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Lakeshore sent an advance CDr with no booklet, so I won’t know until I have a retail copy of the CD.
Oh, you little bastard. Nice work on puttin’ this together, Mr. K. I can’t stop listening to Success Montage. One of the catchiest Elfman tunes since Charlie’s Main Titles or Jenny’s Theme from Big Fish. It’s like he’s taking all the skills and theories he created on Serenada and SOP and had fun with it. Can wait to get the whole thing.
Thanks again, Ryan.
Lucius
PS. That ‘Rats’ track on Cinemusic.net is pretty amazing too!
Sounds really fantastic! This is exactly the kind of Elfman score I’ve been waiting to hear for a while now. I hope the rest of the album is just as good. Thanks Ryan!
You know reviewers rarely mention a film’s score in their writeups, but I’ve found two very positve Wanted reviews from two very reputable publications and both mention Elfman!
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117937471.html?categoryId=31
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film/reviews/article_display.jsp?&rid=11280
I’ve noticed a big change in the recording quality of Elfman’s scores as of late — a trend toward much more dry and thin sounding ensembles. I don’t know if this is intentional. In his action cues he seems to be mixing his strings in one channel, or placing them in the center instead of the normal placement. Maybe he’s fed up with the bombast of the sound effects in the final movie mix?
Starting with Serenada Schizophrana I noticed that while the ensemble is large, the recording seemed to lack the warmth and fluidity of Spiderman. (Planet of the Apes is another good example of how the recording was lackluster).
Has anyone else noticed this?
I also noticed the smaller feel of WANTED, but that might be dictated by the film. I don’t know if a larger ensemble would be right for an action/thriller score like this. Perhaps Elfman has moved into a less-is-more mode, a la STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE and seeing the value of a more transparent sound, or his taste in mixing has changed.
Goldsmith used large ensembles (particularly the horn sections) to great effect in action/thriller scores — Basic Instinct for example.
I’m really distraught over the thinness of the recordings. Even if he’s using a more intimate ensemble for the scores, the mixing still sounds sub-par. The stereo imaging, channel separation and instrument placement are INCREDIBLY disappointing. Take Men in Black for example — violins on the left, violas clearly slightly placed to the right, cellos and basses clearly to the right. There is also a crispness missing from the latest recordings. The violin harmonics don’t seem as bright and clear as they usually are.
I’ve noticed a similar decline in recording quality from Williams as well — the difference between the London recordings for the first three Indiana Jones films and the 4th film are astounding. Maybe Los Angeles is just making some really BAD recordings these days?
Btw, who was the recording engineer on the score? For a long time it was Shawn Murphy…
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