Highlights of OST, DE and OST

[GerateWohl 5,937]

Hi all,

 

I personally don't feel belonging to the "OST only" camp or "C&C is best" or "the more the better" camp.

I find both positions quite dogmatic and pointless.

There are scores that I prefer in the OST format, in rare cases I prefer the C&C presentation. Often I prefer the middle way of some extended deluxe edition with some extensions to the OST but not in the often tiring C&C format.

 

In this thread I would like to mention some examples for each category. Of course it only makes sense to mention scores where I know at least two editions of the score to be able to make actually a choice.

 

Best experienced as Original Soundtrack Album:

Basic Instinct - Jerry Goldsmith

Heavy Metal - Elmer Bernstein

Anything from Danny Elfman

 

Best enjoyed as Extended Edition:

Species - Christopher Young

The three main discs from the Star Wars OT Concorde Box

Aliens - James Horner

 

Best listened to as C&C Program:

Minority Report - John Williams

Alien - Jerry Goldsmith

Solo - John Powell & John Williams

 

I could have added a category of scores, where I rather prefer listening to a well assembled suite instead of the OST. In general I feel close to the OST camp as rarely I find new things interesting enough on the expansions. On the other hand. But there are definitely scores the deserve or even require a C&C presentation where the music flows much better and gives the music the room to breathe it needs.

 

What are some of your choices in each category?

[Jurassic Shark 14,976]

I prefer whatever @Thor does.

[Lady Dimitrescu 9,858]

OST. No exception. Just junk that extra music, you don't need it. The composer never wanted you to have it.

[Thor 9,308]

Everyone knows where I stand on this. I don't find it "dogmatic and pointless", it's just my preference. So very much a point.

 

But it's fascinating how different brains are. ALIENS, for example, which Gerate mentions as one he prefers in extended version over the OST. I got the expanded version years ago, just because I'm a fan of the score, but it almost ruined my deep love of it. Endless military percussion and suspense. Fortunately, I quickly got rid of it, so I could go back to enjoying the score in its OST format, which presents the military with the suspense and action JUST enough. It's brilliant, but also very TENSE music, so 40 minutes is about the max for me.

[Richard P 4,763]

I find most scores by JNH are best enjoyed as OSTs (or at most, one or two bonus tracks added). A combination of the complete score sometimes dragging, and Howard having a far, far superior instinct on what cues are significant and interesting on album than Williams ever will.

 

Freshly baked entry for 'best in C&C': JP3. Davis does the score few favours in general with his bizarre ordering and combinations on the OST. LLL's new set is a superb listen, and not overly long.

 

Expanded form? RotS and Last Crusade. I don't think I need either in full bells and whistles C&C, but certainly an expanded program that adds perhaps 15-20 minutes of material to the OSTs is just right for me. Also Spidey 2 goes in this category for me - I found 90 mins of material from LLL's set, but there's a good 20 minutes or so that just meandered or repeated.

[Lady Dimitrescu 9,858]

Yeah, Combat Drop just plain sucks. I hate that unreleased music!

[Jurassic Shark 14,976]

I'm on the same page as @GerateWohl, assessing each score individually. Some extended releases have additional music I want, some don't. Whether the extended release is a better (or just as good) listening experience is a different question. Often it's not, unless it's John Williams. 

[Richard P 4,763]

Almost all official expansions fall into the 'expanded' category for me. I trimmed WotW/MR/Potter 2&3 to make heavily expanded albums.

 

I probably have a dozen or so expansions where I kept the lot, and most have one thing in common: they're in the region of ~90 mins, meaning they're only a few minutes longer than an extremely generous OST would be. That seems to be the key for me - if a score feels like it's on a longer side, my curative mood comes out, and a score has to be really special to avoid that. No composer gets a free pass - I envision Rots and LC being expanded, not C&C, in my collection. Shore's middle earth scores are the only ones I've never been able to try to trim - feels wrong.

[GerateWohl 5,937]

1 hour ago, Thor said:

Everyone knows where I stand on this. I don't find it "dogmatic and pointless", it's just my preference. So very much a point.

I could understand an assessment like even if there are essential highlights of a score on the expansion one prefers usually the OST because all the meandering suspense fillers and repetitions are not worth the effort. 

But the statement, that OSTs are always the best presentation and contain everything worth listening to by definition is dogmatic and pointless in my book.

 

But don't get me wrong. Everyone must manage his or her preferences. I am for sure dogmatic and pointless in other areas, were I justify that just with experience and taste or something else, that nobody can comprehend. 

[Jurassic Shark 14,976]

5 minutes ago, GerateWohl said:

I am for sure dogmatic and pointless in other areas

 

Well, that pizza is best with pineapple on is an objective truth.

[Trope 1,188]

Dare I bring up the sacred composer, Jerry Goldsmith, and suggest that many of his OSTs contain sufficient musical highlights to maintain interest while his complete scores tend to repeat material a little too frequently? EXCEPT for Star Trek TMP, of course.

[Lady Dimitrescu 9,858]

I prefer the TMP album to the complete.

[Richard P 4,763]

I'm listening to Spider Man right now on Spotify, and pondering over finding a used OST, as it feels very nicely curated to me. I didn't connect to the score in the film like I did with #2 or 3.

[Lady Dimitrescu 9,858]

The problem there is the complete score has better sound than the OST.

[Richard P 4,763]

The other problem is the OST seems to be pricey even on the secondary market. I'm nearly done playing it though, and I think it works great if you don't love the score, like me.

 

Maybe at some point I'll end up getting the expansion and just playlisting it to within an inch of its life. Future pairing opportunity.

[Lady Dimitrescu 9,858]

Well the OST is on the expanded set anyway.

[Richard P 4,763]

Exactly  

 

Perfect chance to build a nice Thor-esque album.

[Thor 9,308]

1 hour ago, GerateWohl said:

I could understand an assessment like even if there are essential highlights of a score on the expansion one prefers usually the OST because all the meandering suspense fillers and repetitions are not worth the effort. 

But the statement, that OSTs are always the best presentation and contain everything worth listening to by definition is dogmatic and pointless in my book.

 

Well, it's not taken from thin air. It's after decades of trying and sampling expanded releases. At some point enough is enough. I'm not a sado masochist. Besides, I leave a 1% opening for the odd exception. Like ROCKY IV, the Arista STAR WARSes etc.

 

As alluded to earlier: If someone likes pineapple on pizza, they don't hold a "dogmatic and pointless" position. Although they're wrong, of course.  

[GerateWohl 5,937]

Ok. Let me take back "pointless ".

Still it's dogmatic. 

[Thor 9,308]

It's a preference. No more, no less.

[Edmilson 10,482]

37 minutes ago, Thor said:

No more, no less.

Always two there are.

 

5 hours ago, GerateWohl said:

I personally don't feel belonging to the "OST only" camp or "C&C is best" or "the more the better" camp.

I find both positions quite dogmatic and pointless.

 

Exactly how I feel. Usually I tend to prefer C&C, but in some cases, when the unreleased material is just uninteresting or boring, it's better to stick with the OST.

 

On the other hand, I mantain that you could never fully appreciate the extent of Howard Shore's opus in Lord of the Rings listening to just the OSTs. Well, maybe Fellowship, but the other two, no way.

[ThePenitentMan1 1,298]

C&C all the way, for me.  Sometimes I may want to listen to a shorter representation of the score, but I don't let the OST dictate what that shorter program will look like.

 

I decide that on my own terms.

[Richard P 4,763]

8 hours ago, Edmilson said:

On the other hand, I mantain that you could never fully appreciate the extent of Howard Shore's opus in Lord of the Rings listening to just the OSTs. Well, maybe Fellowship, but the other two, no way.

 

I find room for both. I took quite some time and effort and made an alternate OST for FotR and RotK that removes some material and adds other bits which reflect better my favoured material from both scores, and they both make really good in-car listening. In the case of FotR it was to rebalance some choices Shore made (far too much Ringwraith material and some highlights edited out of later tracks) and for RotK it was to substitute out a few parts for cues that hadn't been written or recorded when the album was made.

 

The complete sets are good for listening at home though.

[Edmilson 10,482]

In LOTR's case the OSTs can be used when one wants to listen to Shore's music but doesn't have time for the whole thing. But you absolutely should use the CRs to find an alternative program because the official ones are pretty flawed. ROTK OST still gives me the heebiejeebies.

[Skelly 273]

If you aren't making your own edits of scores you like, then what are you doing with your life?