Jerry Goldsmith's THE BURBS (1989) NEW! 2022 Expanded Edition from La-La Land Records

[Yavar Moradi 2,603]

On 15/02/2023 at 10:48 AM, Tallguy said:

I might need to revisit Matinee.

 

On 15/02/2023 at 10:53 AM, Jay said:

For whatever reason, I haven't listened to... Matinee much yet

 

Matinee might underwhelm a bit if you just experience it on album. I saw the film for the first time last year in preparation for the Goldsmith Odyssey Soundtrack Spotlight, and it make the score totally click for me. Wonderful movie.

 

Yavar

[Jay 37,374]

I saw the film as a kid when it hit the rental stores! 

[Yavar Moradi 2,603]

Worth a revisit though, so many years later…

 

Yavar

[Andy 4,144]

I might be the only one here who adores Explorers, both score and film.   I admit, I was 13 when it came out, and I identified with all three of the characters.   That score just tore me up, and is such a part of the film’s DNA, I can never hate it for what it’s not, but love it for what it is. 

[Yavar Moradi 2,603]

My Goldsmith Odyssey cohost W. David Lichty is with you 100%.
 

Yavar

[W. David Lichty 6]

It's true, he really is.

[thestat 348]

 

 

[Yavar Moradi 2,603]

That’s the old master from DAT, not bad sounding but noticeably inferior to this new LLL master from the original analogue recording.

 

Check out the Soundtrack Spotlight episode linked above for more info and comparisons!

 

Yavar

[Jay 37,374]

So I have such an unusual relationship with all of LLL's Black Friday titles this year, because they were released while I was away on vacation, and then I had an ear infection when I got home for weeks so couldn't hear any of them truly properly for a while, and my initial listens to all were unders subpar circumstances.

 

Now that everything is normal, and my physical copies have all arrived from LLL, I've been enjoying the hell out of them, and want to write a bit about each and see what conversations can be re-ignited.  And I wanted to start with The Burbs!
 

 

I've always liked this score, but hadn't listened to it too many times.  I'd also seen the film twice, once as a kid and again some 5-10 years ago, but didn't specifically remember anything about how the score worked in the film at all.

 

Regardless of that, I put this album on and was really just kinda blown away by it.  The first thing that caught my attention was the terrific sound quality; I haven't done any comparisons, nor do I remember thinking there was anything wrong with the previous edition (The Varese DE; I never had the OST), but man, this release just sounds GREAT.  The strings, the organ, the many synth sounds, all gel together wonderfully.

 

Additionally, the main program is just great!  Again I haven't compared to the prior edition so can't comment on how it's different, but this program as it is flows very well; It's 62 minutes of good music that never gets boring or repetitive, and builds and builds to a fun finale.

 

The bonus track section is a nice little mini-album that covers a lot of the same idea and themes, though again haven't done a comparison to speak about anything specifically unique... other than the obvious bit that has nothing like it in the main program: that cocktail party piano ending!  

I'm off to read the liner notes now and maybe come back and comment some more, as I'm listening to the album again.

 

 

But I also wanted to say that we watched the movie last night on Netflix, and I REALLY enjoyed the music in the movie!  It's basically perfect; Goldsmith and Dante had an amazing collaboration and this is a prime example.  Jerry knew when the pop/rock songs would come in too, and his music perfectly leads up to or out from them perfectly a few times.  I also LOVED how Jerry writes a source cue for the human sacrifice movie Hanks watches on TV, and then the same theme becomes an underscore cue for his big dream sequence.  Fantastic!

 

Listening to the album right now with the movie fresh in my mind is making me appreciate it even more!

 

 

Oh yea, one thing we noticed was that the trailer features a surprising amount of footage that wasn't in the movie!  Hanks using his grill, Fisher on a ridiculously thicc 80s laptop in a cool mirror shot, Art talking about satanic pâté, etc.

 

I found this website that describes a workprint that's out there with these scenes and more - had anybody here watched this workprint version? I imagine it contains the temptrack instead of Jerry's score

 

https://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=556663

[filmmusic 1,843]

3 hours ago, Jay said:

I found this website that describes a workprint that's out there with these scenes and more - had anybody here watched this workprint version? I imagine it contains the temptrack instead of Jerry's score?

The workprint is included as an extra in the excellent Arrow blu-ray release I have, but I haven't watched it.

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Burbs-Blu-ray/97469/#Review

Just from a browsing I had done when I first got the disc, I remember it contained the temp tracks, yeah.

 

[Jay 37,374]

Interesting! I wonder if they paid to license the music, or if they just hoped that no one would notice that they didn't?

[Jay 37,374]

I read the booklet in both the old Varese Deluxe and the new LLL.

 

Robert Townson wrote the notes himself for the old edition and.... well, moving on

 

Jeff Bond's notes in the LLL edition are great!  It's full of really nice quotes from Joe Dante about the film and working with Goldsmith on it.  Specific moments from the temp track are mentioned, including an interesting story about keeping an Ennio Morricone piece from the temp track in the final cut, even though Goldsmith wrote his own original composition to evoke it's sound & style. because it just played better with test audiences.  Huh.

 

Mike & Neil have a little section at the end that explains that both prior CD editions came from a 2nd gen source, while this is the first album to start from a fresh high res (24/192) transfer of the original 2" analog tape.  Specifically Botnick's 3-channel stereo mixes.  They also explain which bonus tracks are the same base cue with inserts added and which are completely different from start to end, but don't really talk about any differences.  The piano piece that ends the whole album isn't mentioned at all for example.

 

So I'll do my own comparison soon!

[Bespin 8,484]

I'm not sure if it has been mentioned already, but the booklet explains how to reproduce the OST.