Complete scores of 'Jurassic Park' and 'The Lost World' on CD. Limited to 5000 copies

[James]

http://www.lalalandrecords.com/Site/Joh ... ction.html

La-La Land Records, Universal Studios, Universal Music Special Markets and Amblin Entertainment present THE JOHN WILLIAMS JURASSIC PARK COLLECTION, a special limited edition 4-CD set featuring newly remastered and expanded reissues of maestro John Williams’ (JAWS, STAR WARS, SCHINDLER’S LIST) original motion picture scores to the 1993 blockbuster JURASSIC PARK and its 1997 follow-up THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK, both directed by Steven Spielberg. Williams’ monumental JURASSIC PARK scores are integral to the franchise’s worldwide phenomenon. Teeming with action, drama, humor and heart, they rank among the celebrated composer’s most accomplished works. This deluxe edition, meticulously produced, edited and mastered by Mike Matessino, in consultation with the composer, director and producers, finally showcases these master works in a worthy, definitive presentation, with additional music never before released. The set’s 56-page booklet features exclusive, in-depth liner notes by Matessino and elegant art design, packed with amazing images, by Jim Titus. This is a limited edition of 5000 units. Life indeed “finds a way,” and these indelible Williams scores make the journey a thrillingly wonderful trip!

[Ben]

I saw this up for preorder at SAE a while back.

Hmmm...even at 5000 copies I'm just not sure how well loved the Jurassic scores are - save for a couple of iconic main themes and a handful of good cues, it's not a "great" score and, despite the lavish packaging, the discs themselves seem quite barren in terms of extras that we know were recorded, with low running lengths per disc.

I can obviously see why they stuck to two discs per film, but, seriously, they could have programmed this as a three disc set, since that's how much material there is, stretched out to four platters, and made the asking price a little more reasonable. Most people, as I do, will have the OSTs from the first time around, and will know that the Lost World score is mostly only half good anyway.

So it's quite a premium price point for one and a half decent scores and a very nice looking booklet (though not even deluxe digibook packaging?). I don't know...sixty bucks seems to be pretty steep considering what's actually contained here. $40 maybe, but $30 would have been a "heck yeah!".

I do love the first film's music, but the original CD was a more than decent representation (and I also have the theme single that was put out) and I guess this might be a pickup for those without the discs already, but I just can't get past the low runtime and high cost to get too excited by this one (and this coming from someone who just dropped thirty bucks to get the expanded Santa Claus: The Movie two-disc...but that *was* just limited to only 500 copies!).

[Vernadyn]

I saw this up for preorder at SAE a while back. Hmmm...even at 5000 copies I'm just not sure how well loved the Jurassic scores are - save for a couple of iconic main themes and a handful of good cues, it's not a "great" score and, despite the lavish packaging, the discs themselves seem quite barren in terms of extras that we know were recorded, with low running lengths per disc.

According to a post on Film Score Monthly, about half of the 5000 have been sold already. I don't think the rest of the 2500 or so are going to sell out anytime soon, but in age when we have limited edition CDs of John Ottman soundtracks at 3500 copies, 5000 copies of a much more renowned--and unquestionably superior*--score by John WIlliams is not unreasonable.
(*Meaning superior to anything John Ottman has ever written, admittedly not a very high bar.)

So it's quite a premium price point for one and a half decent scores and a very nice looking booklet (though not even deluxe digibook packaging?). I don't know...sixty bucks seems to be pretty steep considering what's actually contained here. $40 maybe, but $30 would have been a "heck yeah!".

These kinds of limited edition soundtrack CDs unfortunately run to the expensive side; many sell for $30 for two discs. But as many of them are released by small labels specializing in soundtracks, unable to rely on the profits of a, say, Taylor Swift CD, I can understand why they charge a bit more for their product.

[Ben]

Yeah, as I said, I did just drop $30 for the expanded Santa Claus set (although that was three discs). Most of my CD collection is soundtracks from the likes of Intrada, SAE, FSM, Kritzerland and so on, so I know all about limited sets. I even bought the eight disc Superman set at $120!

But even then it's just the amount of music on offer here...only three discs' worth and most of that already available on the OST releases. Again, it's just not that much for a very steep cost. $40 would have been the perfect price point, but since they had a big composer and a big title I think they've seen how far they can push it.

I'm glad they're selling well enough (although I shouldn't wonder if the last thousand or so may languish for a while), but me thinks this is maybe from people who didn't get the original discs all those years ago. It's a nice package, sure, but not $60 nice, in this case.

[Vernadyn]

But even then it's just the amount of music on offer here...only three discs' worth and most of that already available on the OST releases. Again, it's just not that much for a very steep cost. $40 would have been the perfect price point, but since they had a big composer and a big title I think they've seen how far they can push it.

Yeah, my guess is that, since this is a "big" title, Universal Music and other parties may want a slice of the revenue as well, pushing up the price. And most of these releases do seem to be front-loaded; all the soundtrack geeks tend to buy it on the first week or so of release. The average consumer would probably be fine with the original soundtrack release (and possibly unaware that an expanded limited edition exists).

I do remember when FSM released Williams's Black Sunday, limited to a whopping 10,000 copies. Yes, it was a premiere release of a John Williams score, but that was probably overkill.

And as pricey as $60 is, it's nothing compared to that ludicrous $500 Elfman/Burton box set.

[Ben]

...which I *did* buy and have never regretted!

[Vernadyn]

So did I, but… let's just say that I hardly made any leisure purchases for a long time after I bought it.