Transformers Music Restoration Project: Season Three Complete!

[New and Improved Zobovor]

It's taken us a while to finally get to this point, but the music introduced during the third season of the original Transformers cartoon series has now been archived and remastered. For those who don't know, Jim Figurski started a Kickstarter in 2014 to raise money to buy the software necessary to extract the music from the show, edit out dialogue and sound effects when needed, and try to create a CD-quality copy of the music. I jumped into the project a little bit later, and together we've been working hard to make this music available to the fans. (Some of this music has been available on the Internet in a lower quality state, but a number of themes have never been archived anywhere.)

You can download it here:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/4qcz61uqi1i8wg6/Transformers_Season_3_COMPLETE.zip

The third season represented a dramatic shift in musical tone, with the new themes composed on synthesizer, contrasting with the orchestral themes of seasons one and two as written by Robert J. Walsh and Johnny Douglas (which would also continue to be used). This gives the music of the third season, as it was first heard in episodes like "Nightmare Planet," a distinctly 1980's vibe. Some of the music used in season three was written by Robert J. Walsh for G.I. Joe: the Movie, and later appropriated for use in Transformers. Other themes were based directly on the score for The Transformers: the Movie as written by Vince DiCola, though DiCola was not credited for this contribution to the third season leitmotifs.

Continuing with the track listings from seasons one and two, season three includes 40 new themes, including the opening theme and closing credits theme, in chronological order:

142 Season Three Theme (0:32)

143 Rally the Troops II (0:15)

144 Season Three Closing Credits (0:48)

145 Peace IV (0:30)

146 Unity (1:48)

147 Cymbal Clash I & II (0:06)

148 Space Attack (1:11)

149 Trapped (0:49)

150 Battle in Space II (1:30)

151 Epilogue (1:18)

152 Battle in Space I (1:25)

153 Turning the Tide (1:23)

154 Cosmic Search I (1:43)

155 Inner Workings (1:15)

156 Cosmic Search II (1:12)

157 The Mission (0:37)

158 Chase (1:19)

159 The Quintessons (1:24)

160 Secret Weapon I (0:56)

161 Secret Weapon II (1:24)

162 Espionage (1:20)

163 Ancient Wisdom (1:31)

164 Damaged (1:08)

165 To the Rescue (1:39)

166 Investigation (1:30)

167 Last Ditch Effort (1:27)

168 Emergency Landing (0:55)

169 Secrets (1:18)

170 Respite (0:55)

171 The Groves of Wrath (0:07)

172 Radical (1:07)

173 Exotic Locale II (0:43)

174 Wounded II (0:57)

175 The Test II (0:12)

176 Heavy Metal War (0:51)

177 Serene (0:42)

178 Reverence (0:30)

179 Recovery (1:11)

180 Cosmic Search III (0:14)

181 Apology (0:35)

(Total running time: 0:41:43)

Here are some notes about the obstacles we encountered when working on this season.

For one, there are fewer season three episodes than there are season two episodes, which means there was not as much material to work with when ripping music from the show. Near the end of the season, newly-introduced themes were being used only once or twice. We used G.I. Joe episodes for source material whenever possible, but the fact that Rhino failed to release the entire series before losing the licensing rights meant that a number of G.I. Joe episodes released to DVD only exist in 2.0 audio, which means the dialogue channel cannot be separated from the music channel. Every 1986 episode after "Iceberg Goes South" was nearly worthless for culling audio data.

Partly because of this, a few existing themes from season three didn't make it into our release. One of them is "Guard Duty II," a version of season two's "Guard Duty" with a minor variation in the instrumentation. You can hear part of it clearly in the Transformers episode "Chaos" when Kup is finished telling his story about how he escaped from Chaos on planet Dread. Almost all the instances in which the theme appears in a G.I. Joe episode is drowned out by dialogue, so there was no way to preserve it.

Another theme we weren't able to include is "Making Peace," which is heard in "Surprise Party" during the peace conference. Again, it's used a few times in G.I. Joe, but the dialogue make it impossible to isolate the music elements.

The "Romance" theme from "Money is Everything" that uses a Jem and the Holograms leitmotif also got left out, unfortunately. I bought the Jem series on DVD and watched every episode, expecting to eventually find this theme, but it wasn't in any of the DVD episodes. We also weren't able to remaster the short "Space Age Jack" fanfare that plays in "The Big Broadcast of 2006." The last one we couldn't save was the alternate version of "Radical" as heard in "The Ultimate Weapon" when Trypticon goes orange-stomping.

However, I feel like all the best themes from season three made it into this release, and I don't think people will be too disappointed. If it's a season three theme that you remember and love, it's here. My favorites are "Space Attack" and "Battle in Space I" and "Secret Weapon I" and I expect a lot of you are fond of these, too.

It's worth mentioning that if you're only familiar with the music as heard in Transformers, there's going to be some new content here. We only hear a snippet of "Serene" at the beginning of "The Burden Hardest to Bear," but it showed up in G.I. Joe in a longer form, so we were able to build a 40-second track. Same thing with "Reverence," which we only hear for a few seconds in Transformers, but were able to include 30 seconds of the same track thanks to its inclusion in G.I. Joe.

What's next? There are only two instances of music heard in season four's "The Rebirth" that we hadn't heard up to that point, so we'll be releasing those soon. There are also about 36 themes that have alternate versions. Some of them are as simple as a different note at the very end, but others include different instrumentation. We're working on releasing a final "bonus" album which will include all these alternate versions of themes, including the version of "Cold Slither" from G.I. Joe with lyrics!

If I've done my math right, once we include the season four themes, the total run time for the music will be approximately 3:16:52. Three years' worth of work for three hours worth of music!

(It will be kind of nice to finish working on these so I can delete some files off my computer. I have about 225 GB tied up in sound files right now.)

Anyway, enjoy!



Zob (comments are, as always, most welcome)

[Travoltron]

Downloading now!

[Travoltron]

I really like this music. A much darker tone that fits the darker themes
of Season 3. I wish the whole season had used this music.

Were you able to extract anything from GI Joe: The Movie? I know there
was a Rhino version, and DVD and Blu-ray versions from Shout!

[New and Improved Zobovor]

On Monday, November 20, 2017 at 12:18:36 PM UTC-7, Travoltron wrote:

> Were you able to extract anything from GI Joe: The Movie? I know there
> was a Rhino version, and DVD and Blu-ray versions from Shout!

There was a lot of reverb in the music from G.I. Joe: the Movie. They must have mixed it differently than they did with the show. I have the audio files from the movie and extracted the relevant music, but most of the time we didn't use samples from the movie at all. (I think we did pull some for "Respite" since it's used so seldom, but that might have been it.)


Zob (got two kitten brothers today and I have no idea what their names are)

[Travoltron]

On 11/20/2017 6:22 PM, New and Improved Zobovor wrote:
> Zob (got two kitten brothers today and I have no idea what their names are)

I got two brothers this year and named them Tom & Jerry.

[New and Improved Zobovor]

On Monday, November 20, 2017 at 11:31:21 PM UTC-7, Travoltron wrote:

> I got two brothers this year and named them Tom & Jerry.

We've been playing with name ideas since we took them home yesterday. The problem is, I'm really particular about names and some don't quite fit. We sort of liked Milo and Otis, but in the movie, Otis was a dog. We were also considering Sabin and Edgar from Final Fantasy VI, who are brothers, but I don't know how to pronounce Sabin, and I can't imagine having a pet named Edgar. That's a name for a computer, not a cat.

I would have been happy with Cheetor and Tigatron, honestly. Mad Cat and Dr. Claw would have worked, too. My wife actually suggested Kup and Wheelie, because she remembered them being paired together in the Takara reissue set. What a gal!

I really liked the idea of Coffee Bean and Cocoa Bean, but neither of us drinks coffee so it didn't really work. After much deliberation, we're going with Caramel and Cocoa.


Zob (we now return you to your regularly scheduled Transformers newsgroup)

[banzait...@gmail.com]

I can't wait to listen to this! I've really enjoyed the first two releases.

-Banzaitron

[New and Improved Zobovor]

On Friday, November 24, 2017 at 11:32:33 AM UTC-7, banzait...@gmail.com wrote:

> I can't wait to listen to this! I've really enjoyed the first two releases.

This is a conversation about kittens. Stop derailing the topic!

Seriously, let me know what you think. I honestly have to say that the season three music is, and always has been, my favorite. This is the season I was the most excited to see finished!


Zob (has a CD of it in his car now)

[banzait...@gmail.com]

Ha! Will do. I've been working 16 hour days the past month so haven't been able to dedicate much time to Transformers (including att). Just when work died down a bit, my family came in town, which may be more work, that, well... work. Anyway, this is my excuse for not having listened to the whole thing already.
Those are bold words about season 3 being your favorite. I'll have to keep an open mind when listening, some of the season 1 and 2 tracks are true musical masterpieces. And I am not joking when I say that.

-Banzaitron

[Shin Hibiki]

New and Improved Zobovor <zobo...@gmail.com> wrote:

>This gives the music of the third season, as it was first heard in episodes like "Nightmare Planet," a distinctly 1980's vibe.

I know Jim has said he's less fond of this season as a result,
but that's precisely the reason I like it so much.

>Continuing with the track listings from seasons one and two, season three includes 40 new themes, including the opening theme and closing credits theme, in chronological order:

If these are chronological, and you came up with the names,
why is "Battle in Space II" before Part I...?

>For one, there are fewer season three episodes than there are season two episodes, which means there was not as much material to work with when ripping music from the show.

The new themes don't even start showing up until several
episodes in, which makes the situation worse.

>The "Romance" theme from "Money is Everything" that uses a Jem and the Holograms leitmotif also got left out, unfortunately.

Of the left-outs, this is the one that I recognize just by
your description. Too bad, but whatchagonnado? I guess this is the
point at which we hope the Walsh score actually gets released and
fills in some of these gaps.

>My favorites are "Space Attack" and "Battle in Space I" and "Secret Weapon I" and I expect a lot of you are fond of these, too.

You may recall that "Battle in Space I" was one that I was
hyped about way back at the beginning of this project. It's been a
long time coming (but not forever), and I couldn't be happier with it.
"Turning the Tide" is another of my favorites, as is "Ancient Wisdom."

>It's worth mentioning that if you're only familiar with the music as heard in Transformers, there's going to be some new content here.

I noticed that. Thanks for the explanation--I was wondering
if I was imagining things, or just forgetting things.

>We're working on releasing a final "bonus" album which will include all these alternate versions of themes, including the version of "Cold Slither" from G.I. Joe with lyrics!

Woot!

>Three years' worth of work for three hours worth of music!

Let your spark join the Matrix with the greatest of Cybertron.
I mean, don't actually go anywhere, especially not like that. I just
needed something appropriately TF-ish to denote the magnitude of this
work. I salute you, sirs.

- Shin Hibiki

----
The race ain't over yet, baby
It's only just begun
They thought they had it won, baby
But soon we'll have 'em on the run

[Zobovor (the Man with All the Toys)]

On Monday, December 4, 2017 at 12:19:50 AM UTC-7, Shin Hibiki wrote:

> If these are chronological, and you came up with the names,
> why is "Battle in Space II" before Part I...?

The short answer is that I came to associate those names with those specific tunes before I realized that technically "Battle in Space II" was heard first in the show. Feel free to change the file names on your computer if it pleases you to do so. :)

> Of the left-outs, this is the one that I recognize just by
> your description. Too bad, but whatchagonnado?

I have not completely given up on it. It's my understanding that some of the music used in early Jem episodes actually changed, depending on whether it was the original seven-minute Super Saturday version (which aired with Robotix, Bigfoot, etc.) or the full half-hour episodes, which are what made it to the DVD release. If I can find the alternate version of "Kimber's Rebellion," it might have that music and maybe we'd have better luck.

> You may recall that "Battle in Space I" was one that I was
> hyped about way back at the beginning of this project. It's been a
> long time coming (but not forever), and I couldn't be happier with it.
> "Turning the Tide" is another of my favorites, as is "Ancient Wisdom."

I have come to realize that there are only two reasons I love G.I. Joe: the Movie. One is Cobra Commander, but the other is the fact that so much Transformers third-season music is used.

> I just needed something appropriately TF-ish to denote the magnitude of
> this work. I salute you, sirs.

Thanks! And I owe you a debt of gratitude for turning me onto this project in the first place. If it weren't for you, I might never have known about it, and would never have been able to contribute.


Zob (worked 12 hours today, and boy are my axillary appendages tired)

[Travoltron]

Two other things I like about GI Joe The Movie: 1) That epic opening
scene. The animation is generally pretty cool in this movie. 2) Burgess
Meredith - he was a great actor and did a great job chewing scenery as
Golobulus. I wish that scene where Falcon stabs him in the
Terminator-eye could be found.

[Zobovor (the Man with All the Toys)]

Okay, the opening song was actually pretty amazing. My first exposure to G.I. Joe: the Movie was when it aired on television (hosted by the real, live Sgt. Slaughter!) and they cut the opening for time. Imagine my surprise after seeing the movie on VHS for the first time and seeing the full, uncut intro.

I will also grant you Burgess Meredith's voice performance. He was incredibly talented.

Was the eye-stabbing scene ever actually animated? I assumed it was just one of those things that happened off-screen because it would have been too graphic to depict.


Zob (like Duke getting stabbed through the heart with a snake isn't graphic enough)

[Zobovor (the Man with All the Toys)]

Update: The fourth and final album is nearly ready for release. It includes 41 tracks, 39 of which are alternate versions of existing themes. They will sound similar to the themes we've already released, usually differing only in the final note. A lot of themes had a short ending and a long ending recorded, probably to help the sound editors better fit the length of a specific animated scene.

This "bonus" album also includes the one new theme from season four's "The Rebirth," the one that we hear in part 2 when the Decepticon Headmasters and Targetmasters meet their Hive partners, and again in part 3 when Scorponok captures Arcee.

Finally, there was one first-season track that escaped my notice, because it sounds an awful lot like another first-season track. It's more mood music than a true melody, and since I was (apparently) confusing it with "Nemesis I" and "Nemesis II," we've appropriately titled it "Nemesis III" and are including it on the bonus album as well.

If you're a purist and you want the tracks to be labeled in chronological order, you would have to renumber the tracks. This would be the correct order:

Autobot Fanfare IV
Nemesis III
Autobot Fanfare VI
Evil Defeated
Noble Autobots
Escape
Survival
Nemesis I
Schemes


Zob (no, we are not doing Beast Wars next)

[Travoltron]

On 12/6/2017 10:32 PM, Zobovor (the Man with All the Toys) wrote:
> Was the eye-stabbing scene ever actually animated?

I think Flint Dille implied that in the commentary track. Although it's
possible it got nixed in the storyboard stage, but I doubt it. It's so
weird and awkward how it's done in the final version.

[Zobovor (the Man with All the Toys)]

On Friday, December 8, 2017 at 11:10:49 PM UTC-7, Zobovor (the Man with All the Toys) wrote:

> Update: The fourth and final album is nearly ready for release. It
> includes 41 tracks, 39 of which are alternate versions of existing themes.

You can download it here:

http://www.thetfcog.com/news/g1-soundtrack-season-4-complete.html


Zob