Christopher Young's SPECIES (1995) - NEW! 2024 Intrada 2-CD edition

[Jay 37,442]

 

[Holko 9,547]

52 minutes ago, Jay said:

 

I got far more interested in checking out this release from a pirated rip than from the intrada store with its zero samples and awful art, or this minute of dvdrip cut to some random tension. The original main title is awesome!

[Richard Penna 3,716]

IMO there should be samples of every single track, not just half a dozen randomly selected tracks, some of which aren't unreleased music.

 

I don't know about anyone else, but with a score like this where I've never seen the film and only have the prior release, being able to hear significant representative parts of the entire work before a purchase is a pretty critical factor. I don't buy stuff just because it's Young or other completist reason - it has to properly interest me. I bought Varese's Nightwing based entirely on hearing a large handful of samples and no other reason.

 

Of course, instant streaming is the best way to address that...

[HunterTech 994]

On 12/04/2024 at 11:29 AM, HunterTech said:

Looking at the cue list and even just watching the opening act of the film, it's pretty apparent that stuff is either missing or we only have the alternates for them.

 

Well, I ended up being more right in this regard than I even anticipated. The full score nearly boarders on being an entirely different listening experience compared to the previous album, since so many of the missing pieces are pretty much the actual narrative of the music.

 

The big complaint I had with the prior selection of tracks is that once you get past the two fantastic main title tracks and two reprises, most everything else felt so disconnected and far off from the personality initially established that I found it hard to appreciate what Young was doing. The new release makes apparent that those two tracks are proper themes in the score, with many variants helping to actually make the listening experience feel cohesive. The synth stuff is also better integrated as a result, even if out of context it feels like an odd detour the score takes for a moment. I still can't say I'm particularly fond of the climax cues, since it's pretty clear that Young only wrote thematic material for the alien and nothing more, but at least it plays better when I don't have that nagging feeling that I should be hearing more instances of the main themes!

 

I just can't understand what Young was aiming for on his previous albums for this, besides maybe finding the many instances of the themes repetitive. It just ended up doing his work on the film no favors, so I'm absolutely ecstatic that this release managed to happen. Definitely the version you should own.

[ddddeeee 264]

I love Young and his music, but I generally find his album presentations to be...off. I know he puts a lot of effort and thought into them, but they almost always drag in the middle. Same with Brian Tyler.

[Holko 9,547]

On 21/04/2024 at 6:09 PM, Holko said:

I got far more interested in checking out this release from a pirated rip than from the intrada store

Aaand now I listened to the main program. And it's awesome. A lot of it is very Horner-like, a mix of Aliens, Sleepers, 90s Hornerisms, but infused with a little Elfman crazyness and broken up by Carpenteresque segments. Interesting how the score seems to be sympathetic to the alien for a lot of the score! Love the gentleness early on, there's some good tension, and fun chaos by the end.

 

And now of course comes the worst part: I wanna support such Young expansions, I want to read the booklet, but I don't want to support Intrada's lazyness in their art and mastering - didn't notice any bad editing mistakes but once again Doug seems to have just taken a good enough premixed source and EQd it a bit, not caring that raising the treble boosts the hiss as well as the percussion. It's very audible in quieter sections, and obviously dialed up and down at the start and end of tracks. The program would need some work, combinations, order changes, maybe alt swaps, making up better titles than these barebones utilitarian cue titles - these belong in the booklet with the slates dammit! The biggest problem with having to pirate a release to check it out is that now I have the music, same as if I'd have ripped it, now I'd just be paying for an overpriced piece of plastic and ugly paper. Ugh. What are the chances that this'll be sold digitally? But then they of course wouldn't include the goddamn booklet.

[Richard Penna 3,716]

Have you ever considered contacting Doug with your comments/suggestions about mixing?

 

Mentioning them on a public forum is one thing, but when you're openly admitting to pirating it and considering just not paying them (for a score that musically you liked) just because you don't like a few aspects of it, I dont really see what you're achieving other than clearly hating basically everything Doug does.

[Holko 9,547]

7 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

Have you ever considered contacting Doug with your comments/suggestions about mixing?

Yeah sure he'll totally start paying more attention if I just tell him to. They totally won't deny the existence of anything like they did with Sleepy Hollow.

 

7 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

I dont really see what you're achieving other than trying to get more people to hate Doug's work as much as you clearly do.

Informing people who read the thread a little about the set's sound maybe?

[HunterTech 994]

Also, the last time someone I know kept mentioning issues a release had to Intrada, he just straight up got banned from their websites despite him being very respectful about the faults on their forums. Oh, and a different release years later got one of the members of the label to comment directly on this forum, only to say that a mastering fault one track had was non-existent/miscalculated because we used consumer grade software to detect it (despite clipping being a very basic audio quirk to notice on just about anything).

So really, Holko would probably just end up having to make a second account if he's lucky :P.

[Holko 9,547]

25 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

but when you're openly admitting to pirating it and considering just not paying them (for a score that musically you liked) just because you don't like a few aspects of it,

Okay, then let me amend this:

2 hours ago, Holko said:

but I don't want to support Intrada's lazyness in their art and mastering

I very likely will, but I don't want to. For a score like this that doesn't feel that special/important in the grand scheme, and that I had no connection whatsoever to or even knowledge of before this single listen, I'd be more happy with a cheaper digital purchase than a more expensive physical just to have something on my shelf I never want to look at again (as opposed to say LLL or Quartet releases with competent design which I do take off the shelf and look at and reread sometimes when also listening), but if the business is stupid then the business is stupid, if it's gotta be the CD then that's that.

[Richard Penna 3,716]

Fair enough, and I agree that sometimes buying a CD and all the associated shit doesn't feel needed. Certainly there's a release that's sort of on my list at the moment that I don't want physically (I want a handful of tracks) but there's no way to get it other than buying a piece of plastic.

 

Certainly in other cases such as Sleepy Hollow, Doug's definitely got some issues with his editing, but isn't mastering just a choice that's made by the engineer? It doesn't strike me as lazy, especially if they're doing more work on top of just transferring the tapes.

[Faleel 5,384]

10 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

Fair enough, and I agree that sometimes buying a CD and all the associated shit doesn't feel needed. Certainly there's a release that's sort of on my list at the moment that I don't want physically (I want a handful of tracks) but there's no way to get it other than buying a piece of plastic.

 

Certainly in other cases such as Sleepy Hollow, Doug's definitely got some issues with his editing, but isn't mastering just a choice that's made by the engineer? It doesn't strike me as lazy, especially if they're doing more work on top of just transferring the tapes.

Mastering is a final pass after the program is finalized IIRC.

[crocodile 8,033]

I am listening to the CD right now. Quite surprised to see a thick booklet with very extensive liner notes. Quite cool. The music itself is very delicious. Yiung is on fire lately.

 

Oh wait, wrong thread. I meant to comment on The Piper. 😂

 

Karol