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Jerry Goldsmith's LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION (2003) - 2021 2CD Varese Deluxe Edition


Jay

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  • 3 weeks later...

Christ this thing is a mess. No wonder Goldsmith arranged his album to reflect mostly only his own material. Some short bursts of previously unreleased Goldsmith material are nice to finally hear though. But then there are some itty bitties that I always thought were Goldsmith but turns out it was either Debney or someone named Cameron Patrick.

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So here's the thing about that, too -- for Disc 1 the program Bruce Botnick opted to go with was the score as it exists in the film (with the exception of Area 52 which features an alternate synth "theremin" performance instead of the vocal "theremin" by Sally Stevens which was in the film and on the original album, thankfully preserved on Disc 2). That means that some original Goldsmith cues are left out on Disc 1, including the very first score cue, "What's Up?" -- Disc 2 contains Goldsmith's original version (which was also on the original album), which introduces the main theme of the score and I think is stronger for it. Also in the Disc 2 alternates section are two cues Jerry wrote for Roadrunner/Coyote sequences later in the film, which were replaced by Cameron Patrick cues which are on Disc 1.
 

Frankly the score plays/flows/develops much better if one swaps in the Goldsmith original cues from Disc 2 into the main album program. It's an easy fix with iTunes, thankfully...

 

Yavar

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44 minutes ago, Yavar Moradi said:


Fair enough, although obviously those other composers deserve credit.

 

Yavar

 

I get that, but maybe the back cover was the wrong place for the tracklisting and attributions in this special case. A few pages in the booklet with bigger text and attributions broken up with paragraphed spaces might have worked better.

 

I've seen Varese do this before on less likely releases like Cleopatra.

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  • 1 month later...
On 2/2/2021 at 4:46 AM, Yavar Moradi said:

So here's the thing about that, too -- for Disc 1 the program Bruce Botnick opted to go with was the score as it exists in the film (with the exception of Area 52 which features an alternate synth "theremin" performance instead of the vocal "theremin" by Sally Stevens which was in the film and on the original album, thankfully preserved on Disc 2). That means that some original Goldsmith cues are left out on Disc 1, including the very first score cue, "What's Up?" -- Disc 2 contains Goldsmith's original version (which was also on the original album), which introduces the main theme of the score and I think is stronger for it. Also in the Disc 2 alternates section are two cues Jerry wrote for Roadrunner/Coyote sequences later in the film, which were replaced by Cameron Patrick cues which are on Disc 1.
 

Frankly the score plays/flows/develops much better if one swaps in the Goldsmith original cues from Disc 2 into the main album program. It's an easy fix with iTunes, thankfully...

 

Yavar

 

Hi Yavar, I was wondering if you had a playlist for creating the score as originally intended? This just arrived in the post with 'Along Came a Spider' and I have to admit I'm going a bit crosseyed trying to figure it all out from the back cover...

 

This is what i've come up with:

 

-'What's Up?', replace disc 1 track 2 with disc 2 track 1

-Replace disc 1 track 6 with disc 2 tracks 4-7

-Replace disc 1 track 18 with disc 2 tracks 10-12

-"The Launch", replace disc 1 track 19 with disc 2 track 13

Any help most appreciated!

 

 

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I've tried the above out and it doesn't work as all of the alternates feature slate numbers and stage chatter. I'm really not a fan of presenting alternates this way as it robs you of the ability to listen to them on purely musical terms. I do like this kind of thing when presented separately (as in the recent 'Along Came a Spider') or when used for context (the take numbers on the 1997 RCA Victor 'Star Wars' main title archive) but I much prefer alternate music to be presented clean.

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8 hours ago, John Chambers said:

I've tried the above out and it doesn't work as all of the alternates feature slate numbers and stage chatter. I'm really not a fan of presenting alternates this way as it robs you of the ability to listen to them on purely musical terms. I do like this kind of thing when presented separately (as in the recent 'Along Came a Spider') or when used for context (the take numbers on the 1997 RCA Victor 'Star Wars' main title archive) but I much prefer alternate music to be presented clean.


What’s Up and Area 52 you can and should just swap in from the original album program on Disc 2, IMO. Technically, it is a different mix, but personally I don’t really notice that. The only other option is to trim off the chatter. I guess for the two Roadrunner/Coyote cues Jerry wrote (only in the bonus section of Disc 2) that’s the only option.

 

It’s not my preferred presentation or order of cues but this was Bruce Botnick’s baby and his call. I’m not going to argue with the man but I’m thankful that between the two discs it’s possible to make a more satisfying presentation, even though I’ve been too busy to exactly figure out all of it as of yet. :) 

 

Yavar

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  • 1 month later...

Is this an essential purchase? I've sampled this album and it just seems to scattered and unfocused. The original album was a pretty great half an hour listening experience

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Well if you don't own the original it's definitly an essential but if you already have it I will say that it depends of your affinity with the score. If you don't fancy it more that this well I'm not sure it's bring more than the OST but if you're crazy about it well that's a very welcomed different listenning experience.

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  • 1 month later...
On 1/8/2021 at 7:00 PM, Jay said:

1. What’s Up? (1:29)
2. Another Take, #9 (:53)
3. Trumpet Wa-Wa (:07)
4. The Shimmy (:12)
5. Out Of The Bag (1:17)
6. The Car, Part 1 (:15)
7. The Car, Part 2 (:12)
8. Psycho (:37)
9. Car Trouble (3:22)
10. Wrong Turn, Part 1 (1:14)
11. Wrong Turn, Part 2 (:25)
12. Wrong Turn, Part 3 (1:08)
13. The Launch (:30)
14. The Blue Danube / The Barber of Seville / Can Can ## (:36)
15 Vivaldi Concerto # (:15)
16. The Hook (:29)
17. Pressed Duck (3:39)
18. Merry-Go-Round Broke Down (That’s All Folks!) § (:23)

So can someone explain me, what exactly these bonus tracks are? What's alternate and what's just outtakes? @Yavar Moradi, I'm sure you know more.

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I dragged myself through it on Spotify and the only thing i noticed was a fake vocalise on the Area 52-stuff. The album version is better. As for the other archival stuff, i don't mind it, but there should be really something more worthwile to do with your time than to wade through all these more or less identical versions. Gremlins 2 it ain't (which is, in retrospect, a monumentally cool score that would be all but impossible today).

 

 

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The film is one of the best sequels because it realised that the only way to beat the original at what is essentially the same story was to take it absurdly (but deliberately) over the top. The score may be top 10 Goldsmith.

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Just now, Marian Schedenig said:

The film is one of the best sequels because it realised that the only way to beat the original at what is essentially the same story was to take it absurdly (but deliberately) over the top. The score may be top 10 Goldsmith.

 

Agreed about the film. I love when sequels aren't trying to re-invent the wheel.

 

I don't know about the score being top ten, though I love it. The original Gremlins is top 10, maybe even top 5.

 

It was also the first Goldsmith score I noticed as a child so there is a nostalgia-based bias here. The Goldsmith Rag may still be my favorite cue of his. It just... takes me there.

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53 minutes ago, blondheim said:

Agreed about the film. I love when sequels aren't trying to re-invent the wheel.

 

Well, it does re-invent it. But unlike most sequels, it actually re-*invents* it. Like BTTF2 does, too.

 

53 minutes ago, blondheim said:

I don't know about the score being top ten, though I love it. The original Gremlins is top 10, maybe even top 5.

 

G2 ranks higher for me. The original score has some great stuff, including the wonderful Late for Work, but G2 has Pot Luck (one of my top Goldsmith tracks, period) and a far superior (less goofy) version of the rag.

 

53 minutes ago, blondheim said:

It was also the first Goldsmith score I noticed as a child so there is a nostalgia-based bias here. The Goldsmith Rag may still be my favorite cue of his. It just... takes me there.

 

There were three films that I recorded the end credits off from my VHS tapes on to cassette tapes as a kid: The Lord of the Rings (the Rosenman, obviously), Ghostbusters (though that was the song), and Gremlins 2.

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11 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

Well, it does re-invent it. But unlike most sequels, it actually re-*invents* it. Like BTTF2 does, too.

 

 

G2 ranks higher for me. The original score has some great stuff, including the wonderful Late for Work, but G2 has Pot Luck (one of my top Goldsmith tracks, period) and a far superior (less goofy) version of the rag.

 

 

There were three films that I recorded the end credits off from my VHS tapes on to cassette tapes as a kid: The Lord of the Rings (the Rosenman, obviously), Ghostbusters (though that was the song), and Gremlins 2.

 

When I said re-invent the wheel, I mean it as trying to do again that which was already simple and effective enough as is. I want them to invent, not re-invent which is what Goldsmith did with 2, invent new.

 

I do not think the G2 rag is superior in any way, but hey to each their own. I find the original far less goofy myself. Weird and fascinating how music affects each of us so differently.

 

For me, the original Gremlins theme has some of the most satisfying chord progressions of the entire 80s, up there with Cherry 2000. The chord shift in the third measure of each iteration will never cease to thrill. I also think the howling cat and zany sound effects are superior to the zany sound effects in the sequel, satisfying as they are.

 

I watched Hook and Batman Returns most for the score as a kid. Actually wore the tapes out during Remembering Childhood and Selina Transforms. Also, watched the menus on the original Lord of the Rings DVD for snippets of score not yet released, among countless others.

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  • 10 months later...

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