Images (1972) - 2021 remaster by Quartet Records (CD and LP)

[Jurassic Shark 12,781]

IMAGES Music by JOHN WILLIAMS PRICE: 16,95€ IN STOCK Limited edition of 2000 units

Quartet Records, in collaboration with Handmade Films, is proud to present a remastered CD reissue of an early masterpiece from legendary composer John Williams (THE TOWERING INFERNO, THE COWBOYS, JAWS, E.T., THE RIVER) for Robert Altman’s 1972 psychological thriller-drama starring Susannah York. The film inspired one of Williams’ most fascinating and avant-garde scores. The composer based his ideas on two different musical styles: one more classical, almost childlike, the other experimental, aggressive, with an essential contribution from famous Japanese percussionist and experimental musician Stomu Yamash´ta. This musical duality allows Williams to reflect how sanity gradually and irretrievably loses ground to madness in York’s character. The composer was Oscar-nominated in 1972 for both IMAGES and THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE; this was the first time he received a double nomination in the same category of Original Score, something that became usual in the following four decades. This new 2021 edition, the first official release of IMAGES approved by the composer, has been expertly produced, restored and mastered by Mike Matessino utilizing a recently discovered stereo element, the only available source that could be located. The CD comes with a 20-page booklet featuring an authoritative and exclusive in-depth essay by Jon Burlingame, never-seen-before photos of the C.T.S. recording session with Williams, Yamash’ta and Altman, as well as the recently discovered liner notes written by Williams for an album (carefully assembled by the composer himself) that was ultimately released only as promotional edition for members of the Academy.               NEW VINYL RELEASE IMAGES (LP) Music by JOHN WILLIAMS Pressed on 180 GM Black Vinyl Specially Mastered for Vinyl by Mike Matessino Limited edition of 500 units PRICE: 21,95€ PRE-ORDER (availability date 6/28/2021)

Quartet Records, in collaboration with Handmade Films, is proud to present the first commercial vinyl release of an early masterpiece from legendary composer John Williams (THE TOWERING INFERNO, THE COWBOYS, JAWS, E.T., THE RIVER) for Robert Altman’s 1972 psychological thriller-drama starring Susannah York. The film inspired one of Williams’ most fascinating and avant-garde scores. The composer based his ideas on two different musical styles: one more classical, almost childlike, the other experimental, aggressive, with an essential contribution from famous Japanese percussionist and experimental musician Stomu Yamash´ta. This musical duality allows Williams to reflect how sanity gradually and irretrievably loses ground to madness in York’s character. The composer was Oscar-nominated in 1972 for both IMAGES and THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE; this was the first time he received a double nomination in the same category of Original Score, something that became usual in the following four decades. This new 2021 edition, the first official release of IMAGES approved by the composer, has been expertly produced, restored and mastered by Mike Matessino utilizing a recently discovered stereo element, the only available source that could be located. The LP, pressed on 180 GM black vinyl, comes with the recently discovered liner notes written by Williams for an album (carefully assembled by the composer himself) that was ultimately released only as promotional edition for members of the Academy.   In Search of Unicorns (4:06) The House (2:40) Dogs, Ponies and Old Ruins (2:15) Visitations (2:53) Reflections (3:16) The Killing of Marcel (3:13) The Love Montage (4:48) Blood Moon (3:17) Land of the Ums (1:47) The Night Witch Ride (2:55) The Waterfall and The Final Chapter (4:19)

 

 

https://quartetrecords.com/product/images/

https://quartetrecords.com/product/images-lp/

[Incanus 5,784]

Ordered! (along with the Silence of the Lambs).

[Jurassic Shark 12,781]

I reckon Jay now regrets not selling his copy of the old release!

[crocodile 8,361]

Always is great. But this is amazing! 

Ordered in a heartbeat. 

 

Karol

[Incanus 5,784]

1 minute ago, crocodile said:

Always is great. But this is amazing! 

Ordered in a heartbeat. 

 

Karol

Did you miss the Prometheus Records version Karol?

 

Which apparently wasn't composer approved...

[filmmusic 2,133]

Hmmmm... Don't know if I should get this.

I have the Prometheus cd, and I usually don't hear any difference in restored audio.

I don't remember: Was the prometheus cd in mono?

[Incanus 5,784]

5 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

Hmmmm... Don't know if I should get this.

I have the Prometheus cd, and I usually don't hear any difference in restored audio.

I don't remember: Was the prometheus cd in mono?

I think it was sourced from the promo LP transfer if I remember correctly.

[Chewy 2,471]

Woah! I don't know anything about the movie or the score but the samples were enough to give me goosebumps, I'm thrilled about this 

[crocodile 8,361]

10 minutes ago, Incanus said:

Did you miss the Prometheus Records version Karol?

 

Which apparently wasn't composer approved...

I had some rip of an old promo/bootleg. So no, this will be my first. 

 

Karol 

[Thor 8,078]

I already have the previous CD release, of course (and before that, a CD-R of the LP), and in theory I don't really need anything else. But I have to admit that the 'remastered' aspect sounds tantalizing. After all, the old release was a straight, slightly cleaned-up transfer of the old promo LP. This release appears to give it the care it deserved the first time around.

In case I haven't made it clear, IMAGES is in my top 5 John Williams list.

[Chewy 2,471]

So if I understood, this is not an expansion right? Looks like it is the same program as the one made in 1972 by Williams. Does anyone know if it is considered complete?

[Thor 8,078]

It's as complete as it needs to be to work as its own thing. It actually also includes music that isn't in the film  ("Blood Moon"), making it a fantastic, avantgarde concept album that flows from the tonal to atonal.

[crumbs 14,584]

Wow! This seems totally out of the blue! Very cool news though.

 

It's an oddly worded press release though. It doesn't sound like a complete score but rather some type of CD reissue? It's a bit confusing.

 

But I'm not concerned given Mike's involvement. Great to hear that new elements surfaced to assemble it!

[Jurassic Shark 12,781]

I wonder if this release is identical in content to the promo album.

[phbart 623]

Samples:

https://quartetrecords.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/01_In-Search-Of-Unicorns.mp3

 

https://quartetrecords.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/03_Dogs-Ponies-And-Old-Ruins.mp3

 

https://quartetrecords.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/05_Reflections.mp3

 

https://quartetrecords.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/06_The-Killing-Of-Marcel.mp3

 

https://quartetrecords.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/08_Blood-Moon.mp3

 

https://quartetrecords.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/11_The-Waterfall-And-The-Final-Chapter.mp3

 

Those samples are promising, but also shows how amazing a well pressed vinyl can sound, judging from the source used for the 2008 release. I wonder why it wasn't approved by JW.

 

Anyway, I love this movie. Arrow Video released it on blu-ray a few years ago sourced from an awesome 4K restoration and has one of the best video compressions I've ever seen in the format. It's great to have the soundtrack back in circulation again, and from a new source (AND composer approved).

[Jay 38,749]

1 hour ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

 

This is great news!  I just discovered this score this winter and realized I'd been missing out on listened to a real little gem of Williams' career for a while!  So happy better elements were found to give Williams' intended OST album the sound quality it deserves.

 

1 hour ago, Jurassic Shark said:

I reckon Jay now regrets not selling his copy of the old release!

 

That's pretty similar to what I said to Mike!  Except it was more like, "figures a better element was found now that I just finally took the shrinkwrap off my Prometheus edition  "

 

 

1 hour ago, filmmusic said:

Hmmmm... Don't know if I should get this.

I have the Prometheus cd, and I usually don't hear any difference in restored audio.

I don't remember: Was the prometheus cd in mono?

 

Nah, it was stereo.  But you don't need to wonder without information; The Quartet order page has sound samples you can listen to.  Put on good headphones and close your eyes, and listen to these samples and then your rip of the Prometheus CD from the same section back to back and see what you think!

 

https://quartetrecords.com/product/images/

 

Of course, if you don't have your rip with you, the Prometheus edition is streaming in all the usual places

 

https://open.spotify.com/album/08oq3v6VpMXkJ3DeMKw3PM?si=yuRsK_pNS_STd4OUkL2TfA

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nM96nz1y8FZCdyCllbp64Zx5oAK6NIX3w

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00B0NG04Q/

https://music.apple.com/us/album/images-original-motion-picture-soundtrack/592477815

https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/images-original-motion-picture-soundtrack-stomu-yamashta/nom4zrol70drc

 

 

1 hour ago, Incanus said:

I think it was sourced from the promo LP transfer if I remember correctly.

 

Yea, they played an actual pressed vinyl record from 1972 and recorded that output, and that's what the Prometheus CD is.

 

This Quartet edition is done the usual way you make an album of music from a master recording.

 

1 hour ago, crocodile said:

I had some rip of an old promo/bootleg. So no, this will be my first. 

 

Was Images bootlegged before the Prometheus CD came out in 2007?  I wasn't aware!

 

1 hour ago, Chewy said:

So if I understood, this is not an expansion right? Looks like it is the same program as the one made in 1972 by Williams. Does anyone know if it is considered complete?

 

It's not complete but it's pretty close; It wasn't a film that required a lot of score.  And his album program includes cool music that was recorded specifically for it.

[crumbs 14,584]

2 minutes ago, phbart said:

Anyway, I love this movie. Arrow Video released it on blu-ray a few years ago sourced from an awesome 4K restoration and has one of the best video compressions I've ever seen in the format. It's great to have the soundtrack back in circulation again, and from a new source (AND composer approved).

 

I'm a bit confused. So there's an OST (or a promo?) then something else came out (that wasn't approved by Williams) from Prometheus?

 

And now Mike has gone back to that first album master to create this release?

[Jay 38,749]

6 hours ago, crumbs said:

 

I'm a bit confused.

 

I'm surprised there's so much confusion in this thread!  I didn't find the press release confusing in the slightest!

 

Quote

So there's an OST

 

There never was an OST album released.  The Prometheus edition from 2007 was the first commercial release of this music.

 

Quote

, then something else came out (that wasn't approved by Williams) from Perseverance?

 

Prometheus, not Perseverance.  Completely different companies.

 

JW assembled an OST album in 1972, but then it never actually got released.  Promotional vinyl records of his album program were pressed and sent to Academy members voting for Best Original Score that year (this was 4 decades before the rule about Academy promos needing to match film edits came to exist).

 

Someone at Prometheus found a copy of one of those Academy promos, got a license to release the music on CD, recorded a play of that vinyl LP, and released that.  And they got Jon Burlingame to write some really great liner notes!

 

And yea, I'm sure they never told JW about this release or asked for him to check it out or anything.  That wasn't really the standard practice back then.  It's not like JW listened to and gave feedback for  all those old FSM CDs either.

 

Quote

And now Mike has gone back to that first album master to create this release?

 

The Prometheus guys didn't have the album master, they only had a copy of the final pressed LP.  This is the first CD edition made from an actual proper master.

[filmmusic 2,133]

7 minutes ago, Jay said:

Nah, it was stereo.  But you don't need to wonder without information; The Quartet order page has sound samples you can listen to.  Put on good headphones and close your eyes, and listen to these samples and then your rip of the Prometheus CD from the same section back to back and see what you think!

I just did and I don't hear any difference. (I used my headphones). Just a tad more hiss in the Prometheus release.

But my ocd doesn't permit me to ignore this new release! 

[phbart 623]

3 minutes ago, crumbs said:

 

I'm a bit confused. So there's an OST (or a promo?) then something else came out (that wasn't approved by Williams) from Prometheus?

 

And now Mike has gone back to that first album master to create this release?

I had to scrap what I just wrote because Jay has the fastest fingers on the internet. 

[Smeltington 1,534]

1 hour ago, Jurassic Shark said:

never-seen-before photos of the C.T.S. recording session with Williams, Yamash’ta and Altman

 

I like this part!

[Jurassic Shark 12,781]

I included it just for you!

[crlbrg 382]

Just ordered this! I never really dove into this score, so I can't wait to see what I've been missing out on...

[crumbs 14,584]

9 minutes ago, Jay said:

I'm surprised there's so much confusion in this thread!  I didn't find the press release confusing in the slightest!

 

Probably because it starts by saying this:

1 hour ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Quartet Records is proud to present a remastered CD reissue

 

Then goes on to say this:

1 hour ago, Jurassic Shark said:

This new 2021 edition, the first official release of IMAGES approved by the composer

 

It's just confusing for anyone who didn't know the context behind the previous release being some unauthorized LP transfer of some Academy promo that never got released commercially.

[Jay 38,749]

What's confusing about that?

[phbart 623]

I wonder how much marijuana was consumed by JW and Yamash'ta when they were working on this.

[Jay 38,749]

Ha!  It sure is an inspired work.

 

One of the coolest aspects for me is that JW is the one playing the keyboards

[crumbs 14,584]

1 minute ago, Jay said:

What's confusing about that?

 

2 minutes ago, crumbs said:

It's just confusing for anyone who didn't know the context behind the previous release being some unauthorized LP transfer of some Academy promo that never got released commercially.

 

[Jay 38,749]

It wasn't unauthorized!  It was completely legal in every way!  They simply didn't ask Williams to listen to it before releasing it.  MM did.

[Jurassic Shark 12,781]

Well, it was of his original, preferred program, so I guess they didn't see any need to bother him.

[Ollie 1,106]

 

5 minutes ago, Jay said:

What's confusing about that?

 

[Luke Skywalker 1,925]

So it sounds better? Im torn on buying or not... I own the prometheus

[Ricard 2,254]

3 hours ago, Thor said:

It's as complete as it needs to be to work as its own thing.

 

He didn't ask your opinion about all OST releases, he just asked if it was complete

[danbeck 123]

But is it confirmed that the source for this is the original album master tapes?

I’m sure MM will do the best job possible with whatever element he has, but the press release is bit vague on the source (“stereo element”).

[Chewy 2,471]

16 minutes ago, Luke Skywalker said:

So it sounds better?

I don't really know if it sounds better than the Prometheus/BSX release, judging by the samples. The bit at the end of the track 1 sample sounds richer on the Promethus release.

[crumbs 14,584]

7 minutes ago, Jay said:

It wasn't unauthorized!  It was completely legal in every way!  They simply didn't ask Williams to listen to it before releasing it.  MM did.

 

Okay. So it's Williams' approved assembly from 1972 (that was only intended as an Academy promo), that Prometheus obtained as an LP transfer and licensed for release in 2007 (without bothering to ask Williams), and now better elements have surfaced of the exact same assembly (closer to first gen sources) and this time they confirmed that Williams was happy for this promo to be released commercially.

 

I knew basically nothing about the score or any previous release, so I just found all that mildly confusing. I clearly don't have the same encyclopedic knowledge of JW's discography and existing assemblies/reissues/promos. I'll try to do better next time.

 

Was it only a stereo album master that surfaced or did the rest of the score turn up?

 

[phbart 623]

17 minutes ago, Luke Skywalker said:

So it sounds better? Im torn on buying or not... I own the prometheus

Since it's tape sourced, it doesn't have the vinyl problems like background hum and some scratches (although minimal) which are audible on the Prometheus release, if you listen carefully. But either they got a very clean and perfectly preserved vinyl or they did an amazing restoration because that release always sounded great.

[Jurassic Shark 12,781]

10 minutes ago, crumbs said:

Was it only a stereo album master that surfaced or did the rest of the score turn up?

 

I was wondering about the same thing. Perhaps they wanted to do a complete release, but then JW nixed it.

[Dr. Rick 1,186]

Looks like the floodgates are starting to open up! I will be ordering for sure as I don't have this on CD.  

 

Will Intrada have this for sale on their site as well?  Shipping to the US more than doubles the price of this! 

 

Sold out already?!

 

[Molly Weasley 102]

It says they have "0 available" when I try to buy. That can't possibly be true, right? It's only been two hours 

[thx99 1,783]

3 minutes ago, ATXHusker said:

Will Intrada have this for sale on their site as well?  Shipping to the US more than doubles the price of this! 

 

It's up for pre-order on Screen Archives.

[Dr. Rick 1,186]

Another 1970's score getting the proper MM treatment!  Not too many left!  Which one will be next?  I left Star Wars off the list below for obvious reasons.  I don't own any of these that have been on CD before so hoping they all get a proper re-release at some point.
 

• Story of a Woman
• Jane Eyre
• The Screaming Woman
• The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing
• The Paper Chase
• Cinderella Liberty
• Conrack
• Sugarland Express
• The Eiger Sanction

[Bespin 8,648]

I guess this time, I could'nt ignore this score anymore!

[Jay 38,749]

3 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Well, it was of his original, preferred program, so I guess they didn't see any need to bother him.

 

Williams gives notes on volume levels, which you can see MM share here.

 

 

 

3 hours ago, Luke Skywalker said:

So it sounds better? Im torn on buying or not... I own the prometheus

 

3 hours ago, Jay said:

The Quartet order page has sound samples you can listen to.  Put on good headphones and close your eyes, and listen to these samples and then your rip of the Prometheus CD from the same section back to back and see what you think!

 

https://quartetrecords.com/product/images/

 

Of course, if you don't have your rip with you, the Prometheus edition is streaming in all the usual places

 

https://open.spotify.com/album/08oq3v6VpMXkJ3DeMKw3PM?si=yuRsK_pNS_STd4OUkL2TfA

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nM96nz1y8FZCdyCllbp64Zx5oAK6NIX3w

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00B0NG04Q/

https://music.apple.com/us/album/images-original-motion-picture-soundtrack/592477815

https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/images-original-motion-picture-soundtrack-stomu-yamashta/nom4zrol70drc

 

 

 

3 hours ago, crumbs said:

Okay. So it's Williams' approved assembly from 1972 (that was only intended as an Academy promo),

 

 

He assembled the album program intended for commercial release, like he does with most scores.  The commercial release simply never happened, for some reason.  Later, when they needed something to send to the Academy for promotion they sent vinyl pressings of that commercial album program.

 

 

 

It is interesting to ponder that if they hadn't decided to do that - and instead did not promote the score for award consideration at all - today would be the first day we'd be hearing the OST album he assembled 49 years ago!

[Jim Ware 535]

40 minutes ago, Molly Weasley said:

It says they have "0 available" when I try to buy. That can't possibly be true, right? It's only been two hours 

 

Same here! I'm assuming that they're having some sort of site issue - according to the album page it's still 'in stock'.

[Jay 38,749]

If this sold out in 2 hours I'll be annoyed!  I could have ordered this morning from home but figured I could wait until I got to the office.  I want to buy this and 3 other Quartet titles directly from them, but cannot

[Chewy 2,471]

Seems to be fixed!

[Jay 38,749]

Yep, placed my order!

 

Phew!

[mstrox 6,778]

Wow!  Picked it up.

[Datameister 2,220]

Hmmmmm...I really love this score but I'm not sure whether I want to double-dip without any additional music. As others have said, the existing album does sound quite good.