Monkey Island Soundtracks – Album Covers

[Rum Rogers]

7 minutes ago, OzzieMonkey said:

Wait, that's you?! I've gone to that channel so many times over the years to get a quick fix of the soundtracks

 

Haha yeah that's me!

[Blondebeard]

I upscaled the SCUMM Bar picture (all credits to scummbar.com) from Bill Tiller using ESRGAN. I am sure Laserschwert could do much better, but this should work. 

 

 

Also, where can I find the other “Cursed” soundstracks? I have only heard the one from MI1. I didn’t know there here more from the other games.

Edited June 7, 2022 by Blondebeard

[Laserschwert]

15 minutes ago, Blondebeard said:

Also, where can I find the other “Cursed” soundstracks? I have only heard the one from MI1. I didn’t know there where others from the other games.

I think this is the original YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/wdrpgwd

[Romão]

1 hour ago, BillyCheers said:

 

I was trying with some artwork first – but that's always a bit tricky in combination with text (these are of course very, very rough tests):

  

 

My next thought was something like your layouts... in style of the CMI parchments maybe. Dunno. I guess it would be quite some work, to find the right images etc. 😅

 

 

These look absolutely amazing. I love the approach you're taking. By all means, if you keep this up, I will solely use your artwork in making my custom cd editions of the soundtracks.

[Romão]

1 hour ago, Rum Rogers said:

 

Haha yeah that's me!

 

 

This thread has been great in finding out who runs the Stan's Previously Owned Soundtracks and the author of the Cursed version of the Secret of Monkey Island soundtrack. It's It's some of the very best content the MI fandom has produced

[Laserschwert]

1 hour ago, Blondebeard said:

I am sure Laserschwert could do much better

Not much. Yours looks great!

[BillyCheers]

1 hour ago, Blondebeard said:

I upscaled the SCUMM Bar picture (all credits to scummbar.com) from Bill Tiller using ESRGAN. I am sure Laserschwert could do much better, but this should work. 

 

Thanks, that‘s great!

I‘ll replace it later. Laserschwert already did some upscaling for the TMI pictures and offered do that for other pictures of needed.

 

So I will continue working on the MI2 cd cover as soon as I have time and post the updates here.

[Blondebeard]

11 minutes ago, Laserschwert said:

Not much. Yours looks great!

Wow! Impressive. The clouds behind the chimney look much better and it seems it kept better detail in same places (like the SCUMM bar sign). Also, mine looks stretched vertically, not sure what happened there.

 

Did you do any manual retouching or is it just the model you are using that is better? I am just using a default manga trained model with ERSGAN.

 

(Sorry for going slightly off topic)

[Laserschwert]

I'm using a chain of several models, so that helps keeping detail.

[Scummbuddy]

7 hours ago, Rum Rogers said:

 

Haha yeah that's me!

Oh right... I owe you a certain new something!

[BillyCheers]

Soooo, the last few days I've been working on the MI2 cover and I'm happy enough with the current state to share it with you guys:

 

For the inside of the booklet, I actually decided against artwork from the game and for a parchment look. It's just easier to design with all the text - and looks quite nice too, I think. Depending on whether I should make covers for the others as well, I would adopt the parchment background for all of them and maybe add concept sketches from the respective game (like Rum Rogers cottage in this one).

And on one page (and the back of the cover) there's still space for nice concept art (like here the big door in LeChuck's fortress).

On the inside, I would like to always put the first screen from the game with the "Deep in the Caribbean" lettering. I thought this would be fitting, since the adventure starts when you open soundtrack case. 🥰

 

To finish this layout, I'll need the exact tracklist you want to put on CD, @Romão (I worked with a tracklist of the double CD from CMI here).

Depending on how long the tracklist is, there's still room for a small sketch. I really liked the concept art of LeChuck for this - unfortunately I haven't been able to convert it into a line drawing yet at it is a very different style. That's why I tried to trace it quickly. But since I'm not the world's gifted illustrator, it doesn't look thaaat nice. Maybe someone else here has more talent for it and feels like making one that fits better to the drawing of Rum Roger's Cottage? 😇 This is the original.

 

As for the font of the tracklist inside, I'm not 100% sure yet. I didn't want to take a completely neutral one but rather something pirate-like. So far this is the only one in that direction that I halfway liked. But maybe someone here has a good idea. 🙂

 

Overall, I'm glad for any feedback and comments on what could be done differently.

 

Either way: It's a lot of work, but a lot of fun too! (My boyfriend already asked how long i want to keep working on this ... "Monkey Island thing". Oh the blasphemy! 😅)
 

 

Here are the layouts without mockup:

 

 

 

[Jake]

This looks awesome!
 

The font you picked looks good but if you’re looking to mess around, you could try Post Antiqua Roman, which is the font used on the original disks and manual, if you want it to feel like an official piece of merchandise, though it might end up looking too “samey” in this context. 

[BillyCheers]

2 hours ago, Jake said:

The font you picked looks good but if you’re looking to mess around, you could try Post Antiqua Roman, which is the font used on the original disks and manual, if you want it to feel like an official piece of merchandise, though it might end up looking too “samey” in this context. 

Thanks, good idea!

I’ll give it a try when I continue the work. 

[Romão]

@BillyCheers, let me just say that it looks absolutely gorgeous. Truly. I have been travelling in the last few days, once I'm back home and at the computer, I will make a suggestion for the track list. Would love to have everyone's input of what the ideal track list would be like.

 

Thank you for doing this

[BillyCheers]

Thanks! I'll give it a thought too with the playlist.

And no stress, I'm pretty busy the next days, too. So take your time.

 

[BillyCheers]

I made a few adjustments to all album covers (mainly the position of the logo) and added variations of the SE covers and the Tales cover – each with the old Monkey Island Logo (my old school heart needed this somehow 😁😞

 

 

All updated images can be downloaded from the links in the first post. 🙂

[Romão]

@BillyCheers, I apologize for taking so long in getting back to you concerning the track list for Monkey Island 2: Lechuck's Revenge.

 

This is a particularly tricky one, for several reasons. For starters, there are several versions of this soundtrack available, with variable number of tracks, lengths, sequences and sound card used. Also, the game is, excluding the first and last act, non linear in the order you can visit and explore the islands, which doesn't really make obvious what the track order should be.

 

When trying to tackle the ideal tracklist, I did end up using as a guideline the only somewhat "official Monkey Island soundtrack" ever released, and that is the score for Special Edition of Monkey Island 2. I must admit the soundtrack for the Special Edition is easily my favorite performance and presentation of this music. Not only I'm really fond of how the music was transposed to "live instruments", but I also think the official soundtrack presents a fantastic listening experience, combining some tracks in a wonderful manner and fully preserving the narrative arc of the music. You can listen to it here: 

 

 

So bearing this mind, I figured this official soundtrack presentation was the best blueprint for the ideal musical presentation of the Monkey Island 2 soundtrack in one of its original iterations.

 

Once again, I used Stan's Previously Owned Soundtracks as the main music resource for this: 

 

 

But I changed the order of the tracks around in order to more closely follow the track sequence of the Special Edition soundtrack release which, as I've stated, I find to be pretty much ideal in terms of listening experience and narrative arc of the music.

 

So this is the updated tracklist for the original soundtrack, with track times (which I still need to double check):

 

01. Opening Themes & Introduction	04:02
02. Largo LaGrande	01:48
03. Chapter Screen	0:12:00
04. Scabb Island Overview	2:00:00
05. Woodtick	4:04:00
06. The Cemetery	1:44:00
07. The Crypt / Rapp Scallion	2:23:00
08. The Swamp	3:28:00
09. Stabbing Largo & LeChuck Returns	3:31:00
10. Captain Dread	2:00:00
11. Captain Dread and the Map	2:27:00
12. Phatt Island	3:23:00
13. Phatt Island Jail	1:37:00
14. Phatt Island Map	2:43:00
15. Outside Phatt Mansion	1:35:00
16. Phatt Mansion Guard	2:30:00
17. Governor Phatt’s Room	2:15:00
18. Phatt Island Wheel of Fortune	3:33:00
19. “If This is Three…”	2:18:00
20. Phatt Island Alley Dealer	2:19:00
21. Phatt Island Waterfall	2:32:00
22. Secret Waterfall Tunnel	1:22:00
23. Rum Roger’s Cottage Exteriors	1:25:00
24. The Drinking Contest	2:23:00
25. Jojo the Monkey	1:28:00
26. Captain Kate’s Boat / Booty Island	4:59:00
27. Governor Marley’s Guard House	2:45:00
28. The Cook	2:45:00
29. Governor Marley’s Mardi Gras Fish Fry	2:23:00
30. The Booty Boutique	2:28:00
31. The Spitting Contest	2:45:00
32. Stan’s Previously Used Coffins	2:05:00
33. Stealing Elaine’s Map	1:38:00
34. Elaine & Guybrush	02:16
35. “Wow, What a Dream” & The Bone Song	03:28
36. Woodtick Revisited	2:47:00
37. Rooms of Ugly Bone Things	2:23:00
38. LeChuck’s Lament	1:53:00
39. The Escape From LeChuck’s Fortress	3:58:00
40. The Voodoo Dolly	3:38:00
41. The Underground Tunnels	9:48:00
42. Closing Themes	3:03:00
Total Time	114:04:00

 

Now, if we need to divide this in two cd's, the change between the Phatt Island and Booty Island sections of the game seems like the perfect dividing line, with Jojo the Monkey as a sort of Bonus track at the end of disc 1. And the total length of both cds are quite evenly balanced:

Disc 1			Disc 2
01. Opening Themes & Introduction	04:02		01. Captain Kate’s Boat / Booty Island	4:59:00
02. Largo LaGrande	01:48		02. Governor Marley’s Guard House	2:45:00
03. Chapter Screen	0:12:00		03. The Cook	2:45:00
04. Scabb Island Overview	2:00:00		04. Governor Marley’s Mardi Gras Fish Fry	2:23:00
05. Woodtick	4:04:00		05. The Booty Boutique	2:28:00
06. The Cemetery	1:44:00		06. The Spitting Contest	2:45:00
07. The Crypt / Rapp Scallion	2:23:00		07. Stan’s Previously Used Coffins	2:05:00
08. The Swamp	3:28:00		08. Stealing Elaine’s Map	1:38:00
09. Stabbing Largo & LeChuck Returns	3:31:00		09. Elaine & Guybrush	02:16
10. Captain Dread	2:00:00		10. “Wow, What a Dream” & The Bone Song	03:28
11. Captain Dread and the Map	2:27:00		11. Woodtick Revisited	2:47:00
12. Phatt Island	3:23:00		12. Rooms of Ugly Bone Things	2:23:00
13. Phatt Island Jail	1:37:00		13. LeChuck’s Lament	1:53:00
14. Phatt Island Map	2:43:00		14. The Escape From LeChuck’s Fortress	3:58:00
15. Outside Phatt Mansion	1:35:00		15. The Voodoo Dolly	3:38:00
16. Phatt Mansion Guard	2:30:00		16. The Underground Tunnels	9:48:00
17. Governor Phatt’s Room	2:15:00		17. Closing Themes	3:03:00
18. Phatt Island Wheel of Fortune	3:33:00		Total Time	55:02:00
19. “If This is Three…”	2:18:00
20. Phatt Island Alley Dealer	2:19:00
21. Phatt Island Waterfall	2:32:00
22. Secret Waterfall Tunnel	1:22:00
23. Rum Roger’s Cottage Exteriors	1:25:00
24. The Drinking Contest	2:23:00
25. Jojo the Monkey	1:28:00
Total Time	59:02:00

 

 Also leaves us some wiggle room if case we want to introduce some sort of bonus track at the end of Disc 2.

I wasn't particularly sure about the placement of the Rapp Scallion track. Chronologically, it should be on Disc 2 (and this change would both discs pretty much the same length), but musically I think it flows much better when sequenced right next to cemetery track on Disc 1, as they did on the Special Edition presentation. 

 

Using the same logic to the Special Edition Soundtrack would also gives us the following track list, divided into two cd's:

 

Disc 1		Disc 2
01. Hey! (You Guys Get Out of Here!)	0:20:00	01. Booty Island Overview	2:04:00
02. It All Started on Scabb Island...	04:11	02. The Guard Kiosk and the Cook	2:40:00
03. The Largo Embargo	3:19:00	03. Governor Marley's Mardi Gras Fish Fry	2:47:00
04. Woodtick Suite	4:01:00	04. Captain Kate / Stan's Previously Used Coffins	3:54:00
05. The Cemetary	3:13:00	05. Stealing Elaine's Map / The Tiff	3:08:00
06. The International House of Mojo	2:20:00	06. Dem Bones and the Dream	3:29:00
07. Poking Largo / LeChuck's Return	03:54	07. Wally Is Kidnapped	2:07:00
08. Captain Dread and the Jolly Rasta	3:18:00	08. Room of Ugly Bone Things	3:48:00
09. Phatt Island Arrival	2:56:00	09. LeChuck's Torture Chamber	3:01:00
10. Call Me The Bone Master	3:45:00	10. Dinky Island	4:09:00
11. Governor Phatt's Mansion	4:50:00	11. The Voodoo Dolly	2:58:00
12. The Gambler's Club	3:59:00	12. The Underground Tunnels	5:52:00
13. Beyond The Waterfall	3:19:00	13. Big Whoop and Finale	5:33:00
14. Rum Rogers Jr. and the Secret Chamber	2:45:00	Total	45:30:00
15. Jojo the Monkey (Bonus Track)	1:25:00
Total	47:35:00

 

I know this was a long post, and I would love to get other people's opinion on the ideal tracklist and sequence for both versions of this fantastic soundtrack.

 

I hope this helps

Edited July 7, 2022 by Romão

[BillyCheers]

On 7/7/2022 at 2:35 AM, Romão said:

@BillyCheers, I apologize for taking so long in getting back to you concerning the track list for Monkey Island 2: Lechuck's Revenge.

 

All good, no problem. There's no time pressure and I was also a little busy these days, so I only got around to answering now. Don't worry. 🙂

 

Of course, we've taken on the most difficult candidate with Monkey Island 2 first... 

In the end there are good arguments for every tracklist - and it depends on your own taste. 

For the booklet, it would be best to have the tracks sorted by island, because then you could divide it up in the layout and make it a bit clearer that way.
But of course it's much more important that the listening experience is right, since that's what it's all about here. And of course it's also important how you listen to the soundtrack: Do you let it run completely and want the perfect experience from beginning to end? (Then your last tracklist seems to be the best choice.) Or do you like to change directly to a certain track from time to time?

For the Special Edition I made a tracklist back then, which is on the one hand quite detailed (Woodtick in single tracks, but still listenable as a suite e.g.) and on the other hand more or less chronological (Rapp Scallion in the last third):

 

 

For me personally this would also be the better choice for a CD, because 1. I like to be able to get to individual variations of tracks ("Largo version" of Woodtick) and 2. I always find it strange when e.g. Rapp Scallion comes already at the beginning, because it doesn't correspond so to the playing experience. (Though of course tracks that are similar in melody and setting are torn apart this way...).

 

In the end, as I said before, it's completely a matter of taste and depends on how you like to listen to it. 

I would not include the running time in the booklet, because it is not really that informative. But maybe you just put them here for the division on two CDs. Btw: Can you get an hour of music on a normal audio CD at all? All such things would have to be checked before.

 

As for the type of soundtrack, the question would also be whether we stick with the layout to the original game if it's the music from the SE. Unless you plan to put both soundtracks on the shelf and listen to them, I would go with the OG images and take the SE music. The SE is the better choice in most cases, even if a few tracks like the "Underground Tunnels" are better in the original version to me.

 

I would suggest that you just look which tracks and which order are best for you personally and burn them on two CDs as a test. And if everything fits well for you, we set the tracklist and names. 🙂

[BillyCheers]

Oh and by the way, for those crazy amazing fans here who like to listen to the trailer on the go like me, here's an album cover for "Return" using the new artwork:

 

[Romão]

As @BillyCheers said, we did start with the most complicated soundtrack and the one that requires more decision making. Looking at your tracklist for the Special Edtion soundtrack and listening to the files, I've been re thinking what the ideal musical presentation for this score would be. I think the best of both worlds would be to keep some of the tracks of the official soundtrack (which in some cases merge separate tracks in a very satisfying way musically), combining with some of the isolated tracks from your tracklist. I'll try to explain my reasoning for some of the choices. But here is my proposed tracklist (tracks in bold and with an asterisk (*) are from the official soundtrack, unchanged):

 

Disc 1			Disc 2
01. Main Theme	2:11:00		01. Booty Island Overview *	2:04:00
02. Opening	1:36:00		02. The Guard Kiosk and the Cook *	2:40:00
03. Interlude	0:11:00		03. Governor Marley’s Mardi Gras Fish Fry	2:48:00
04. Largo LaGrande	1:42:00		04.The Booty Boutique	0:51:00
05. Woodtick Suite *	4:01:00		05. Stan’s Previously Used Coffins	1:44:00
06. Scabb Island Overview	01:57		06.Captain Kate	2:46:00
07. The Cemetery *	03:13		07.Stealing Elaine's Map / The Tiff *	3:08:00
08. The International House of Mojo *	2:20:00		08.Dem Bones and the Dream *	3:29:00
09. Poking Largo/Lechuck's Return *	3:54:00		09. Wally Is Kidnapped/Lechuck Theme, Part 2 *	2:07:00
10. Captain Dread and the Jolly Rasta *	3:18:00		10. Room of Ugly Bone Things	5:59:00
11. Phatt Island Arrival *	2:56:00		11. Guybrush is Captured	1:10:00
12. "Call me the Bone Master"	1:09:00		12. LeChuck's Torture Chamber *	3:01:00
13. Phatt Island Overview	2:36:00		13. Dinky Island Beach	2:24:00
14. Governor Phatt's Mansion *	4:50:00		14. Dinky Island Jungle	4:03:00
15.The Gambler's Club *	3:59:00		15. The Voodoo Dolly *	2:58:00
16.Beyond The Waterfall *	3:19:00		16. The Underground Tunnels *	5:52:00
17.Rum Rogers Jr. and the Secret Chamber *	2:45:00		17. Big Whoop and Finale *	5:33:00
18.Lechuck Theme, Part 1	1:47:00		Total Length	52:37:00
19.Jojo the Monkey (Bonus Track) *	1:25:00
Total Length	49:09:00

 

Let's go though some of the track choices. On Disc 1:

 

05. Woodtick Suite I know this will be a major point of contention. I still maintain this section of the soundtrack and all its components work much better in a suite form. I think the official soundtrack did a fairly good job in encapsulating all the sections and transitions in a musically satisfying way. We could end using another custom made of this section, but I maintain the suite format is much better suited for it than separate tracks 

 

06. Scabb Island Overview One of things that bothered most about the official soundtrack track list was having some of the map cues merged with other tracks. Since these are so important in establishing a mood and sense of place, I though it would be best to have all three of them as their own track (see also 13. Phatt Island Overview). In the official soundtrack, only the Booty Island Map cue was presented on this own.

 

07. The Cemetery This track from the official soundtrack combines three different tracks set in the cemetery at Scabb Island, the last one being the one for the scene with the resurrected Rapp Scallion. And although this track should chronologically be much later in the track list, I maintain this is its ideal placement musically.

 

 09. Poking Largo/Lechuck's Return and 10. Captain Dread and the Jolly Rasta Again, these tracks are a combination of separate cues, but it's another example where the official soundtrack offered an ideal presentation for them, IMHO.

 

17.Rum Rogers Jr. and the Secret Chamber This track is a combination of two cues that go so well together that they sound like one longer cue.

 

18.Lechuck Theme, Part 1 Although this cue is mostly reprised in the second half of 09. Wally Is Kidnapped/Lechuck Theme, Part 2, on Disc 2, I think the first Disc 1 needed more material from the Lechuck cutscenes, so this seemed a good place for it, right at the end of the presentation, but just before 19.Jojo the Monkey (Bonus Track), which works best as a bonus track at the end of disc, as it doesn't serve much narrative purpose

 

Concerning the track choices for Disc 2:

 

02. The Guard Kiosk and the Cook As presented on the official soundtrack, I agree the Cook cue works much better as a coda for the first cue of this track, rather that presented on its own

 

03. Governor Marley’s Mardi Gras Fish Fry The full cue has a few really cool clarinet solos and variations that are not present on the official soundtrack cue, so I thought it would be best the present the full track on its own, separate from 04.The Booty Boutique, although a gapless playback between the two tracks might be advisable.

 

06.Captain Kate This is the trickiest track to get right, IMHO. I love the presentation of the different cues for this sequence on the official soundtrack, except for its merging with the Stan's Coffins cue. So using just the first half of the official track might be an option. However, when listening to the track On Captain Kate's Ship from  @BillyCheers track list, I absolutely adored those 30 seconds or so of the theme presented without the flute and steel drums:

 

 

So I think ideally they should be joined with the first half of the official soundtrack cue, removing the duplicate beginning. This has to be done with an audio editing software and I will give it a try. 

 

 

As @BillyCheers said, we did start with the most complicated soundtrack and the one that requires more decision making. Looking at your tracklist for the Special Edtion soundtrack and listening to the files, I've been re thinking what the ideal musical presentation for this score would be. I think the best of both worlds would be to keep some of the tracks of the official soundtrack (which in some cases merge separate tracks in a very satisfying way musically), combining with some of the isolated tracks from your tracklist. I'll try to explain my reasoning for some of the choices. But here is my proposed tracklist (tracks in bold and with an asterisk (*) are from the official soundtrack, unchanged):

 

 

Disc 1			Disc 2
01. Main Theme	2:11:00		01. Booty Island Overview *	2:04:00
02. Opening	1:36:00		02. The Guard Kiosk and the Cook *	2:40:00
03. Interlude	0:11:00		03. Governor Marley’s Mardi Gras Fish Fry	2:48:00
04. Largo LaGrande	1:42:00		04.The Booty Boutique	0:51:00
05. Woodtick Suite *	4:01:00		05. Stan’s Previously Used Coffins	1:44:00
06. Scabb Island Overview	01:57		06.Captain Kate	2:46:00
07. The Cemetery *	03:13		07.Stealing Elaine's Map / The Tiff *	3:08:00
08. The International House of Mojo *	2:20:00		08.Dem Bones and the Dream *	3:29:00
09. Poking Largo/Lechuck's Return *	3:54:00		09. Wally Is Kidnapped/Lechuck Theme, Part 2 *	2:07:00
10. Captain Dread and the Jolly Rasta *	3:18:00		10. Room of Ugly Bone Things	5:59:00
11. Phatt Island Arrival *	2:56:00		11. Guybrush is Captured	1:10:00
12. "Call me the Bone Master"	1:09:00		12. LeChuck's Torture Chamber *	3:01:00
13. Phatt Island Overview	2:36:00		13. Dinky Island Beach	2:24:00
14. Governor Phatt's Mansion *	4:50:00		14. Dinky Island Jungle	4:03:00
15.The Gambler's Club *	3:59:00		15. The Voodoo Dolly *	2:58:00
16.Beyond The Waterfall *	3:19:00		16. The Underground Tunnels *	5:52:00
17.Rum Rogers Jr. and the Secret Chamber *	2:45:00		17. Big Whoop and Finale *	5:33:00
18.Lechuck Theme, Part 1	1:47:00		Total Length	52:37:00
19.Jojo the Monkey (Bonus Track) *	1:25:00
Total Length	49:09:00

 

Let's go though some of the track choices. On Disc 1:

 

05. Woodtick Suite I know this will be a major point of contention. I still maintain this section of the soundtrack and all its components work much better in a suite form. I think the official soundtrack did a fairly good job in encapsulating all the sections and transitions in a musically satisfying way. We could end using another custom made of this section, but I maintain the suite format is much better suited for it than separate tracks 

 

06. Scabb Island Overview One of things that bothered most about the official soundtrack track list was having some of the map cues merged with other tracks. Since these are so important in establishing a mood and sense of place, I though it would be best to have all three of them as their own track (see also 13. Phatt Island Overview). In the official soundtrack, only the Booty Island Map cue was presented on this own.

 

07. The Cemetery This track from the official soundtrack combines three different tracks set in the cemetery at Scabb Island, the last one being the one for the scene with the resurrected Rapp Scallion. And although this track should chronologically be much later in the track list, I maintain this is its ideal placement musically.

 

 09. Poking Largo/Lechuck's Return and 10. Captain Dread and the Jolly Rasta Again, these tracks are a combination of separate cues, but it's another example where the official soundtrack offered an ideal presentation for them, IMHO.

 

17.Rum Rogers Jr. and the Secret Chamber This track is a combination of two cues that go so well together that they sound like one longer cue.

 

18.Lechuck Theme, Part 1 Although this cue is mostly reprised in the second half of 09. Wally Is Kidnapped/Lechuck Theme, Part 2, on Disc 2, I think the first Disc 1 needed more material from the Lechuck cutscenes, so this seemed a good place for it, right at the end of the presentation, but just before 19.Jojo the Monkey (Bonus Track), which works best as a bonus track at the end of disc, as it doesn't serve much narrative purpose

 

Concerning the track choices for Disc 2:

 

02. The Guard Kiosk and the Cook As presented on the official soundtrack, I agree the Cook cue works much better as a coda for the first cue of this track, rather that presented on its own

 

03. Governor Marley’s Mardi Gras Fish Fry The full cue has a few really cool clarinet solos and variations that are not present on the official soundtrack cue, so I thought it would be best the present the full track on its own, separate from 04.The Booty Boutique, although a gapless playback between the two tracks might be advisable.

 

06.Captain Kate This is the trickiest track to get right, IMHO. I love the presentation of the different cues for this sequence on the official soundtrack, except for its merging with the Stan's Coffins cue. So using just the first half of the official track might be an option. However, when listening to the track On Captain Kate's Ship from  @BillyCheers track list, I absolutely adored those 30 seconds or so of the theme presented without the flute and steel drums, so I think ideally they should be joined with the first half of the official soundtrack cue, removing the duplicate beginning. This has to be done with an audio editing software and I will give it a try. 

 

09. Wally Is Kidnapped/Lechuck Theme, Part 2 This is the exact same track as in the official soundtrack, I just added an extra cue title for the second half to make sense of  the track title of 18.Lechuck Theme, Part 1  on Disc 1

 

10. Room of Ugly Bone Things There are some really cool variations and sections that are absent in the official soundtrack, so I'm using the extended track here

 

12. LeChuck's Torture Chamber I like how this track uses the cue for the Escape from Lechuck's dungeon in its second half, so I've kept from the official soundtrack

 

16. The Underground Tunnels Another one that might be controversial. Since this track can change depending where you're surprised by Lechuck in the underground tunnels sequence, there's not one true version for this track. Musical presentation became my priority, so I ended up keeping the official soundtrack track, which I feel encapsulates in a very musically coherent wat what these collection of cues are all about.

 

17. Big Whoop and Finale Just works much better as a single track, an true end credits suite, instead of a collection of shorter cues.

 

This is mostly it. Would love to read some thoughts on what the ideal presentation for this music is in a cd release.

Edited July 15, 2022 by Romão

[Laserschwert]

Regarding the Special Edition soundtracks (from the retail version), I've augmented my playlists with a few tracks ripped from the game that weren't included:

The Secret of Monkey Island - Special Edition:

• Monkey Island Main Theme (Menu Version) - A minimalistic version of the main theme, with a marimba (or xylophone?) instead of a flute playing the main melody.

 

Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge - Special Edition:

• Monkey Island 2 Main Theme (Game Version) - A slightly different instrumentation of the main titles (most notably the bass line)
• Woodtick Suite (Extended) - Edited from the ripped music segments, I've tried to include each variation of the track (which the official track didn't)
• Chapter Screen - The same version as used in the SoMISE, but since it's used in this game as well, it should be included
• Indiana Threepwood - The short quote of Williams' Indy theme wasn't used on the official "album", probably because of copyright issues
• LeChuck Interlude - LeChuck's appearance in the Underground Tunnels, but as a separate cue

All tracks can be found HERE.

 

Edited July 15, 2022 by Laserschwert

[Romão]

Thank you, Laserschwert, love your extended Woodtick suite.

The Lechuck Interlude is at the beginning  of The Voodoo Dolly on the official album, but the other tracks could work very well as bonus tracks

[BillyCheers]

On 7/15/2022 at 3:02 AM, Romão said:

I think the best of both worlds would be to keep some of the tracks of the official soundtrack (which in some cases merge separate tracks in a very satisfying way musically), combining with some of the isolated tracks from your tracklist.

Yeah, I think that's a good solution. Some of the pieces certainly work better this way on CD than when they are separated in small parts (also thematically).

The track list you created also makes sense to me - and I like LeChuck's theme at the end of the first CD with Jojo.

 

On 7/15/2022 at 3:02 AM, Romão said:

05. Woodtick Suite I know this will be a major point of contention. I still maintain this section of the soundtrack and all its components work much better in a suite form. I think the official soundtrack did a fairly good job in encapsulating all the sections and transitions in a musically satisfying way. We could end using another custom made of this section, but I maintain the suite format is much better suited for it than separate tracks 

I would also definitely be in favour for a suite of "Woodtick". I had also built it as a suite for my soundtrack, but divided it into separate tracks so that you I can skip directly to one of the versions – but you're still able to listen to the full suite. But of course there mustn't be a pause between tracks then.
The suite from the official soundtrack is okaaaay, but I think it really has some poor transitions, e.g. here at 8:48:

The version of@Laserschwert is already much better, but still I prefer mine regarding the composition and transitions – but maybe it's just because I listened to mine much too often. Also mine could easily be combined to one big track (not that it really matters for the listening experience). In the end, the is the iMUSE Track und should be perfect.

 

On 7/15/2022 at 3:02 AM, Romão said:

06.Captain Kate This is the trickiest track to get right, IMHO. I love the presentation of the different cues for this sequence on the official soundtrack, except for its merging with the Stan's Coffins cue. So using just the first half of the official track might be an option. However, when listening to the track On Captain Kate's Ship from  @BillyCheers track list, I absolutely adored those 30 seconds or so of the theme presented without the flute and steel drums, so I think ideally they should be joined with the first half of the official soundtrack cue, removing the duplicate beginning. This has to be done with an audio editing software and I will give it a try. 

I agree with you here too. And "Kate" and "Stan" are two separate pieces, so I don't know why they were put together here.
As for "Kate" I would try to make a nice suite out of it, yes. I would also miss the part without flute and steel drums...

 

On 7/15/2022 at 3:02 AM, Romão said:

16. The Underground Tunnels Another one that might be controversial. Since this track can change depending where you're surprised by Lechuck in the underground tunnels sequence, there's not one true version for this track. Musical presentation became my priority, so I ended up keeping the official soundtrack track, which I feel encapsulates in a very musically coherent wat what these collection of cues are all about.

True! I like this suite on the OST! It sounds more like a suite than mine, I think...

[Romão]

Thank you for your input, @BillyCheers 

 

So all that's left is to create a proper suite for Woodtick (with gapless play between the subtracks) and properly assemble the track for Captain Kate and I would say we're ready to go

[BillyCheers]

Sounds good!

 

This is my Woodtick suite in one track btw:

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oQRzw9FzDEIZsiP-kegPxv3TdBX4x-8Z/view?usp=sharing