In a surprise move, Varese Sarabande has announced that they will be releasing the Jerry Goldsmith version of the Timeline Soundtrack in early 2004 on a single inventory, Hybrid Layer Surround Sound SACD. The decision comes on the heels of interest by film buffs and Goldsmith fans to get a chance to hear this unused and unreleased version of the movie’s soundtrack.
A Story of Two Film Scores
Timeline was released to theaters on November 26th from Paramount Pictures. It is a science fiction/action film starring Paul Walker and Billy Connolly that was directed by Richard Donner (director of Lethal Weapon and the first Superman movie) and is based on a novel by Michael Crichton (author of Jurassic Park).
Donner originally comissioned well known film composer Jerry Goldsmith to do the score for the movie. According to an interview with Donner on the Music from the Movies web site, he asked Goldsmith to prepare a score than was «orchestral» rather than «action». Later on, the director decided to change gears and hired another composer (Brian Tyler) to write an action oriented score which was used on the version of the film that was released last month.
A Surprise from Varese Sarabande
Since word of the two scores came out, fans of Goldsmith’s work have been interested in hearing his version of the movie soundtrack. This interest was furthered earlier this month when a review of both scores was posted on the Film Score Monthly web site.
In February, Varese Sarabande released a Hybrid Layer Surround Sound edition of the Star Trek: Nemesis Soundtrack (Varese Sarabande 0302-066430-2) featuring a score by Jerry Goldsmith. This album was recorded in Direct Stream Digital (DSD) by longtime Goldsmith engineer Bruce Botnick. (Botnick is well known for his work as the producer and engineer of several artists including The Doors, Love and Kenny Loggins).
Since the label has rights to Goldsmith’s Soundtrack recordings, inquiries begain to be fielded by the label from Goldsmith fans on whether or not the Timeline Soundtrack would ever come to market for them to hear. In a surprise announcement last week, Varese Sarabande confirmed that in addition to the Tyler version of the Soundtrack that they had already released on a Stereo CD, the Goldsmith version would be coming out from them as well.
The Word from Varese Sarabande
According to the label «To raise the curtain on just one of the projects we are working on, we are very pleased to announce that we will indeed be releasing Jerry Goldsmith’s unused score from the film Timeline. Though unfortunate post-production events required the film to be rescored, we’re certainly not going to let that stand in our way from releasing Goldsmith’s magnificent music. And it won’t be just any CD. 2004 will bring Jerry Goldsmith’s Timeline as a special edition, deluxe, fully-compatible, hybrid SACD. Playable on all compact disc players, our release will present this orchestral tour-de-force as an audiophile spectacular. This will be a regular release, not a CD Club exclusive. Do we have more surprises in store? Of course we do. Expect the unexpected!»
Still In The Vault
While I haven’t heard any word from Varese Sarabande about their future «surprises», the label’s web site mentions that it has the DSD master tapes of the Hollow Man soundtrack which was also composed by Jerry Goldsmith. They used these tapes for a Stereo CD edition of Hollow Man but have yet to release it as a Surround Sound SACD. Hmm, one wonders if that is coming down the pipe as well.
An Interesting Comparison
In any event, the upcoming Hybrid Layer Surround Sound SACD edition of Timeline by Jerry Goldsmith should prove interesting. It will be a new release from one of the industry’s favorite film music composers and will serve as a comparison to the score that is already on the market.
Timeline Soundtrack — Now Available As A Stereo CD, A Different Score by Jerry Goldsmith is Coming to SACD
