Hello. I just wrote a big review for 2 1/2 hours. I send it. Suddenly OT.com asks me on a new page to log in again. I went back to copy my long review, but it was gone. I looked for any kind of drafts after logging in but it wasn't there. I'm out of my mind.
Ok, i'll write another though. But shorter.
Happy ESB day to averybody incl. George Lucas (where would we be without him).
ABC: thank you for all your work(s). The result is simply beautiful.
REVIEW of ESB AE
I have to say that a lots of things in life are the matter of taste and ABC's has a very good one.
cd 1 & 2
This successful work of ABC not only manages to make all 3 music sources sound alike but also manages to sound like first RSO release, deep, clear and now completed. I allwas liked Tomlissons Anthology: crude and direct 120° panorama - mixes most because they made me listen as if was there where I sit last 20 years: in the middle of an Orchestra. This AE mix of yours is more like sitting in a 10th raw of filled 1000-places middle big concert hall. It is beautiful to be able to listen ESB in RSO-way but fullfiled.
I didn't read details about the mixes of separate tracks yet , but listened to the whole in one piece. It's a most complete fullfilled version to date, the most cohesive version with a deep clear sound through it all. I enjoyed it like a great expensive meal, knowing that it's complicated cooking but not wanting to know the ingrediants in detail - to enjoy its magic. It's a labour of craft and love!
The things I noticed:
- LP-cracklings at quiet passages may disturb someone, I enjoyed them like fire-cracklings in warm home and was smiling all the time
- 2 connections missing: "Darth Vader's trap" / "Departure of Boba Fett" (same thematic material, "dealing lightmotiff) as well "Escape from Bespin"/"Hyperspace" (build up/ release) were recorded separately but belong together musically as well as they do in the movie. Now I have to mix them together and integrate myself. Maybe even Luke's first crash / the rebels escape.
- i forgot what I wrote as 3. but i did write something :-(
cd 3
Beautiful new mix of a superb 2 LP - transfer. Deep, clear, SOFT! So nice to hear a real vinyl sound in digital media!
Booklet and artwork
Beautiful. Great pictures and photos compositions, great choices. Very tasteful. Most beautiful artwork for any SW release till date.
Overall thoughts
Most people who love OT are probably in their middle age now. I suppose, the extent of a scene where Yoda pulling Luke's ship out of a swamp doesn't make sense for younger audience used to see force using in SWTCW where Jedi move anything very easy. As I was 11 and Yoda pulled that ship out of swamp, it was like : look what is possible if you really want it! It is difficult to make this dry studio-recorded music for film to sound like balanced dynamised concert performance which was not what it was ment for. At least not until ROTJ came - it's much more hi-fi quality recording. Therefore, it's a great thing for any fan to listen to ESB in all its glory sounding in the same time very original (RSO) and cohesive from the beginning to the end. I was listening to it yesterday with ESB movie put on silent, just music and pictures, and would strongly reccomend Adywan to use it for his ESB:revisited music-only-track. There is some unused score which now could be placed where it belongs. Almost the whole movie was actually scored. Also, ANH and ESB are very strings-driven scores. Maybe it's oldfashioned today, but gives warmth to the story, in contrary to prequels where 24 violins have same volume as 1 oboe (unrealistic) and it's all too quiet because of lightsabers hum or flying ships..the 5.1 music mix phenomenon: too quiet. Adywan, do you plan to make music louder in the rest of a saga? Would be nice... ROTJ stands somewhere inbetween and is probably the best recorded score of entire saga. Musically, for me it's ESB.
Dear George, if you read this, tallented people like Adywan and ABC should actually sit in your ranch as heads of departements instead of other people doing... what exactly?
Greets to ABC, all members, readers, and make yourself a nice jubilee today!
DW
