While surveying my local Tower Records today (they don't sell records anymore as far as I know; why don't they just call themselves Tower Music or something?), I had Elfman's A CIVIL ACTION in mind to purchase, but the first Tower had none, and sadly (ring the bell), the second likewise. At the first Tower, though, DINOSAUR was on sale for a mere $9.99, brand new, unopened, etc. Nice deal. And while Howard's score was OK in the film, it wasn't one that I was salivating at getting my hands on, but for a mere $9.99, I did just that; I had the CD in my hands, contemplating the pro's and con's of getting DINOSAUR. And initially, I was going to get it, but then I hesitated... sure, a mere $9.99 isn't going to bankrupt me, but was it a score I really wanted, even for a mere $9.99? My hesitation turned into traveling to the second Tower without DINOSAUR as company.

Now, like I said before, A CIVIL ACTION was taking a temporary vacation from the second Tower as well, so that was a potential purchase immediately canceled from consideration. But then INSTINCT, another Elfman score, came to mind. I've been meaning to get it sometime, but have purchased other scores instead. This time, I thought about it, but I decided to look around a little. There was THE STRAIGHT STORY by Badalamenti which was saying pleasant sweet nothings to me, and while that also is one I would like to get sometime, I told it later, later, not now, sorry. Patrick Doyle is one of my favorite composers, and so while I assume his score for LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST most likely wouldn't have disappointed me, I made a conscious decision to wait on the soundtrack until I've seen the film (yes, the songs made me reconsider, and 99.9% of the time, I like to see the film first). Howard's SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS also fell into this category; a score I'm very interested in, but I'd like to see the film beforehand (or would it be a film I'm very interested in, which in turn, has sparked interest in the score...). Add to this another handful of soundtracks that I thought about, but then decided I'd wait on.

So, I went back to Elfman's INSTINCT. Held it a little, then put it back hesitantly and looked around again. I knew it was either going to be INSTINCT or nothing, and I wasn't sure I really wanted to get INSTINCT right then, though eventually I'd like too. I was throwing this all around in my head a little, and was about to walk out of Tower with my head lowered (ring the bell, just one more time, please!) when I noticed a card in the soundtrack section that read:

CONAN THE DESTROYER

I thought to myself, Basil Poledouris does the music to that. Yes sir, he sure does. I kept saying to myself (in my head, naturally), Basil... Basil... Basil... ah ha!
CONAN THE BARBARIAN is a great score, surely CONAN THE DESTORYER, while not as great, would be a satisfying compliment? Well, when I see the film, I'll get back to you on that. No, it made me think of Basil, and then his score to THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, which I have on tape (my brother's, actually), though not on CD. I've been looking for it for sometime now, but haven't stumbled upon a copy. And this second Tower never has it (to my best memory, at least, though they do have a card for it). So I looked in the "H" section, and to my great surprise, IT WAS THERE!!!

It's been about six hours now since I purchased Basil Poledouris' thrilling score to THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER. Haven't listened to it yet, since I was watching the Pacers - Knicks game, and then I went and rented some videos, but I've heard it before (and I've seen the film), and I know it was an excellent buy.

Please forward your disgruntled comments if you've read through all this ramblin' and found it a complete waste of your time and patience, or tell everyone if you suffer from a similar problem of indecision when visiting your local music store (or if you order online or through mail order catalogues, or if you buy your music through every single media currently available). The basic problem I see is that with so much music readily available for purchase, how is it even remotely possible to get everything that interests you? I guess how I get around this is by getting those that I REALLY WANT, but even then, there are leftovers! And while I have gotten into the habit of writing-in-stone what I'm planning on getting before I go to a music store, sometimes it doesn't seem to work. And this is where my indecision comes into play.

If I ever run across multiple scores I wanna buy, I just whip out the plastic. Not something I'm proud of, but I don't do it all the time either. And sometimes discretion wins out, and I just get one.

What about this one? You go into a store, not really looking to buy anything, and you run across one, two, or more CDs you want. I walked into Tower once just for the fun of it, and walked out $70 poorer.

But I can quit anytime I want.

NP: Carter Burwell: "Conspiracy Theory"

The real regret is turning down stuff that never showed up again as I'm sure we've all had experience with. So maybe it's best to just buy, buy, buy. But I have to be a bit more judicious with my pocketbook unfortunately.

Sure enough I found it. I usually try to minimise on spending, since I'm a student. But I had seen the film on Monday and decided it would be my Full Price June buy (I get quite a few second hand scores).

I found gladiator and was walking out when I saw Stargate (Arnold) for Lm4.75 (around $11.00)

Now the range of scores available in malta is very limited, and in fact this was the only record shop on the island having a decent range, AND THIS WAS THE LAST COPY. So naturally, this was the only Stargate on the island, and it's now in my D: drive.

Second, CD prices in Norway are among (or THE) highest in the world, going at about $25 for a regular, new commercial soundtrack release.

Third, the selection is usually extremely poor. There's no respect for the art form in this country, and "song compilations" usually fill up 90% of the soundtrack section.

Because of these three reasons (and more), indecision is never really a problem for me. It is so offputting to walk into CD stores as soon as I see those prices and poor selection, that these qualms escape me somewhat.

However, I have of course experienced what you're talking about - especially at times when it is a sale in a chain store or in a used record store and when a potential store purchase is a possibility (you see, most of the time I do business online since that is cheaper - even including shipping).

I think us soundtrack afficionados are in a tougher position than other music buffs here - basically because new scores are coming out all the time - even reissues of old ones. And if you have a wide a taste as me (I like everything from the golden era to the present - including atonality, jazz, synth/orchestral blends, romantic etc.), well, then indecision is always present...

Firstly, I'm a student, but I have a job, too. In fact, I now have even two jobs. But I've always been buying CDs, even if I nearly didn't have the money (when the Star Wars special edition CDs came out, I had my mother give me my pocket money for the next month in advance - at the beginning of the previous month). Now that I'm earning not so little money, I'm fortunately (?) still as reluctant to spend more money on CDs as I've always been.

So, in Vienna, the CD stores' soundtrack sections are probably comparable to what Thor described. But that's exactly the problem. Once I enter a CD store, it's nearly impossible to leave without a new CD. Often, when a new CD comes out in America, I regularely check the stores if it's already arrived in Vienna. Of course, it hasn't. So, what else do they have? And I'll find 2 or 3 CDs that MIGHT interest me, but I have never picked up because I wasn't sure about them. So, most of the time I'll end up getting a CD and hoping that it'll turn out to be the right decision. Often, I'll be disappointed, but nearly always, everything turns out to be allright after repeated listenings. I remember getting Planet of the Apes and Alien on the same day (along with 2 other scores), and being shocked. I kept playing them over and over again to accomodate to the music, and I still think that my getting ill at that time was supported by the strange music. But I soon started to like Alien. POTA was tougher, I wasn't really fascinated by it until I was the film.

And then there are CDs which I always find, pick them up, look at them, and put them back because I want to have them, but don't want to pay the full price. Of course, I will never find them cheaper, so some months later I'll pick them up anyway (when I find nothing else at the store to get, see above). This happened, among others, with Total Recall and Basic Instinct.

And of course there are those CDs where I'm not sure, so I don't buy them. And when I decide that I should get them after all, they're gone. I once saw Small Soldiers very cheap, but didn't get it because I already had Fierce Creatures and Wrath of Khan - and after leaving the store, I went to the other store where I bought the above mentioned Alien and POTA. The next day I decided to get Small Soldiers too, but it was gone.

Sorry for writing so much.

Anyway, I buy from online stores most of the time. So I usually have an idea what I want. But the times I am not sure, I can take as long as other have mentioned. When I do shop at a retail store, I will start with the A's then flip through all the discs to the Z's.
However I don't pick any discs up, I just remember the ones I think I might want, or I'll stick them in the front of the rack. That way when I go through to pick what I might want, It is easier if there were several choices.

My main way to make choosing easier is to listen to samples first and to listen to what the rest of you have to say. Hearing what you all think has helped me incredibly with my choices.

So Thanks!

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Originally posted by sabbey:
My main way to make choosing easier is to listen to samples first and to listen to what the rest of you have to say.

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Not to say I'll buy a score that I have not heard any of the music, just that in some cases it can help to get an small sample before spending your money.

I also listen to the suites at Soundtracks - The Epic Sound. That has cost me a lot of money right there. Since most all great and have wanted to get the CD.