Score releases: Which expanded Bond score to release first?

If the DAD score sells out on LaLa Land's limited release, EON confirmed they would deem it as definite public interest and allow for more scores to be released in their entirety.

So make the case for which to do first!

It's been 15 years since the limited Capitol expansions supervised by Lukas Kendall that were done for little to no money on an insanely short timeframe. Those five scores that were expanded were 16/96 transfers from the master tapes to ProTools and had to follow the original album presentations. Since then there has been no work on the musical heritage of the series which is downright criminal.

I think the obvious ones, though they can't for legal and other reasons, is Moonraker and VTAK. The latter, for me, has the Thunderballesque rendition of the Bond theme in the fight at Stacey's and a piece not unlike Barry's Ride to Sherwood, when Bond and Sir Godfrey turn up at Zorin's place in France.

It'll never happen but the Bond medley in OHMSS when Bond goes through his mementoes. Very small piece but when I listen to the expanded OST, as is, I sometimes expect to hear it after the instrumental use in "Bond Settles In". ("He's wants you, James").

I think after DAD, the more likely option is Casino Royale.

Shame the scores didn't get some kind of 'fresh' re-release for the fiftieth.

LTK, TND and TWINE for me, and even DN. I really love that cue when Bond enters his apartment before finding Sylvia ready to go(lf).

Firstly would probably have to be the unreleased scores of DN and TSWLM. I adore the DN score and despite being dated I feel it works perfectly for the film. So of course all we got was the weird calypso album. TSWLM has the rerecorded version which has great fidelity but is very limited in selections and certainly is not the same as the film cues we have ingrained in our minds. Lukas Kendall mentioned they didn't do it for time and cost as it was a 24 track recording in the vaults as opposed to the easier to work with 8 and 16 tracks they were doing on earlier films.

Then there are the scores in dire need of expansion like MR (rumored to have lost master tapes), LTK with its hideous sequencing, TMWTGG, Octopussy.

Even the old Ryko expansions aren't complete and crossfade tracks at times. So we really, REALLY need the other 19 original scores revisited and properly treated...and of course hi-res would be a natural but most of all-a proper mastering job is essential.

Moonraker for me. It was one of the last scores where Barry put a film's needs ahead of his own.

From what I read, JB wasn't entirely happy with Gilbert and the score as such:

“I was very disappointed with the dub of Moonraker… Personally, I believe Lewis Gilbert’s ears were out to lunch when he made that dub. I think a director should spend a few days familiarizing himself with what Dolby offers and how best to employ these new balances and perspectives in order to get the maximum effect instead of simply going in cold with a traditional mind.”

from this page, which makes for interesting reading.

http://www.filmmusicnotes.com/john-barrys-james-bond-scores-part-4-of-6-moonraker/

I remember that quote and wish JB had been able to elaborate on it as I've always wondered how he felt when his scores were mixed in during the final mixdowns to theatrical audio mixes. For example when comparing the full stereo orchestra recording to the final mono mix on the early films.

Ironic but perhaps fitting that it goes with MR as that is the first credited Dolby Stereo entry, though TSWLM has a matrixed stereo mix and was apparently released to theaters that way it was never credited as being Dolby. However, I can only think that JB was referring to the MR score not being mixed to the fullest potential of the Dolby format in 1979 as you had to have a Dolby consultant and work within the system's guidelines for optimum results. Some films sounded great and others more like expanded mono until they got the hang of it a couple years in. You can study how this was done by comparing the original mixes of MR, FYEO and OP to see the technical progression in terms of better reproduction.

However the original MR mix is not only a great track for 1979 and arguably a better mix than TSWLM has-but the music sounds better in the film than even the soundtrack LP!! I think it does have a canned quality to the recording so far as we've been able to hear to date due to it being recorded in France IIRC in a studio chamber that had sound leakage from railways and from not being setup like Barry's traditional recording sessions at CTS studios.

That said even with the sound limitations the score sounds better on the original LP than the 2003 remastered CD but badly needs expansion. And my Laserdisc sounds even better since the original mix is rendered in full PCM and it even sounds a tad better than the THX remastered release that was the basis for all the subsequent video reissues soundwise.
To my ears they definitely did some narrowing of the sound in the remix they did for the LP master and that's the way the score has been stuck sounding since 1979. I think they film mix has the sound open a lot more so I can only hope a proper complete release could be as good. But I truly hope they didn't lose the master tapes.
To hear what I mean, play the soundtrack of the boat chase, Corrine's death or the flight into space and then play the same moment in the film-particularly with the original 2.0 matrixed back out in a surround system. (The 5.1 is roughly the same but I'm a purist and like to hear the original mix untouched. I like the old 1990 LD release despite some occasional noise because it seems to be untouched compared to the 1998 late release.) The film mix has a fuller sound to it-particularly when properly decoded with the mono surround.

Bought two copies of DAD. Been waiting 15 years for it. I'm hoping for more expansions from LaLaLand.

Everyone's waiting for the MOONRAKER score expansion. A lot of rumors have been floating around, including one that says the tapes are lost, which I've heard is bullshit. James Fitzpatrick at Tadlow attempted a re-recording (which was fully crowdfunded) but, apparently, EON shut it down. Odd, as Barry's orchestrator for a couple of Bond films, Nic Raine, is their principal conductor.

That is weird...unless they are indeed about to do a MR release.

I think the biggest surprise sonically would be finally releasing the film version TSWLM score as opposed to the album re-recording. It'd be nice if they just said to heck with it and did a full-on high resolution complete score series that had the complete scores and their complete film counterparts from the Dialogue/Music/Effects stems.
I think the Arnold scores fare much better in 5.1 and would really enjoy them released that way. But alas, this will likely never happen.

hegottheboot wrote:

That is weird...unless they are indeed about to do a MR release.

Let's hope so... I wonder if LaLa exhausted their 5000 copies.

I just saw (and heard) 18 additional tracks from the MWTGG soundtrack that have been uploaded to Youtube by ‘Solofett’.
Are they original?
Are they a vanity project?
Are they available?!
It would be worth getting for ‘Island Escape’ alone, although ‘Goodnight Sir’ and ‘Action Cues’ are superfluous and sound like they were separated and lifted right off the film track by someone who knows how to do that.
What a pity you can’t download from Youtube.
Anyway, does anyone out there know any more about this work and it’s availability?

Thanks for the heads up. I'll check them out.

For the record, you can download from youtube. Google 'youtube to mp3' and pick from any of the results. Just be careful which 'download' buttons you press. Some are ads/phishing scam.

Only releases I'm interested in are everything by Barry, Serra's GE, and Conti's FYEO.

Long ago I downloaded an edit someone did of the LTK soundtrack so it would be in chronological order. I'm pretty happy with that, as it's pretty much most of the score due to cues being reused throughout the film, like the tanker chase reusing music we already heard in the scuba fight.

LTK is one I'd like to see. The official release is embarrassing.

It's the only one I haven't bought, holding out for some kind of expanded version.

LTK sounds great but was compiled by a MORON!

All need proper complete releases but it is downright criminal to still compromise the classic Barry scores and have no official releases of either DN or TSWLM EVER.

I'm okay without DN. It's too shitty of a score for me to appreciate, milestone Bond film or not.

I'd buy it if it meant getting the cue where Bond returns home just prior to discovering Sylvia.

The more dramatic parts really work and become iconic in their way over time. The return to the flat cue as Fields mentioned along with the shoe bashing of the tarantula, the fight sequences and for me: the death of Dr. No, the surge of the score when Connery's fist hits the guards face while searching for Honey-and most importantly the tag cue for the end in the slowing motorboat and end titles.

Ah yes, that last cue is excellent. I love how retro it sounds.