Here's why Shallow studio version was scrapped

[Chickens in Malibu 7,873]

So, like everyone else I was a bit disappointed that the amazing studio version was scrapped. But after some thought and research I realized why it was done: City of Stars.

For those who don't know, this song was almost guaranteed to win an Oscar and it did. The Academy was amazed by the fact that it was recorded live on the set, you can even hear the laughter in it.

Gaga said she wanted the music to be recorded live. So it probably wouldn't make sense for her to say so publicly, only to submit a studio version recording for the Academy later. It would sound hypocritical. So finally, we have an explanation as to why that amazing studio version was scrapped.

Source Deadline: "“City of Stars” was another tune performed live so that it would be more diegetic, given its intimate setting."

 

 

[Mister Gaga 21,894]

With the difference that City of Stars sounds flawless, while Shallow (which is great and has enormous potential) is being harmed by a horrible mixing and imo, a bad structure, which i guess has to do with editing (let me explain: It sounds like TEOG/You and I without the Sax/Electric guitar solo and everything that comes after it. It ends right when it explodes, something in the middle is missing. The hook is there but it's kinda wasted)

[Gagaloo911 12,959]

Well the studio version you speak of better LEAK someday soon. I want it. 

Not that I don't enjoy the version that was released, but would love to hear that version too. Especially the climatic ending how it is in the trailer. 

[Chickens in Malibu 7,873]

Just now, Mister Gaga said:

With the difference that City of Stars sounds flawless, while Shallow (which is great and it enormous potential) is being harmed by a horrible mixing and imo, a bad structure, which i guess has to do with editing (let me explain: It sounds like TEOG/You and I without the Sax/Electric guitar solo and everything that comes after it. It ends right when it explodes, something in the middle is missing. The hook is there but it's kinda wasted)

Well its producer "Benjamin Rice" is a nobody apparently. This is the first song credited to his name lol.... I don't know what went wrong there.

[Guest]

heal me.mp3 better not be a live version or im rioting !! next to shallow, its the song im most excited about. 

[Bebe 16,564]

35 minutes ago, Mister Gaga said:

With the difference that City of Stars sounds flawless, while Shallow (which is great and it enormous potential) is being harmed by a horrible mixing and imo, a bad structure, which i guess has to do with editing (let me explain: It sounds like TEOG/You and I without the Sax/Electric guitar solo and everything that comes after it. It ends right when it explodes, something in the middle is missing. The hook is there but it's kinda wasted)

I strongly disagree - City of Stars is overrated imo, but to it's credit it tells a story - even if I hate the way Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone sound as singers and I can't stand the goofy laughs - those add to the song in it's context of helping to tell a story in film. 

I feel that achieved better with Shallow though - the intro with just Cooper and the guitar is perfect and his vocal performance is stunning - the extended guitar after his verse goes on a touch longer than I think it should for a 'polished' song, but it helps build the tension of the film and the hesitation for her to go on stage. The production building while she sings her verse works as establishing her character as someone new and fresh, literally bringing something new that Jackson couldn't, as well as just working naturally from a musical perspective. The melding of their voices is beautiful and shows Jackson supporting Ally that allows her to then deliver that final climax that ends the song as Ally finds her confidence, finds her swing, finds her voice.
 

That's all without dissecting the lyrics too - they work on multiple levels. I think Shallow is brilliant and sounds flawless the way it is. I don't feel like it's missing anything, I think the song works musically and as a narrative, I think it flows naturally and the structure of the song and the mixing of the song is what gives it it's authenticity. It sounds live and it sounds like a song that Jackson loves and that he heard Ally sing the night before. It sounds like the first performance of the song that isn't rehearsed, that Ally is at first hesitant to perform, that it takes Ally time to feel comfortable, that it ends triumphantly as Ally discovers her voice. To me the mixing and structure of the song is not only essential, "polish" would have totally wiped away the authenticity it needs to work.

I think the soundtrack version of City of Stars actually sounds awkwardly polished - the production sounds so clean but at the same time the performers are "making mistakes" and laughing at their mistakes and are singing in a lazy unpolished way. There's a disconnect I've always felt with that song that I don't feel with Shallow.

[Mister Gaga 21,894]

6 minutes ago, Bebe said:

I don't feel like it's missing anything, I think the song works musically and as a narrative, I think it flows naturally and the structure of the song and the mixing of the song is what gives it it's authenticity.

it's okay, i mean, it's your perspective and i respect that; and i agree with the fact that it flows naturally with the narrative of the movie. My concern is that i still feel as if another verse/chorus would make the song much more epic and anthemic; it could explode much more with another arrangement. A Studio Version could help for that, because it wouldn't harm the narrative flow of the movie, and at the same time it would allow us to listen the 'complete version' of the song, and how grand it should be imo.

[Emigrante 9,354]

50 minutes ago, Mister Gaga said:

With the difference that City of Stars sounds flawless, while Shallow (which is great and has enormous potential) is being harmed by a horrible mixing and imo, a bad structure, which i guess has to do with editing (let me explain: It sounds like TEOG/You and I without the Sax/Electric guitar solo and everything that comes after it. It ends right when it explodes, something in the middle is missing. The hook is there but it's kinda wasted)

Explain horrible mixing. Many fans pretend to know everything about mixing, but they only use that argument as excuse for not liking the song. Nothing is wrong with Shallow. 

[Mister Gaga 21,894]

Just now, Emigrante said:

Explain horrible mixing. Many fans pretend to know everything about mixing, but they only using that argument as excuse for not liking the song. Nothing is wrong with Shallow. 

Sorry, i may not know how to express it correctly, i don't know technical terms, but i feel that the structure of the song harms the potential of it. I feel as if some copy/paste process while editing the song went wrong, and it makes the song sound 'unfinished' for me; it doesn't explode as it should because something is missing. Another verse, another chorus. Think about TEOG without the Sax solo. Yeah, it would be good, but something would sound 'off'. It could be better imo. 

[Free My Mind 2,111]

57 minutes ago, nicolasrumet said:

Well its producer "Benjamin Rice" is a nobody apparently. This is the first song credited to his name lol.... I don't know what went wrong there.

Benjamin worked on ARTPOP

he is an engineer though, not a producer AFAIK

[komronjoel 1,449]

I wasn’t disappointed so please don’t generalise and say everyone. THNX.

[komronjoel 1,449]

15 minutes ago, Mister Gaga said:

Sorry, i may not know how to express it correctly, i don't know technical terms, but i feel that the structure of the song harms the potential of it. I feel as if some copy/paste process while editing the song went wrong, and it makes the song sound 'unfinished' for me; it doesn't explode as it should because something is missing. Another verse, another chorus. Think about TEOG without the Sax solo. Yeah, it would be good, but something would sound 'off'. It could be better imo. 

Perhaps you should produce a song for us then!!!! Please! Show us how you can do better! 

[ryanripley 86,575]

"everyone" lol

[Mister Gaga 21,894]

5 minutes ago, komronjoel said:

Perhaps you should produce a song for us then!!!! Please! Show us how you can do better! 

oh, if i knew how to do it, i'd have done it already. That doesn't mean i'm not allowed to express how i feel about the song; and not just saying 'i don't like it', but explaining why i don't like it (disappointed, in this case) and what arrangements would i do. That's what you call a sustained opinion.

[Bebe 16,564]

30 minutes ago, Mister Gaga said:

it's okay, i mean, it's your perspective and i respect that; and i agree with the fact that it flows naturally with the narrative of the movie. My concern is that i still feel as if another verse/chorus would make the song much more epic and anthemic; it could explode much more with another arrangement. A Studio Version could help for that, because it wouldn't harm the narrative flow of the movie, and at the same time it would allow us to listen the 'complete version' of the song, and how grand it should be imo.

I don't think it's supposed to be, or should be, an "epic" and/or "anthemic" song. I think a studio version like that would have harmed the narrative flow of the soundtrack which should reflect the film. You should be able to listen to a soundtrack and track the narrative and mood shifts of the film, that's what a great soundtrack does. 

A 'polished studio version' of Shallow destroys the narrative that's been built into the structure of the song and it undermines the film version. Why should I see a musical that features demos and unfinished songs? The truth is that this version is the polished version, it retains the same structure as the film because the song was crafted FOR the film and is supposed to sound the way it does (and be structured in the way it is) so that it can communicate, push forward and reflect the plot, themes and narrative of the film.

That's the difference between a soundtrack and an album - especially for a film like this. You where never going to get the version you want because the soundtrack for this film was made to help tell the films story and push forward the narrative of the film. You're wanting a version of this song that's seperate from the film, that doesn't fully commit itself to the narrative of the film and that would sound great on a hypothetical album. The 'complete version' of this song is in the movie, since that's what it was crafted for. It just doesn't make sense to create a seperate version for the soundtrack.

A major reason why people listen to film soundtracks is so that they can appreciate the choices that have been made for the film and how the film has told it's story musically, they want to be able to fully appreciate and notice the tone, emotions, landscape and narrative the films musical side told seperate from the visual. It should transport the listener into the films world, it shouldn't sound disjointed or seperate from that world. The version of Shallow you want, I think, takes the listener out of the world of ASIB into a world we don't see onscreen and it removes focus from the film itself and the decisions that have been made for the film.