Jerry Goldsmith's SECONDS (1966) - NEW! 2022 Quartet Records

[Raiders of the SoundtrArk 2,429]

Quartet Records, in collaboration with Paramount Pictures, presents a remastered, restored and slightly expanded edition of Jerry Goldsmith’s marvelous score for John Frankenheimer’s sci-fi-horror-drama cult classic SECONDS (1966)

 

SECONDS starred Rock Hudson – in an astonishing change of pace, as the film campaign ads said – as an unhappy middle-aged banker who agrees to a procedure that will fake his death and give him a completely new look and identity. But it comes with its own price.

Jerry Goldsmith’s fascinating score take us on a musical journey through one of his finest works, building on the psychological complexity of scores such as FREUD and his work on THE TWILIGHT ZONE while anticipating the effective contrast of sacred and profane on future projects such as his OMEN trilogy.

The soundtrack of SECONDS was released 13 years ago on La-La Land Records, paired with the Goldsmith score for I.Q. Mono music stems were the only source available at the time, and they remain so today since the session masters are gone. But thanks to new technology that has appeared in the intervening decade, this new edition –produced, restored and mastered by Chris Malone – has been significantly improved, eliminating all dialogue bleed and other defects inherent in the sources, as well as allowing us the opportunity to present all score cues as heard in the film.

In addition to the original score, we have included as bonus material the source music for the long cocktail sequence, which was specifically recorded for the film and conducted by Goldsmith – including a source piece by the master himself.

The package includes a 16-page booklet with authoritative liner notes by film music writer John Takis.

 

Direct link for purchase here.

 

Tracklist:

1. Main Title (2:59)

2. 34 Lafayette Street (2:19)

3. Quiet Isolation (2:31)

4. Nightmare (2:51)

5. Transformation (1:56)

6. Rehabilitation and Strange Arrival (2:20)

7. Restless Hours (3:13)

8. Peaceful Aftermath (0:49)

9. Reflections (2:01)

10. Begin Again (1:45)

11. End Title (1:13)

Bonus tracks

12. Cocktail Music #1 (3:34)

13. Cocktail Music #2 (1:07)

14. Cocktail Music #3 (1:04)

15. Keep Rockin’ (3:32)

16. Cleanup (2:15)

[Brundlefly 2,385]

Quartet is gradually getting on par with Intrada and La-La Land! Go Quartet!

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

What we want: at least five new JW expansions. 

 

What we get: another weird JG score.

[Brundlefly 2,385]

 

[bruce marshall 1,315]

I have a fan made custom CD which combines FREUD and SECONDS.

FREUD is brilliant!

[Yavar Moradi 2,592]

2 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

What we want: at least five new JW expansions. 

 

What we get: another weird JG score.

It's a GREAT JG score, for one of the three greatest films he ever scored (Seconds is the only Goldsmith-scored film in the Criterion Collection, for what that's worth).

 

Chris Malone is a magician. I’ve heard the new master (we will be recording a Soundtrack Spotlight for The Goldsmith Odyssey soon) and it’s like he somehow took an audio eraser and *vanished* the dialogue bleed (and some glaring source music bleed at the beginning of one score cue) that was on the LLL. I don’t know how he did it but when you A/B compare with the dialogue bleed tracks from the LLL you will be amazed too.

Yavar

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

21 minutes ago, Yavar Moradi said:

Chris Malone is a magician. I’ve heard the new master (we will be recording a Soundtrack Spotlight for The Goldsmith Odyssey soon) and it’s like he somehow took an audio eraser and *vanished* the dialogue bleed (and some glaring source music bleed at the beginning of one score cue) that was on the LLL. I don’t know how he did it but when you A/B compare with the dialogue bleed tracks from the LLL you will be amazed too.

 

Malone better start working on Fitzwilly then!

[bruce marshall 1,315]

I'm currently listening to VS release of SECONDS.

This sounds surprisingly clear. I would never guess it's taken from stems. The organ, especially, has vibrant sound.

Of course, if listened to on headphones the flaws will be more apparent, but through speakers it's a quality presentation!

 

Btw it reminds me of THRILLER.

Maybe we can get Leigh to rerecord THIS too!😄

[Romão 2,274]

I'm getting this. I'm glad it's coming from one of the european labels, makes it much more affordable

[Brundlefly 2,385]

On 09/05/2022 at 10:08 PM, Yavar Moradi said:

Chris Malone is a magician. I’ve heard the new master (we will be recording a Soundtrack Spotlight for The Goldsmith Odyssey soon) and it’s like he somehow took an audio eraser and *vanished* the dialogue bleed (and some glaring source music bleed at the beginning of one score cue) that was on the LLL. I don’t know how he did it but when you A/B compare with the dialogue bleed tracks from the LLL you will be amazed too.

That's what I meant. Quartet have developed an incredibly high standard concerning mixing, mastering, programming and artwork that is not a single step behind the efforts of the big special labels. And they do that with great consistency. Let alone the fact that once in a while we Europeans don't have to be bothered by astronomic shipping fees.

 

I was always inclined but at the same time hesitant to buy the old Seconds release, because a sonic upgrade seemed obligatory. Fortunately, I did not buy it and there we are! And my gosh, the artwork!

[bruce marshall 1,315]

Their release of LAST VALLEY was clearly superior to the INTRADA, thanks to better sources

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

Quartet has already surpassed Intrada in overall quality.

[Thor 7,478]

Great film, great score.

 

I got the SECONDS/IQ disc years ago (bizarre pairing!), I think in a gift bag at Peter Hackman's film music event in 2012?! I've obviously separated them in my iTunes.

[bruce marshall 1,315]

3 hours ago, Thor said:

Great film, great score.

 

I got the SECONDS/IQ disc years ago (bizarre pairing!.

Better!

[Thor 7,478]

Yes, better.

[Brundlefly 2,385]

I wished, Quartet had paired those two!

[publicist 4,643]

The score notwithstanding, i found the (grim) movie almost prophetic in its anticipation of modern gender and identity issues. Frankenheimer's best.

[Yavar Moradi 2,592]

38 minutes ago, Brundlefly said:

I wished, Quartet had paired those two!

 

How easily fans ignore the realities of the industry.  With Seconds a Paramount film and Freud a Universal film, this was never an option. Seconds and IQ were paired by LLL because they were both sufficiently short unreleased Paramount scores by Goldsmith at the time (the fact that they were both ostensibly science-related was a happy coincidence).

 

Yavar

[bruce marshall 1,315]

1 hour ago, Yavar Moradi said:

 

How easily fans ignore the realities of the industry.  With Seconds a Paramount film and Freud a Universal film, this was never an option. Seconds and IQ were paired by LLL because they were both sufficiently short unreleased Paramount scores by Goldsmith at the time (the fact that they were both ostensibly science-related was a happy coincidence).

 

Yavar

[John Takis 206]

Bruce: Are you certain that FREUD/SECONDS pairing is legit and not merely a bootleg that swiped the Varese branding? I can't find any evidence that Varese Sarabande ever released such a disc ... not on SoundtrackCollector nor on Discogs.

 

EDIT: I guess I need to scroll up further before replying!

[Yavar Moradi 2,592]

40 minutes ago, John Takis said:

Bruce: Are you certain that FREUD/SECONDS pairing is legit and not merely a bootleg that swiped the Varese branding? I can't find any evidence that Varese Sarabande ever released such a disc ... not on SoundtrackCollector nor on Discogs.

Bruce is being playful. He made it himself.

 

Yavar

[Jay 37,322]

[bruce marshall 1,315]

I thought I mentioned it was a fan made cdr.

[John Takis 206]

31 minutes ago, bruce marshall said:

I thought I mentioned it was a fan made cdr.

 

Ha! You did, I just didn't scroll up far enough.

[bruce marshall 1,315]

7 hours ago, publicist said:

The score notwithstanding, i found the (grim) movie almost prophetic in its anticipation of modern gender and identity issues. Frankenheimer's best.

It's also one of the first Hollywood movies with nudity!

9 minutes ago, John Takis said:

 

Ha! You did, I just didn't scroll up far enough.

So John....

Why are you called Wedge at FSM?😉😁

[John Takis 206]

57 minutes ago, bruce marshall said:

So John....

Why are you called Wedge at FSM?😉😁

 

I was a freshman in college when I made the account, and wasn't yet an FSM contributor, let alone working for any of the labels, so using a handle didn't seem like a big deal. I've thought about changing it, but most folks there seem to know who I am.

[bruce marshall 1,315]

54 minutes ago, John Takis said:

 

I was a freshman in college when I made the account, and wasn't yet an FSM contributor, let alone working for any of the labels, so using a handle didn't seem like a big deal. I've thought about changing it, but most folks there seem to know who I am.

I see, youngster.

😙

[bruce marshall 1,315]

16 hours ago, Yavar Moradi said:

Bruce is being playful. He made it himself.

 

Yavar

You really think I have the technical skills to recreate a VS release so faithfully?

ME!?

😳😅

[Marian Schedenig 8,177]

16 hours ago, John Takis said:

I was a freshman in college when I made the account, and wasn't yet an FSM contributor, let alone working for any of the labels, so using a handle didn't seem like a big deal. I've thought about changing it, but most folks there seem to know who I am.

 

Can't change your name now,

after years and years and years.

Everyone knows Wedge!

[Jay 37,322]

I changed my FSM screenname to my real name once I started interviewing people who worked on specialty label releases for the main page here.  Lukas Kendall just made a blog post yesterday where he laments that people don't use their real names on his forum.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

I do use my real name!  

[Jay 37,322]

Has anyone on JWFan heard this release?

 

If so, do you have any comments on it?

[Marian Schedenig 8,177]

I have. But only in passing, and I haven't yet compared it to the previous release. It's a rather sparse, moody score, nothing to throw into the playlist just "for fun".

I gave it another listen. It's typical 60s Goldsmith moody horror/thriller music, in the vein of stuff like Shock Treatment, but less more laid back, less intense than that or Freud, with organ and strings. Ideal background music for a spooky board game session, but for regular listening, a suite would probably suffice (it's not very long anyway, but not very varied either). Sound via speakers is not too transparent, but quite punchy and clean.

[Yavar Moradi 2,592]

3 hours ago, Jay said:

Has anyone on JWFan heard this release?

If so, do you have any comments on it?

 

I've heard it but any comments I could make would be redundant with what I wrote above, to say nothing of the epic Goldsmith Odyssey Soundtrack Spotlight we will be releasing soon.

 

This Spotlight would have been out last month, but unfortunately we had to bump our plans to record/edit it in favor of having the Matinee Spotlight (with special guest Joe Dante) ready in time for Intrada's release day, which I really wanted.

 

Yavar

[Brundlefly 2,385]

Still waiting for Seconds to arrive... I will love it, no doubt.

[Yavar Moradi 2,592]

12 hours ago, Brundlefly said:

Still waiting for Seconds to arrive... I will love it, no doubt.

See the film first, if you can. It’s worth it.

 

Yavar

[Brundlefly 2,385]

A German Blu-ray was supposed to be released... in 2018... but there's still nothing.

[Yavar Moradi 2,592]

Is the Criterion Collection Blu-ray not playable in Germany?

 

Yavar

[publicist 4,643]

It's at least available: http://flimmerstube.com/video/vip/9276/krimi/der_mann_der_zweimal_lebte_1966

[Yavar Moradi 2,592]

On 17/06/2022 at 10:09 AM, Jay said:

Has anyone on JWFan heard this release?

If so, do you have any comments on it?

 

At last, the Soundtrack Spotlight is polished and here! Plenty of comments from all five participants. Hope everyone enjoys:

https://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/10848209-odyssey-soundtrack-spotlight-seconds-1966

 

 

Also, I heard from Jose via email that this title is close to selling out. If you're on the fence, give the podcast and episode and don't delay in picking up a copy if you decide you want it.

 

Yavar