoy!

 

Interesting points. What gives this score its most unique quality, in my very humble opinion, is the fact Williams avoids almost completely the theme-driven approach he's known for and that often is at the core of his film scores, which is very unusual for him. While there are thematic figurations throughout, it's mostly motivic stuff, not fully fledged themes. It's an almost impressionistic score in that regard, where the identity of the film is rendered throughout the harmonic language and the very dark orchestral colours. It's Williams at his most Stravinsky-esque, imho. It fits the film's very brooding tone like a glove.

 

I don't know if this was a consequence of the unusual circumstances in which he scored the film, or if it's because basically Spielberg given him total free reign to do whatever he wanted.

[crumbs 14,300]

Probably a good time to re-post this very generous scoring featurette on the film:

 

Williams discusses several things of note here, including the low male chorus and the high-pitched female 'scream' in the Intersection Scene (that I think was absent from the OST version of that cue, but is included on the Intrada version).

[Jurassic Shark 12,029]

5 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

 

In one of those classical threads some time this year.  I think it was talking about Haydn.

 

I remember we talked about Marriner's great symphony recordings! I also really like Bruno Weil's and Trevor Pinnock's energetic takes on the symphonies.

 

Which keyboard concerto were you talking about? The 11th?

[Brundlefly 2,385]

Oh, how awesome is that! I just encoutered that Jay had a new profile picture and was like "Wait a minute..."

[Jurassic Shark 12,029]

21 minutes ago, Jay said:

I've purposely not said a single thing about this release at all, I'm just talking bout the score in general.  We've known the ending was revised 4 times for a decade now

 

[Jay 37,287]

4 minutes ago, crumbs said:

Probably a good time to re-post this very generous scoring featurette on the film:

 

Thanks for posting that!  I might have seen it when the DVD came out but hadn't seen it since.  It's so nice to hear Williams talk directly about the score for longer than just cursory marketing fluff type statements.

 

And how interesting that it actually contains Williams talking about how Spielberg replaced his original "Surveying the Wreckage" cue with music tracked in from Epilogue?

 

And that little bit from 11:00-11:36 that just shows, unedited, a conversation between Williams and Spielberg about how to score a scene?  WE NEED MORE OF THIS FOOTAGE TO BE OUT IN THE WORLD!

 

Also, does anybody else enjoy literally any time we get to see recording session footage with the video screen up above the players showing the scene with the streamers and other markings rolling by over it?

 

Seeing all this footage of the film itself reminds me again that I haven't seen this film in 15 years and need to see it again.  Definitely going to watch it this weekend!