Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Great stuff. And yeah, seemed like a more orchestral, "epic" version of the beloved March. Still sounds amazing.

 

New, probably real, track times:

01. Raiders March (5:06)
02. Call of the Crystal (3:49)
03. The Adventures of Mutt (3:12)
04. Irina's Theme (2:26)
05. The Snake Pit (3:15)
06. The Spell of the Skull (4:24)
07. The Journey to Akator (3:07)
08. A Whirl Through Academe (3:34)
09. "Return" (3:12)
10. The Jungle Chase (4:23)
11. Orellana's Cradle (4:22)
12. Grave Robbers (2:29)
13. Hidden Treasure and the City of Gold (5:14)
14. Secret Doors and Scorpions (2:17)
15. Oxley's Dilemma (4:46)
16. Ants! (4:14)
17. Temple Ruins and the Secret Revealed (5:51)
18. The Departure (2:27)
19. Finale (9:20)

Total Time: 77:28

I was hoping Jungle Chase would be a little longer, but I imagine it doesn't include the entirety of the music for that sequence.

 

That's one of the longest running times ever for a Williams album. Excellent. It looks like the Raiders March is going to be the same old concert suite, though.

 

Sound clips!

 

This sounds like it could be a partial return to his 80s style!

 

I must be confused. For some reason I thought the concert suite was the 2:53 track that opens up the album to Raiders of the Lost Arc. This new track is over 5 minutes. Is the concert suite actually Raiders March > Marion's Theme > Raiders March?

 

Yeah, sorry for the confusion. I was talking about "End Credits" on the Raiders album, the version of the Raiders March (plus Marion's theme) almost always performed and recorded. "The Raiders March" itself contains an interesting and seldom heard coda, probably intended by Williams as a segue into the low-key "Main Titles: South America, 1936."

 

Additional Clarification: "The Raiders March" on the original album is an edited reduction of "End Credits." It is the exact same recording. The coda music at the end is a separate, added recording.

 

I really like the reorchestration on Marion's theme in the End Titles clip. Sounds really nice.

 

These sound extremely promising to my ears. Definitely sounds like Indy which is all I needed to know.

 

I haven't had a chance to listen to any of it.

So is this track # 1 "Raiders March" a new recording of the same ("End Credits") arrangement?

 

Most probably, yes.

 

AGREED. I had the biggest grin on my face while listening to those Amazon audio samples. My favorite here was The Adventures of Mutt, but I also enjoyed The Journey to Akator. Hearing Marion's theme in the Finale sample was just magical. I am so looking forward to this album. I'm definitely picking this up on my way back home from the midnight showing.

 

Yeah, "The Adventures of Mutt" is a good one. I also like the Crystal Skull theme for its simplicity... We'll see if that pays off in the full score. One thing that worries me is the direct quoting of "The Map Room" in "Spell of the Skull" and "Flight from Peru" in "Journey to Akator." I hope the lifts are well integrated, unlike Williams' terribly clumsy lifts from previous scores in Revenge of the Sith.

 

That's my only real worry, too. Everything else sounds great, though.

I especially dig Irina's Theme, so far.

 

New sound clips.

 

And even more sound clips from another foreign site! Irina's Theme is awesome!

 

I agree. These new clips sound much better.

 

Indy's theme worked into Mutt's theme sounds fantastic!

And Irina's theme really sounds like something he could have written back in the day.

 

After listening to the entire soundtrack

 

Listened to it about 3 times. Really surprised by quite a few "wow" moments (one of my favorites is at 2:07 in "Jungle Chase" with that high pitched oboe). I also got goosebumps (literally) with the new ending of Indy's theme in "Finale". I would say the highlight tracks for me are "Call of the Crystal", "Irina's Theme", "The Snake Pit", "Temple Ruins and The Secret Revealed", and "The Departure". Of course, I'll reserve final judgment for when I see the film in theaters, but I'm pleasantly surprised.

Can't wait till Tuesday when I'll actually have my hands on the CD.

 

I only listened to the Raiders March. I will resist temptation until I see the movie and then get the CD.

 

Wish I had your tenacity. A word of caution: don't get your hopes up too high. It's a very good score, but not brilliant.

 

Just hours later... I caved in. I'm a weak, weak man.

After just one listen, I can say it is indeed a good album but also a disappointing one in many respects. I love "The Adventures of Mutt" and "Irina's Theme". "Call of the Crystal" is nice and will probably work extremely well in the film.

"The Journey to Akator" is... interesting. "The Jungle Chase" has its moments, but is either an extremely frenetic sequence or was cobbled together from a longer piece(s) of music for the album. I'm finding it hard to pinpoint any standout moments from the latter half of the CD, although "Temple Ruins and The Secret Revealed" and "The Departure" sound like they'll accompany pretty epic scenes in the film.

"Finale" is on of the better end titles from Williams in a while and the way he re-orchestrates Indy's theme at the very end is bizarre and extremely cool at the same time. I really liked his variations on this theme throughout the score as well and I hope to hear more of this kind of thing in the film. I have a feeling there will be a lot of unreleased gems that we'll all be crying for after the film comes out.

All in all a good listen but unfortunately, as a stand alone listening experience, it doesn't match up to the previous three. I hope my opinion improves after seeing the film.

 

I definitely agree about "Finale" and the final variation of Indy's theme. Especially Indy's theme. Took me completely off guard.

After I first heard the album I had that same "good but not outstanding" feeling. But I have to say that, having listened to the album three times now, it's growing on me. I'd still put albums like, say, Prisoner of Azkaban ahead of this, but it's certainly not disappointing to me.