Album Description

1995 reissue. 30 additional minutes have been interwoven which were deleted from the original 1981 release, totaling 74 minutes of pure listening pleasure. Re-mastered including a special 24 page booklet containing an interview with John Williams, as well as liner notes, rare photos and sketchesnot included with the original release. Standard jewel case housed in a slipcase.

Amazon.com

In the '80s and '90s, John Williams has come to occupy roughly the same towering place in filmdom occupied by Henry Mancini for much of the '60s and '70s. Williams (who played piano on some early Mancini scores) carved out that distinction with exciting, full-blooded scores like George Lucas's Star Wars trilogy and the Indiana Jones cycle, Steven Spielberg's blockbuster tributes to the cheesy film serials of his youth. The first in that series, Raiders wears its retro-symphonic sensibilities like a badge of honor and indeed, DGG's expanded deluxe release plays like a more economic Mahler opus. A true film music classic, even if its sensibilities are 40 years misplaced. --Jerry McCulley

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Discs and Tracks

Disc 1
  1 - Raiders March
  2 - Main Title: South America, 1936 [#]
  3 - In the Idol's Temple
  4 - Flight from Peru
  5 - Journey to Nepal [#]
  6 - Medallion [#]
  7 - To Cairo
  8 - Basket Game
  9 - Map Room: Dawn
  10 - Reunion and the Dig Begins [#]
  11 - Well of the Souls
  12 - Airplane Fight [#]
  13 - Desert Chase
  14 - Marion's Theme [From Raiders of the Lost Ark]
  15 - German Sub/To the Nazi Hideout [#]
  16 - Ark Trek [#]
  17 - Miracle of the Ark
  18 - Warehouse [#]
  19 - End Credits

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raiders of the lost ark soundtrack        Rating:

some of the best music from john williams , with added score that wasnt avaiable from the original release in the eighties this is very high end adventure at its best.

Even with the Concorde release, still the best presentation        Rating:

The Recent Concorde Indiana Jones box set contains additional music, but I still regard this as the best presentation, as it has the full version of the Desert Chase, and superb liner notes in the booklet.

If the Concorde release had an update of these liner notes, and the full version of the Desert Chase, it would have won out, but this edition gets the top by a hair, dispite the slightly muddier souns quality of this set.

Great Music -- New Release comming 2/24/2009        Rating:

It's great music, and I am looking forward to replacing my Album with a new cd. DON'T BUY THIS COPY -- WAAAAAY OVERPRICED!

Get the newly remastered CD for less than $15, it should be in stores by March 1, 2009.

The studio will using the original tracks (1981) conducted by John Williams and used in the film. Amazon should have the CD available for preorder soon.

From the Press Release (10/14/2008):
This DCC version of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK includes 30 additional minutes not on the original release.The London Symphony Orchestra includes: John Williams (conductor).Original score written by John Williams.Recorded at Anvil Recording Studios, Denham, England and EMI Abbey Road Studio No. 1, London, England in February 1981. Includes liner notes by Lukas Kendall, Steven Spielberg and John Williams.Composer: John Williams.Steven Spielberg reinvented the cliffhanger adventure formula of the '40s and '50s with this Harrison Ford blockbuster. Longtime collaborator and composer John Williams further ignited the screen with his rousing and robust score. Williams, who had already lent his deft hand to such notable Spielberg films as JAWS, elevated RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK to instant-classic status with a score marked by triumphant choirs of brass and bravura.On CD, the soundtrack has been treated with the attention it deserves. Fans all over the globe can rejoice in Williams' complete score, remastered and reissued in a beautiful cardboard slipcase. Exhaustive liner notes detail the music's creation, and entire pieces never featured in the film are restored. Williams' mighty symphonic tome is an adventurous exploration for the ear, by turns foreboding when necessary or dazzling in the grand, epic manner of Hollywood's bygone era, yet always powerful.

A Rousing and Memorable Soundtrack!        Rating:

John Williams' score for RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK may be the second most memorable score of all time, second only to Williams' score for the original STAR WARS film. The music is engaging and moving, and browses its way through many different styles and genres. You can see the scenes playing in your head as you listen. Great CD. Highly recommended.

Awsome        Rating:

This is truly one of John Williams greatest works.
The only thing is that Marion's Theme. It is a nice track but it doesn't really fit her in my opinion. I loved the Desert Chase and Miracle of the Ark.
A must have soundtrack!

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