c�d�master88
12-31-2017, 09:16 PM
Ilan Eshkeri
Stardust (Deluxe Edition)
2007
43 tracks, TRT: 1:47:17, 320 MP3
http://www.mediafire.com/file/44d4ge7qmvkt0xx/SDDEII.rar
Note: to start off, in 2007 this is a film I never ever expected to like but within 5 minutes I was hooked and it's mostly thanks to Ilan Eshkeri's score whom I only knew from his Hannibal Rising score, a film I despise to this day. The score is decent but as an FYI, the recent sessions leak is far from complete. Music from a whole 20 minute section of the film is missing but that's another discussion for another day.
Stardust is a film that is actually quite fun, more so than one may anticipate from trailers and one I enjoy going back to every year. I recall after my first viewing I downloaded the album straight away and as is to be expected, a huge chunk of the score was missing so it was one of the last times I can consciously recall trying to rip a complete score from the (very active) 5.1 track and giving up due to the SFX. I had attempted reaching out to the composer who was nice enough to reply back, albeit with the standard "sorry, I don't have anymore than what is on album" line so I gave up the search yet again until one day like magic, I happened upon the sessions. To say I was overjoyed is quite the understatement of the century. To clarify, there are 3 sessions bootlegs: one with 89 cues, one with about 86-87 and another (elusive) one that runs over 100 tracks. For this edition I utilized the 89 track version so as far as I know this has some tracks that other custom edits may not have or were excised for whatever reason. I cannot dub this a "complete score" because there is still one 2 minute cue where one of the royal brothers is pushed out the window towards the beginning that is still missing but there's almost an hour of new material that we never had before on here so I was able to deal with it. There's plenty to love here.
For instance, Lamia's Inn is the definite standout cue of the entire score. It's an 8 minute powerhouse cue that channels Wojciech Kilar's "Vampire Hunters" from Bram Stoker's Dracula and builds up in a way that I could just listen to it over and over and over, as I have done many times. Other notable examples include Prologue (Through the Wall), Shooting Star and so many more. There's an action theme for Septimus/Lamia introduced in the cue The Pursuit Begins that plays a few times throughout the film that you may find yourself repeating many times as well. It's such fun and exciting music. The quieter fantasy elements are also quite nice, but the action is where the score really shines.
Regarding my source, it had 89 tracks and required a ton of editing and leveling which is where I encountered a few problems. I absolutely did not want to replicate the official album's overblown sound as raising the levels of some cues from the sessions to match the album levels introduced a lot of pesky noise that I didn't feel like dealing with so you'll notice mine has a quieter feel to it but when listening it should all sound balanced. A remaster from SonicAdventure could only make it better but I think I did a pretty good job with what I had. Also a lot of the cues from the film are split up into multiple cues on the sessions that I needed to carefully mix together to get the timing and leveling right. I ran one pass of EQ which raised the upper three octaves of each cue so rather than the slight murk of the original source, it now sounds more open and the score can finally breath. My original source was lossless and at some point I may upload the lossless version but for now, MP3 is easiest for me for portability purposes.
I've been wanting to post this for over a year now but I'm glad I didn't to a larger scale because re-listening to that edit now reveals some flaws that required a re-edit so as of this writing, this is the most updated version and is the way I will listen to it from now on. I hope you all enjoy it and get to experience a happy transition into the new year. Be safe and I'll catch ya'll next year.
Stardust (Deluxe Edition)
2007
43 tracks, TRT: 1:47:17, 320 MP3
http://www.mediafire.com/file/44d4ge7qmvkt0xx/SDDEII.rar
Note: to start off, in 2007 this is a film I never ever expected to like but within 5 minutes I was hooked and it's mostly thanks to Ilan Eshkeri's score whom I only knew from his Hannibal Rising score, a film I despise to this day. The score is decent but as an FYI, the recent sessions leak is far from complete. Music from a whole 20 minute section of the film is missing but that's another discussion for another day.
Stardust is a film that is actually quite fun, more so than one may anticipate from trailers and one I enjoy going back to every year. I recall after my first viewing I downloaded the album straight away and as is to be expected, a huge chunk of the score was missing so it was one of the last times I can consciously recall trying to rip a complete score from the (very active) 5.1 track and giving up due to the SFX. I had attempted reaching out to the composer who was nice enough to reply back, albeit with the standard "sorry, I don't have anymore than what is on album" line so I gave up the search yet again until one day like magic, I happened upon the sessions. To say I was overjoyed is quite the understatement of the century. To clarify, there are 3 sessions bootlegs: one with 89 cues, one with about 86-87 and another (elusive) one that runs over 100 tracks. For this edition I utilized the 89 track version so as far as I know this has some tracks that other custom edits may not have or were excised for whatever reason. I cannot dub this a "complete score" because there is still one 2 minute cue where one of the royal brothers is pushed out the window towards the beginning that is still missing but there's almost an hour of new material that we never had before on here so I was able to deal with it. There's plenty to love here.
For instance, Lamia's Inn is the definite standout cue of the entire score. It's an 8 minute powerhouse cue that channels Wojciech Kilar's "Vampire Hunters" from Bram Stoker's Dracula and builds up in a way that I could just listen to it over and over and over, as I have done many times. Other notable examples include Prologue (Through the Wall), Shooting Star and so many more. There's an action theme for Septimus/Lamia introduced in the cue The Pursuit Begins that plays a few times throughout the film that you may find yourself repeating many times as well. It's such fun and exciting music. The quieter fantasy elements are also quite nice, but the action is where the score really shines.
Regarding my source, it had 89 tracks and required a ton of editing and leveling which is where I encountered a few problems. I absolutely did not want to replicate the official album's overblown sound as raising the levels of some cues from the sessions to match the album levels introduced a lot of pesky noise that I didn't feel like dealing with so you'll notice mine has a quieter feel to it but when listening it should all sound balanced. A remaster from SonicAdventure could only make it better but I think I did a pretty good job with what I had. Also a lot of the cues from the film are split up into multiple cues on the sessions that I needed to carefully mix together to get the timing and leveling right. I ran one pass of EQ which raised the upper three octaves of each cue so rather than the slight murk of the original source, it now sounds more open and the score can finally breath. My original source was lossless and at some point I may upload the lossless version but for now, MP3 is easiest for me for portability purposes.
I've been wanting to post this for over a year now but I'm glad I didn't to a larger scale because re-listening to that edit now reveals some flaws that required a re-edit so as of this writing, this is the most updated version and is the way I will listen to it from now on. I hope you all enjoy it and get to experience a happy transition into the new year. Be safe and I'll catch ya'll next year.
