Both YouTube audio aids are up!
Halloween: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca9ibQO0-nQ
Halloween II: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6n7Y6obc48
With one week left before Halloween, I present my two “gifts” for my new buds in the Michael-Myers.net community. I spent a lot of thought, effort, and time into making this happen, and I know for sure you guys will appreciate it.
My passion for audio has become a big part of my life. The first aspect that attracted me to the Halloween series was the music. I love Halloween and Halloween II. Naturally, I own both the original Varèse Sarabande soundtracks and the “Anniversary” soundtracks for each, but I feel the need to explain and show the differences.
First of all, if you want to use an H1 or H2 soundtrack to listen to the music, play at a Halloween party, or provide background music for Trick-or-Treaters, always use an original Varèse Sarabande soundtrack. These are the highest quality and most musically rounded/accurate of the scores in H1 & H2. Only use the H1 or H2 Anniversary soundtracks if you absolutely cannot find a physical copy or even a burned copy of an original Varèse Sarabande release.
Both “Anniversary” soundtracks were remastered by some dude named James Nelson at Digital Outland in Tacoma, WA, who was recruited by Alan Howarth, producer for original scores and for the Anniversary releases. Listener, beware! The sound is incredibly inferior to the original releases. They have a “dry” feel and significantly less bass frequencies. On top of this, the 30th Anniversary of H2 also lacks dynamics, utilizes too much compression, and is heavily normalized.
Now, so you can visually see and hear what I’m talking about, below are links to uncompressed audio YouTube comparisons and 6 side-by-side stereo wave analysis images for both H1 & H2…
Halloween, 1978
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca9ibQO0-nQ
Halloween: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack vs Halloween: 20th Anniversary Edition, remastered
Varèse Sarabande VCD 47230 vs Varèse Sarabande VSD-5970
Both were released under Varèse Sarabande. The anniversary feels like alternate takes almost, there’s subtle performance differences.
Halloween Theme
Look at those bass frequencies thump, thump, thump throughout the entire track on the original, literally nonexistent on the remaster, which is cut short to include some creepy unreleased dialogue by young children. At least the remaster has some dynamics going for it, but it’s pretty much steamrolled by the original’s thunderous power, intensity, and sharpness.
Laurie’s Theme / Halloween 1978
Again, massive dynamic difference. The piano feels muffled in the remaster, suffers dynamic loss, and is missing a few harmony tracks, making it much less engaging/atmospheric. The original cut so eeriely smooth and perfectly accented, one can get the creeps just by listening to it. Also, the original cut goes into the other half of the theme whereas “Halloween 1978” picks up the pieces from the track “Laurie Knows” on the original release.
Meyers’ House / The Haunted House *Yes, shamefully spelled “Meyers’ House” on the original release
“Meyers’ House” is trimmed for easier comparison
Actually, there is a track called “The Haunted House” on the original but I guess they confused names during the remastering, it’s not the same audio. Again, the remaster has some dynamics going for it but just look at the original’s dynamics, more bass frequencies too. The remaster is again cut short and also leaves out the infamous brake drum sound, …ting, ting… … ting, ting…
Michael Kills Judith / Halloween 1963
The intro cattle prod is much softer in the remaster, and strangely goes right into the piano melody instead of the cliffhanger strings. The ‘Judith stabbed’ stinger is a bit more intense on the remaster actually, but includes her whimpering and crying, for good or bad. As a whole though, the original is much more intense with the strings throughout, the piano has more articulation, and its bass notes are more upfront/prominent.
The Shape Lurks / The Shape Stalks Laurie (first “creeping” track)
They call the tracks whatever they want on the remaster 
, confusing them left and right. Anyway, for the most part, this is pretty close comparison. The original has slightly more bite on the piano and more sting to the eigth notes, but the remaster piano has stronger piano accents. Unfortunately, the remaster does not have the massive earthquake bass frequencies the original does towards the end of the track, which will rock the shit out of you if your system is bass/sub heavy. I wouldn’t be surprised if people have blown speakers because of these frequencies 
but yeah, these low frequencies are ESSENTIAL to a rock-solid listening experience.
The Shape Stalks / Last Assault (second “creeping” track)
Again, I guess remembering track names was too hard while making the remaster. The remaster track is cut in half, for what, so more dialogue could be put in? Not only is “The Shape Stalks” longer than “The Shape Lurks”, it has additional ear-piercing strings that deliver an eerie dissonant harmony and even more earth-shattering bass frequencies. The remaster just took everything amazing/unique about the material on this track and threw it out the window!
BOTTOM LINE
Don’t get me wrong, the '98 remaster is semi-interesting to own with its additional dialogue and whatnot. In comparison to the original release though, it’s simply a novelty item that is nowhere near the ranks of audio quality the original is.
Halloween II, 1981
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6n7Y6obc48
Halloween II: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack vs Halloween II: 30th Anniversary Edition, remastered
Varèse Sarabande VCD 47152 vs Alan Howarth INC AHICD 005
A premature “anniversary” date, fairly off. By movie release, it should have been either 28th Anniversary or released in 2011; just a quick cash-in. While at first glance, and like many remasters of today’s age, the wave forms in this Howarth remaster look and are bigger than the original. This is called the “Loudness War” and it can make music sound like shit, just like I’m going to show you how it affects this instance! In the YouTube video comparison, the Howarth remaster samples were lowered 6dB for appropriate volume comparison.
Halloween Theme
The dynamic difference is massive, unbelievable really, similar to H1’s theme. Except for the very beginning and end, there’s no crescendos/decrescendos in the remaster, no gusto. Plenty of dynamics and a lot more bass frequencies on the original, which just destroys the remaster, it’s no contest.
Laurie’s Theme
Flat compression across the entire track on the remaster, not a lick of dynamics the original slaps you with.
He Knows Where She Is!
This is one Mr. Nelson should be absolutely ashamed of, this track is just trash on the remaster, just look at the difference! Absolutely no effort invested in the remastering.
Laurie and Jimmy
Ignore the locate bar in the original track at the end
The middle and end have way more bass frequencies on the original. The excessive compression on the remaster’s high frequencies is like grinding nails on a chalk board, at least for me…
The Shape Stalks Again
Again, the remaster is compressing and normalizing everything, losing all clarity, punch, sharpness… Just like the last track, a LOT more bass is happening here.
Mr. Sandman
I pretty much laughed my ass off over this. This is the ONLY track that sounds better on the remaster, ! Barnaby Records must have provided a cleaned-up or remastered version for Mr. Nelson, one thing he couldn’t screw up. Obviously, he didn’t touch it, because it has plenty of dynamics and no normalization. The original release is rough and rockin’ plenty of vinyl pop & hiss, makes the track creepier honestly.
BOTTOM LINE
Inconsistent compression, heavy normalization, and questionable sound engineering plague the remaster, which pales in comparison to the original’s superb quality.
So, what did we learn today? The original Varèse Sarabande soundtracks are better than the “Anniversary” soundtracks. I’m not sure what Howarth is thinking as a producer or what qualifications James Nelson has a sound engineer (extremely questionable), but “remaster” is definitely NOT always a good thing. What do you think?
I did get suckered into buying that 30th anniversary edition of H2 for 30 bucks after shipping, mainly because I think Alan Howarth is a pretty cool guy. but when I got my CD, I notice that many of the tracks, especially the ones that center around the Myers House theme, they sound very scratchy. I’m no audio expert, so I don’t know the technical terms to describe the distortion I’ve been hearing. but it does occur a lot throughout. has anyone else noticed this? I would expect better from Mr. Howarth, but now it all makes better sense after you revealed it wasn’t even him who personally remastered it all. as far as the '98 20th anniversary H1 soundtrack, I think it’s great. it’s more stripped down, like the original mixes done for the movie. but if you do want more of a surround-sound experience with the main theme, yeah stick with the '85 VS version. I just wish that while Alan was working on it, that he would’ve included a track of the main theme in it’s original form, without all the extra tracks and effects he added to it in the remixing process.
