Talk about films scores here.

Moderators: lazyben, static14, texasvinyl

User avatar
By havershaw
#118892
Does anyone have a VS NOTLD to compare to the new Waxwork?

I had the VS back in the day, and I have the Waxwork now.
I feel like maybe the Waxwork has had a lot of noise reduction or something? I feel like it should have more air to it, but I could be just remembering it wrong, and I’m not sure I want to spend the cash to get another VS copy to compare, though I do miss having one.
User avatar
By ScoJo
#118900
COMPARISON CORNER #5:
by Skødjö

-------------

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Various

This will be a comparison of the pressing/sound quality and track listing between the only two releases of this soundtrack on vinyl. I'm also going to compare the 'Driveway to the Cemetery' track from both records with the film version, using the blu ray.

1. Varese Sarabande (1982, STV 81151)
33rpm

NotLD VS Front.jpg
NotLD VS Front.jpg (924.5 KiB) Viewed 7122 times
NotLD VS Back.jpg
NotLD VS Back.jpg (1.03 MiB) Viewed 7122 times

The original Varese album, not released until 1982, offers 15 tracks - although many of these (such as Side A, Track 2: At The Gravesite / Flight / Refuge) incorporate multiple library cues within those tracks, often by a couple of different composers. So in reality there are more like 29 tracks depending on how you break them up.
The VS album is LOUD and PROUD! (I gave both LPs a nice loud headphone listen...) There is some hiss present throughout (noticeable straight away on the iconic opening 'Driveway' cue) though nothing that's distracting or unpleasant. It sounds very much like the movie! In fact, in comparing
the opening track between the record and blu ray, the soundtrack is a fair bit less muddy, with clarity in the mids and some nice ringing highs (especially noticeable with the pinging reverbed-out fx sounds...)
One odd thing - at the very start, I get a little bit of that 'pre-echo' which I sometimes hear on old LPs, where there is a shadow of the coming music very quietly just a millisecond or three before the track kicks in. This could well be more to do with my crummy setup tbh, anyone have any wisdom why this happens?
I LOVE my VS edition of this soundtrack. Beyond it giving me major feels and taking me back to my horror/Fangoria obsessed youth, when I was first discovering all these wild horror and fantasy movies, the pressing has (like many a VS bad boy) truly held up now for almost forty years. Once again, a VS pressing shouts loud and clear why these LPs are so sought after by fans and collectors. You'll pry this one from my cold, dead, (then undead), hands...

2. Waxwork Records (2018, WW 050)
2x 45rpm, 'Ghoul Green' vinyl

NotLD WW Front.jpg
NotLD WW Front.jpg (919.7 KiB) Viewed 7117 times
NotLD WW Back.jpg
NotLD WW Back.jpg (833.47 KiB) Viewed 7117 times

This remastered release proclaims to be the 'first complete soundtrack release in any format', with years spent working with the film's IMAGE TEN production team to locate all of the music from the movie, despite much of it previously being thought to be 'lost or destroyed'. Since Night.. is comprised of library tracks which in many instances had electronic sounds added to them by producer Phil Hardman, I guess this means that what had to be tracked down where the altered tracks which were used in the film itself, rather than the original library cues which formed the basis of the score.
One thing that's immediately weird about the WW release, however, is unlike the VS version there is absolutely no mention anywhere on the sleeve (or indeed in the press release for the LP) of the library composers names (or Phil Hardman's contribution for that matter...) The VS LP lists each library composer next to the cues, with a note explaining that the added electronics are by Hardman. This seems super weird to me, and I can't quite figure out why they would omit this info? Again, anyone have any thoughts?

So the WW release is cleaner than the VS, clearly with some noise/hiss reduction though generally a less punchy, somewhat duller sound. It still sounds very good, mind - and in fact is very close to the sound of the bluray. It doesn't have the harsher top notes of the film itself, which often sounds like it's pushing a little bit into distortion, and is therefore an improvement over the movie soundtrack in that sense. It plays at the same speed/pitch as the film, and at 45rpm across four sides the music is clearly given room and range to breathe. Though it's not like these cues have a ton of low end (in fact, very little tbh) so pushing towards the label wouldn't cause too much of an issue really, but there's a bit too much music here to ever squeeze onto a single 33rpm LP. In this case at least, the colour effect of the vinyl doesn't seem to have brought any issues of it's own to the party, the pressing is generally very quiet and pleasing.

But where to start with the 'additional' tracks which make this the first time it has been complete on vinyl? Well as often happens with WW and DWRC, the track titles themselves vary wildly across the two releases. making comparison a real challenge: 'Driveway to the Cemetery' is named 'Opening Drive' on the WW edition. Track 2 'Walking to the Grave' directly relates to 'At The Gravesite/Flight/Refuge'. In fact, only the cue 'Refuge' is named the same on both. So unpicking what's identical, longer, shorter or new on the WW lp is a bit of a headfuck tbh! I listened through Side A of both albums trying to identify stuff on the WW which I wasn't hearing on the VS, syncing the playback and A/B'ing between them, and the first difference is Track 3 - 'Attacked' on the WW album is a very short stinger cue, missing from the VS, whereas the VS has the '...coming to get you, Barbara...' dialogue in it's place, then both albums continue with the same track named 'Flight from the Cemetery' (WW) / 'Farmhouse/First Approach' (VS) and on to the same Track 4. Then there is the short 'Refuge' cue on the WW, which is actually part of the Track 2 montage on the VS.
Oy vey!!

All in all, my best guess is that the bulk of the additional cues on the WW 'complete' edition are short reverb-soaked stingers, the contribution of the aforementioned Mr Hardman, and for that reason it's indeed very nice to have a version of the soundtrack which incorporates these atmospheric short-sharp-shocks which really bring the film back to life as a listening experience. But I think there's also some library cues that are new to the WW, I just don't quite have the wherewithall/time to plow through and keep taking notes to identify them all!

---------------------------------------------------------------

To sum up, it's like this: The Varese is punchy, loud, aggressive and a little bit noisy, though not in an unpleasing way, while the WW is cleaner, with a bit less air and clarity, but in actual fact closer to the source it seems. The VS, however, is a brash and quite intense listening experience, and for once I have to say that the slightly less sophisticated fidelity does add an urgency and intensity to it as a listen which makes the WW seem a bit more 'polite'. That's in no way a cuss to WW, as they've done (from source, we have to imagine, based on their press notes) exactly what you would do for new ears - clean up this crusty old library/skronky electronic soundtrack as best they can for a modern vinyl pressing. And what with the additional cues and sound fx that they've located, I have to say that this is another case of YA NEED BOTH VERSIONS, YA BUMS!! Sorry, but that's my take. And you are very welcome! ;-)
Last edited by ScoJo on Tue Jan 19, 2021 5:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
By inksb
#118903
Thanks for the thorough break down @ScoJo. I have a strange relationship with the film as growing up it was on TV often and had seen pieces of it many times over the years, I never really watched it all the way through. I bought a DVD once but it looked like some one took a 3rd generation VHS dub, pulled all the tape out, dumped mud on it and then scanned it in for the DVD release. I shut it off and waited until I could get a better copy. As we all know time moves on and you forget about stuff, I actually didn't see the film in it's entirety until the Criterion bluray arrived at my house last year. I absolutely loved it even though I knew the entire film prior to my first viewing. I like the soundtrack but didn't have years of it ingrained in my horror DNA to buy it the moment WW released it. I will get it eventually. Dawn on the other hand, I watched a million times through my early years. As I type all this out I realized I have a very strange relationship with the series as a whole. I have always disliked Day of the Dead until a recent revisit a few years ago, even then it's my least favorite of the original three. Sorry for the ramblings, no one else cares about this shit except you guys.
User avatar
By static14
#118904
@scojo the music before the music starts is either print through on the master tape, or groove echo, which is a slight kinda push through of Info in a silent groove from a following grooves wall.
User avatar
By havershaw
#118905
off the top of my head, I had a feeling the WW was less airy and punchy, and that’s just from my recollection of listening to the VS incessantly as a kid.

The “pre-echo” is called print-through (this specific type is called “pre-print” where basically the audio is sort of transferred from one layer of tape to another while the tape is stored on the reel.
Here’s a technical explanation (from a 3M technical bulletin from a while back):

http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/3mtape/printthrough.pdf

You can also wiki “print through analogue tape” and get an even nerdier, more science-y explanation if you want.

Not sure whether it would be the final master for the LP that has the print-through or the original source tapes for the cue. You’d think they’d cut it off the master for the LP, so maybe it’s on the master for the LP (which would likely be on 1/2” or 1/4” tape).

And yes, I have been mystified this entire time as to why in the world WW doesn’t list any composer credits of any kind for their NOTLD. I would think that’s the kind of nerdy stuff they would assume their customers would be into, wouldn’t you?

(side note: I have the subscriber variant and it is dead, dead quiet also.)
User avatar
By havershaw
#118906
hahaha, of course there are a bunch of replies in the time it took me to type mine.


Didn’t know about groove echo as a phenomenon - interesting.
I have a lot of experience with tape, as I use it pretty much every day in my work.
User avatar
By havershaw
#118907
There’s a horror convention next weekend here - always a bunch of good vinyl dealers. Looks like I’ll be shelling out for a VS copy, after all.

My childhood copy, signed by Romero after I took a subway and 2 buses to see him speak at a local college, “disappeared” along with a lot of my other records when I went away to college (I also had a CS Creepshow also signed by Romero). Thanks, mom and dad.
User avatar
By ScoJo
#118908
@static / @havershaw - thank you both for the pre-echo (as I insist on calling it!) clarity. Intersting. It's the first friggin' track on the side... why didn't they just kill it to silence before the start of the track?? Bizarre.

@havershaw - i did not enjoy your story about tossed Romero-signed VS originals. No sirree, not one bit.
User avatar
By havershaw
#118909
@scojo - My parents liked to donate stuff. So it’s my belief that they got donated to goodwill or something, and someone bought them, and someday I’ll find them floating around the greater Pittsburgh area.

I still have my Romero-signed “The Zombies That Ate Pittsburgh” book, so at least I have *something* from that time I met him as a kid.
User avatar
By Hatter313
#118910
i found my VS original last summer at vinegar syndrome's store in CT. it was the type of record that i'd often dreamed of laying down the cash for, but every time i was on eBay or discogs i got cold feet from the prices. but once it was right there in front of me i couldn't make any more excuses. i actually haven't even spun the WW one yet, since that VS is just so perfect. its one of those records that epitomizes why we collect this sort of thing in the first place.

While we are on that note, have any of you with a VS ripped that one digitally and care to share?
User avatar
By ScoJo
#118913
Well, the Lord doth surely hate a coward, and a lazy man, so onward to

COMPARISON CORNER #6:
by Skødjö

-------------

HALLOWEEN
Music Composed & Performed by John Carpenter

A comparison between the three vinyl pressings of the score (Varese, Mondo and DWRC) with an A/B of the title track using all LP versions against the film version (from bluray).

Let's do this!

1. Varese Sarabande (1983, STV 81176)
33rpm

VS.jpg
VS.jpg (588.14 KiB) Viewed 7082 times

Not put out on wax until five years after the movie's original release (following the Columbia Japan 'Spacesizer' version from 1979, which I sadly do not have a copy of - but see note at the bottom*) we all know that Alan Howarth was given free reign by Carpenter to mix the soundtrack for the vinyl release, in any way he felt appropriate. So straight off, comparing the opening track of Side A, 'Halloween Theme - Main Title'
you can hear the boxy four-four 'thump' which AH added to the title theme whenever it occurs throughout the soundtrack. Also noticeable is the beefing up of the big dark string chords, which are quite a bit louder in the mix (and perhaps there are added notes) than the film mix, and the added reverb on the piano. All in all, it's clearly the same recording but has been given an 'aggressive' mix and some added orchestration. (The album sequencing then jumps forward a good bit in the movie, to 'Laurie's Theme', where again we can hear a different mix to the film soundtrack, with the piano being mixed so it's a little bit less 'honky tonk' sounding for instance...)

So mix aside, how does the album sound as a listen? Well it's a banger, isn't it? Although it's not the most comprehensive release of the film's music, it has all the main themes there, often 'suited' together into substantially longer cues than they appear individually in the film, so that they really get a chance to develop as songs and get some power going. If this version does anything right, it's that it realises that we can (and want to) hear these brilliant, minimal suspense themes played out for a good while, to really envelope us in that icy cold atmosphere of Michael stalking us around every corner. I guess it's like the greatest hits mega-mix version of the score in a way, making a banging 11-track album out of cues which are much shorter and broken up throughout the film's overall duration. And (like a stuck record...), it has to be said yet again - a VS pressing from '83 that's in good condition will blow your socks off with it's mastering and production QC. Every collection should have a copy of this record. (It should be noted also that the German Celine Records pressing from the same year is the same source as the VS pressing, if not from the same masters, and held me over very nicely until I was able to get a NM- VS back into my collection.)


2. Mondo (2013, MOND-013)
2x 45rpm
Black vinyl

mondo.jpg
mondo.jpg (465.18 KiB) Viewed 7082 times

Amazingly, it took 30 years before Halloween was reissued on vinyl, with a few different CD versions being released in the meantime - including the 20th Anniversary expanded edition which Mondo used for this release. It was the most complete version to date, with every music cue (no matter how long or short) from the film included, though often with large chunks of dialogue and fx present. Let's face it - you get a LOT of the movie with this particular version of the score! It worked for some, less well for others, but everyone seemed to agree that this was one of Mondo's very best pressings.
Comparing the opening theme (here titled 'Halloween Theme') we are returned to the film version of the cue, without the 'thump', without the additional reverb, and without the added orchestral beefing. In fact, comparing with the bluray this version is very close to the film cue. You have to think that this 'interim' version of the complete movie score (and the reaction to the inclusion of fx/dialogue) gave DW the idea to follow through and find a source which would allow them to have the best of all worlds for hardcore Halloween score fans...

3. Death Waltz Recording Co. (2018, DW135)
33rpm
Translucent Orange vinyl

DWRC.jpg
DWRC.jpg (432.45 KiB) Viewed 7082 times

Which is kinda what they did? For the 40th anniversary, advertised as 'pulled directly from the original mono film reels', DW released a single LP version of the score which features all of the music from the previous expanded release, but eliminating dialogue and fx (for the most part - more on that). To do this I'm guessing they had to have used a 35mm Mag-print of the film - that is, a theatrical release print with separate magnetic soundtracks, where the score, sound fx and dialogue are carried on individual tracks. Back in the 70s this was a pretty common format for release prints, and is a great resource for anyone trying to pull score from a film where masters are lost/unavailable. Its not like having access to multi-track master tapes, but it does allow for separation of score cues from other sounds on the audio track. So this announcement caused some excitement (for me certainly!) and I looked forward to hearing the score just as it sounded in the movie but without an excess of other sound fx and dialogue.
The title track (again named 'Halloween Theme' here) is interesting indeed. You would imagine comparing with the bluray that it would be the closest of all - but it's actually noticeably different. The piano sounds the same, without the added reverb, as we'd expect - but as the first big synth-string section swells, it sounds quite different. The higher notes present in the movie credits are missing almost entirely, and the synths stay well in the mids/lower range. It's still powerful of course, but strange how it's so different from the film itself, given the source? This could well be down to the 'new' mix on the bluray though, which is the most logical possibility. So then - this is actually really quite exciting: What we're hearing is what the score sounded like, in the film... 40 years ago upon it's original (mono) release! Not what the film sounds like now! Once I had locked into this thought pattern, the real value of this particular version unlocked for me and became quite a thrilling, goosebumpy ride. This is the time-warp version of Halloween, throwing us right back into the less sonically-sophisticated time when it was created, and giving us a pure(r) experience of the music.
Having said that, things get pretty weird - by Track 4 ('Myers House') the volume level during the track varies wildly, and it's very distracting. It's hard to guess why little attempt was made to volume balance the track (the music isn't changing drastically throughout, you'd think it would be a relatively simple thing to do with today's tools) but perhaps there was a technical reason why this wouldn't/didn't work out - maybe it simply introduced too much noise when the crunchy mono sound element was boosted? In any case, you're left thinking that basically there's no way this is a mistake, and we're hearing some kind of 'compromise' between fluidity of the listening experience and general quality control of the mastering. (The 'issue' continues through the rest of Side A, with volume level varying quickly up and down during tracks - and with headphones especially, you can also make out little bits of muffled/partially removed dialogue etc.) Some of the editing, especially at the end of tracks, is also a little clumsy to be honest.
Overall, my pressing on orange wax is pretty noisy, with surface noise and a good amount of pops n clicks throughout.
There may well be a quieter/preferable colour of this pressing, I can't say.

------------------------------------------------------


So to sum up - getting the VS original in your life is a no-braino. It's an entirely unique mix/presentation of the score, and gives you big meaty versions of the main themes that you can dance along to. And it sounds bloody fantastic.

The Mondo is a very interesting expansion, and goes back to the original film mix for the most part, but it's all about how you feel regarding big chunks of 'movie' all over your soundtrack listening experience. It's cut at 45rpm across four sides, so is arguably the best quality pressing of the lot? But it's also potentially just a 'remastered CD master onto vinyl' and a stop-gap before DWRC's 40th anniversary release...

However, that may well be true, but the DW version has issues all of it's own as a listening experience. The volume fluctuations are very distracting (and frankly still a bit baffling), but the project itself is a truly great idea and huge kudos for going the 35mm film print route, to give us possibly the 'purest' version of the score so far. It's not particularly hi-fi, but then again, I bet the film sound was primitive, powerful and pretty harsh-as-fuck back in theatres in '78. And I guarantee it only added to the terrifying experience that people were having with the flick.

Personally I'm happy with the VS and DW versions on my shelf, and each gives me a unique listening/feels experience when I spin them. Which I do. On the regular.

*Note on the Columbia Japan 'Spacesizer 360' Release, 1979

So this first release of the Halloween music is in fact a complete re-recording by Japanese electronic maestro Osamu Shoji, in a special 360 stereo spatial process. It's a very interesting curio, with some nice versions (mostly much 'lighter' than Carpenter's original cues) but The Horror Master is not present on this version at all. There's also various bits of dialogue from the film throughout.
It's here in full if you're curious, but I'm afraid it tends to go for over the odds these days and I always find a reason to pass on it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtoZeCHM4fM
Last edited by ScoJo on Tue Jan 19, 2021 4:58 am, edited 5 times in total.
User avatar
By havershaw
#118915
@ScoJo, you are the absolute best.

I keep hearing that Columbia Spacesizer is actually a re-recording and not the actual score (and there are supposedly dialogue snippets too?).

I skipped the Mondo as soon as I heard it contained dialogue. If I want to hear the dialogue, man, I’ll put the movie on.

I love the new Death Waltz version, personally - I think it sounds like a best possible case scenario of what the film sounded like in 1978. Like, if you went to the nicest theater in town.

That having been said: I somehow have managed to hang onto my VS pressing I’ve had since childhood, and i would not part with it for anything.

Thanks again for doing these, ScoJo!
User avatar
By maxlevel
#118918
@scojo re: audio quality from a Halloween 35mm. the problem with ripping from a 35mm is exactly the same as ripping from a copy: risky. My stepdad used to do some work in a factory in Luton which processed used 35mm prints from the cinema circuit. They melted them down into bitumen, transported it to Italy where it was processed into road surface material and shipped to China and made into road. Essentially the new films would arrive at the higher paying cinemas, be used for that month and then replaced with more new 35mm stock. The old ones ended up in cheaper cinemas and art house cinemas, before they couldn’t even be used anymore as the process of running through so many gates wears the films perforations out. There was an entire secondary market economy for these used reels, as some were in better condition after a month than a film showed 3 times a day for 30 days. The sync audio is stored right on the film next to the worn perforations (not 100% on the technical reasons for this). So privately owned 35mm reels are very rare, and likely in bad condition picture and sound.
User avatar
By ScoJo
#118919
I'd love to know the full story behind the Halloween 40th release, tbh thinking about it more it just doesn't add up.
My suggestion that they used a print with mag-sound is based on my general understanding that, if you're using a 35mm release print, it would HAVE to be one with 4-track mag sound, to allow access to music-only tracks. But the thing is, mag sound was a stereo sound format for 35mm and DW clearly stated that they pulled their audio from a 'mono 35mm print' source- if this was an optical 35mm print, there's no way to seperate score from dialogue/fx.
As I say, wish that they had put out a little restoration-process video or something, to show the workflow on the project. I'd find it fascinating.

I was a 35mm cinema projectionist on and off for about 18years, but I started out in arthouse cinemas in the mid-90s. I've never actually seen or run a 4-track mag print, so my inderstanding of the format may be a bit sketchy. I know it was originally developed by Fox for their Cinemascope/70mm roadshow releases.

Surpluss 35mm theatrical prints were also broken down and turned into guitar picks!
User avatar
By tim28212
#118923
NIce comaprisons Scojo. I have both of these original VS releases and tend to pull those when listneing to either of these movies. I also have the Japanese import of Halloween and enjoy it from time to time. I found it in a local shop that did imports when it was first released and grabbed it. It was all I had till VS release theirs years later. I've always known it was a re-recording becuase it sounds so completely different which is one of the things I like about it. With the added diagog and it being a re-recording it's just a competely different listening experience. I remember seeing John Carpenter on some late night show and he mentioned it. Said he had no idea it existed till he came across it in a record shop in Japan.
User avatar
By havershaw
#118927
Very excited for the Fog, though I suspect it will make me depressed about how much money I’m going to end up spending with this horror convention’s vinyl vendors.
User avatar
By ScoJo
#118933
As I appear to be on a roll with these, onwards to

COMPARISON CORNER #7:
by Skødjö

-------------

THE FOG
Music Composed & Performed by John Carpenter

A comparison between the three vinyl pressings of the score (Varese, DWRC and Silva Screen) with an A/B of the title track using all LP versions against the film version (from bluray), and some notes on the different track listings. I've also noted which colour version of each pressing I have used for comparison, since as usual with these Carpenter reissues there's a few different versions/represses from the different labels. I've kind of assumed that when a label has repressed their version, they used the same master as their 1st pressing - but who knows eh?

1. Varese Sarabande (1984, STV 81191)
33rpm

VS.jpg
VS.jpg (818.97 KiB) Viewed 7020 times

Does anyone want to guess when the title theme actually comes into the film? It's not until a full 25 mins in, and even then it's a short version of it when Andy is on the beach. And then guess what? It's not heard again until it's played in full during the closing credits!
So the sequencing of the first soundtrack LP is once again quite interesting, choosing to put the full closing credits version of the theme up top as Track 2 'Main Title Theme ' (following the atmospheric cue 'Matthew Ghost Story ' which plays under John Houseman's scene-setting opening monologue...)
Generally, the album is similar to the VS Halloween LP in that it's just 8 tracks on one LP, with all the major themes from the film presented in extended form. Comparing 'Main Title Theme ' with the film (using the closing credits) it's immediately different - the LP version crashes in with a dramatic 6-note organ 'fanfare' that segues into the theme, whilst at the movie's finale, a low synth drone announces Blake's return to the church, followed by the awesome 'crunch' soundfx as Blake's sword cuts down Father Malone, then straight into the arpeggiated piano sequence. As far as I can recall, that 6-note organ is entirely new to the LP and doesn't appear in the film itself.
Further comparing the two, there are low synth chords added to the album mix, giving it a fullness and power that's not there in the movie itself - much in the way that Howarth added the four-four 'thump' to the Halloween theme to make it more urgent on the VS album mix. Length and arrangement wise, the two versions are also different - the LP version clocks in at 5 mins whilst the movie end credits theme is only 3 mins, and the higher synth backing notes come in at a different place in both versions. Aside from the additional lower synth notes, the mix is otherwise fairly similar between the LP and movie versions - the piano arpeggio, synth piano, click track and piano chords all sound like they're the same recording and have similar tone, though the LP version is a bit beefier.
The rest of the VS album consists of 7 longer cues, as previously stated, closing out with Track 8- the 11 minute 'Reel 9 ' which is seemingly a collage of the cues that make up the score during the films finale from the point that they rescue Andy from Mrs Kobritz' house, through to the assault on the lighthouse and church. It's not as it appears in the film though, with the album track starting off with a few minutes of eerie electronics and distorted voices (that I'm not sure appear that way in the film) before giving way to the pulsing final 'attack' theme (which again sounds like it has been bolstered with some stabbing synth effects which might well be different to the ones in the movie). All in all, my guess is that Howarth has used different pieces from different cues, and fashioned them into a unique 11 minute suite which tells it's own version of the penultimate reel of the movie.
One final note on the Varese LP - once again, as with their releases of Halloween and Escape from New York, there is a European sister-edition of the LP licensed from VS and in all likelihood using the same master (even possibly the same lacquers, who knows). This German 'Coliseum' edition (under the name 'Nebel Des Grauens' and basically the same sleeve design) is very much worth considering if you're after the OG release of this score. Like the French 'Celine' label Halloween pressing, it goes for around half the value of the VS edition.


2. Death Waltz Recording Co. (2013, DW013.5)
2x 33rpm, Black Vinyl version

DW.jpg
DW.jpg (888.52 KiB) Viewed 7020 times

Fun trivia: I actually attended the 16mm film screening/launch of the DW reissue back in 2013, held in a gothic church in London - I remember there was a mini lighthouse and fog, the film screened on 16mm Cinemascope (what a treat!) although very inadvisedly the movie sound was only played out through a tiny portable speaker beneath the screen - it sounded horrible. (Baffling too, since there was a really decent PA set up in the church for the pre-show DJing but they didn't bother to put the film sound through it for some bizarre reason...) Also adding to the night, I was sat right behind the Chapman brothers during the film.
So drawing from the expanded CD release of the score put out by Silva Screen in 2012, which was split between presenting 13 cues billed as the '2000 remixed soundtrack album' (Silva Screen's first CD release of the score, remixed in stereo by Howarth) and a further 20 tracks labelled 'the original 1980 score cues' (with an added 6 min radio interview with Jamie Lee...), DWRC's 2xLP release features all the same tracks in the same order (dropping the JLC interview) but omits the guiding info about remixed/original cues - instead the release was billed as presenting the original 1984 LP (not true - it's Howarth's 2000 remix version) with a 'bonus record with all of the original movie cues which have never been available on vinyl before'. In any event, there's a lot more music presented here, though much of it is repeated cues presented in a different mix/length etc. It kicks off with 'Prologue', which is a straight pull from the movie of Houseman's opening ghost story (with it's underscore intact, not separated out like the original VS album presentation) following it with 'Theme from the Fog' which is the same 5 minute version of the theme presented as 'Main Title Theme' on the VS release. It's also basically the same mix as the VS, with Howarth's additional low synth notes and punchier sound than the original film end titles. Sadly neither the 2000 nor 2012 CD booklets provide any information about what Howarth's approach was in creating either the original VS album, or either of the two Silva Screen iterations on compact disc. I imagine some of you Carpenter geeks hold clues to this process, if you feel like sharing!
The black vinyl edition of the DW release which I picked up at the launch sounds pretty good - I can't speak for the clear haze, splatter or 'Blake's Gold' repress from 2014. I do recall hearing that there were surface noise issues with the dusty haze/ splatter versions though. (NB: Spencer even joked at the time about how the 'superior' pressing on black vinyl was limited to 200, but folks sprung for/made instantly collectible the clear effect versions anyway - and he suggested that it was a sly joke on his part to make the black the more limited edition.)

3. Silva Screen (2015, SILLP1301)
2x 33rpm, White and Green Vinyl

SS.jpg
SS.jpg (578.86 KiB) Viewed 7020 times

So in 2015 Silva Screen decided that they would release their own 2xLP vinyl edition of their 2012 CD, on solid green and white double vinyl.
But to distinguish theirs somewhat from the DW edition, they decided to put the 20 tracks comprising the 'original 1980 score cues' up top, across Sides A and B on Disc 1, with the second disc holding the '2000 remixed soundtrack album'.
Comparing the opening two tracks (now on Side C) with their DW counterparts (on Side A), I'd have to say that the DW version is a good bit brighter and also noisier.
The Silva Screen wax sounds very pleasing, even when cranked quite loud in headphones, with very little surface noise and generally a superbly quiet pressing. Nothing about the mastering/pressing detracts from this as a listening experience (which is not completely true of the DW version...)

--------------------------------

Summing up - I'm happy with the double-dip of the original VS album and the latest presentation of the expanded score by Silva Screen. (Tbh even if the DW matched up as identical in terms of sound presentation and pressing quality, I hated that Chapman artwork the moment it was unveiled at the launch and haven't grown any fonder of it - plus I actually prefer the Silva Screen presentation of the 1980 score cues first on Disc 1.)
Last edited by ScoJo on Tue Jan 19, 2021 5:06 am, edited 8 times in total.
User avatar
By inksb
#118934
Thanks for The Fog comparison. I was pretty happy with my Silva Screen but have never heard the OG pressing. And I'm completely with you on that DW artwork, it does not work for me at all.
User avatar
By havershaw
#118935
thanks, ScoJo!

I have the Silva Screen version, which I do love, but I had been curious about the VS version.

I also disliked that DW artwork enough to not bother with it when it came out.
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 10