Why Williams almost always butchers his original albums?

[mxsch 115]

Yeah I know that OG album is always 1 CD that can fit only 80 minutes of music and this is composer's intent for the listening experience, blah-blah, but why not to present some cues in full, simply connecting them into suites without doing a ton of microedits and stuff like that? Why for example Battle Over Coruscant includes only a mix of first cue with The Elevator Scene added and I can write a ton examples like that.

We also can turn this thread into another discussion of absence of complete set of Skywalker Saga recordings and lack of complete Indiana Jones box set.

Disney already have missed two opportunities with celebrations of 45 anniversary of OG Star Wars and 40 years for Raiders

If they don't want to make a contract with La-La Land why just not to do it themselves? Just hire Matessino and problem is solved. I'm sure that all this SW expansions like Solo, Rogue One, OST's for Battlefront's, Fallen Order e.t.c. sold well

[Archive Collection 214]

Williams' albums that he produces are always curated presentations of his music. He puts it together as an album, giving a lot of thought to listener experience.

 

Sometimes, this can provide a more balanced listening experience that isn't front-loaded or backloaded with the most interesting/notable cues. Example, Schindler's List. The album compilation is excellent, and provides a much better listening experience than a direct, chronological listening of the score. On the soundtrack, the major themes are evenly distributed throughout the album, so that you don't get 3-4 statements of the Schindler's List theme in the last 20 mins. Williams' intention is probably to create a more interesting presentation from a musical perspective. 

 

The other things this allows is for shorter cues to be included on the album. Williams probably wouldn't want to include a short cue (i.e. 30-45 seconds) in isolation, because - when separated from the visual component - it probably isn't as musically compelling. I appreciate the way that Williams combines short cues to create larger tracks.

 

Of course, if I could get a complete recording sessions dump of every Williams score - with every alternate, revision, insert included - I would. It's great to have every bar of music recorded. But Williams is never going to give us this. As amazing as Williams' music is, he probably has some cues that he likes and some that he doesn't care for - and chooses to showcase his favoured cues on the album. On the bright side, given that Williams is the most famous and culturally significant composer of the 20th century, it really is only a matter of time until we get a complete release of every score. We'll have to be patient, but it will happen eventually. When Williams passes away (hopefully in 20-30 years so he can score the inevitable next Star Wars trilogy haha) there will be a renewed interest in his music, prompting even more expansions - and a less arduous process, in terms of permissions from him/his team.

 

As for why some labels like Disney don't put out complete albums of Star Wars, Indy.... they probably think the market is too niche (it isn't), and they're not sure if they'll turn a profit. A lot of work has to go into making these expansions, and they might think that it's not worth it.

 

TLDR - Williams wants his albums to be a compelling musical experience, so he curates his scores accordingly. Williams is famous and popular enough to warrant an expanded release of all of his scores, it's just a matter of time.

[pete 907]

His grandfather on his mother's side was a butcher.

[bollemanneke 3,348]

I'm often surprised at how his listening experience ideas are actually detrimental to it. For instance, Home Alone or Harry Potter 1. The OSTs are just weird.

[Thor 7,504]

Butchers? He's one of the best album producers in the world. I can't think of a single OST produced by him that has felt lacking in any way. Even scores I'm not necessarily a big fan of (like THE BOOK THIEF or THE BFG) are beautifully curated for best possible listening experience.

[Tallguy 3,386]

What, did someone say "Hey, I heard Thor was back! Let's post a thread that will get him to reply!"

 

I've been trying for years to come up with a 2 LP Return of the Jedi that matches Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. I just can't do it. You have to know how to put together a track that is as disparate and yet works perfectly as Inner City.

 

I love having my complete scores, but there are many OSTs that I still revisit anyway. A fair number of them are Williams.

 

I should make a sig file that says "The OST of Close Encounters of the Third Kind might still be the best."

 

 

[TolkienSS 407]

For me, it's fair to say the times where John Williams OSTs needed expansion ceased with Revenge Of The Sith.

Nothing thereafter needs expansion. 

IMO

[publicist 4,643]

3 hours ago, Tallguy said:

I should make a sig file that says "The OST of Close Encounters of the Third Kind might still be the best."

 

It has really sloppy editing (i know technical facilities were a lot less than what they are today, but still, some of those edits rankle).