Indiana Jones: The Music - Box Set Review
Definitive John Williams Scores Available At Last
Nov 17, 2008
The music of Indiana Jones needs no introduction: his march theme is a veritable American icon, and it was used brilliantly throughout Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Despite the music’s enduring popularity and undeniable brilliance in the films, however, the music has been difficult to acquire on album for a long time.
Rare and Unsatisfactory Original Soundtracks
Raiders was released on LP in 1981 and was pressed to CD in 1985, but both versions had become out of print by the early 90s. Temple of Doom never received a proper album release, although there were Japanese imports available for steep prices. The lack of a regular album for it has been particularly frustrating because it is recognized as one of John Williams’ liveliest efforts. Nevertheless, it has remained an elusive and much sought-after release for over two decades.
The Last Crusade has been the only score of the original three to receive a regular album, but it has notoriously bad sound quality. Also, such a significant amount of music had been omitted that the original soundtrack album is a mere souvenir of the film, and not a satisfying musical experience at all.
Special Edition Release of Raiders
In 1995, new special editions of the score to Raiders were released, which expanded the original 42-minute running time to over 70 minutes, and in crystal-clear sound. These were completely satisfactory albums and were regarded as the finest presentation of that score that could be expected. Temple of Doom and The Last Crusade remained neglected, however.
Indiana Jones: The Music - Special Box Set Edition
Concord Records released a new collection of Indiana Jones scores on November 11, 2008. The new set is a true treasure trove of John Williams masterpieces. Temple of Doom has finally been released to the public, and it is greatly expanded from the original Japanese import version. Last Crusade receives stunning treatment, with a full 77-minute runtime as well.
Brilliant Remastered Sound
In addition to featuring music that has never before been available in any form, this collection also features dramatically remastered sound. The difference in sound between the original release of Last Crusade and the new edition is amazing. The vibrancy and clarity of the new release sounds perfect in every way, and the music comes to a wonderful new life, benefitting immeasurably from the remastering process. Raiders shows no aging with the new remastered sound, and it sounds as if it was recorded in the present day with state-of-the-art equipment. Temple of Doom exudes a jubilance in the crystal-clear clarity of its recording which allows the listener to savor every detail of John Williams’ magnificent compositions.
Additional Music
In addition to the expanded albums of each of the original scores, the collection features the original album for Williams’ most recent entry in the franchise, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, as well as a fifth disc containing interviews with John Williams, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. The fifth disc also contains about half an hour of never-before-heard music in perfect remastered sound.
Minor Shortcomings
The set is not without its shortcomings: for one thing, these are not complete scores. For most people this should not be an issue, as all of the truly necessary music is presented in full on the set. (The exception to this is the cue “Desert Chase” from Raiders: it’s been presented here in a shorter edited version which should really have been left full-length.)
The only other notable shortcoming of this collection is the packaging: there is a surprising poverty of information about the scores in the liner notes. Also, the CDs are held in cardboard digipacks instead of jewel cases. This is collector’s music presented in a cheap fashion which will not survive repeated handling: a production shortcut which should have been avoided. Other than these things, however, the set is beyond complaint.
Conclusion
This is truly a Holy Grail of film scores: so many people have been wanting this music for so many years, and it has never seemed like a feasible matter to have them all re-released in this way. But here it is: it’s happened, and it’s certainly worth investigating. At less than fifty US dollars in cost, any serious collector of film music should not hesitate to acquire this set as soon as possible.
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