MovieMusic.com Message Boards: Which PATTON is best?

Message Boards

Movie Soundtracks

Which PATTON is best?

Archive of old forum. No more postings.

Please visit our new forum, The MovieMusic Lobby, to post new topics.

Author	Topic: Which PATTON is best?

franz_conrad Standard Userer	Which is best... The Varese rerecording paired with Tora Tora Tora ... or the FSM release that pairs Patton with Flight of the Phoenix??
posted 07-29-2004 05:51 PM PT (US)

Bond1965 Standard Userer	FSM hands down. Lots of complaints with the re-recording on Varese. James
posted 07-29-2004 05:56 PM PT (US)

franz_conrad Standard Userer	Thanks James, the reason I ask is because of this review at Moviewave: quote: The second release came in 1997, with another re-recording, again conducted by Goldsmith himself, this time in Glasgow with producer Robert Townson and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, for Varèse Sarabande. This recording features Varèse's well-known concert-hall acoustic, with the echoing trumpets being achieved acoustically, and is especially pleasing on the ear, though from time to time perhaps the orchestra is not quite together - the recordings of the Patton March and German March are probably the best available, however. Finally, in 1998, Film Score Monthly released the score as part of their Silver Age Classics series. This time, they opted to release the original tracks as recorded for the film. While many people always prefer the original tracks over any re-recording, this reviewer remains to be convinced by their merit in this case: the Echoplex trumpets seem to be overlaid almost arbitrarily, and certainly are not in time with the rest of the music; and the recording is muddy and somewhat unappealing. I was wondering if the FSM was as bad as it sounds from that review.
posted 07-29-2004 06:00 PM PT (US)

Ed Standard Userer	For what it's worth, the FSM release is the way to go. I'm not sure about this reviewer's comments, but I've got it and it sounds great. The echoplex trumpets sound perfect to me, plus I believe you get more cues on the FSM disc.
posted 07-29-2004 06:05 PM PT (US)

John C Winfrey Standard Userer	Franz, they are all pretty good but my favorite version is the FSM on CD. On LP the orig first LP is best. The concert version that he put on the LP of the Winter March is a fav of mine. I enjoyed several cues in them. J.
posted 07-29-2004 10:06 PM PT (US)

Alexborn007 Standard Userer	Hey, I'd go with the FSM if you HAD to get one. The re-recording is pretty solid if you want a more updated sound and the only legit version of the Winter/German March on CD (reason enough IMO). Either one is a win/win for me, but I'd probably spring for FSM as it's limited and does offer more music.
posted 07-30-2004 10:00 AM PT (US)

MWRuger Standard Userer	FSM hands down. It sounds better and cleaner to me than the re-recording. There is an energy and vibrancy present in the original sessions that is lacking in the re-recording. Besides, as a bonus you get Frank DeVol's score to Flight of the Phoenix, which ain't shabby at all!!!
posted 07-30-2004 12:42 PM PT (US)

Ron Pulliam Standard Userer	The original tracks from the film are the way to go. I know folks love the LP re-recording and that the original tracks are different, but start with the original tracks and then buy whatever else comes along that strikes your fancy. To my ears, the Varese symphony acoustic is a dismal misfire....the triplet figure sounds like it was recorded through tin cans and some string. Th "symphony acoustic" is wrong -- ALL WRONG -- when you are presenting a cue-by-cue reproduction of the film score accompanied by graphics representing the film. I'm sure folks who love it have valid reasons for doing so. This is marginally better than the similarly challenged, but altogether frightening rerecording of "The Agony and the Ecstasy." And then there is the nightmare called "The Sand Pebbles" -- again, I know some folks love it for the quality of its "sonics". I hate it for the lack of quality of its performance and dynamics. You miss ALL the nuances of the score and Goldsmith's sound that you loved on the LP recordings. The Varese club CD of the soundtrack to "The Sand Pebbles" is light years superior to the rerecording. [Message edited by Ron Pulliam on 07-30-2004]
posted 07-30-2004 02:25 PM PT (US)

jonathan_little Standard Userer	I like the re-recording the best. For one thing it has the great "German March" track which isn't on the FSM disc (I guess it's something composed for the LP release?)
posted 07-30-2004 03:16 PM PT (US)

franz_conrad Standard Userer	This Winter/German march must be pretty good... it seems to be the deciding factor between the two releases. As I already have the FSM Tora Tora Tora, I might spring for FSM Patton too. Thanks for the suggestions guys!
posted 07-30-2004 04:21 PM PT (US)

Marian Schedenig Standard Userer	The march is awesome. It's a shame it's not part of the concert suite, otherwise I would have heard it live last year. NP: Alien (Jerry Goldsmith)
posted 07-30-2004 04:44 PM PT (US)

John C Winfrey Standard Userer	The Winter march is heard in the film but the orig LP has a concert version of it which is outstanding. That is not on many of the CDs. Very good piece. I have always liked it. The orig film version is on the CDs. J. Yes I agree with the poster above, some of the VArese re-recordings are terrible. 1. The Tora, Tora, Tora on that was terrible compared to orig. The drums, snares etc, missing and the deep piano work missing on the launch of the Japanese planes. 2. Agony and Ecstasy was butchered on that. Terribly performed. J.
posted 07-30-2004 08:26 PM PT (US)

scoreaholic Non-Standard Userer	I bought the Verese release and my dad has the original LP. It looks like now i'm hearing that Goldsmith did concert versions for original release. The original sounds really good, so I don't think you can improve on that. I don't know about FSM release, but here's what to do with the Varese album. When you listen to it program it so that you have soft and loud parts next to each other. For instance the loud tracks start around track 9 I think. Try programing the cd so that you have 1,9,2,10, etc. Make sure you know when the loud tracks start. It won't be exactly soft track next tp loud track but it sounds pretty good this way.
posted 07-31-2004 11:49 AM PT (US)

Old Infopop Software by UBB