Guest blogger, David Gawne discusses his passion for soundtracks and asks what is the perfect track length for a soundtrack release?
I was 14 in 1997 when
The Lost World: Jurassic Park was released. A month or so prior, the CD
soundtrack was released. I`ll always remember being in HMV finding it in the
soundtracks section and reading the track list. I remember loving each track
from the very first listen. It was completely different to Jurassic Park. One
track stood out - "The Hunt". I couldn't wait to see the movie and
hear this track as the Ingen trackers drove through a herd of different species
of dinosaurs. As we all know now this track wasn't featured in the movie. A lot
of my favourite tracks didn't appear anywhere in the movie and it wasn't until
the VHS release that allowed me to watch the movie ad nuseam that i noticed how
much material was in the movie that didn't feature anywhere on the album and
vice versa.
Thankfully last year Mike Matessino and the team at La La Land
records released the complete score as a two disc set along with Jurassic Park.
I was really looking forward to hearing the complete Jurassic Park score after
years of shoddy bootlegs but it was The Lost World that really got me excited.
Finally i`ll be able to hear the full version of "Rescuing Sarah"
with the full burst of triumphant brass as Eddie heroically saves the day
before his gruesome end. This was what i`d been wanting since 1997. This is
what should have been released - or was it? You see over the years I've begun
to appreciate John Williams albums more. I used to be one of those people
wanting every piece of music - no matter how short - included on the original
soundtrack album. I didn't appreciate the work Williams puts into the
presentation of these scores. How important it is to him for the listener to
have the best audio experience while we sit back and enjoy another masterpiece
from the maestro. This has become more obvious to me over the years as studios
have begun releasing scores with as much material as they can fit on a CD;also
digital downloads have given studios the opportunity to release even more
material. Example - this year Stranger
Things 2 was released on Itunes with 10 more tracks than the LPs and CDs. As
was Brian Tyler`s excellent score for The Mummy. The problem was The Mummy was
perfectly presented on it`s CD release, it didn't need another 15 tracks - not
yet anyway. I love movie scores, it`s pretty much all i listen to but I've
begun to feel a little overwhelmed whenever i see a score with a track list
that exceeds 15 . I like to hear a score and listen to it over and over and
become familiar with each piece.
A great example of this was the score for Star
Wars:The Force Awakens, a pretty perfect album, yet exceeds my 15 track limit.
Each track i listened to over and over until i could recite the entire score in my head. after a few months i
was hungry for more and was hoping - as i still am - for an expanded release. I
managed to track down the FYC version that gave me a few extra cues to digest.
I`m hungry for more unlike The Mummy,
even though i loved it.
Back in 2011 Alan Silvestri gave us the first
great Marvel score - Captain America. I bought the 26 track CD but found it a
slog to sit and listen to in chronological order. I would skip tracks to get to
a more exciting cue. Then last year Disney released a picture disc LP. It was a
single disc release and so a truncated version of the CD. It was a much better
presentation of the music. The whole album was completely re-sequenced. Now the
album opened with a bang. The first five track are all action cues, we take a
small break with some quieter material then the album ends with more action
music and a great track "Triumphant Return", which appears as a much
earlier cue on the original album but makes more sense as an album closer. The
LP presentation is the opposite of the CD and digital release. It`s completely
out of order and non chronological and it is a better listening experience for
it. It`s the sort of album that would've been released in the 80`s and 90`s.
Two of my favourite soundtrack albums ever are
Jaws and E.T. The Extra Terrestrial. They are the perfect examples of how a score should be experienced
outside of the movie. Each album contained re scored music - in the case of
Jaws the whole album score was a new recording. Williams expanded tracks and
added new material. He would combine cues to make one seamless piece. He could
have easily just collected a bunch of
tracks from the recording sessions and threw them on an album and they would've
still won Grammys and gone gold but that`s not who he is. He`s a showman, and
he cares about the music. This is why it`s important theses original Soundtrack
albums stay in circulation. I love getting and hearing these expanded and
complete releases. We seem to be in a golden period with labels like La La Land
and Intrada releasing some of our favourite Williams scores and little unheard
gems but I always feel better when I see the original album on disc 2. Years
ago i would've done away with my original albums whenever a new expanded release
would be announced but not now.
I was inspired to write this piece tonight as a
few hours ago the track list for Williams` new album The Post was put online.
The first thing i noticed was that the album is 10 tracks - perfect.
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