Jerry Goldsmith's FIRST BLOOD (1982) - NEW! 2025 Intrada 2-CD edition

[Jay 42,451]

 

Video description says

May 2025 CD soundtrack release from Intrada.com

[Edmilson 10,522]

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,943]

Again?

[Tallguy 5,653]

I had no idea it had been expanded before.

[A. A. Ron 2,263]

By contrast, I had no idea the first expansion had ever gone out of print. Maybe there's hope for a fixed Conan the Barbarian after all.

[Jurassic Shark 14,996]

32 minutes ago, A. A. Ron said:

By contrast, I had no idea the first expansion had ever gone out of print. Maybe there's hope for a fixed Conan the Barbarian after all.

 

Fixed?

[filmmusic 2,635]

39 minutes ago, A. A. Ron said:

Maybe there's hope for a fixed Conan the Barbarian after all.

What's wrong with Conan? I have it! 

[Marian Schedenig 10,160]

Any specific (expected) reason to upgrade?

[crocodile 9,206]

A really good score and the best of the three. I didn't realise it needed updating though. Will see what the verdict is once this is out.

Karol

[Thor 9,308]

I won the Varese CD from 2000 in a radio quiz, of all things. Love the score, one of my top 10 Goldsmiths, and an excellent film as well.

[Jurassic Shark 14,996]

Now you can have the expansion. 

[Thor 9,308]

I'm all set, thank you.

 

Discogs lists yet another release after the one I've got, I didn't even know about that.

[Jfallon 51]

1 hour ago, Marian Schedenig said:

Any specific (expected) reason to upgrade?

yes- hopefully less tape hiss! For me the amount of hiss makes the quieter cues almost unlistenable.

[Director of Poltergeist 8,124]

I like the hiss. It sounds so analog and warm.

[Jurassic Shark 14,996]

It's probably digitally denoised to death.

 

@Schilkeman is gonna love it! 

[Jay 42,451]

2 hours ago, Tallguy said:

I had no idea it had been expanded before.

 

Jerry arranged a 12-track, 40 minute program of highlights in 1982 for the original soundtrack album, which Intrada put out on the CD format in 1988.

 

In 2010, Intrada released a 2-CD expanded version, with a new 19-track complete score presentation on disc 1, and the original OST album and 3 bonus tracks on disc 2.  This has been sold out for quite a while now, though it is streaming digitally by Studio Canal

 

In 2022, Quartet released a box set of all 3 Rambo scores on the vinyl format only.  First Blood in that collection was an all-new 20-track complete program, produced, edited and sequenced by Neil S. Bulk, with mastering by Chris Malone.

 

It is logical to guess that this new 2-CD edition could include this new Bulk/Malone program, or a variation of it.

 

Someone on FSM posted that the 2010 edition presented the music at an incorrect speed, though I have no idea if that's true or not.  I'm sure that the 2022 edition has no speed issues, though I haven't heard it myself.  Not many people have, only 1,000 copies were pressed and the box set sold for 125,00€

[A. A. Ron 2,263]

2 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Fixed?

 

2 hours ago, filmmusic said:

What's wrong with Conan? I have it! 

 

The 3CD Intrada is the only release of the film recording that contains the complete and unedited opening for "The Kitchen," but they buried that opening under a crossfade with the boring drum loop cue "Warpaint." This does match the film, but it's a terrible decision musically speaking. And if we're going to talk consistency, there are other cues that are crossfaded in the film, but aren't crossfaded on this album, so it's not like they were unwilling to take creative liberties.

 

They also decided to include a completely tracked cue ("The Defilers"), but got the edit points wrong. Personally, I wouldn't bother including this cue, but if you're going to do it, you should at least assemble it correctly.

 

Lastly, Barbarian is one of the greatest scores of all time. It deserves the best mastering from the best mastering engineer, not just competent work from a producer who likes to save a couple pennies by doing it himself.

[Jurassic Shark 14,996]

Okay, I don't like this score anyway. 

[Lady Dimitrescu 9,904]

Pass. The 2010 one is fine with me.

 

The 1988 and 2000 CDs are sequenced a bit differently to the LP. Disc 2 of the 2010 is true to the LP sequencing.

[Director of Poltergeist 8,124]

Yeah this is an easy pass although I love the score and the movie, both of which are perfect. But I just bought the previous Intrada version and I haven't even opened it yet.

[Stark 715]

Unless there's a Back to the Future esque early alternate score nobody knows about, I'm inclined to agree. 

[Richard P 4,775]

13 hours ago, A. A. Ron said:

The 3CD Intrada is the only release of the film recording that contains the complete and unedited opening for "The Kitchen," but they buried that opening under a crossfade with the boring drum loop cue "Warpaint." This does match the film, but it's a terrible decision musically speaking. And if we're going to talk consistency, there are other cues that are crossfaded in the film, but aren't crossfaded on this album, so it's not like they were unwilling to take creative liberties.

 

They also decided to include a completely tracked cue ("The Defilers"), but got the edit points wrong. Personally, I wouldn't bother including this cue, but if you're going to do it, you should at least assemble it correctly.

 

A good example of the 'film edits' vs 'intended' debate, and the problems with both sides. Intrada has a bit of a track record of re-creating some film constructs, but with mixed accuracy results. However, if you leave off a tracked cue that's prominent in the film, someone's going to complain, and for some reason, liner writers rarely seem to want to talk about tracking nor general editor work. (However, I fail to understand the anger when a tracked cue is included - people seem to look at these as a tarnish on their CD and its public representation of the score - just ignore it!)

 

In my world, cues that are written separately should be presented separately, regardless of their appearance in the film, especuially if there's a marked difference in tone. However, if a producer feels a tracked cue is worth including for one of several reasons, I support that idea. But they do need to be super-accurate in the editing.

[Davis 3,949]

I own Intrada’s 2010 2-CD release and I’m getting this too. The movie is amazing and Goldsmith’s score is superb, and an improved sound quality is more than welcome. 

[Trope 1,189]

24 minutes ago, Davis said:

I own Intrada’s 2010 2-CD release and I’m getting this too. The movie is amazing and Goldsmith’s score is superb, and an improved sound quality is more than welcome. 

You gonna grab the 2024 Inchon while you're at it?  

[Erik Woods 802]

16 hours ago, Jay said:

Someone on FSM posted that the 2010 edition presented the music at an incorrect speed, though I have no idea if that's true or not. 

That is a fact!

 

-Erik-

[Lady Dimitrescu 9,904]

[Davis 3,949]

2 hours ago, Trope said:

You gonna grab the 2024 Inchon while you're at it?  

Yeah, well the time passed between this First Blood release and the previous one is 15 years, not one or two like with Inchon.  The 2010 edition of First Blood presented the music at an incorrect speed. And First Blood is 2 CDs, not 3, hence it's cheaper.

If they had done the same thing like they did with Inchon, I would be pissed just as much. My position on the Intrada Inchon fiasco still stands. 

[Yavar Moradi 3,599]

3 hours ago, Trope said:

You gonna grab the 2024 Inchon while you're at it?  

People should. Since it uses a different (later generation, oddly) tape source than any other release of the score, it is the best-sounding by far. The biggest and most noticeable sound improvement the score has ever received.

 

Here’s Doug Fake’s very last time on The Goldsmith Odyssey, talking about it with the great Chris Malone. We play before/after comparisons so listeners can decide for themselves whether it’s worth getting again:

https://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/episodes/14554639-odyssey-soundtrack-spotlight-inchon-tech-talk-with-doug-fake-and-chris-malone

 

Quote

Yeah, well the time passed between this First Blood release and the previous one is 15 years, not one or two like with Inchon.

 

Or four? (2020 vs. 2024)

 

Yavar

[Lady Dimitrescu 9,904]

Intrada made Rambo III loud, compressed and unbearable in 2018. I just don't like risking it anymore.

[Davis 3,949]

I wish they had waited 15 years to release the new edition, though. Or they could've given replacement discs for those who had purchased the first edition a year prior. 

3 minutes ago, Yavar Moradi said:

People should. Since it uses a different (later generation, oddly) tape source than any other release of the score, it is the best-sounding by far. The biggest and most noticeable sound improvement the score has ever received.

 

Yavar

 

[Yavar Moradi 3,599]

36 minutes ago, Lady Dimitrescu said:

Intrada made Rambo III loud, compressed and unbearable in 2018. I just don't like risking it anymore.

It’s not exactly risking much if you listen to sound clips or extended comparison samples like we played in our podcast. I mean, you can believe your own ears can’t you?

 

36 minutes ago, Davis said:

I wish they had waited 15 years to release the new edition, though. Or they could've given replacement discs for those who had purchased the first edition a year prior. 

We’ve already been over how that wouldn’t make the slightest business sense, causing them to lose tons of money rather than make any money on the new edition. Why go to the trouble and expense of producing a new edition if it’s going to hurt your business?

 

And if they’d waited 15 years, Doug would have been dead for over a decade. We don’t even know for sure if Intrada will still be around in 2039. Hell we don’t even know if the world will be, lol. But for sure a bunch more Goldsmith fans would have passed away besides just Doug.
 

And Doug was the impetus to issue Inchon again as it was one of his favorite Goldsmith scores. He was the one who decided on a whim to spend the money to transfer the other later generation “safeties” on the unlikely possibility that they might have better sound than the first generation tapes they’d used for all previous releases. When he made that surprise discovery that against all odds the safeties sounded better than first generation tapes, you wanted him to take that with him to the grave? Only have it for his own personal transfer, and not give fans the opportunity to re-buy Inchon if they wanted?

 

Yavar

[Lady Dimitrescu 9,904]

11 minutes ago, Yavar Moradi said:

It’s not exactly risking much if you listen to sound clips or extended comparison samples like we played in our podcast. I mean, you can believe your own ears can’t you?

 

 

Dude I have noxacusis. I can't hear shit without being in agonising pain nowadays.

[Jay 42,451]

PLEASE, keep this thread about FIRST BLOOD and no more Inchon talk!  It's been talked to death.  The discussion can continue in the thread for that release if it must but not here.  THANK YOU

[Thor 9,308]

What about how and when we first saw the film, and the history of that, and our history with the score and all that? Any previous, general FIRST BLOOD thread where we can get into that, rather than this? This announcement made me think back on such things.

[Davis 3,949]

4 hours ago, Trope said:

You gonna grab the 2024 FIRST BLOOD? 

Fixed.

[Jay 42,451]

3 hours ago, Thor said:

What about how and when we first saw the film, and the history of that, and our history with the score and all that?

 

It's always been on topic to talk about the film itself in a thread about an expansion of its score!

[Edmilson 10,522]

The only Rambo movie I've seen is the fourth one. I wasn't a fan, but that was several years ago.

 

I like Goldsmith's scores for the trilogy though. Some of the best action music of his career, which is already filled with amazing music of this kind.

[GerateWohl 5,961]

I never saw any Rambo movie at the cinema. And I think, I never managed to watch any of them completely in one go. I always just saw parts of each on TV. All in all I think, summing up the three or four sessions of watching parts of First Blood I pretty sure have seen the complete movie.

 

Anyway, the score is solid 80s Goldsmith, but I said it several times, I am not a fan of that typical artificial super reverb sound. I know, others love this. But it's not for me.

[crocodile 9,206]

First Blood is a really good movie. I watched it quite late in my life and was surprise how low-key and emotional it was.

 

Karol

[Thor 9,308]

For all of my childhood and teenage years, I very much knew what and who Rambo was. Heck, it was a reference point for all of us. But I had never actually seen any of the films. Only snippets and pictures.

 

Then in the late 90s, FIRST BLOOD was shown on - of all places - our main broadcaster NRK. There was even an introductory conversation between a journalist and a professor of American Studies, the same professor I had in that subject at uni myself, in 1997. That made me perk up. They talked about the film's position in US history, and its comments on post-Vietnam national trauma.

 

I thought all of that was strange, since I thought ALL the films were silly, bloated, patriotic affairs like I had seen in pictures and snippets (mostly from II and III). Why was it being treated so seriously?

 

Then I saw it, and was blown away. The serious treatment was very much deserved. Incredible performance by Stallone. Chilly, autumny cinematography. Those haunting Goldsmith melody lines on trumpet, adding to the cinematography and to the loneliness of the character, and about faded ideals.

 

It quickly became a favourite of the composer. Then, in the mid 2000s, I sent in a response to a quiz on a film music radio program on NRK. Can't remember the question, but I won. I was probably the only one participating, because I won a subsequent quiz as well. Anyways, the prize was a gift card for a CD at a local CD store, and I used it to pick up the Varese 2000 edition of FIRST BLOOD.

 

End of (very uninteresting) story.

[ThePenitentMan1 1,301]

15 minutes ago, Thor said:

For all of my childhood and teenage years, I very much knew what and who Rambo was. Heck, it was a reference point for all of us. But I had never actually seen any of the films. Only snippets and pictures.

 

Then in the late 90s, FIRST BLOOD was shown on - of all places - our main broadcaster NRK. There was even an introductory conversation between a journalist and a professor of American Studies, the same professor I had in that subject at uni myself, in 1997. That made me perk up. They talked about the film's position in US history, and its comments on post-Vietnam national trauma.

 

I thought all of that was strange, since I thought ALL the films were silly, bloated, patriotic affairs like I had seen in pictures and snippets (mostly from II and III). Why was it being treated so seriously?

 

Then I saw it, and was blown away. The serious treatment was very much deserved. Incredible performance by Stallone. Chilly, autumny cinematography. Those haunting Goldsmith melody lines on trumpet, adding to the cinematography and to the loneliness of the character, and about faded ideals.

 

It quickly became a favourite of the composer. Then, in the mid 2000s, I sent in a response to a quiz on a film music radio program on NRK. Can't remember the question, but I won. I was probably the only one participating, because I won a subsequent quiz as well. Anyways, the prize was a gift card for a CD at a local CD store, and I used it to pick up the Varese 2000 edition of FIRST BLOOD.

 

End of (very uninteresting) story.

 

Hey, I was interested enough to read it.  It's great to read about how people first got into certain films and scores.

[Jfallon 51]

Are we thinking this will drop on Monday? Don’t think a date was posted. Dying to see the specs on this.

[Ollie 1,291]

Yes

[Bellosh 4,252]

the first minute is maybe my fav thing Goldsmith ever wrote

 

 

[crumbs 15,512]

Samples are up!

 

https://store.intrada.com/s.nl/it.A/id.13218/.f

 

Very crisp and clean sound. Compare track 2 between the new and old release and you'll instantly notice all the hiss is gone, the speed is fixed, and the general soundscape is warmer and more enveloping. I'd liken this remaster to the difference between FSM's Wrath of Khan and LLL's newer version.

 

Beautifully done, NSB & MM! I'll pick this up with my next order.

[Yavar Moradi 3,599]

Pretty awesome Intrada enlisted Neil Bulk and Mike Matessino on this new edition. A worthy revisit 15 years after the last one.

 

Yavar

[Lady Dimitrescu 9,904]

I'll stick with my LP.

[Meredith McKay 7,873]

27 minutes ago, crumbs said:

I'd liken this remaster to the difference between Intrada's Wrath of Khan and LLL's newer version.

 

 

Crumbs. Dude.

[Trope 1,189]

2 minutes ago, Lady Dimitrescu said:

I'll stick with my LP.

This made my day! Thank you for sharing.

[Lady Dimitrescu 9,904]

4 minutes ago, Trope said:

This made my day! Thank you for sharing.