PrayodiBA

I just want to continue the discussion that Anthony started; Lately I’ve been truly obsessed with the Mars Needs Moms Recording Session album, as it contains a lot of unreleased gems that it’s mind boggle Powell didn’t put it in the official OST I think I remember reading that Powell came very very late into this project. This is a similar case with Pan when he replaced Dario Marianelli at the last minute. And also just like Pan, what he delivered under the time constraints is truly commendable, and in fact, we are here aware that many people have ranked Pan high among Powell’s works, just like Mars Needs Moms The Mars Needs Moms score, for many general listeners, was popular as being HTTYD-ripoff, as one of the theme (at least some section of the theme) is a direct lift from Test Drive theme. But considering the time, I can forgive. Especially as the other themes are really strong and among the best Powell has ever written. Here I want to share some of tracks from the recording sessions that were unreleased in the official OST that really needs to be appreciated. “Bed Remorse”: 03 Bed Remorse.mp3 The sad statement of the main theme here is really lovely, and really plays well with the scene ( I remember I shed a bit of tears during that scene) ”No Time”: 13 No Time.mp3 I always adore how Powell can play around with his already great theme to make it even greater, as heard here ^^ “Capture-Fall” 17 Capture - Fall.mp3 A nice action piece ”Time Running Out” 24 Time Running Out.mp3 The best out of the unreleased. Such such mindboggle Powell didn’t put this track in the OST. Listen to that statement of the theme in the beginning and tell me if that isn’t a glorious Powell moment!

Nice playlist. If I may to add some comments 😄 1. Unique way to start 😄 2. This track is also a gem. Odd he didn’t put it in the score album, as this track is perhaps the highlight of Rio 2 3. How about “Z to the Rescue”? I consider that the highlight of the ost. Too long? 4-8. Agree! 9. I can’t connect to any of the Bourne stuff, especially the first one 10. Drumline is such an underrated gem. Agree with that track as well. 11-12. Agree! 13. For me, it’s “Boat Chase” 14. Can’t connect with Powell’s rom com too 15. “Hog Chase” is indeed on the best action piece Powell ever wrote 16-18. Can’t comment. Will check though (But agree with the “To The Roof”, but that’s still “a low bar” for me) 19. “Escape” is a nice summary of Robots. But “Train Station” is also a stand out, love the theme in that track: 20. Can’t comment 21. Agree. The suite album presents it better (IA 2 is such a way inferior work compared to the third movie; i found the themes in IA2 rather clunky) 22. For X3, you need to edit and stitch to make it into one big suite. Dark Phoenix theme, of course, but don’t forget this as well: 23. same, need micro edit for Happy Feet 24. Tangiers! I also ranked this among the best action tracks he ever wrote 25. The theme in this score is lovely, but there is one statement of that theme that needs to be put into the list, here: 26. Agree! 27-28. needs edit for this one. Made even worse by how the OST is split into tiny little tracks 29-33. Agree! 34. I can’t comment on HTTYD. It’s becoming too mainstream to my taste 😄 35-36. Agree. Though for Mars Needs Moms, I highly recommend you to listen to the Recording Session version. There are tons of unreleased gem! ( That version also made me rank MNM very high) 37-39. Agree 40. Hmm, needs stich & edit for this one. 41. For me, well pf course, “Madrid Finale” 42. Solo is too much 🙃 43-48. Agree!

This one, right? The very best theme from Powell! As if the angel itself guided him to write it. I'm sorry HTTYD, you are quite nothing compared to this theme.

Yeah, you got me. I'm not really fond of Powell's live action score. That being said, each of them has its own highlight in the OST that I'd rank high amongst Powell's best tracks, like "Hogchase", etc. But as a whole album, I just can't connect. 😄😄 Happy Feet is truly a gem! (People often dislike it because of the presumed "uneven-ness" in the middle part, which is certainly not the case) I found this is Powell at his "most restrained", but at the same time still delivering his usual bonanza. Hence, making it a good listen. Not too heavy. But that's not the reason why I adore it. It's the themes,.....those themes though,.......... 😍 Happy Feet, along with Antz, and Horton Hears A Who, were the one that first welcomed me to Powell. That's why I put them at the very top. I still remember when I was teenager, how I always repeat & repeat the scene where the "Hero/The Alien Ship" theme appears in Happy Feet. And how powerful the "The BIg Shoe" theme in Antz. And how I might perhaps shed a tear when the "We Are Here" scene started to play in Horton.

It's very heartening to see such great praise for John Powell here. It’s further cementing that after John Williams, the next greatest composer of this decade is indeed John Powell. But as a Powell fan, I guess it’s not wrong to place the HTTYD trilogy scores not among the very best of him. HTTYD's score are too "heavy" for me. HTTYD is a Powell score that I rarely revisit (albeit how masterpice it is) Even if ranked, all of HTTYD's scores do not make it into my TOP 3 best Powell scores, which is here my TOP 20 ranking for me: 1. Happy Feet 2. Horton Hears A Who 3. Antz 4. First HTTYD 5. Mars Needs Moms 6. Ice Age 3 7. Migration 8. Third HTTYD 9. Chicken Run 10. X-Men 3 11. Kung Fu Panda 12. Second HTTYD 13. Call of The Wild 14. Robots 15. Pan 16. Evolution 17. Ferdinand 18. Solo A Star Wars Story 19. Rio 20. Bolt (Yes, I put Solo that low. Solo is too too much for me)

I’ve never read all of the books, but if that’s the case, then the movie is already giving too much 😄 So I guess this is in keeping with “Dune-style” which is fully atmospheric Jihad also wasn’t mentioned ever here in the second movie, I don’t know whether they will in the third. And yes correct, I also get why they didn’t, as Jihad has a very strong essence in Islam, and of course for westerners it’s post 9/11

Just saw Dune Part Two in IMAX. Visually, it truly is a SPECTACLE. This is what cinema was made for. But I was quite surprised of how strong the religious tone in this part. Being a muslim, I knew from the part one movie that they borrowed some of Islamic elements; the Lisan al-gaib, etc. But here, it was pretty on your nose. This is not a spoiler of course, but in this movie, Paul often repeatedly called "Mahdi" and then to watch his quick accession to that title, is truly scary and goosebump-inducing (For those who has seen the movie, you know what scene I'm referring to) Scary because it's pretty similar to our faith, that it is right before the end of time, a leader called "Imam Mahdi" will rise and will lead around 7-9 years "holy war" on evil; which is basically the same with what's going on in this movie. And seeing it in theatre full with mostly muslim, and to hear their faint gasp and awe (acknowlodging how it's similar to the faith), is truly something. One main issue in this movie is the editing, I think like above has mentioned as well; the first act moves so slow, and then, the second and third act moves jarrringly quick and jam-packed with many plots. The main battle in third act, it's already visually stunning of course, but I can't help but feel it could've been better with a more steady pace, like Lord of the ring. But nonetheless, it's a 9/10,but can't decide whether it's better than the first. I think in the end it's better, just because of its sheer spectacle.

That’d be wonderful! Let’s hope he is indeed working on this. In fact, it’s not so far-fetched, as John Powell has already once collaborated with Stephen Schwartz in the past, providing music arrangement to one of his song in The Prince of Egypt, hear it here: ^^ You can clearly hear Powell there. This is perhaps one of his best song arrangement in my book. So imagine Powell does the arrangement for this iconic Wicked song: Well, Powell’s arrangement of existing song is always a gem to hear, as I’ve described in my post here:

^^ Yes, if Powell does indeed work on this, I guess he will only do the underscore between song numbers. I can imagine the credit will be like Original Music & Lyric by Stephen Schwartz, Score by John Powell. But what’s the point anyway. Schwartz’s original music and songs are already the most iconing thing about the original broadway show, any of Powell’s inventive input in the movie will clearly be overshadowed by it. But this will be an interesting assignement nonetheless.

So apparently, Mike Knobloch, NBC Universal’s President of Music, just tagged John Powell on his Insta post for Wicked the movie: https://www.instagram.com/p/C3OilCyP9jd/?igsh=MWRncmdyd3ZmN2pnOQ== ^^ is this a mistake/typo, or Powell will indeed deliver music for this movie? Because it’ll be out of nowhere assignment if this is true. (But do also notice how Mike Blonoch postioned John Powell tag in a group along with the original Wicked broadway musical director Stephen Oremus and award-winning music producer Greg Wells) What do you guys think?

Powell won Emmy for this! https://deadline.com/2024/01/2023-creative-arts-emmys-winners-list-1235696511/ http://filmmusicreporter.com/2024/01/07/john-powell-wins-emmy-award-for-still-a-michael-j-fox-movie-score/ Beating JNH’s Light & Magic and Hans Zimmer Company’s Prehistoric Planet A photo of his win https://www.reflector.com/news/national/the-television-academys-75th-creative-arts-emmy-awards---night-2---show/image_63377aa5-b1ed-5ebe-95a0-5e056011299b.html —- ^^ Anyway, check the breakdown above to understand why this score is such a hidden gem (albeit maybe a small minimalistic gem)

Happy new year! To open with good news, John Powell has won his first Emmy for Still https://deadline.com/2024/01/2023-creative-arts-emmys-winners-list-1235696511/ http://filmmusicreporter.com/2024/01/07/john-powell-wins-emmy-award-for-still-a-michael-j-fox-movie-score/ Beating JNH’s Light & Magic and Hans Zimmer Company’s Prehistoric Planet Edit: A photo of his win https://www.reflector.com/news/national/the-television-academys-75th-creative-arts-emmy-awards---night-2---show/image_63377aa5-b1ed-5ebe-95a0-5e056011299b.html

Hahaha thank you! 🤩🤩 And the avatar, done 👍 (I actually like the one @Luka having 😄)

^^ Thank you so much! I am also having fun creating this ----- Anyway, Themes Breakdown (Part 2) 2. Mallard's Family theme, B section (maybe) Some might say that these A & B section are its own different theme; the reason why I classified as A & B part of one single theme because it mostly the case the 'B part' always played right after the A part. But let's see, let Powell confirm this. The B section theme represents more on the 'joyful', 'happiness', 'togetherness' side of the Mallard family. This theme is perhaps the most played in the movie. It makes me think that this maybe in fact 'the main theme' of this movie. First time we can hear this theme is during the opening track Bedtime Story at this particular moment (which is right after the A section like I've shown you before) until 0:21 It appears again, in second track What Else is Out There , the opening intro track. Like I've told before, this theme played during happiness/joyful montage of the intro sequence. Hear it in this particular moment until 0:58 then appears again still in the same track at this moment until 1:32 ^^ Really love both of these statements. That horn part, glorious! Appears again in the next track, Join Our Migration This is played during just basic conversation between the two kids of the Mallard family, hence this is the 'mundane' statement, hear it below until 1:30: Fast forward, this is the 'rejoice' statement of the theme, heard in Let's Fly track, hear it below: ^^ Just beautiful 😍 Of course, we all knew this track is played during first time the Mallards family break free and fly to their migration. Now this is one of my favourite statement of this theme. In the track Night Time, Day Time at this particular moment until 2:30 ^^ Freaking love it! Pure classic Powell, with its up and down flute/string writing and that 'da dum' timpani. Fun fact: this track is played during one of the most beautiful scene in the movie, when all the Mallards having fun flying through the cloud. Honestly, it's a unique choice Powell did this scene with this kind of style, instead of grand epic style. But nevertheless, this current style works beautifully! Fast forward, now this is probably the 'main statement' of this theme, heard in the track Migration Continues hear it below: ^^ Also loving this! It has a certain meditative quality in it. Next, just like the A section theme, this B section theme also has its 'tragic' statement, in the track Helicopter Attack at this particular moment until 1:22 ^^ This statement is so powerful. This music plays when some members of the family are forced taken away, Interestingly, it culminates with Elfman's Batman-ish fanfare 😄 Lastly, this one is also one of my favourite statement of this theme, in track Jamaica, hear it at this particular moment until 0:53 ^^ Pure pure beauty!😍😍😍 FYI, I am sure you'll get goosebump when you hear this in theatre (I for one also look forward to hearing this in theatre), because the scene when this music played is quite heartwarming. ----- Continue again later! 😄

Haha thank you! Well I knew way back then you were a staunch Powell fan 😄

Okay, so here it goes. It's going to be a long post, so I will make it into parts. Here is the summary of 'my appreciation post' to Migration: Themes Breakdown 1. Mack’s theme/Mallard's Family theme, A section (maybe) 2. Mallard's Family theme, B section (maybe) 3. The Migration main theme 4. The Villain/Chef motif 5. The ‘danger’ motif (maybe) 6. Delroy the parrot motif 7. Chump the pigeon motif and some miscellaneous: > 'Reminiscence Therapy' Compilation of bits; nod to Powell's old works > 'Powell and His Flute' Acknowledgement to woodwind writing in this score > 'Powell Doesn't Need to go That Hard' Acknowledgement of how Powell went unnecessarily extra miles for a cartoon about duck ------ Themes Breakdown (Part 1) I will also give the context, the scene where the particular music is being played (without giving too much spoiler), so you can relate and connect more 1. Mack’s theme/Mallard's Family theme, A section (maybe) This one is quite hard to decide whether it's theme for Mack of for the whole family, as this particular theme is more often played in a scene where the whole family gathers. But Powell can confirm this later. This theme represents more on the 'strange/negative' aspect of the family/Mack, whether it's stubborn-ness, cowardice, Karen-ness. etc This theme is first heard on the very first track Bedtime Story ,hear from the beginning right until 0:08, (before the flute comes in,that's the B section theme); this theme is that 6-notes tune The main statement of this theme (along with the B section) is played on the second track What Else is Out There? hear it below from the beginning; in particular the 'hum hum'part (until before 0:52, that's when the B section comes in) ^^ This track is played during the opening intro, in its full glory without much interruption from sfx. The intro is like a montage; the 'hum hum hum' part is played during a montage when the family is during at its antics. Where the horn-laden B section is played when the family is during at its happiest Another statement is played during the track Open Your Eyes , played when Mack is being stubborn in regards of the need of Migration. Hear it below from the beginning until 0:32 The more 'Crazy' statement is on the track Uncle Dan, hear it in this particular moment until 1:02 One interesting application of this theme is on the track Let's Fly This is played during the family starts flying for Migration, hear this moment until 0:45: ^^ You can hear the theme is faintly played on the background, as if this 'cowardice aspect' is started to get left behind, to transform into more optimistic tune! Clever! Like I mentioned, this particular theme will evolve into the general 'hero' tune for the whole group. (actually, the transformation of this theme into a hero theme already foreshadowed way back in the first track, hear it below until 1:17) We can already hear its transformation into a more joyful tune in the track Follow Me, But Not Too Close, hear it in this particular moment below, the choir part: ^^ You can clearly hear is has become an antithesis of the tune we heard on What Else is Out There track, as this played when the family flies exploring the New York, as if finally starting to embrace and open themselves up. Good job Powell! Of course, the family will face into some tragedy in the climax; this particular moment in the track Helicopter Attack is when this theme during its tragic statement, hear it below until 1:09 : ^^ it's played when some members of the family is being forced taken away And finally, when the family finally reaches its final destination, this 'triumphant' statement is played in the track Jamaica, hear it in this particular moment until 1:04: And last but not least, the theme in its full-fledge Hero statement, in the track Jamaica, hear it in this particular moment until 1:50: ^^ Love this moment; the orchestration reminds me of Classic Hollywood score ----- I will continue later, it's quite exhausting creating this 😅😅. Next, part 2

Yeah just saw that. Well based on that, I will change the title to tbd 😅 I mean what kind of people who, in all intention and all the time in the world, put all of Powell's team to the credits before. False hope, it has brought 😞

I am still waiting for Powell to give the information, like he usually always did, but having listened the score many times already (and seen the movie, not officially; as the movie still hasn’t bern released in my country), here are all the themes and motifs I have found from this score: 1. The Migration main theme - this theme also represents ‘freedom’ 2. Mack’s theme/Mallard's Family theme, A section (maybe) - this theme represents more on the ‘cowardice’ or ‘Karen-ness’ of the father Mack, which will evolve into a more general ‘hero’ theme for the whole familly (as Powell explained in the interview) 3. Mack’s theme/Mallard's Family theme, B section (maybe) - this section represents more on the ‘soul that wants to be free’/‘the joyful part’ of the whole group. 4. The Villain/Chef motif - this is not a spoiler as the Chef already portrayed as such in the trailer 5. The ‘danger’ motif (maybe) 6. Delroy the parrot motif 7. Chump the pigeon motif And there is also a woodwind motif to represent “the alien world” aka New York, but I don’t know whether it needs to be classified into its own category due to its rarity

True, certainly this score can't be put into the same echelon as HTTYD. But as a Powell fan, I'm very happy because this score; in theme, energy, or orchestration, is similar to Powell's scores before 2010, which is enough to prove that Powell has not changed and still has his mojo, something that can't be said anymore to big composers of his caliber such as HZ, JNH, or HGW, where they seem to be 'diminishing' Not only is this score similar to old works, but it still has great themes to boot; that 'Migration/Freedom theme' though, it's so catchy and special! (Anyway, I can't wait to share the theme breakdown for this, as I got all the themes and motifs already mapped out) Overall, Migration is a very strong 4-star score 👍 ( as per Filmtracks rating parameter)

Full credits for each track: 01 - Bedtime Story (1:46) John Powell 02 - What Else Is Out There? (1:50) John Powell 03 - The Flock Arrives (1:00 John Powell 04 - Join Our Migration (3:30) John Powell 05 - Open Your Eyes (1:27) John Powell 06 - Uncle Dan (1:57) John Powell 07 - Let's Fly (1:51) John Powell 08 - Heron Adventures (5:35) John Powell, Batu Sener 09 - Night Time, Day Time (3:07) John Powell 10 - Fog World (1:36) John Powell 11 - Central Park (3:05) John Powell 12 - Chump (1:25) John Powell 13 - Follow Me, But Not Too Close (2:58) John Powell 14 - Meet Delroy (3:15) John Powell 15 - Kitchen Key Caper (2:55) John Powell, Batu Sener 16 - Survivor (Film Version) - John Powell & Mon Laferte (1:45) John Powell, Mon Laferte 17 - He's Coming! (1:58) John Powell, Batu Sener 18 - The Key To Regurgitation (2:13) John Powell 19 - Migration Continues (1:50) John Powell 20 - Eye Of Doga (1:50) John Powell 21 - Duck Heaven (1:52) John Powell 22 - Chef At Farm (3:55) John Powell, Peter Davison 23 - You Need A Hug (1:48) John Powell, Peter Davison 24 - Helicopter Attack (2:11) John Powell, Batu Sener 25 - Hopelessness Tango (2:53) John Powell 26 - Rebellion Of The Winged (3:56) John Powell, Batu Sener 27 - Jamaica (3:56) John Powell 28 - Migration End Titles (1:59) John Powell 29 - Survivor (Full Version) - Mon Laferte (3:03) Mon Laferte Source: https://hans-zimmer.com/discography/21/project/4074 ——- Nice! It’s such a relieve to find most of them, including almost all of the highlight cues, are solo Powell 😊

Typo. Fixed 👍

Could be a possibility Let’s see

Yes, agree. IMDB is not the best source, but seeing it's the whole Powell gang literally being credited, as opposed to just one person, makes this a really strong proof. Nevertheless, I'm prepared to be wrong and have this thread deleted 👍🫡

Third John Powell score in 2024! (I'm gonna cry 😭) Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11152168/fullcredits/ ^^ Majority of Powell's collaborators credited is a confirmation already

^^ Agree with above. On quick listen, it really does sound underwhelming. Glad I don’t have any expectation whatsoever for this score. Chicken Run is predominantly Powell’s baby, so it’s evident here with the absence of Powell, majority of the magic that makes the first one such a classic has also left this score. The problem here, aside from what has been described above, this score fully functions, well,….as “a score”. And what makes the first one so different is that it’s not only a “score”, but also a whole listening experince on its own with so many “highlight”/“standout” cues like Building The Crate or Lift Off. Clearly, this score doesn’t have any of those. In fact, the highlights of this score are when the old themes reprised (and even that is rather off-puttingly executed and arranged, like mentioned by poster above) And yes, now it’s clear: Powell’s Migration has won “the battle of the birds”, by miles