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John Powell - THE BOURNE IDENTITY (2002) - 2022 Varese Sarabande expanded edition


Jay

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9 minutes ago, Jay said:

Well then, that explains how it accidentally ended up on this album.  Someone dragged it into the wrong folder, and then no one noticed what happened!

That's pretty hilarious if true, but it does explain it. :lol:

 

Now I wonder what the reason is for the missing cues.. I doubt Powell intentionally left them off, but who knows.

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19 minutes ago, Evanus said:

That's pretty hilarious if true, but it does explain it. :lol:

 

Now I wonder what the reason is for the missing cues.. I doubt Powell intentionally left them off, but who knows.


If you watch the special features on DVD, iTunes, etc, the filmmakers are very open about the fact that the movie originally ended shortly after the farmhouse sequence and that the last 30-40 minutes of the finished film were basically shot at the last minute. You’ll notice most of the missing cues are from that same section of the film. I think Powell or whoever was speaking with me on Instagram is right and this release really does represent the score as recorded prior to the dub. Why he doesn’t consider any material recorded after the fact good enough to release, I’ve no idea.

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Mhmm, that's the most likely explanation then. Still, it's a shame those cues are missing. The flashback music especially, it's a beautiful little track. So I still think it's odd that they decided not to include them here.

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One of my favourite jokes from any movie is when Bourne and Marie are at Marie's brothers place and he comes home. She says "I didnt think youd be here!" He says "Well why wouldnt I be, its only my goddamn house!"

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So those missing cues, are they actually different pieces of music, or were they created purely in the editing bay from pieces recorded for the main program?

 

If they were created purely editorially, then I can honestly regard this as a complete release.

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So the logical explanation is that John Powell accidentally moved the file in this folder but not that the previous leak contained a track from Bourne 1?

 

OK.

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1 minute ago, iamleyeti said:

So the logical explanation is that John Powell accidentally moved the file in this folder but not that the previous leak contained a track from Bourne 1?

 

OK.

 

My guess it is both. The file was dragged to the wrong folder, then it stuck there unnoticed and ended up on the leak, and subsequently this release as a result.

Unless I'm misunderstanding something (possible) ...

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13 minutes ago, OneBuckFilms said:

So those missing cues, are they actually different pieces of music, or were they created purely in the editing bay from pieces recorded for the main program?

 

If they were created purely editorially, then I can honestly regard this as a complete release.

As far as I know, they're completely original, different pieces of music. Here's the flashback scene, featuring the Bourne Remembers cue:

I timestamped it at around 1:10 (music starts a bit earlier, but this is where it really picks up)

 

Pretty sure this music from 2:20 onward is missing too:

 

The remixes aren't there either, nor is the unused chase cue which leaked out. I'm sure there's some other bits too

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Slight snag on my edit. Speed correction was trivial, and I've got my fixed version there.

 

The odd thing is that the track from the CD fades out just before the cutover.

 

I wonder if Extreme Ways was included in the dub, but the cue was faded out because of licensing?

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12 hours ago, Trope said:

To confirm this was the case, I dragged my 44.1kHz file of this track into Logic and converted the project to 48kHz and, voila: The track plays back at the correct speed and pitch, so it's not too much trouble to fix on your own. Even if you don't have the album, you can listen to the sample of this track on the Varèse website to compare with the film (if you can be bothered). This is the exactly the same thing that happened with the Prologue in John Williams' Hook soundtrack release (even down to the same key!). I do wonder how this got past whoever checks these things before albums release...

 

Ssooooo stupid question... How do I fix the track in Audacity?

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On 22/04/2022 at 11:12 PM, Manakin Skywalker said:

In Audacity, import the file and open the dropdown menu (click on the filename on the left next to the waveform), hover over "Rate", and select "48000 Hz". That's it.

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So Varese should fix all of that right? That sample rate mistake is ridiculous.

16 hours ago, Trope said:

I do wonder how this got past whoever checks these things before albums release...

 

Oh great question... maybe nobody checked it.

 

Out of curiosity, was this release edited by the same guy who did the Rogue One expansion?

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32 minutes ago, Chewy said:

So has anyone contacted Varese about these issues? Should we do it?

 

I was under the impression this was produced by Powell/5 Cats, and Varese is just manufacturer/distributor.  Should the issues not be raised with Powell & co. rather than Varese?

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On 08/06/2022 at 4:19 PM, Anthony said:

What exactly are the issues?

These are the issues discovered so far (there may be more...):

 

Track 6 "Bourne on Land (Alternate Version)" [1m03] is a demo from The Bourne Supremacy, and does not belong to The Bourne Identity soundtrack.

Track 31 "Got Any ID?" plays back at the wrong pitch and speed due to a sample rate mistake.

Track 8 "At the Bank" has a phasing issue on the final string chord (around 4:01), which isn't present on the OST release.

Track 19 "Hotel Regina" includes 2 different cues edited together (identical to the OST track). The music from about 1:47 onwards should technically be placed after "Bourne on Land" (this might not count as a "real issue" to be fixed, but it's the only cue that appears out of chronological order).

[EDIT] Track 20 "The Investigation" has a distorted reverb tail/echo on the string swell (mainly in the right channel), which is not on the OST.

 

Am I missing anything major? Has somebody else uncovered some startling new revelation about this expansion?

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3 minutes ago, mstrox said:

Another error - the cover of my copy says “Tumescent Edition” ???????????????????????

That's no error - it's what John Powell decided to name this release.

Screen Shot 2022-06-09 at 22.54.59.png

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I'm sad to report I've found what I believe to be yet another blunder on this release. At around 1:01 in track 20 "The Investigation", there is a bizarre, distorted reverb tail applied to the string swell (mainly in the right channel). This is NOT on the OST. It seems that a few errors were made when remastering this score... It's a real shame, because the overall sound of this release is a nice improvement compared to the original OST mix (it feels tighter and "crispier", especially the percussion). Still, it's disappointing that these blunders weren't double checked and noticed by anybody before releasing the album.

 

I hope the label will fix these issues, at least for the digital release later this year, because I really enjoy listening to this score. What would be truly amazing would be if they offered "fixed" replacement discs to those who have already purchased this faulty product (but I feel this is unlikely...).

 

One other thing: I wonder if "Conklin Killed" on this release is a demo? The strings at the beginning sound like samples to me.

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It would be nice if the liners went into details like that. Not only from an analytical pov, but they know very well that people buying these expansions will know the score and notice things that appear to be missing.

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  • 1 month later...

@Trope Thanks for taking the time trying to fix this issue with Varèse Sarabande. 
John Powell knows about the issue, I’m sure he was contacted by Varèse. I also told them about it and let Powell’s partner Holly Sedillos know as well. So John Powell is imho well aware of the situation. He may be busy writing a new score and not have time to deal with this fiasco at the moment or maybe he just doesn’t care all that much about it anymore, I don’t know. But I’m sure he knows about the issue, so that’s all we can do about it. 

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1 hour ago, Anthony said:

You're kidding, right? :blink: I can only imagine what a genuine problem in your life must be like to deal with.


I agree that there are limits in terms of contacting record labels, producers, composers, etc, but this album really is an absolute travesty compared to Powell’s other expansions.

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It would make sense if she is part of the producing team. Is she?

 

btw harassment doesnt kind of imply agressive behaviour? It could have been the most polite message ever….it would be just a small ‘bother’

 

 

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Quite frankly, I'm a little surprised that quite a few here have effectively ignored what Powell has been trying to say from the start: that this was never going to be a definitive edition of the score.

 

Just the name alone should be a giveaway that perhaps this wasn't going to satisfy some, since it almost feels like it's taking the piss by using such a term to describe itself. Plus of course the statement he made about it being the music as it originally was written/recorded (regardless of if you think it withholds any scrutiny).

Now, I do think it does open the discussion towards how good of an idea it is for the original composer to be in charge of the expansion (especially with how much we rag on about OSTs). We can very well remember all the complaints about the odd sequencing choice made for HTTYD1-2 on having the film openings for the first tracks precede the original ones. And now we have Bourne, where JP has effectively made a program only he could appreciate as the one who made the score. It just makes you wonder if he would benefit from a Matessino type going forward.

I would address a few of the supposed errors the set has, but I think some of it could be explained away from this recently updated page about the score that I honestly thought the new posts here were about: The Bourne Identity - Project Details

 

Next to the cue list (and scrolling below the film credits) is a breakdown of both official albums, designating which cues each track contain. And sure enough: a few of the key suspects are listed as proper alts (though I kind of would've figured Got Any ID was more a demo than an alt, given the extra synth that isn't in the film + the strings at the end being different).

Since the guy in charge of the website is very active, I'll go ahead and ask about some of the oddities from the details we have (like what they could've possibly assembled Bourne Remembers from if it was edited together, and the alleged Supremacy demo slip up that might not be based on the information above).

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40 minutes ago, Luke Skywalker said:

It would make sense if she is part of the producing team. Is she?

 

btw harassment doesnt kind of imply agressive behaviour? It could have been the most polite message ever….it would be just a small ‘bother’

 

 

I take issue with reaching out to her because she never chose to be involved in this product. She just happens to be a composer's spouse. I would classify reaching out to such parties as harassing them.

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