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The Danny Elfman & Tim Burton 25th Anniversary Music Box
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CD 15: Curios and Curiouser
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CD 17: Collector's Edition Bonus Disc
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All Selections Composed and Co-Produced by:
Co-Produced by:
Tim Burton
Laura Engel
Richard Kraft
Wendy Griffiths
Xavier Ramos
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LABELS & RELEASE DATES
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ALBUM AVAILABILITY
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Limited edition of 2,000 copies, the first 1,000 of which consisting
of numbered "Collector's Edition" copies offered in October, 2010 and selling out
a couple of months later. Originally set to debut in December, 2010, the
"Collector's Edition" copies were delayed by manufacturing problems until
April, 2011. The second batch of 1,000 copies, offered for purchase late in 2010
after the previous edition sold out, shipped in May, 2011.
Both editions were primarily available on the burtonelfman.com website (which linked
to the online Warner Brothers and Reprise Records store), though the latter edition
was also sold via third party vendors at commercial online outlets. Both editions
fetched an initial price of $500, but the retail outlets were given an MSRP over
$600 from which to advertise $500 as a discounted price.
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AWARDS
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None.
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ALSO SEE
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Buy it... if you have ample expendable income and are a forgiving
soul, for no set of music from thirteen film scores (plus odds and ends)
is worth the price tag demanded by the excessive accessories on this
product.
Avoid it... despite your love of Danny Elfman's music if you have
no interest in a crushing, wallet-busting disappointment that was
released disastrously by Warner Brothers and fails to offer music of a
quantity and quality to justify its price.
BUY IT
 | | Elfman |
The Danny Elfman and Tim Burton 25th Anniversary Music
Box: (Danny Elfman) Few composer/director collaborations during the
1990's and 2000's have fascinated movie-goers and film music collectors
more than that which consists of Tim Burton and Danny Elfman. While the
two men share many of the same fascinations with fantasy,
science-fiction, and anything deviously morbid, their routes to
Hollywood stardom took significantly different routes. Burton was
involved with the industry going all the way back to his teenage years,
when his illustrated creations for Disney animated features tested the
boundaries of what the studio could accept. He always had a goal of
exploring his unique vision on screen, and he has enjoyed the kind of
freedom of expression in his works that few are able to achieve in an
industry dominated by controlling studio executives. Elfman, on the
hand, lived a youth that literally took him around the world, his life
path meandering wildly until his 30's. His involvement in the
performance and composition of music started relatively late in life,
prodded to participate in unorthodox bands by friends and his older
brother before eventually solidifying his efforts with Oingo Boingo in
the 1980's. His involvement with film music started when a number of
Oingo Boingo songs were licensed for popular pop-culture soundtracks,
and Burton was well aware of Elfman's troup before being encouraged to
use his talents on Pee-wee's Big Adventure for his feature debut
in 1985. Elfman was terrified of the prospect of working with an
orchestra for that assignment (Warner Brothers had floated Elmer
Bernstein and others as more appropriate composers for the task), but he
had written some material for up to eight lines as part of Oingo Boingo
and he called upon band mate Steve Bartek to assist (along with Clint
Eastwood composer Lennie Niehaus) with orchestrations. The success of
that score, along with a variety of other quirky scoring assignments
meant for him or Oingo Boingo at the time, led to an acceptance of
Elfman that ultimately allowed the collaboration with Burton to include
Beetlejuice and Batman later in the decade. And after the
monumentally applauded response to the latter, Elfman's career in film
scores was made. He continued to dabble with Oingo Boingo for years into
that career, actually turning down notable scoring offers to attempt to
keep the band going, but eventually his name recognition on the big
screen, with the help of high-profile Burton successes, defined his
path.
Despite his success, never left behind is the awkward geek
in Elfman, however, and his personal quirkiness has led to an
affectionate fanbase that adores his distinctive style of writing, as
well as his passion for wife Bridget Fonda and his actively organized
campaign against former Alaska governor Sarah Palin. The style of his
scores has evolved wildly through the years, his early, melodramatic
orchestral sound yielding to smaller-scale electronically-defined
efforts. The trio of Batman, Edward Scissorhands, and
The Nightmare Before Christmas represent the composer's most
famous early works, and listeners longing for that emotionally touching
side of his music rejoiced in Elfman's return to that technique for
Alice in Wonderland in 2010. Even within the Elfman/Burton
collaboration, though, evidence of the composer's venture into the realm
of the electronic bass and less fluid orchestral movements exists. Two
CD compilations of the 1990's, entitled "Music for a Darkened Theatre,"
best conveyed these two sides of Elfman's methodology, and they have
long remained highly desirable items for his fans. Those collectors have
often wondered if and when a third compilation along those lines would
be released, but no follow-up has ever materialized. In 2010, it was
revealed that Elfman's agent, Richard Kraft, was coordinating a box set
of all of the scores in the Elfman/Burton collaboration for release by
Warner Brothers. By all accounts, Kraft did this out of his love of
Elfman and the music rather than for any motive of gain, and the agent,
along with a few others, did the bulk of the work in assembling many of
the musical treasures eventually heard on the set (Elfman himself does
not tend to keep a library of his own music, especially in demo or
worktape form). While Burton and Elfman both contributed to the creation
of the massive product, the latter really went out of his way to oblige
Kraft and his fans in supplying notation and even new arrangements for
the set. A variety of demos, orchestra-only recordings for the musicals,
alternate takes, and other odds and ends are joined by Elfman's own
music box compilations of themes from his scores, all of which included
over sixteen CDs and a USB stick as part of this presentation. Most
importantly, however, fans salivated at the prospect of hearing expanded
editions of all thirteen of the scores in the collaboration. Despite the
fact that La-La Land Records had recently released expanded editions of
Elfman's two Batman scores, there remained other scores that were
desperately in need of expanded treatment.
Unfortunately, the creators of Warner's box set for the
Elfman/Burton collaboration went terribly wrong in the conceptual phase
of the packaging, yielding one of the most disastrous releases ever to
exist in the history of soundtracks. You can't really fault the
enthusiasm behind the ideas that eventually became a reality, but the
execution of the product, as well as the resulting price point, was so
ridiculous that it has been a deserved target of criticism from
disappointed fans. There are really two parts to this immense failure,
one in the unnecessarily elaborate design of the packaging and the other
in Warner's handling of the ordering process and delivery. Because the
creators of the set decided to include a variety of "extra features,"
including a large zoetrope with numerous "slides," a massive book, a DVD
with interviews, and a USB stick with extra music on it, the cost for
fans settled at a stunning $500 (not including an extra $25 or more for
shipping). There is no doubt that the informative and humorous book
included with the set, written well as usual by film music journalist
Jeff Bond, is fascinating and beautifully produced; it would make an
outstanding stand-alone product. But the other non-CD aspects of the set
are superfluous and likely caused much of that $500 price tag. For
listeners interested in the music only (a constituency that likely
includes a vast majority of those who actually bought it), these
additional items are largely useless. Many will have no experience or
interest in operating a zoetrope, the DVD contains the kind of contents
that could have been streamed online, and the USB stick is a disaster
all to itself. That stick comes in a skeleton design that will appeal to
enthusiasts of Day of the Dead festivities, but everything about its
contents is a hassle. Extracting the files themselves from the program
that doles out the music on the stick is a pain, and far worse is the
fact that the stick is only 2GB in size. That means that all of the
music on the stick had to be MP3's encoded at 192 kbps in order to make
it fit. Thus, in the case of the extra music contained only on the stick
(and not on any of the CDs in the box), listeners are stuck with a
crappy, very lossy-sounding presentation. Anybody paying $500 for this
product should certainly expect more. The presentation of music on the
CDs could lead to some consumer dissatisfaction as well. Well-tuned ears
have noticed differences in the mastering and editing of some of the
recordings, sometimes not necessarily for the better. More importantly
for the masses, however, is the arrangement of most of the CDs so that
the original soundtrack album presentation of a given score appears
first and then the additional material thereafter (rather than a
chronological presentation that is the standard nowadays for expanded
film score albums).
Charging fans $500 for 13 expanded scores (and a variety
of small extras from affiliated projects that totaled 16 CDs) is alone
reason to roll one's eyes at this set and move on. If anything, it
simply encourages people suffering from the worst global recession in
their lifetimes to share the music illegally online upon its release.
But the other extremely dissatisfying aspect of the set is how Warner
handled its availability, production quantity, ordering process, and
updates about its eventual tardiness. The website "burtonelfman.com,"
along with a corresponding Facebook account, was established in late
summer, 2010 to promote the set. At that point, the box was advertised
as a numbered, limited edition of only 1,000 copies. Orders began to
flow in during October, 2010, with the promise of delivery in time for
Christmas. An unbelievable quantity of delays plagued the production of
the set, however, mostly due to the complexity of the zoetrope's
components that were, of course, unnecessary in the first place. A
series of communications from Warner to those who pre-ordered the box
apologized for delays that eventually lasted until April, 2011. During
that time, the credit and debit cards of anybody who had ordered the set
in 2010 experienced the $525 or greater charges several times before
summary reversal. That meant that anybody with debit cards had to keep
that quantity sitting idle in their bank account for the periodic checks
by Warner to make sure the funds were still there. Otherwise (as was
also the case with cards that were stolen or expired in the six months
during this process), the orders were immediately cancelled if the
temporary charge did not succeed. For those for whom the limited,
numbered aspect of the product was important, receiving a terse
cancellation notice five months after the order had gone into limbo was
not exactly representative of good customer service. After the first
1,000, numbered copies were sold out in November, 2010, Warner then
revealed that there would be a nearly identical second pressing of
another 1,000 copies for the same price (but minus the little numbered
certificate of no practical use), eventually due in May, 2011. Those
duped into purchasing a numbered copy out of a sense of urgency were
understandably disgruntled, though such selling techniques by record
labels are hardly new. Warner did make some attempts to placate unhappy
buyers, however. For those who ordered the initial 1,000 copies, the
label advertised that it had created a 17th CD of music, autographed by
Elfman himself, that would be delivered by Christmas-time instead. Even
with this they managed to underwhelm, however, because the CD was mailed
out the week after Christmas and it ended up containing absolutely no
music that wouldn't eventually be included on the set.
In fact, the much anticipated 17th CD in the set, sent as
a last-minute gift to disgruntled customers, only made matters worse.
Other than the inclusion of one of Elfman's four new music box
recordings at the start of the CD, everything else on it had been
commercially released before. It is mostly a collection of main theme
arrangements from the original soundtrack albums. Thereafter, Warner's
communications with buyers became even more frustrating. The release
date continued to get pushed further into 2011, and those who enquired
about updates on the official Facebook page for the set received only
some vague photos of the box's production that made it look like
laborers of an ethnic minority were have a really boring time of
assembling some pieces of cardboard. Speculation began about
difficulties Warner was having with laborers in China that were hired to
manufacture the zoetrope. Quite amazingly, the label actually came forth
in late February and sent an e-mail to buyers blaming precisely those
Chinese laborers for delaying the set. After explaining that the
shipping frame had been delayed until April, Warner stated,
"Unfortunately we ran into some manufacturing issues in China and sadly
could not get everything completed by the country's New Year. This delay
added weeks to our turn around hence why we could not have the package
to you by the end of this month. We have prioritized the Limited
'Collectors' Box Sets and these will be delivered before the standard
edition." The e-mail continued, "The main piece that we are waiting to
have completed is the hand crafted tin box and zopetrope. Most of the
other items have been completed." Indeed, not only is zoetrope a
difficult word for them to spell correctly, but it is also apparently a
challenge to manufacture, and for fans seeking just the Elfman music for
their collections, waiting on Chinese laborers (possibly indecently
paid) to complete their $500 box was the last thing they asked for.
Alas, when the oversized package did arrive at the doorsteps of
collectors, some of those efforts to beautify the box surrounding the
zoetrope proved pointless due to damage incurred during the shipping
process. The copy received by Filmtracks for this review (#736 out of
1,000, if you're curious) had been stuffed into its Styrofoam so snuggly
that the exterior imagery had been peeled back on two of the eight "legs
and arms" of the box. Additionally, the contents inside the box looked
like a tornado had occurred within during transport. An included form
letter from Elfman was nice surprise, however, featuring details about
each of the bonus tracks on the USB stick. One of the few highlights of
the packaging (other than the book, of course), is that Elfman includes
detailed notes about almost every track in the inserts of each of the
"miscellaneous" CDs, addendums to material covered generally in the
book.
But enough about the wretched set! What about the music?
For the purposes of reviewing the additional music in this unwieldy
beast of a product, Filmtracks will feature almost all of its commentary
about each individual score's new material in the separate reviews of
those scores. That means that CDs 1 through 13 will not be covered here.
With CD #17 already discussed above, what follows is analysis of the
music heard on the three "miscellaneous" CDs of the set, "Oddities and
Ends" (#14), "Curios and Curiouser" (#15), and "Notes and Notions"
(#16), the last one also assigned the bonus materials existing only on
the USB stick. The 14th CD, "Oddities and Ends," opens with Elfman's
contribution to "Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Jar," an early entry in
the collaboration that is stylistically pure Elfman, but sparsely
suspenseful in Bernard Herrmann mode. Three minutes on tracks 4 and 5
were previously released on the first "Music for a Darkened Theatre"
compilation; a full ten minutes is presented here. Identical to the
material on the second "Music for a Darkened Theatre" compilation is the
music from the "Amazing Stories" episode "Family Dog," the remainder of
the source tapes reportedly lost. Newly released are the tracks from the
"Family Dog" television series that followed, musically consisting of
smaller, less vibrant variations on the "Amazing Stories" material. Next
is "The World of Stainboy," an animated web game by Burton in 2000 that
received mostly creepy atmospheric music from Elfman that would
accelerate in tempo depending upon user movement. Its only really
notable attribute is the application of the theremin in ways reminiscent
of Mars Attacks! When the Museum of Modern Art hosted an exhibit
called "The Art of Tim Burton" from 2009 to 2010, Elfman was asked to
write two pieces of music to be heard in the background of that exhibit.
He ended up composing twenty tracks, all performed on synthesizers at
home by himself. These tracks are among the most interesting on the CD,
with techniques for electronic choir, theremin, and organ that will
occasionally remind of Elfman's feature scores, especially in "Trailer."
One of the tragedies of Elfman's career is the development of (and
ultimate inability of the composer to contribute to) the "Edward
Scissorhands Ballet" in the mid-2000's. He sketched out a multitude of
demos for the project, yielding interesting extensions of existing
themes that would have been fascinating to hear fleshed out by a full
ensemble. Unfortunately, this chance to hear an original Elfman sequel
to Edward Scissorhands was lost when he was unable to score the
2005 ballet due to commitments in his movie schedule. Despite his lament
over that circumstance, these demos are still great to hear.
Elfman also couldn't follow through with a score for the
movie 9 a few years after the ballet because of his schedule for
Milk, but he wrote and recorded a series of demo themes for
Deborah Lurie to adapt into the final score for that film. They're a bit
drab on the whole, but it's intriguing to hear their influence on the
final score. The grand choral sequence in "Theme 5" alone makes these
worthy of a listen. The "Oddities and Ends" CD concludes with the
"Fudderwacken" source-related material for Alice in Wonderland,
an item that some mainstream movie-goers were disappointing to find
omitted from the commercial album for the score. Elfman recorded dozens
of ideas for that odd dance scene in the film, and he features what he
considers the best of these demo arrangements here. Some of them sound
like Eric Serra's funk from The Fifth Element, though the final
version of the song (at the very end of the CD) more heavily emphasizes
the Hammond organ and other retro elements. The 15th CD in the set,
"Curios and Curiouser" is arguably the weakest of the lot, unless you're
a huge fan of the musicals in the collaboration. The bulk represents
The Nightmare Before Christmas, including the opening and closing
narration by Elfman himself (instead of Patrick Stewart or the film
version) over the final orchestral recording. There's great depth to
these performances; as with Stewart, the amount of reverb is perfect.
The many demos that forced Elfman to play nearly all the roles himself
are interesting in that some of the vocal performances for these were
considered superior to the final recordings and thus used instead (this
seems most notably the case with "Jack's Lament"). An equally fun little
nugget is the rock version of "Making Christmas" that clearly didn't
make the movie but is nevertheless a really enjoyable and entertaining
infusion of Oingo Boingo attitude into this context. The foreign
language versions of select songs, on the other hand, are truly bizarre,
and some of them are completely unlistenable. So much of the success of
The Nightmare Before Christmas is owed to the unique personality
of Elfman's own performances in the lead role that hearing alternatives
in any language is a bit jolting. The German performance of "Jack's
Lament" is painfully awful (where's the lament in the barked German
lyrics?). Only slightly better are the demo versions of the character
songs from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, though some solace
does come with the more creative demos from Corpse Bride.
"According to Plan" and "The Wedding Song" are longer and better
developed, and "Erased," an unused song based upon Victor's piano theme,
is a very pretty representation of the best of Elfman's somber
side.
As Elfman himself admits, the 16th CD in the set, "Notes
and Notions," can be referred to as the "karaoke disc." It contains the
underlying orchestral recordings for the songs in the three musicals,
followed by some loose ends that include "Corpse Bride Piano;" like
"Erased," it's another pleasant exploration of Victor's piano theme from
Corpse Bride. The music box suites at the end of this CD were
created specifically for this set by Elfman. One of them is a standalone
medley that references themes from Big Fish, Sleepy
Hollow, Alice in Wonderland, and Batman, while the
other three are devoted to single scores. The Edward Scissorhands
performance wouldn't be out of place with the original soundtrack,
though the suite from The Nightmare Before Christmas moves too
quickly and awkwardly through its themes and hearing Pee-wee's Big
Adventure (which is not exactly music box material) in this manner
is beyond silly. That concludes the actual 16th CD, but on the USB
stick, there a number of bonus items that didn't fit on any of the CDs.
Unfortunately, as mentioned before, the MP3's are encoded at 192 kbps,
so all of these selections sound like crap. The first section of USB
bonus cues belongs to The Nightmare Before Christmas, with
additional demos leading to the two source cues from the Halloween Town
Band. The "Snakey" demo informed parts of "This is Halloween," the
alternate "What's This?" reprise is very sparse but spirited, the "Oogie
Boogie" demo is not too far off from the final ideas, and "Mayor's
Theme" was largely lost in development, cute but insignificant. From
Sleepy Hollow then comes a demo version of the primary theme that
is interesting in its display of the thematic core in an earlier stage.
The motifs in that score clearly got better from this point in the demo,
though the next track, an alternate version of "More Dreams," isn't
really different enough from the final recording to merit the same
attention. For Planet of the Apes enthusiasts, Elfman provides
the orchestra-only recording of "Ape Suite #1," though fans may not be
as attracted to the theme without its powerful percussion overlays. A
source track from Big Fish, "The Hoe Down," is largely
unimpressive unless you're a massive fan of similar but more restrained
ideas in Sommersby. From Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory come three extra orchestral cues, the first two suspenseful
and engaging while the third insignificant (these tracks amount to three
minutes in sum). An early demo of "Augustus Gloop" is a precursor to the
CD 15 demo version, and the instrumental performance that follows better
matches the finished product.
[ Editor's Note: Two weeks after reviewing this
beast of a box set, I was manually assembling the track listings for all
its miscellaneous albums (the woeful official site for the set isn't
always accurate and includes no track times) and discovered an oddity on
CD 16. I had fallen out of a willow tree earlier in the day while trying
to prune the unwieldy monster, and I figured upon encountering a strange
issue with the orchestra-only version of "Finale/Reprise" from The
Nightmare Before Christmas that I was simply "hearing things" in my
head because I was groggy from the day's work. Upon closer inspection,
however, as well as confirmation from my wife after my third attempt to
point her to this oddity, some facts were revealed. In this particular
track, the last forty seconds could be classified as one of two things:
a disastrous attempt to edit a cue or a really cool accident. What
originally caught my attention was the feeling that I was still hearing
Catherine O'Hara's voice in the background of the "Finale" with Sally's
theme in that supposedly orchestra-only version. Naturally, I ignored it
at first. After all, I've heard that soundtrack enough times through the
years for my brain to simply fill in the voices subconsciously. But then
I noticed that the orchestral recording concluding that track is the
superior film version, a more whimsical alternate with a hint of "What's
This?" in its celesta contribution. What you hear closing out "Finale"
on all the vocal versions on CD going back 1993 contains a solitary
descending brass line instead. After transferring the track into some
editing software, I confirmed that I wasn't simply "hearing things" in
regards to O'Hara's voice, either. While the accordion is front and
center as it's supposed to be, her lyrics "...and sit together, now and
forever" and "we're simply meant to be" are relatively evident at high
volumes (especially the "s" tones). Elfman's voice is completely absent.
Another clue to this strange artifact occurs right before her lines
begin; at precisely 1:57 into the track, there's a hiccup in volume that
reveals a bad splice where someone apparently attempted to change
recording sources. It's possible that an editor chose to include the
film version of the orchestra's performance for the last 20 seconds of
the score, simply cutting into a different take at that 1:57 mark but
failing for some reason to completely dial O'Hara's vocals out of the
mix. Some listeners probably won't notice any of these issues, maybe
hearing a woman humming in the background at most. But the film version
of that cue has been long awaited on CD, and, aside from the hiccup at
1:57, the ghostly nature of the voice in the background is strangely
appropriate. On the other hand, it's yet another example of a
disappointing set with an abundance of sloppy and curious
choices.]
Continuing through the bonus material contained only on
the USB stick, the strong extra material from Corpse Bride
continues on the set, starting with a different demo of "Erased" from
the version on CD 15 (with more major chords) and an "Unused Bride
Theme" worktape that is a lovely little piano-led nugget. Another pair
of highlights from the bonus material is a duo from Alice in
Wonderland. The "Alternate Titles" is a shortened but effective
version of the "Main Titles" addition to the score's own CD in this set,
and "The Parapet" is a cue that was dropped from that other CD due to
space. That's truly unfortunate, because it's a nice, longing cue with a
dramatic end that should have been on that CD. Music box related
materials close out these offerings, starting with a short source cue
recorded for the Edward Scissorhands Ballet. Finally, the "other"
new medley for the set included here is the one that was sent to the
limited edition buyers on the 17th CD. It's a different suite than the
one on the 15th CD, combining that CD's four performances into one. It
once again opens with Big Fish ("Jenny's Theme") before
transitioning to Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before
Christmas ("Sally's Song"), and Pee-wee's Big Adventure.
Ultimately, what makes little sense about the bonus material on the USB
stick only is why this music wasn't pressed onto that 17th CD sent to
buyers in 2010. That way, those collectors would have all the music in
lossless form, and the compilation of goodies would have been far more
interesting than the collection of themes that mostly comprised that CD.
When you step back and look at this product, though, one can't expect a
whole lot of common sense. Perhaps one can't really blame Elfman or
Burton for the fact that this massive set is an overpriced disaster.
It's painful to see a product receive so much effort in areas that don't
have anything to do with the music, and it's the music that the buyers
really wanted. Even if Warner Brothers had managed to manufacture this
set on time, it would still have been grossly overpriced for the music
you receive. A listener seeking only the expanded scores for
Pee-wee's Big Adventure, The Nightmare Before Christmas,
and Alice in Wonderland, some of those that benefit the most from
this set, has to pay for an immense quantity of music and packaging that
he does not need or want. In the conceptual stages, the spirit of this
endeavor is easy to appreciate. But somewhere along the lines, a
monstrosity was created, the kind of product that is difficult to store
and forces you to split its components, including the book, out into
different places for easy future access. The bitrate of the MP3's on the
USB stick was the ultimate, insulting tipping point. It's painful to
give the "25th Anniversary Music Box" the lowest possible rating at
Filmtracks, but there really is no alternative.
FRISBEE @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For Danny Elfman reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.16
(in 87 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.27
(in 151,403 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
Epic!
Richard Kleiner - June 24, 2011, at 10:29 a.m. |
1 comment (2252 views) |
Audio Samples
▼
|
CD14: 36. 9: Theme 5 (Demo) (0:29) |
MP3 (239K)
WMA (193K)
Real Audio (168K)
| | CD14: 42. Alice in Wonderland: Fudderwacken (Final Film Version) (0:30) |
MP3 (254K)
WMA (200K)
Real Audio (179K)
| | CD15: 15. The Nightmare Before Christmas: Jack's Lament (German Version) (0:31) |
MP3 (254K)
WMA (204K)
Real Audio (179K)
| | CD16: 24. Music Box Suites: Medley Suite (0:33) |
MP3 (269K)
WMA (213K)
Real Audio (189K)
|
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| CD 14: Oddities and Ends Tracks ▼ | Total Time: 72:08 |
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Jar:
• 1. The Jar 1* (1:25)
• 2. The Jar 2* (1:43)
• 3. The Jar 3* (2:22)
• 4. The Jar 4 (2:42)
• 5. The Jar 5 (0:29)
• 6. The Jar 6* (1:07)
• 7. The Jar (Worktape)* (1:54)
Amazing Stories: Family Dog:
• 8. Amazing Stories: Family Dog - Main Title (0:53)
• 9. Amazing Stories: Family Dog - Amazing Stories (1:29)
• 10. Family Dog (TV Series) - Main Title* (1:02)
• 11. Family Dog (TV Series) - End Credits* (0:31)
The World of Stainboy:
• 12. Stainboy Suite* (2:19)
The Museum of Modern Art: The Art of Tim Burton:
• 13. MoMA - Christmas 1* (1:11)
• 14. MoMA - Sneaky* (1:12)
• 15. MoMA - Creepy Clowns* (2:07)
• 16. MoMA - Too Sweet* (2:17)
• 17. MoMA - Sad* (1:28)
• 18. MoMA - Eerie Circus* (1:08)
• 19. MoMA - Trailer* (0:33)
• 20. MoMA - Bells* (2:19)
• 21. MoMA - Spies* (1:03)
• 22. MoMA - Organ* (1:05)
• 23. MoMA - Calliope* (1:46)
• 24. MoMA - Alien Calliope* (1:31)
• 25. MoMA - Christmas 2* (1:29)
Edward Scissorhands Ballet: (Unused Score Demos)
• 26. Edward And His Creator* (3:42)
• 27. Edward Alone* (1:04)
• 28. Funeral/Holligans* (7:43)
• 29. Edward's Theme* (1:33)
• 30. Suburbia* (3:18)
• 31. Kim's Room* (6:39)
9:
• 32. Theme 1 (Demo)* (1:25)
• 33. Theme 2 (Demo)* (0:59)
• 34. Theme 3 (Demo)* (2:04)
• 35. Theme 4 (Demo)* (1:01)
• 36. Theme 5 (Demo)* (1:39)
• 37. Theme 6 (Demo)* (1:34)
Alice in Wonderland:
• 38. Fudderwacken 1 (Demo)* (0:31)
• 39. Fudderwacken 2 (Demo)* (0:31)
• 40. Fudderwacken 3 (Demo)* (0:30)
• 41. Fudderwacken 4 (Demo)* (0:34)
• 42. Fudderwacken (Final Film Version)* (0:37)
| |
* previously unreleased |
| CD 15: Curios and Curiouser Tracks ▼ | Total Time: 78:41 |
The Nightmare Before Christmas:
• 1. Opening (Danny Elfman Vocal Version) (0:58)
• 2. This is Halloween (Demo) (3:22)
• 3. Jack's Lament (Demo)* (3:10)
• 4. What's This? (Demo) (3:05)
• 5. Town Meeting Song (Demo) (2:43)
• 6. Jack's Obsession (Demo)* (2:37)
• 7. Kidnap the Sandy Claws (Demo) (2:45)
• 8. Making Christmas (Demo) (5:16)
• 9. Oogie Boogie's Song (Demo) (3:03)
• 10. Sally's Song (Instrumental Demo)* (1:40)
• 11. Poor Jack (Demo)* (2:58)
• 12. Finale/Reprise (Demo)* (2:19)
• 13. This Time (Unused Electric Song - Demo)* (4:06)
• 14. This is Halloween (Italian Version) (3:17)
• 15. Jack's Lament (German Version) (3:15)
• 16. Oogie Boogie's Song (Italian Version) (3:07)
• 17. Sally's Song (German Version) (1:48)
• 18. Poor Jack (French Version) (2:33)
• 19. Closing (Danny Elfman Vocal Version) (1:25)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory:
• 20. Augustus Gloop (Demo)* (1:51)
• 21. Violet Beauregarde (Demo)* (1:42)
• 22. Veruca Salt (Demo)* (1:41)
• 23. Mike Teavee (Demo)* (1:21)
• 24. Veruca Salt (Unused Bollywood Version Ð Demo)* (2:43)
Corpse Bride:
• 25. According to Plan (Demo)* (4:13)
• 26. Tears to Shed (Demo)* (2:52)
• 27. Remains of the Day (Demo)* (3:26)
• 28. Erased (Unused Song - Demo)* (1:56)
• 29. The Wedding Song (Demo)* (3:40)
| |
* previously unreleased |
| CD 16: Notes and Notions Tracks ▼ | Total Time: 73:08 |
The Nightmare Before Christmas:
• 1. Opening (Orchestra-Only Version)* (0:46)
• 2. This Is Halloween (Orchestra-Only Version)* (3:12)
• 3. Jack's Lament (Orchestra-Only Version)* (3:14)
• 4. What's This? (Orchestra-Only Version)* (3:00)
• 5. Town Meeting Song (Orchestra-Only Version)* (2:54)
• 6. Jack's Obsession (Orchestra-Only Version)* (2:49)
• 7. Kidnap the Sandy Claws (Orchestra-Only Version)* (3:01)
• 8. Making Christmas (Orchestra-Only Version)* (3:59)
• 9. Oogie Boogie's Song (Orchestra-Only Version)* (2:25)
• 10. Sally's Song (Orchestra-Only Version)* (1:47)
• 11. Poor Jack (Orchestra-Only Version)* (2:55)
• 12. Finale/Reprise (Orchestra-Only Version)* (2:39)
• 13. Closing (Orchestra-Only Version)* (1:18)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory:
• 14. Wonka's Welcome Song (Orchestra-Only Version)* (1:00)
• 15. Augustus Gloop (Orchestra-Only Version)* (2:59)
• 16. Violet Beauregarde (Orchestra-Only Version)* (2:08)
• 17. Veruca Salt (Orchestra-Only Version)* (2:08)
• 18. Mike Teavee (Orchestra-Only Version)* (1:35)
Corpse Bride:
• 19. According to Plan (Orchestra-Only Version)* (4:20)
• 20. Remains of the Day (Orchestra-Only Version)* (3:27)
• 21. Tears to Shed (Orchestra-Only Version)* (2:36)
• 22. The Wedding Song (Orchestra-Only Version)* (3:03)
• 23. Corpse Bride Piano (Worktape)* (4:01)
Music Box Suites:
• 24. Medley Suite* (3:02)
• 25. Edward Scissorhands Suite* (2:57)
• 26. Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas Suite* (3:05)
• 27. Pee-wee's Big Adventure Suite* (3:01)
USB Stick-Only Bonus Tracks (Assigned to CD 16): (35:06)
The Nightmare Before Christmas:
• 28. Snakey (Worktape)* (3:44)
• 29. Reprise (Early Demo)* (1:16)
• 30. Oogie Boogie - Alternate Melody (Demo)* (1:50)
• 31. Mayor's Theme (Demo)* (1:26)
• 32. Jingle Bells* (0:14)
• 33. Here Comes Santa Claus* (0:25)
Sleepy Hollow:
• 34. Themes (Demos)* (4:09)
• 35. More Dreams (Alternate Version)* (1:20)
Planet of the Apes:
• 36. Ape Suite (Orchestra-Only)* (2:44)
Big Fish:
• 37. The Hoe Down* (1:58)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory:
• 38. Gloop Takes a Plunge (Orchestral Cue)* (1:29)
• 39. Everlasting Gobstopper (Orchestral Cue)* (0:48)
• 40. Eye on the Prize (Orchestral Cue)* (0:40)
• 41. Augustus Gloop (Early Demo)* (2:03)
• 42. Augustus Gloop (Instrumental Demo)* (2:28)
Corpse Bride:
• 43. Erased (Alternate Vocal)* (1:56)
• 44. Unused Bride Theme (Worktape)* (1:00)
Alice in Wonderland:
• 45. Alternate Titles* (0:46)
• 46. The Parapet* (1:22)
Edward Scissorhands Ballet:
• 47. Kim's Music Box (Unused Score Demo)* (0:37)
Music Box Suite:
• 48. Music Box Suite* (3:02)
| |
* previously unreleased
(bonus track total time not included in CD 16's listed total time) |
| CD 17: Collector's Ed. Bonus Disc Tracks ▼ | Total Time: 50:12 |
• 1. The Music Box Suite* (3:02)
• 2. Pee-wee's Big Adventure - Main Title/The Bike Race* (2:55)
• 3. Beetlejuice - Main Titles (With Elfman Vocal Intro)* (2:31)
• 4. Batman - The Batman Theme (2:40)
• 5. Edward Scissorhands - Introduction (Titles) (2:38)
• 6. Batman Returns - End Credits (4:44)
• 7. Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas - End Title (5:04)
• 8. Mars Attacks! - Main Titles (2:26)
• 9. Sleepy Hollow - Main Titles (3:12)
• 10. Planet of the Apes - Main Titles (3:52)
• 11. Big Fish - Big Fish (Titles) (4:34)
• 12. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Main Titles (5:01)
• 13. Tim Burton's Corpse Bride - End Credits, Part 2 (2:33)
• 14. Alice in Wonderland - Alice's Theme (5:06)
| |
* previously unreleased |
The set's packaging is a primary selling point, despite the many
inconveniences it causes. Consult with the review for more information
about its various features. In terms of documentation, the set's book,
"Danse Macabre" by Jeff Bond, does not contain a significant amount of
information about the entirety of the set. Instead, Elfman's own notes
about each score and his decisions about the inclusion of material
exist in the inserts of each of the individual CDs, as well as a
three-page note provided loosely within the box that covers the composer's
description of the whole product and the bonus tracks only heard on the
USB stick. Nowhere in the set is there actually analysis of the music
itself; the book covers the back stories of each production while Elfman's
notes concentrate mostly on the worktape and demo bonus tracks for each
score. When ordering directly from Warner, no receipt for the product is
provided in the package. Many initial recipients of the set have
complained about damage to the set's exterior during shipping; Filmtracks'
copy was also damaged during delivery.
|
