Based upon the 1925 literary work by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby is an interesting commentary on the lavish lifestyle of the rich and famous. The tale followed Nick Carraway in his travels seeking a true purpose in existence, and his interactions with Jay Gatsby prove that there is more to life than being rich and decadent. Relaunched in 2013, The Great Gatsby was reworked into a modern film, and lived up to its name by grossing over $100M in its first month at the box offices.
The soundtrack, as can any soundtrack to a film, provided an important and interesting perspective on the classic tale. Produced by Jay-Z, of the coincidentally ironic Roc-A-Fella Records (a cheeky tie-in to the Rockefeller dynasty) the album spared no expense, including many famous modern artists from Jack White of the White Stripes, to Florence and the Machine, Lana Del Ray, Gotye and of course, Beyonce.
To add to the ostentatiousness of the entire production, Third Man Records, which is Jack White’s record label, decided to release what can only be considered the most avante garde, flamboyant display of aural production in modern history. They decided to do a small run of 100 gold and platinum metallic discs, which you would of course only want to play on your diamond encrusted turntables. Supposedly this is the first time ever that vinyl records have been given this treatment, and at $250 for the set, I’d hope that they sound as good as they look!
The double disc special edition contains 17 total tracks, and will be housed in a custom laser-cut wooden jacket with riveted aluminum spines. Monday saw the release of the standard, 180 gram version that us peasants can afford, and is only merely gold foil stamped. Looking at the special edition version, you can tell a lot of time was spent in the design and planning of the package – they even decided to include cotton gloves to preserve the luster and quality of the discs while being handled, although a note included in the package states “While these records are absolutely playable on most turntables, if you are concerned about the life of your set, we do not recommend heavy rotation”!
These discs are already burning up eBay, with the first set I found at a current price of $550!
I have also come across information that one of our CRAS Grads, Warren Babson, actually contributed some work to this album too! After graduating from the Conservatory in 2008 with a 4.0 GPA, Warren has done quite a bit of work, getting Assistant Engineer and Engineering credits on albums by Estelle, Justin Bieber, Gucci Mane, and Musiq Soulchild. He was also present in some of the engineering for the soundtrack of Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie. For The Great Gatsby, Warren mixed “Where The Wind Blows”, by Coco O. of Quadron! Congratulations Warren!
