JoeDios.com Forums - View Single Post - The Soundtrack to G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero

I couldn't disagree more with people saying the first mini-series music is better than what came later. For the purposes of writing this, I'll assume Douglas did the first mini-series and Walsh did what came later. Douglas' compositions have a more dated '70s feel, especially when that jazzy guitar shows up. Douglas' action music never amps up the threat enough. Everything feels a little more comfortable, pleasant and safer. If someone put out a CD just with Douglas' stuff and called it a G.I. Joe Animated Series soundtrack, I'd be asking where's all the really good music?

I have never watched Transformers, so it doesn't matter to me whether Walsh's compositions were used there or on G.I. Joe first. Walsh's music is what I identify with G.I. Joe. He did all the cues that get stuck in my head and that I find myself humming randomly. Just going by memory, I would point to the Gamesmaster episode and of course the 1987 movie for scenes that underline just how effective Walsh's music can be. Almost all of Walsh's cues sound so fresh and timeless that they could be used on a cartoon today and no one would blink an eye. The range of pacing and emotion he covers goes far beyond what Douglas did. His action and suspense cues are incredibly dynamic, tense and exciting. He created a truly sweeping, cinematic score whereas Douglas made something that was clearly more timid and intended for the smaller screen.

There is more Joe music on this Transformers music site. The file with "100+ HQ Tracks" has a G.I. Joe folder, and some of the music in its Transformers folder was also used in Joe. I don't believe any of the other files have music used in Joe.

http://www.thetfcog.com/transformers-music

If you want the music released officially on CD, please e-mail intrada.com at intrada@intrada.com

They just released the Transformers 1986 movie soundtrack. And I can tell you with certainty that one of the main reasons this classic TV music has not been released is because the companies don't think there's a demand for it. Rob Walsh has said he has the music stored in high quality, and I assume he also has the Douglas music since he had all of it available to reuse during the production of the series.

My desire would be to see first a G.I. Joe movie soundtrack that collected the basic cues used in the movie in the order they appeared in the movie (restoring any cuts the movie made to them) and including the wonderful opening song and the instrumental version used on the end credits. Then I would like to see a TV soundtrack collecting the well-known TV opening theme and variations, any cartoon cues that didn't make it into the movie, which would most likely be a lot more of the first mini-series stuff, plus Cold Slither as a bonus!

03-15-2014, 01:05 PM	#55
JediJones Junior Member Offline --> Posts: 1 --> Join Date: Mar 2014	I couldn't disagree more with people saying the first mini-series music is better than what came later. For the purposes of writing this, I'll assume Douglas did the first mini-series and Walsh did what came later. Douglas' compositions have a more dated '70s feel, especially when that jazzy guitar shows up. Douglas' action music never amps up the threat enough. Everything feels a little more comfortable, pleasant and safer. If someone put out a CD just with Douglas' stuff and called it a G.I. Joe Animated Series soundtrack, I'd be asking where's all the really good music? I have never watched Transformers, so it doesn't matter to me whether Walsh's compositions were used there or on G.I. Joe first. Walsh's music is what I identify with G.I. Joe. He did all the cues that get stuck in my head and that I find myself humming randomly. Just going by memory, I would point to the Gamesmaster episode and of course the 1987 movie for scenes that underline just how effective Walsh's music can be. Almost all of Walsh's cues sound so fresh and timeless that they could be used on a cartoon today and no one would blink an eye. The range of pacing and emotion he covers goes far beyond what Douglas did. His action and suspense cues are incredibly dynamic, tense and exciting. He created a truly sweeping, cinematic score whereas Douglas made something that was clearly more timid and intended for the smaller screen. There is more Joe music on this Transformers music site. The file with "100+ HQ Tracks" has a G.I. Joe folder, and some of the music in its Transformers folder was also used in Joe. I don't believe any of the other files have music used in Joe. http://www.thetfcog.com/transformers-music If you want the music released officially on CD, please e-mail intrada.com at intrada@intrada.com They just released the Transformers 1986 movie soundtrack. And I can tell you with certainty that one of the main reasons this classic TV music has not been released is because the companies don't think there's a demand for it. Rob Walsh has said he has the music stored in high quality, and I assume he also has the Douglas music since he had all of it available to reuse during the production of the series. My desire would be to see first a G.I. Joe movie soundtrack that collected the basic cues used in the movie in the order they appeared in the movie (restoring any cuts the movie made to them) and including the wonderful opening song and the instrumental version used on the end credits. Then I would like to see a TV soundtrack collecting the well-known TV opening theme and variations, any cartoon cues that didn't make it into the movie, which would most likely be a lot more of the first mini-series stuff, plus Cold Slither as a bonus!