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[2023] The Curse at Alton Manor

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It shouldnt matter who creates the music, if their ability and the creative direction / budget theyre given is suitable.

Just to defend the plight of music folks, I get the impression the tracks Simon Allen did is because he's in-house doing it in spare time. If he (or anyone in that situation) was allowed to be a full time producer with the budget/time, theyd have a chance to produce much better.

The Duel music he did was decent and had more character in it than the original, which was just stock loops. Ok it wasnt universally liked, but thats more to do with Duel's mish mash situation I think.
 
IMAscore aren't bad by any means, but I'd love to see someone else do it. IMAscore only really do grand orchestral music outside of Smilers and Helix's, while The HHs was a mix of organ music, sounds, and synthesisers.

I don't want it's music to be just another grand sequence type. I know Simon Allen isn't the best composer the Parks chosen, but he definitely isn't the worst, and he's done some cracking pieces of music, especially TWODWs area music, and Duels, which I prefer a lot over the 2003 score, no matter how that got you in the adrenaline. He tried to fix that because it was obvious the fast paced feel didn't suit the ride. Sure his final product wasn't a masterpiece, but In terms of the ride and theme, it was a lot more appropriate and mystical, and didn't go over the top with it, which is what a Haunted House should be. Spooky and mysterious.

I'm sure IMAscore will do an okay job if they are being hired, but I still don't think its the best option Towers can go for. For me, the best option is either a new composer, music company, OR (the most unlikely) bring Graham smart back to modernised it a bit in some sections.
 
Simon Allen's music is great. He composed the soundtrack to Gangsta Granny, which is a very strong piece of music and is up there with the Retrosquad for me personally. Because he's in house and because Duel's revamp would most likely not be a major investment, it makes sense for Alton Towers to use him again.
 
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Im sure the right resources will be put towards it, not done in-house. It doesnt particularly matter who does it as long as it has the right creative direction and budget
 
s_g_k said:
Hope he pays for his fastrack 🤣
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I remember on the opening day of Gangsta Granny, he was just behind me in the standby queue. I remember brief interactions with him way back in the Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 days where his moniker was “ImagineerJohn”, so naturally struck up a conversation. He doesn’t strike me as the type to be treated any differently than a regular guest.
 
tayspru said:
I remember on the opening day of Gangsta Granny, he was just behind me in the standby queue. I remember brief interactions with him way back in the Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 days where his moniker was “ImagineerJohn”, so naturally struck up a conversation. He doesn’t strike me as the type to be treated any differently than a regular guest.
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Imagineer John!

God, that is a blast from the past for me...always wanted to try and replicated what he managed to do with RCT3 yet never really managed it sadly...ah well.

If he was to pull of some of the things, he manged in RCT3 to Towers, then I'll be rather critical of how he handles the real world and all the things that have to be addressed with Merlin in contrast to how you could always do anything you wanted with RCT3...still never got that impressive CTR of Thirteen that I hoped he'd release.
 
Nosferatu said:
Simon Allen's music is great. He composed the soundtrack to Gangsta Granny, which is a very strong piece of music and is up there with the Retrosquad for me personally.
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Sorry, did you mean to type retrosquad? Are you referring to the 10 immersion ruining American rock ballad cheese fest songs on repeat or the music from the adverts?
 
Matt.GC said:
Sorry, did you mean to type retrosquad? Are you referring to the 10 immersion ruining American rock ballad cheese fest songs on repeat or the music from the adverts?
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I think they’re probably referring to the music from the adverts. I must admit, I think that’s quite a catchy tune too!

I do like some of Simon Allen’s work, and I’d be perfectly happy if he did the soundtrack for this (or if the existing one stayed, for that matter), but I’d personally like to see IMAScore do a new soundtrack for this project. They have an incredible track record, and I’m not sure I can think of a single bad soundtrack of theirs so far!

Perhaps controversially, I’d also really like to see IMAScore have a go at remastering Nemesis’ soundtrack… although given that the similar remasters of Colossus and Nemesis Inferno were so hated that the old tracks have now been reinstated on both rides, I assume I’m in a minority. I personally loved IMAScore’s take on both of those soundtracks, but the majority clearly didn’t agree with me!
 
Skyscraper said:
That's a shame, IMAscore's Colossus rework is sublime in my opinion.
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I couldn’t agree more, and I also really liked their Nemesis Inferno as well (particularly the station track, which is still in use)!

On a side note; what do we reckon the name of the revamped Duel could be? Do we think it’ll return to The Haunted House, or could it be something different entirely?

My hope is that they go for something different, but I’m admittedly not sure what they could do. I’ve always thought that Macabre Mansion would be a really cool name for a haunted house-style ride, but something tells me that that isn’t the type of name Alton will go for…
 
Matt N said:
I couldn’t agree more, and I also really liked their Nemesis Inferno as well (particularly the station track, which is still in use)!

On a side note; what do we reckon the name of the revamped Duel could be? Do we think it’ll return to The Haunted House, or could it be something different entirely?

My hope is that they go for something different, but I’m admittedly not sure what they could do. I’ve always thought that Macabre Mansion would be a really cool name for a haunted house-style ride, but something tells me that that isn’t the type of name Alton will go for…
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Somone suggested "The Haunted House: Repossessed" and "The Haunted House: Curse of Emily Alton" on here a while back. I'd take either of those!
 
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