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Counter question: Why are we (as in: not necessarily all of us, but most of us) here? Because we like to listen to film music away from the films. Often without having even seen the film. That's not the primary purpose of a film score, and it's not even a necessary function. But from the earliest days of "proper" film scoring, a lot of film music has been written by "serious" composers with classical training. People like Korngold, who wrote a film score like they would write a ballet or an opera. That gives it an inherent musical value and makes it able to stand on its own, and the great film composers, voluntarily or automatically, wrote music in such a way that it does work very well on its own indeed. The old "complete release vs album arrangement" debate is connected to this, of course. The other end of the spectrum is "standalone music or not", I guess. With the rise of sound technology, music has become less important (and in fact often inaudible). As a result, there are (I think) many more scores these days that support their films well than there used to be a few decades ago. With Goldsmith, a score that worked well in the film but didn't have much of a life on its own was rare, and while such a score achieved its primary goal, it didn't live up to the *musical* potential we'd come to know from this composer. That didn't make them inferior film scores, just like well-placed "noise" for a ballet wouldn't necessarily constitute a bad ballet score. But it does mean it has, subjectively speaking, less "musical value". And that's primarily what we care for here. The boundaries are not fixed, of course. Many scores derive at least some of their fascination from how they support their films *as music*, and hearing them in context can make them even more rewarding. This is why iso scores and LTP concerts (which would be even better if they were done like iso scores) have their value. And sometimes, a score derives more of its "value" (for lack of a better term) from being associated with its film's visuals. In other cases, a score derives its musical and dramatic structure from the film, but so fully integrates it into its own musical narrative that it works just as well without thinking of the film. That's why many of use prefer C&C release, especially for leitmotific wall-to-wall scores, while still listening to the music as "absolute" music. Mostly at least - you might have the narrative structure of the film (seen or unseen) in your mind when listening to the music, just like you would read the synopsis of an opera when listening to a recording, but you can still listen to the music for its own sake. Likewise, there have been films with great music that doesn't work very well as a film score. Such a score might have failed at its primary purpose, but it still has musical worth. You might even argue that Williams himself had a tendency for overscoring in the late 90s and 00s. In such cases, you may conclude that a score isn't entirely successful (or even fails) as a film score, but still succeeds as a musical work. I can appreciate a purely functional score in the context of the film (like Zimmer's Dunkirk). I can appreciate a failed film score as pure music. As a pure film fan, I'm interested in the former and annoyed by the latter. As a pure music fan, I'm interested in the latter and annoyed by the former. As in fact a fan of both films and music, with a knowledge of over 80 years of film music that can very well stand on its own feet, I'm disappointed by scores that *could* have musical value but don't even seem to attempt it, and annoyed if these scores have people raving about album releases when I had to shut down the musical side of by brain while watching the film because I found the blandness of the score too distracting.

Stock Answer #543: if it's released on an album separately from the movie, it should be judged as pure music. The reality is of course that soundtrack fans by and large (that form the nucleus of the soundtrack label's customers) are Asperger kids hooked on movie synch points and pure musical qualities are - often enough - a distant consideration. As for the Williams aside, it's perfectly OK to diss a score like BFG for its endless recycling. To applaud a veteran film composer for well-flowing albums or the professional sheen of his 50th variation of the same material is a bit like awarding your local supermarket for stocking food every day.

Too much in the film score fan community, I see people judging scores based on what I call their easy listening value. This goes for semi-professional reviewers too, who continuously judge the quality of a score based on whether it appeals to their listening taste. But doesn't this defy the purpose of a film score? Their primary function is to serve the film, but if they're good to listen to on their own, then that's a bonus I guess, and the composer picks what he feels would make a decent concept album (no this is not an OST vs C&C debate). Like for example I remember in the late 90s and early 2000s, Goldsmith was getting some heat for writing "forgettable, generic" scores for films like US Marshals, Hollow Man and Along Came a Spider. Okay, sure they're not exactly creative works of divine magnificence, but they're functional and suitable to their films. He never failed at hitting the right buttons in his late-career scores. But they weren't necessarily album showstoppers, so people dismissed them and judged them as being lower quality scores because they just weren't all that nice to listen to - no big themes, relying more on texture and atmosphere, etc. Plus, you can't deny the anger and frustration that permeates this board whenever Williams releases a new score, and people complain about how samey and generic it is compared to his past glories - but leaving the listenability of the album aside, was his music not right for the film? Should it not simply be judged based on how it functions and performs in context? Then you have swathes of Zimmer scores that are routinely blasted for being unlistenable on their own, but maybe they weren't meant to be anyway? People listen to an album and are like "this score's terrible!" But is it really? Maybe the music just isn't suitable for separate listening? How was it in the film? Did it work better there? So that leads me to ask what is it people are even looking for in film music? Do they want films with good scores or are they just seeking some kind of musical catharsis on album as a separate listening experience and film scores just happen to give them that kick? Should film score fans take a deep breath and reassess how to judge the quality of a score - based more on how it serves the film and less how often how much it gives them eargasms?

https://www.ardmediathek.de/ard/player/Y3JpZDovL2Rhc2Vyc3RlLmRlL21vcmdlbm1hZ2F6aW4vMjlmZGFhMjItZjQ0My00ZjI4LWJiYWUtNThlNmE0NTAyNzFk/livemusik-anne-sophie-mutter

At the Dublin Giacchino concert, he had a little technical issue towards the end so decided to have a random QandA session. Someone asked him if he was scoring The Batman. He didn't deny it and was actually quite telling in his nervous response.

Vice by Nicholas Britell. Certainly one of the best drama scores in recent memory. Very prominent in the film and a pretty solid album too. This is the kind of score I wish Thomas Newman would give us. Karol

It's been a couple of years since I've rewatched this, but I remember being surprised at just how short most of the film's scenes are. It just jumps around so often, I feel like the building dread that is established in the opening bank robbery is never quite recovered again. The whole heist in Hong Kong seems airlifted in from an entirely different film as well.

A couple of previews for another Bond series. The Cars:

there is no more SW scores after this, so he better write the most kickass variations of all SW themes

Yes! And I bet there’ll be a big dramatic brass moment that will then be microedited on the OST, too!

The sheet music shows the choir. The choir was recorded. It was included in the album. Then the director of the film decided to not include it in the film.

The Signature Collection: Shadows of the Empire was made for request as a joint venture with Dave Williams from the FSM forum.

Toy Story 4 - Color me impressed, Pixar did it again. As someone who's a big fan of the previous three flicks, this might be my favorite film in the whole franchise. It's so nice, and wonderfully done. Everything with Woody, Bo-Peep, and Forky was terrific, and the ending was incredibly effective and emotionally satisfying. - 9.5 / 10

A couple thousand angry Christians petitioned and commentbombed Netflix to cancel Good Omens, they finally replied that they will do everything in their power to do that. Good Omens is made by Amazon Prime. Prime replied to this territorial aggression by threatening to cancel Stranger Things.

Probably made The Dark Knight so "special" is because of Heath Ledger as The Joker. I do like The Dark Knight and thought Ledger is the best Joker. To me The Dark Knight Rises is definitely the best Nolan Batman film. Edit: I don't agree with Angry Video Game Nerd's opinion on The Matrix. For me it never gets old. However I do agree with the bullet time thing that got old fast.

You do realize we’re talking about soundtracks, right? The thing maybe a couple thousand people buy for $10 and the rest of the world steals and streams? Balfe’s money comes from writing the music for the film, not album sales.

He's my self-assigned homework for this Summer! Reading books by and about him, and becoming more than passingly familiar with at least one of his works every week. As my musical idol, at this point I'm probably as familiar with Copland's entire oeuvre as it's possible for a person without real music education to be. He's still the central pillar of my music listening these days, but I'm trying to be more than just a dabbler in the rest of the 1920s-60s American music canon. Piston, Schuman, Barber, Harris, Sessions, Bernstein, Thomson, Antheil, Persichetti, Dello Joio, Hanson, Rorem, Carter, et al. And I'm throwing in some notable Euro expats with strong ties to America whose styles fit my taste to varying degrees (like Stravinsky, Hindemith, Schoenberg, and Martinu).

No thread shall lack for Copland while I'm around! But seriously, his CBS Playhouse theme from the 1960s is striking and odd. I like it.

I noticed that but I just figured it’s “9 years ago” from 2010-ish since Bonnie is the same age. And it’d make Andy about 9 in the flashback which makes sense. All four of these are pretty much equally great as far as I’m concerned. Lovely movies.

Giacchino is currently in Dublin and I'm attending his concert. Should be a great evening.

+1

They reprise that in The Return! A rare highlight.

Just you And I Together Forever In love

You can read the M:I Fallout thread for some fun on this topic.

I hate when they run out of stock of things, because some lazy student who cannot do his job forgot to order more, and then I'll have to go to another store! It's not an unreasonable view, though.

Mike Matessino said it (49:50) I'm not betting on another score but I wouldn't be that surprised if this isn't the last Star Wars music he ends up writing. Rian Johnson or the GOT guys could theoretically get a theme or something out of him and there's always Galaxy's Edge. I do think it's clear that he has no interest in "passing the torch" to anybody in particular (remember when people thought he was gonna train Giacchino in the ways of Star Wars music like Yoda lol, ain't nobody got time for that)

That as well as Revisiting Padme. Interesting that they changed it so late in the process.

JWFan is definitely in retrograde.

That's The Boys Continue. Heroes Collide is Anakin Vs. Obi-Wan on the OST but slightly longer.

The Joker's face painted to look like real skin.... that was awesome!

http://filmmusicreporter.com/2019/06/20/spider-man-far-from-home-soundtrack-details/ Can't frickin' wait!

Gremlins was the very first soundtrack I ever bought. Been trapped here since.

I'm only going to say this once so people can QUIT messaging me about it. My actual rip of the isolated score is NOT repeat NOT lossless. So please quit messaging me asking if it is lossless. It's not a recording just a rip and I think it's the same frequencies of what's out there all ready. So again people please do not message me anymore asking if it's lossless.

He was writing kickass music at 83, then again at 85, then again at 86, so I'm not concerned. It will be sufficiently kickass. And when you consider the musical palette of IX will sufficiently ramp up the dramatic/emotional tone of the action scoring, it's a very enticing prospect indeed. Williams always saves the most goosebump-inducing cues for the third score in his trilogies.

I think @King Mark may be referring to the hopefulness that John Williams is 87 years old and is still writing some darn fine kickass music.

How come people don't like collecting movies and keep permanent copies anymore?

Wow you have terrible taste.

Urgh....

I hope it will be as amazing as those 2 previous have been.

Chase Through Coruscant is one of my favorites! Hard to think of any modern cues that rival that one in length.

I think it was nothing more than a fun little quote because of the similarity in scenario and action at that moment. TLJ is the most self-aware/referential Star Wars score yet, and I think this short musical moment is one example of that.

It’s a very Spielbergian joke.

Got my copy of Outlander today and am giving it a first full listen. This is possibly the best volume of Outlander music he's put out since the very first, and it flows very well. And his new theme for Roger and Brianna is bew-tiful. (even if it does unfortunately resemble a theme from Djawadi's Medal of Honor - hopefully that'll wear off)

That was me, yeah a long time ago and on the shrine. And thanks for the kind words Since I posted them a long time ago, it was a good time to do a quick revisit. So here are the updated ones, with a few changes added: EDIT: Since the assembly line style isn't my cup of tea, they all have their original poster logos now. Except for The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, those I made from scratch inspired by Jim Titus' ideas and my own personal taste. Feel free to use them if you want

Like that's the score's biggest problem...

Well, good Leonard Rosenman score, at least!