Titanic: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - Anniversary Edition

I had originally bought the film soundtrack back in 1997 after the movie had come out because the music was so amazing, but for years I had felt that there was so much missing. Somehow I missed the follow-up album,  Back to Titanic  which included many of the "missing" tracks from the first one such as Nearer My God to Thee and An Irish Party In Third Class. None of this matters now that this Collector's Edition is available!Here's how this set breaks down:Disc 1 :: The original soundtrack, remastered. I have the original and after listening to both of them, I can tell you that there is a difference! This new copy is much more crisp and you can almost hear things not found in the original. This could play into the fact that I'm using studio monitors rather than standard computer speakers, but either way, it sounds much better!Disc 2 :: The original follow up soundtrack, Back To Titanic, remastered. I never owned the original, so I can't compare, but this disc also sounds amazing and it's so nice to get to hear some of the other important musical selections that didn't make it to the original soundtrack.Disc 3 :: Background music, remastered. You can finally hear the instrumentals that are mostly used as background music without all the dialog and other sound effects. In the film, these tracks were used to set the scenes and in some cases were not heard through their entirety or were too soft to pick up much from it.Disc 4 :: The music on this disc never appeared in the film, but was added to the collection because they were popular songs during Titanic's era. If you like to listen to early 1900's music, then this cd is a really great trip back to the past! I loved it, but for those of you looking only for music from the film, you can skip this one and focus on the first three discs.Inside the case, you get a really nice booklet with lots of pictures and information. There are also four stickers included that replicate luggage tags from Titanic. The whole collection has been done very nicely and is a GREAT upgrade from the original two soundtracks!

This is one of my all-time favorite film scores, and I am a tremendous film score buff. As a maritime historian with a particular interest in the "Titanic," the score for this movie has captivated me from day one. I bought the original CD in November of 1997, before I ever saw the movie, and all these years later, it remains my favorite James Horner score. So it was with great anticipation that I picked this re-release up.The pros: CD's 1 - 3. Discs 1 and 2 of this 4-CD set are exact track and content match re-releases of "Titanic" and "Back to Titanic." That said, the two discs have been digitally re-mastered, and they sound absolutely fantastic - better than the originals. Incredible. These two discs alone are worth the price of the set, even if you have the originals to compare them to. Disc 3 contains much of the music that would have been played aboard the ship, as recorded by I Salonisti - the musical ensemble who starred in the film. Very nice selections, and the quality is great.The cons: CD 4. Much of the music on this disc is simply unbearable. They are antique recordings, but many of them were recorded long after "Titanic" sank in 1912, and bear a distinctly '20's and '30's feel. They would feel right at home in a score for "The Legend of Bagger Vance," but strike no chords to Titanic's era. The earliest recording comes from 1914, and the last was actually recorded in 1946! Even worse, not only are the recordings made in a much later, much "jazzier" style than would have been heard aboard the "Titanic," but the actual pieces playing don't bear any resemblance to the instruments used aboard the liner. A far better choice would have been to bring in a string ensemble, such as I Salonisti, to record those same pieces - or others - in a style that would have been heard in 1912.Also, the much-touted quartet of baggage tags are not faithful reproductions, and bear the likeness of a ship from a much later era; finally, the "historical" commentary called "Ship of Dreams" running from pgs. 30-33 of the booklet contains numerous historical errors, perpetuates a number of popular misconceptions, and is a general mess.On the whole, this should have been given a bit better attention, but it's well worth the price for CD's 1-3.

Well worth every penny. GREAT deal.The first CD is the soundtrackThe second CD is the music within the movie that we wish was on the soundtrack (Irish party, portrait, heart will go on, etc)The third CD is more of music that was background in the movie but also some songs we wished we had alreadyThe fourth CD is more obscure in that it I don't recall all of those songs or maybe they were going to be put in but not but they are beautiful pieces, don't sound quite as remastered as the first 3 CDs but it's nice.GET IT.

Ever since I first saw James Cameron's "Titanic" a few years ago, I now consider this one of my Top 5 all-time favorite films so to see this collector's edition boxed set collection available here at amazon, I just HAD to jump all over it ... The music not only has an overall "mystery" to it, but the feeling that you get while listening to it only seems to heighten the experience! Highly recommended to anyone who's a fan of the classic film!

This remastered Soundtrack is compression galore... run amok. Nuance and sound balance lost. A shame to do this to Horner's wonderful work.

CD was fine as I had expected

Great to have all the music in one place and love the liner notes. Very upset to open it and find the stickers and luggage tag show a ship that's not even the Titanic! Infuriating! For a 100th anniversary no less! The White Star image is wrong too. Shameful.

Yes it arrived on time on schedule.

I bought this collection because wanted to own something to mark the 100th Anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic and this collection is brilliant.CD-One is a remastered copy of the Original Soundtrack from the film.CD-Two is also a remastered copy of the Back to Titanic Soundtrack which was released a couple of years after the film.CD-Three is a collection of music from I Salonisti - who play the ship's band in the film - and the music you hear is full recordings of snippets of music you hear played by the band in the 1997 film.CD-Four is remastered original recording of music and songs from the decade between 1910 and 1920 and is an interesting addition to the other cds.Just having the first two cds is worth the price paying for it, so to have the other two cd as well is an lovely addition to the collection.

the music from the film is just hauntingly beautiful and a fitting tribute to all those who went down with titanic. the additional cd's, music by the orchestra and music of the time give you a great sense of the era around the disaster. definately one of my most treasured cd's.

james horner does it again. top music

excellent edition would buy again

Beautifull music