[Box Set] Danny Elfman/Tim Burton 25th Anniversary Music Box

I think the actual box also plays music. This thing is huge!

http://theseconddisc.com/2010/09/30/the-burton-elfman-monolith-emerges/

 

If they'd just put as much effort into an Oingo Boingo box!

 

For the not in the know, Danny Elfman, has been pounding out film soundtracks for some time now. Kinda makes he old band seem very distant...

 

I signed up for the email updates for this months ago; I was very excited to see the press release in my inbox a few days ago! Unfortunately this thing looks like it's just going to be too expensive... thought I'd love to have these on CD finally (but only if soundtracks like Pee Wee, Beetlejuice, and the Batmans are complete). There is a glimmer of hope for poverty stricken college students like myself - the fine print in the ad says that only the first edition is limited to 1000 copies. So perhaps afterward we'll see a cheaply-packaged, music-only release (no unnecessary fancy box).

 

Wow - I'm intrigued!

So Elfman 'remastered' himself? Any doubts that he is/was up to the task? A good composer does not necessarily a good audio engineer, etc. make.

 

Besides it is well known that Elfman has very peculiar taste for sound, he likes everything to sound up-front.

 

Before I'd shell out 500 clams, I'd want to know more about the remixing/remastering. I'm curious and/or concerned (and this is pure speculation) that Elfman may have just inserted a limiter, etc. on a bus in Digital Performer (Elfman's DAW of choice) and dubbed it 'mastering'.

And, of course, that all the audio's dynamic range has not been (too) obliterated by aggressive, modern compression techniques.

 

I would have bought the box if all the material were recorded, or remastered at least, by Shawn Murphy with no exception.

 

It would have been nice if this had been the complete works, or at least hybrid SACDs. I've been collecting all of Elfman's soundtrack work, and his Black Beauty, Night Breed and Midnight Run are all out of print and somewhat difficult to track down affordably. Having bought most of this stuff on this set over the last year, it pains me to consider buying it again without those albums included...

 

Agree. Elfmans' 'Nightbreed' score is one of his BEST peices in my mind. I have been following him for ages...right at the start and then got heavily into Oingo Boingo in the early 90s thanks to him.

I have 'Nightbreed' on cassette tape. I bought it new back when the film was first released in 1990. The movie may have flopped ( i liked it quite a bit...) but the score he did sounds spectacular. I know i know...it's a cassette tape...but damn does it sound great. Danny did a fantastic job setting a nice mood for this score, with all the ethnic drumming and chanting choirs. Awesome...i rank this score as one of his best, the best being 'Edward Scissorhands' by a longshot.

Nice to know his work is about to be repackaged and enjoyed all over again. Yay!

 

How about Dolores Claiborne? I would have liked to see that here as well.

 

Dolores Claiborne was directed by Taylor Hackford, so I'm not sure why it would be included in this Tim Burton box.

 

Foolish me. Here I get to thinking about Elfman's best work and completely forget half of the box is dedicated to Burton's name as well

 

Yeah, same here. I suppose the pairing draws on more collectors, so that it stands a better chance of selling out the run. Still, I'd rather have a complete collection, a la the recent Miles Davis 70 CD Columbia set, than this.

 

Wow, me likey! This is awesome but $500 and in December of all months... *eek*

 

Interesting news...

http://theseconddisc.com/2010/11/20...es-more-twists-turns-than-burtonelfman-films/

 

This is a box I would like to have but not at the $500 price point. When I read the release info on their web site I am led to believe that there will be a standard release of this material after this box set (perhaps a box set without the music box and all the other extras). Why go through all the trouble and cost of putting together a remastered set of all these soundtracks if you only intend to sell 1,000 copies?

 

The "standard" release is available for order now and it's still the same price. They're selling it elsewhere so you can get a slight discount from amazon.com etc. but it's still the same box as opposed to a pared-down version that is substantially different. You can also order from this non-limited run from the burtonelfman.com site at the same price as the LE.

Just yesterday they announced that it has been delayed into February so the 1000 people who ordered the limited edition pressing will be getting a 17th disc autographed by Danny Elfman.

 

That's what I read here, too:
http://theseconddisc.com/2010/11/24/the-final-word-how-not-to-do-box-sets-by-warner-bros/

 

As one of the first 1000 I can't complain, I do see the 17th disc as a consolation prize for waiting an extra two months.

My issue is that I don't see the point in a slightly-cheaper set with 90% of the same content. 1000 is a round, abitrary number but even so I think it's probably pretty close to the amount of people who are buying this thing but I think if there was a clearer distinction between the two editions there would be less animosity.

Again, I have my order in so I obviously have no reason to complain but if I was shut out of the first 1000 I would definitely be turned off of the whole thing. I wouldn't even consider paying 90% of the price for 90% of the content. Anyone willing to pay that kind of money is going to want that 17th disc.

Ultimately though the thing was for sale on the official WB site for a few weeks and anyone who didn't place their order in time or canceled their order in hopes of getting it cheaper elsewhere is to blame for missing out. I wasn't on the site the minute it launched waiting for it, it had been on sale for a few days before I even learned of its existence and I toyed with ordering it off and on for a couple days after that so if I could get my order in nobody else has an excuse.

 

As one who didn't order it before the limited run sold out (which was BEFORE the bonus disc was announced), I see it as an F*U to those fans who didn't order the set promptly, rather than a consolation prize for those who did. Especially since the price point has not changed for the non-exclusive version. I had been toying with getting this, but knowing now the complete version is sold out, I'm sure as heck not going to pay the same price for a set that's missing one of the CDs.

 

Isn't that pretty much the definition of a limited edition?

and that's what the official WB site advertised: a limited edition. I'm reading through the Film Score Monthly board and seeing some pretty hilarious and absurd reactions.

I've seen one person refer to it as a bait and switch which is absolutely backwards. The other sites (primarily Amazon.com) who recently started taking orders never promised that they were offering a limited edition, nor has the 17th bonus disc ever served as "bait" to lure a customer from one retailer to another. It was announced after the fact and promised to people who got their orders in through the only retailer advertising a limited edition.

WB's Burtonelfman.com site was the only site that made it very clear that this is a limited edition and as such the people who were smart enough to put their orders in are being rewarded and I don't see any harm in that.

But yeah, the FSM thread is ultimately full of sour-graping on the part of the people who gambled and lost by canceling orders for a known LE and hoping they'd get the same thing from a vague Amazon.com product page.

Edit: there are also some pretty hilarious posts on FSM where some guy has a complete conspiracy theory about how all the $500 preorders were used to fund the production of the second run when in fact the final charge doesn't show up on your credit card until the product ships.

 

Here's the latest news on that bonus disc: it's a box set sampler!
News and track listing below:
http://theseconddisc.com/2010/12/31/the-final-burtonelfman-non-troversy/

 

Funny as that sounds, I totally could see that happening!

 

Mine is out for delivery and it's driving me crazy!

I took the day off from work because I hate the idea of a package clearly-labeled with its $500+ contents on the shipping carton being left on my porch.