Jerry Goldsmith's ISLANDS IN THE STREAM (1977) - NEW! 2024 Intrada edition

[Jay 39,762]

 

 

Joe Sikoryak says

 

Looks like Intrada is reissuing Jerry Goldsmith's score to ISLANDS IN THE STREAM. This would be the original film tracks and not their re-recording based on the video.

 

That is correct. Coming to the label for the first time. Back in print because it deserves to be! Available Tuesday, November 19, with the master that Doug Fake personally tweaked.

 

https://filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=158389&forumID=1&archive=0

 

Since the video does not say its a 2-CD set, it appears that the 1986 re-recording conducted by Goldsmith (reissued by the label in 2005) is not included with it.

 

EDIT: Joe confirmed as such in the thread

 

Since Intrada owns the re-recording and Paramount owns the film tracks, they will stay as two separate releases.

 

The film recordings were first released by FSM in 2010.  It's OOP, but SAE still has copies listed.

[Edmilson 9,134]

I remember listening to this a few years ago, didn't exactly care for it despite being one of Jerry's scores he was the most proud about. I don't know, his intimate drama scores like A Patch of Blue, Islands in the Stream, Raggedy Man never captivated me as much as his action/horror/sci-fi material.

 

But who knows, maybe this time I'll enjoy it.

[crocodile 8,610]

Might be a good chance for me to finally grab both albums.

 

Karol

[scallenger 577]

SO glad to see it is the original recording. The re-recording just doesn't capture the same energy, or even levels of instrumentation, at all. Curious to know if there is a new source of audio for this one, or newly-discovered tracks/alternates. I have this score often on my rotation. Really love its vibe. It even has a few thrilling moments thrown in for good measure, but it's somber atmosphere, tinged with an air of sea breeze feeling, just really speaks to me.

[Jay 39,762]

I get the impression it's from the same source as the FSM CD - a 1/4" stereo tape backup that Bruce Kimmel had, since the studio has seemingly lost the original scoring masters

[The Train Station 8,871]

I have the FSM and the Intrada re-recording. They're both nice.

[A. A. Ron 1,953]

Doug apparently "tweaked" the existing FSM master for this reissue, so I'd say if you can, just get the old CD.

[Jay 39,762]

Joe's post doesn't say he tweaked the FSM master, it just says he tweaked the master.

[The Train Station 8,871]

Probably made it brighter and louder.

[Doo_liss 6,639]

As opposed to darker and soft

[The Train Station 8,871]

Everything here is soft... and smooth.

[Andy 5,216]

It's gonna take a significant difference to get me to double dip.  I like this score, but it hasn't completely enchanted me like it has others.

[Slitherjump 24]

Some comments in the fsm thread that I think are worth mentioning before we comment more on the release

 

Haineshisway:

Quote

My point was that Bruce Botnik mastered it, someone who knew a little something about Goldsmith scores - that's what I meant by what tweaks. First of all, the tapes were in great condition. Second of all, Botnik's pretty good

Yavar:

Quote

I’m a big fan of his work in general as well (and loved conversing with him on our podcast for The ‘Burbs) but we’re all human and he’s not infallible — as the generally unhappy reaction here to his remix of The Mummy for Intrada would attest. Hopefully we’ll get more details about what’s been tweaked.

Roger:

Quote

And mastering technology has changed in the past 15 years. But let’s be refreshing and not condemn a release before hearing it.

 

[Slitherjump 24]

Quote

Intrada presents a newly mastered and edited edition of the original soundtrack to the 1977 Paramount Pictures film Islands in the Stream. The score was of such personal importance to Jerry Goldsmith that he approached Intrada in 1986, just a year after it had been formed and a few months after the release of his latest score, Poltergeist II, to seek the label's interest in creating a new recording of the score in Hungary. Intrada jumped at the chance. The brilliant recording has been in the catalog continuously since it was released in the late '80s.

Since licensing and cost complications precluded a release of the original tracks at the time, the new recording was a godsend to Goldsmith enthusiasts, with the exception of a few omissions that Goldsmith couldn't get right with the Hungarian orchestra. In the 2010s, things had changed and the Film Score Monthly label was able to release the original tracks, but it has since been out of print for some time. With some slight modifications using newer technology, Doug Fake and Chris Malone were able to elevate the quality of the recording for this brand new release. The score is beautiful, deeply emotional and introspective, and at times simply thrilling. From the reflection of the inner feelings of the main character and his relationship with his family to the shark attack, lengthy Marlin sequence and rescue sequence in the last act, Goldsmith provides quite the musical adventure, presented in complete form with new notes by Frank K. DeWald.

The film is a drama directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway. The film follows the life of Thomas Hudson (George C. Scott), a successful painter living in the Bahamas during World War II. Struggling with his past and the impact of the war on his family, Hudson navigates complex relationships with his estranged wife, his children, and a series of romantic entanglements. The narrative explores themes of love, loss and redemption against the backdrop of a changing world, ultimately reflecting on the human condition and the search for meaning amidst chaos.

01. Main Title (3:21)
02. The Boys Arrive (3:03)
03. Pillow Fight (1:08)
04. Is Ten Too Old? (4:09)
05. Night Attack (3:19)
06. The Marlin (11:46)
07. The Boys Leave (2:50)
08. The Letter (3:29)
09. How Long Can You Stay? (3:04)
10. I Can’t Have Him (2:36)
11. The Refugees (4:27)
12. Eddy’s Death (4:39)
13. It Is All True (5:08)

Total Time: 53:27

https://store.intrada.com/s.nl/it.A/id.13121/.f?sc=13&category=-113

[Andy 5,216]

Dang. Chris Malone, you say? hmmm 

[Trope 831]

Listening to the samples for this score for the first time, I'm damn near convinced to buy it already.

[A. A. Ron 1,953]

It's supposedly Jerry's favorite of his own scores.

[Andy 5,216]

52 minutes ago, Trope said:

Listening to the samples for this score for the first time, I'm damn near convinced to buy it already.

Recommended if you don’t have the FSM already.  I’m just trying to decide on a double dip. They even retained the beautiful Bob Peak artwork, and rightfully so. 

[The Train Station 8,871]

I bought the new Australian blu-ray release, but I haven't watched it yet. I have a watchlist a mile long just to reach 3,000 on my Letterboxd.

[crocodile 8,610]

Bought both recordings.

 

Karol

[Trope 831]

What is the general consensus regarding which is the better recording? The original or the re-recording?

[The Train Station 8,871]

Anyone else prefer the performances in the Intrada re-recording to the original?

[Davis 3,144]

As a Hungarian I’m obliged to say yes. 

[The Train Station 8,871]

It's just better. Better sound quality, better performances, the musicians sound like they're keeping to the rhythms and beats better. Save your money on the new Intrada and instead just get the re-recording.

[Slitherjump 24]

3 hours ago, The Train Station said:

It's just better. Better sound quality, better performances, the musicians sound like they're keeping to the rhythms and beats better. Save your money on the new Intrada and instead just get the re-recording.

Have you heard the samples on the new intrada release? They sound really good

[The Train Station 8,871]

Whatever processing voodoo they try on the 1977 recording, which I only occasionally chuck on just to make A/B comparisons, I doubt the final result will measure up to the high quality of the 1986 recording. And I prefer the performances in the latter.

[Davis 3,144]

4 hours ago, The Train Station said:

It's just better. Better sound quality, better performances, the musicians sound like they're keeping to the rhythms and beats better. Save your money on the new Intrada and instead just get the re-recording.

 

[Yavar Moradi 3,031]

10 hours ago, Trope said:

What is the general consensus regarding which is the better recording? The original or the re-recording?

 

I gotta say I'm rather mystified at those who prefer the re-recording. I mean... I guess I understand having both recordings. It's a different performance and recording and different nuances in the composition are brought out. But if I can only have one? The original film recording hands down... it's not even remotely close.

 

In retrospect it was super silly to even re-record a score which was only 10 years old and whose original recording survived! At the time it made sense, because re-use fees were so expensive for scores recorded in Hollywood as this one was. But c'mon... the Hungarian musicians are variable at best, even though they did the best they could. There are flubs throughout. Let's not forget that they recorded this whole 53+ minute score in a SINGLE DAY (two sessions -- that's about 27 minutes per full orchestral session which is... not advisable, particularly if you're not one-and-done Hollywood sight-readers) and that day came after four days of recording Goldsmith's massive and complex score to Lionheart! We all know that the Lionheart orchestral performance is far from perfect, but tackling about 83+ minutes of music over four days still allows for a lot more re-takes than tackling 53+ minutes of music over ONE day!

 

In contrast, the superior Hollywood musicians perfected their performance recorded over THREE days in June 1976... and IMO the results speak for themselves.

 

The Hungarian musicians struggled so much that they couldn't even manage to perform the complete score, having to leave the complex highlight boat chase action music off the album entirely because their attempts were not worthy of release:

http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/store/MP3/1220/12_Eddie_s_Death.mp3

 

As a Goldsmith fan, do you want to have those great minutes of music on album, or don't you?

 

So yeah... I don't think the sonics of the recording itself are particularly better than the film recording from ten years previously, but the performance *definitely* isn't and Intrada even acknowledges the deficiencies of their own 1986 re-recording in their blurb for this new release:

"Since licensing and cost complications precluded a release of the original tracks at the time, the new recording was a godsend to Goldsmith enthusiasts, with the exception of a few omissions that Goldsmith couldn't get right with the Hungarian orchestra."

 

I mean, wow, if Intrada themselves can admit that about their own historically important recording in a press release, I'm shocked if people can't hear that it's objectively an inferior performance. That said I understand that this was the only album of the score people had for almost a quarter of a century, so I wouldn't be surprised if nostalgia is at play to some degree.

 

Yavar

[Doo_liss 6,639]

5 hours ago, Davis said:

As a Hungarian I’m obliged to say yes. 

I have heard how your people massacred the Superman main title in Superman IV....

[The Train Station 8,871]

They're clearly superior.

[Davis 3,144]

49 minutes ago, Yavar Moradi said:

Let's not forget that they recorded this whole 53+ minute score in a SINGLE DAY (two sessions -- that's about 27 minutes per full orchestral session

😎🇭🇺💪🏻

[scallenger 577]

1 hour ago, Yavar Moradi said:

 

I gotta say I'm rather mystified at those who prefer the re-recording. I mean... I guess I understand having both recordings. It's a different performance and recording and different nuances in the composition are brought out. But if I can only have one? The original film recording hands down... it's not even remotely close.

 

In retrospect it was super silly to even re-record a score which was only 10 years old and whose original recording survived! At the time it made sense, because re-use fees were so expensive for scores recorded in Hollywood as this one was. But c'mon... the Hungarian musicians are variable at best, even though they did the best they could. There are flubs throughout. Let's not forget that they recorded this whole 53+ minute score in a SINGLE DAY (two sessions -- that's about 27 minutes per full orchestral session which is... not advisable, particularly if you're not one-and-done Hollywood sight-readers) and that day came after four days of recording Goldsmith's massive and complex score to Lionheart! We all know that the Lionheart orchestral performance is far from perfect, but tackling about 83+ minutes of music over four days still allows for a lot more re-takes than tackling 53+ minutes of music over ONE day!

 

In contrast, the superior Hollywood musicians perfected their performance recorded over THREE days in June 1976... and IMO the results speak for themselves.

 

The Hungarian musicians struggled so much that they couldn't even manage to perform the complete score, having to leave the complex highlight boat chase action music off the album entirely because their attempts were not worthy of release:

http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/store/MP3/1219/12_Eddie_s_Death.mp3

 

As a Goldsmith fan, do you want to have those great minutes of music on album, or don't you?

 

So yeah... I don't think the sonics of the recording itself are particularly better than the film recording from ten years previously, but the performance *definitely* isn't and Intrada even acknowledges the deficiencies of their own 1986 re-recording in their blurb for this new release:

"Since licensing and cost complications precluded a release of the original tracks at the time, the new recording was a godsend to Goldsmith enthusiasts, with the exception of a few omissions that Goldsmith couldn't get right with the Hungarian orchestra."

 

I mean, wow, if Intrada themselves can admit that about their own historically important recording in a press release, I'm shocked if people can't hear that it's objectively an inferior performance. That said I understand that this was the only album of the score people had for almost a quarter of a century, so I wouldn't be surprised if nostalgia is at play to some degree.

 

Yavar

 

I totally agree with you. It's not even a contest for me, beyond sound quality. But even that is not some earth-shattering comparison. It's not like the original recordings sound like they are underwater. A better performance, plus a more COMPLETE performance, overshadows most technical sound quality issues, imo.

 

I think a good example is comparing the differences in performance for "Is Ten Too Old?". The energy of the orchestra lacks any of the drive or tension of the original. It is also missing a lot of elements, particularly in the first half before it gets intense.

[The Train Station 8,871]