- This topic is empty.
- Posts
Does anyone have it?? Parts of the CD look really, really cringe-inducing . . . but the temptation to buy it to hear the new recording of Sleepy Hollow, especially, is really strong. I LOVE not only hearing new interpretations of old material, but getting to hear parts that I couldn’t really hear well before suddenly exposed.
I don’t have that CD but I listened to the interesting parts (i.e. Sleepy Hollow) in the store.
I constantly talk about this, and it doesn’t matter to a lot of film music fans, but the re-recording of Sleepy Hollow here doesn’t sound ANYTHING like the original soundtrack. I’m not talking about arrangements of the themes, I’m talking about the themes themselves only vaguely resemble the Elfman produced album.
My question is, I know that it is sort of make it up as you go along in the recording studio as you are producing the music, so why can they not produce a written score that captures the orchestration used in the movie?
Lord of the Rings has the original Shore orchestration, and recordings since the original sound wodnerfully like Shore intention.
I have heard all sorts of vagueries in re-recordings of Elfman’s work, and I guess I just wish there was more emphasis on posterity.I can’t think why I haven’t reviewed or reported on this little number. I have one or two other discs which include re-recording/arrangements. This is one of the better ones. It uses a proper orchestra for a start! Don’t be too put off by the SFX opening. I rather like it actually. Anyway, the Sleepy Hollow “end theme” is quite passable. Choir is live, but includes adult singers both male and female, which takes some of the edge off, and the end result of the performance isn’t as tight as the soundtrack. On the other hand it ends with a bang rather than the OST’s whimper. Yes, this is definitely one of those “creative re-orchestrations”. You’ll spend the first 10 listenings spotting the most obvious differences, I guarantee, but that doesn’t stop it being an enjoyable performance.
“This is halloween” is just about passable. Much of the vocals are handled by varying groups from the chorus, and there just isn’t enough variation in the vocal timbre to make it sound like different characters. It gives the slight impression of a local choir and ad-hoc orchestra doing a halloween concert.
Next, “themes from Beetlejuice” is little more than the main title music, and the orchestration is just about spot-on. The pacing is just right, and the orchestral balance is fine except for the clarinets (someone should have called them closer to the microphone!), and just when you were about to relax, they hit you with the most horrible synth chorus you ever heard. What a waste, after using a live one for the other two tracks.
Finally, “theme from Tales from the crypt” is almost identical to the original recording. Decent but superfluous.
Anyway, I see amazon have at last seen sense and reduced the price, which should make a US-based purchase for an Elfman fan a worthwhile consideration. Naturally, I, in the UK, paid through the nose… :o)
Blunt
You lot are so uncharitable. So okay, they couldn’t afford weird-vocal specialists, but it does make you wonder how that song really can be brought off successfully without the visuals. Perhaps the choice of song itself was what doomed it?
Blunt (a.k.a Devil’s advocate)On the other hand…Silva Screens has good recordings of cues from Edward and a really cool re-recording of Mars Attacks! with differnts synths. I like them both.
I guess some of Elfman’s really new stuff couldn’t possibley be replicated well. Planet of the Apes and Hulf for example. Although I would love to hear new interpretations with different tempos for Sommersby and Big Fish…anyone got an orchestra and a recording studio just lying around?
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.