Announced originally in October, the musical score for the Transformers 1986 movie composed by Vince DiCola has been given an official release via Sony’s Intrada storefront.
Original soundtrack from initial big-screen animated treatment of The Transformers, numerous iconic battling robot characters spawned from Hasbro television mini-series that became wildly popular in subsequent syndication. Cars, trucks, toy dinosaurs, you name it became behemoths of warring destruction. Vince DiCola, fresh off dynamic score for Rocky IV, brings sizzling modern up-tempo sensibilities to his electronic score for Transformers, melds driving energy with striking fully-composed quasi-orchestral themes, motifs. Exciting compositions result, with plethora of rhythms infused with composer’s unique harmonic vernacular on display. DiCola, who gets start as session keyboardist, then moves into scoring with Staying Alive, sequel toSaturday Night Fever, connects well with with director Sylvester Stallone, lands mega-hit Rocky IV and captures attention of TV producers transforming Hasbro’s small-screen robots into big-screen monoliths. Intrada CD presents first widely available release of score, courtesy Sony Music, first available as very limited “BotCon” editions in 1997 & 2001. Newly assembled and mastered from two-track digital masters, Intrada CD also features composer’s “Legacy”, originally written as six-minute powerhouse demo for producers during early stages of project. Intrada Special Collection release available while quantities and interest remain!
mazinger_c
Yes, your are correct. And yes, those liner notes had me scratching my head as well.
Batman
I still haven't received mine in the mail yet and it shipped the same day I ordered it (January 7th)
I'm in Canada BTW. I emailed them and they said if I don't have it by Friday they will send a new one.
SilverBlade
Is the track "Unicron Attacks" the same as the "Unicron theme" from Till All Are One?
LegendAntihero
I never knew Go Bots had a movie. How could it sell better than TF the movie?
jametron
Yeah, the liner notes on this are surprisingly bad. I've been buying expanded/complete score releases from Intrada and LaLaLand for years (Batman, Batman Returns, Hook, The Fugitive, X-Men 2, RoboCop, Back To The Future, The Untouchables, etc, to name a few) and they ALL have exemplary liner notes. From introductions and summaries to track-by-track details and descriptions, they've always done a spot on job! Oh well, the music is what counts most, and it sounds great, so onward and upward I guess!
OptimusTimelord
Yeah I always thought that too. Wasn't it blamed on the death of Prime, and they changed the plot of G.I. Joe so the same thing wouldn't happen to that movie? Heck I think TF's lack of business is why the Joe movie didn't get a cinema release.
Now you've got me imagining if the '86 movie really had been a massive success, and we'd had sequels!
Dean ML
Those non-TF facts you refer to are indeed true. One of the "facts" that had me scratching my head, though, was where it mentions how much $$$ the movie made, acted as though it was a success, and grossed more than the Go-Bots movie. I'd always read the movie was a disappointment and grossed less than the Go-Bots movie.
OptimusTimelord
I wonder why there was no proof-read or double check or something? Also kind of makes me wary of believing all the non-TF facts spouted in the notes (Aeon Flux, Staying Alive, Rocky IV etc).
Anyway, it's a great listen. I never had the earlier releases to compare it with, but it sounds perfect to me
Dean ML
He couldn't even be bothered to do a Google search! He just flat out made stuff up!
KnightStrike
Yeah, I got mine in and love the sound quality and the artwork is great. Its nice to finally have a physical copy of this. Sad that the liner notes are so botched and have a very insincere feel to them thanks to this Daniel Schweiger guy that wrote them apparently just googling some things before sitting down to write about spunky Kevin, lingo spouting Junkticons, Insectoids, and energon crystals handed off by leaders heading to robot heaven
Dean ML
Just got this in yesterday. Been listening to it in my headphones while I work ever since and I'm in heaven! Really, I've got the same thrill that a new MP gives me right now!
Man, I'm so lucky I get to work from home. I'm sitting here listening to DiCola's amazing remastered soundtrack to one of my all-time favorite movies and next to me I've got my MP display bookcase. This would've made my brain melt 30 years ago.
As far as the liner notes, go… what the hell happened there? It seems like the guy watched the movie, but how did he get so much wrong? Someone had to have watched it to get all the screen caps, so how did Kevin, the Insectoids, Junkticons, and Energon crystals slip through?
dharmacon
Also, this cringe-inducing passage:
"Transformers: The Movie noticeably went far beyond the TV show in its robot-shattering scale of destruction, “brutally” trashing numerous old characters to make way for a shinier new toy line that included Insectoids, Dinobots, Constructicons and jingle-spouting Junkticons."
Dean ML
Finally ordered it this morning. Cannot wait to have it in hand.
Now all we need are the scores for season 1-3. I really love how the score that showed up in the last half of s3 was a thematic continuation of DiCola's movie score. Wish they'd been able to use that score in the front half of s3 as it would've gone a long way toward easing the pain of AKOM's animation.
mazinger_c
I knew there was a difference when I was listening to it. It sounded a little clearer, fuller and figured they remastered it.
danny boy
Absolutely awesome Supersquad. Great work with the photos. Can't wait now. I ordered as soon as they went up but they'll take a while to get to Australia.
Ryan F
Well, my positive review above is based on a comparison with the later 2001 release; I can't comment about the quality of the 1997 version.
I will say this, however:
When any much-loved recording goes through a re-mastering process, or is otherwise tinkered with, you are never going to please all the fans – some will prefer the original mix, and others will prefer the new master. The same sorts of arguments were made about the recent Queen re-issues, for example.
It just depends what people look for in their music, I guess. In art, there is no absolute truth, only human opinion. Personally, I prefer the new mix – my own personal taste in music is progressive rock and classical (I especially love early Mike Oldfield), so my preference is for a more 'analytical', less 'organic' mix. I think the new master leans towards the former category, which is probably why I'd endorse it over the original.
Your mileage may vary, of course!
KnightStrike
Thanks for posting the pics Superquad7! The packaging looks pretty great, now I really can't wait for mine to get here! Ordered mine on the 10th, so hopefully it comes in soon.
Murasame
Oooh, I'm so excited for this after reading your posts above! Today came a SMS from DHL that I got a package at the packstation. I wonder if it is the Kabaya stuff or the CD?
Superquad7
Ok guys, so I got my copy in the mail yesterday, and I thought I'd shoot a few quick snapshots here. I was very pleasantly surprised with the album artwork! Check it:
Tirade
I must say I am happy to have this CD, but I can't say the quality is any better than the 1997 Til All Are One release. I'd argue the 1997 cut is actually crisper. While I sold my Til All Are One CD a few years back, I still have the audio files on hand. Very ease to compare between the two releases. For being 17 years old, I still think the 1997 release is superior.
The nice thing about this release is the inclusion of a few tracks from the original Soundtrack. The Til All Are One release did not include Escape, Autobot/Decepticon Battle or the Death of Optimus Prime (which is nestled inside the Optimus Prime Vs Megatron track).
Also, I might have missed it, but I believe this score has omitted the following tracks that were originally on the Til All Are One CD: Destruction of the Inner Moon (Part 1) and Destruction of the Inner Moon (Part 2).
EDIT: After listening again, jametron was right. The Destruction of the Inner Moon (Part 1) is actually nestled in the Destroy the Matrix track and The Destruction of the Inner Moon (Part 2) is the beginning of The Trial track on this score.