Expanded versions of Temple of Doom and Last Crusade have been (sorry, but it has to be said) holy grails for most film music collectors. Raiders had a more or less complete release with Silva's mid-90's edition, but episodes 2 and 3 were rather hard done by, particularly Temple of Doom which was ridiculously difficult to find. How a score by Hollywood's top composer for one of 1980's cinema's highest profile franchises ended up like that is anyone's guess. Mind you, Paramount aren't renowned for their care and attention to film music releases.
While it's great to have the three classic scores plus Crystal Skull (fun in its own right, but not a patch on the original three - like the film itself which seems positively arthritic second time round, the score having far more energy than the film can muster a lot of the time), it does seem strange that they have almost exactly replicated the original Star Wars Anthology boxed set approach of a single disc for each score then an additional disc of "bonus" tracks. At the time of the Star Wars Anthology, film music re-releases were a fair novelty, but in 2008, quite common and to not have every single note plus 97 alternate versions (just for kicks) of the Raider's March is quite a surprise. One only need look at FSM's epic Superman collection for an example of how this could have been done.
It's not that having every single note is always the best way to present most scores, but with Williams doing Indiana Jones there's little, if anything, that wouldn't be worth a listen. Plus I'm sure there are some interesting alternates lurking in the vaults too. It's also odd that Raiders ends up with one track that is actually shorter than the prior release, that being the shorter version of the Truck Chase. I must confess that it's a track for which I don't have as much affection as a lot of fans, thrilling though it is - at over 8 minutes, it's quite repetitive in parts and it doesn't have the dazzling invention of Williams' best action writing. However, to produce an expanded album with less music is supremely odd, especially when it could easily have been fitted in.
Raiders has one other minor oddity; as well as the end credits version, there is also a 2 and a bit minute version of the Raider's March, the latter omitting Marion's theme. The Silva version adds a brief, witty, woodwind coda to the short version and puts it as a charming overture to the album, the lighter coda an effective lead to the score proper. The Collection relegates the short version to the bonus tracks disc, but omit the coda and stick it on the end credits on the main disc for Raiders instead. Like this, the coda seems like an afterthought instead of a witty lead in. Why the producers decided to make the swap, I have no idea. Die hard fans will want to retain their Silva release and do a bit of editing to get a near definitive version of the score. The situation is much like the two expanded ET albums. Both mix film and alternate versions so the perfectionist collector needs to do their own edit to get the complete score as heard in the film.
The additional disc also has interviews with Williams, Spielberg and Lucas. Not much that the average fan won't already know, but nice to have none the less. I always find it surprising that what ultimately became the B section of the Raider's march was put forth as an option for the main theme. While easily as catchy as the A part of the tune, it's a lot more incidental and feels like a B theme, exactly as it ultimately became. One certainly can't imagine it taking the lead in the same way the main melody does.
Of course any Williams fan, or film music fan in general, really ought to be picking up the Indy Jones Soundtrack Collection. They may not be Williams' absolutely finest work and don't have the thematic storytelling of Star Wars, but they represent a great span of his career and if nothing else, it's fascinating hearing how his sound evolved, yet still remained inimitably John Williams scoring Indiana Jones and couldn't really be mistaken for anything else. Marvellous.
