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What Is The Last Score You Listened To? (older scores)


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On Sunday, July 16, 2017 at 11:19 PM, Strangways said:

Jerry Goldsmith- Players, MacArthur, Rudy

How would you evaluate MacArthur in comparison with Patton and Inchon?

Can you recommend Players?

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Harry Potter 1

 

It's a difficult thing for a score to keep me entertained for over 2 hours, but this one's incredible. Williams is usually at his best when he's scoring silly Hollywood children's movies. Hook, Star Wars, E.T., The Lost World: Jurassic Park etc.

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'In The Heart of the Sea'

 

Roque Banos filling in for RCP/Zimmer. The curious result is unsatisfying as a whole but remains on my longlist of worthwile recent soundtracks, filing 'what could have been'. Whenever big set pieces and action rears their 3D multiplex head, the score becomes insufferable tribal drums, shuffling bass rhythms and all the other ingredients any temp track robot could emulate. These parts, starting early in 'Essex Leaving Harbor' and going well into 'Abandon Ship', have to be programmed out.

 

Then the tugs on the heartstring start, probably - luckily - temped either with Horner or Morricone, and Banos finally can write some real music. It's a long elegiac finish in search of a better first half. It may very well be that this isn't overly original but there's a discreet epic scope that finally pulls you inside that story and the handling of the vocalise and the solemn horn chords is pro writing on Horner level (Ron Howard knows a thing or two bout that, of course). 

 

A garden-variety sampling of bonus cues follow that are mostly quiet but also better than the album's sagging two thirds - necessitating the playlist aficionado to put them somewhere midway, though that still makes not for a very satisfying musical journey but as part of a good epic orchestral score you pretend does not exist in longer form, it's one of 2016's better efforts.

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Oh, this is a really hot summer!

 

Going back home, I will listen to the three first Indiana Jones, the OST programs.

 

p_8215832.jpg

 

 

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There is no such church! There is only JWFan Pro.

 

And we are allowed to spar with each other on occasion! 

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I actually expect that KK and I agree.  A functional score, but which taken on its own is hardly Nolan and Zimmer's finest hour. 

 

I mean, Nolan cited The Battle of Algiers for the way it was scored.  This was never going to be beautiful, subtle music. 

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19 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

Exactly what a member of the Contrarian Church would say.

 

Enough of this vitriol, it is time you join us brother!

 

18 minutes ago, TheGreyPilgrim said:

I actually expect that KK and I agree.  A functional score, but which taken on its own is hardly Nolan and Zimmer's finest hour. 

 

I mean, Nolan cited The Battle of Algiers for the way it was scored.  This was never going to be beautiful, subtle music. 

 

I expect it to work well in the film, which I see tonight. And there are certain elements I actually like: the claustrophobic bass motif first heard halfway in "The Mole" and the siren motif heard in "The Oil" and the end of "Supermarine" (which funny enough, turned out to be the best cue on the album).

 

But most of this barely rises above functional ambience. And I am not at all a fan of the use of Elgar here.

 

It's not as offensive as Chappie or Inferno, but its not much good either.

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2 hours ago, KK said:

 

Enough of this vitriol, it is time you join us brother!

 

 

I expect it to work well in the film, which I see tonight. And there are certain elements I actually like: the claustrophobic bass motif first heard halfway in "The Mole" and the siren motif heard in "The Oil" and the end of "Supermarine" (which funny enough, turned out to be the best cue on the album).

 

But most of this barely rises above functional ambience. And I am not at all a fan of the use of Elgar here.

 

It's not as offensive as Chappie or Inferno, but its not much good either.

 

Yep.  Very utilitarian score as it turns out, but it does its job brilliantly as the scores from Nolan films always do.  It only disappoints based on the heights of what that had entailed on those previous films.  

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Works well enough in the film (although it relies a little too much on increasing tempo and pitch to create tension...a cheap and easy trick by now), but it won't work as well on album as Inception and above all Interstellar did

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Deep Rising - Jerry Goldsmith

 

Rightly maligned as career headscratcher for the seasoned composer, it's still irresistible fun in a #ChuckNorrismercenaries80smovie-kind of way. 'Deep Rising' was - for whatever unfathomable reason - considered a hot project back then that even had Harrison Ford attached at some point. Since Goldsmith already was slated for Stephen Sommers' last movie, 'The Jungle Book', this now was the golden opportunity to seal a most promising partnership that could have sported classics like a 2-hour long JG 'Van Helsing' score - alas, human lifespan became as much of a roadblock to that as did post-production troubles on 'The Mummy' - and Goldsmith leapt at the occasion as if slimy vagina-shaped sea creatures with nasty tentacles were his golden ticket to 'English Patient' Oscar glory.

 

Being an old hand at EXACTLY that incarnation of cheap direct-to-video fare - he scored the likewise abysmal 'Leviathan' back in 1989 - the musical classification must have come easy: calypso drums, lots of mean brass buzzing for the monster, brawny Rambo fanfares for the heroes (Treat Williams!) and a heavy sampling of the trusted battery of synth (never more appropriate than here), all cooked up with puzzling gusto, even in the face of a very modest set of aspirations the movie at hand presented. 

 

The musical means are lightweight, syncopated rhythms, ostinati galore, open fifths in the horns - but still, if this thing pops up on my iPod, i cherish it. It's as if your favourite composer tackled your favourite 'Fall Guy' episode - and how likely is that? I remain eternally grateful that Goldsmith didn't go the respectable-drama-route, even late in life. And for Intrada for improving on the dreary 1998 release. You still may have to edit this down to a perfect 45-minute length but that is as fun as your first day at the wild ride bumper cars.

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Once upon a time in America...

John Williams - Tom Sawyer (Quartet Records, The Instrumental Album: CD1-T1, CD1-T13@22, CD1-T12, Music and Lyrics by Richard M. & Robert B. Sherman)

John Williams - The Missouri Breaks (Kritzerland Records, The Original Album)

John Williams - The Reivers (The Original Album program)

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9 minutes ago, Bespin said:

Once upon a time... the Western!

John Williams - Tom Sawyer (Quartet Records, The Instrumental Album: CD1-T1, CD1-T13@22, CD1-T12)

John Williams - The Missouri Breaks (Kritzerland Records, The Original Album)

John Williams - The Reivers (The Original Album program)

 

Only one of those is a Western

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The Reivers is a portrait of growing up in Mississippi and Tennessee (the South) in the early 20th century.  It in NO WAY is a Western or is meant to resemble one.

 

And The Adventures of Tom Sawyer takes place along the Mississippi River in Missouri, an area that was certainly not the Western frontier at that time.  And the genre of the Western didn't exist when it was written because it was written during the time period that Westerns would look back on in the future.  Setting a story in Missouri in 1884 is not substantively different from setting it in New York in 1884.

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Alexandre Desplat - Valerian and the City of 1,000 Planets

 

A bunch of really nice music here (I love the electronic/orchestral combos in a lot of tracks, its done really well), but almost no cohesive as a solid album, its very much more "a collection of cues".  There are some themes that aren't big and splashy and are easy to miss, but nothing else tying everything together.  Still, lots of fun music worth checking out

 

Hans Zimmer - Dunkirk

 

I liked it!

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On 7/20/2017 at 1:12 AM, Brundlefly said:

How would you evaluate MacArthur in comparison with Patton and Inchon?

Can you recommend Players?

 

 I'd recommend Players to listen at least once, it's far from the best but it has a decent main theme. Quite a short score. 

 

As for MacArthur, personally having heard it more, I'd say it was better than Inchon but behind Patton -for me Patton has the likes of Winter March to elevate it. Inchon's a good score but I've only heard it through once so wouldn't say more on it. MacArthur, like the man himself, is a match for Patton I'd say.

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16 hours ago, publicist said:

 

Deep Rising - Jerry Goldsmith

 

Rightly maligned as career headscratcher for the seasoned composer, it's still irresistible fun in a #ChuckNorrismercenaries80smovie-kind of way. 'Deep Rising' was - for whatever unfathomable reason - considered a hot project back then that even had Harrison Ford attached at some point. Since Goldsmith already was slated for Stephen Sommers' last movie, 'The Jungle Book', this now was the golden opportunity to seal a most promising partnership that could have sported classics like a 2-hour long JG 'Van Helsing' score - alas, human lifespan became as much of a roadblock to that as did post-production troubles on 'The Mummy' - and Goldsmith leapt at the occasion as if slimy vagina-shaped sea creatures with nasty tentacles were his golden ticket to 'English Patient' Oscar glory.

 

Being an old hand at EXACTLY that incarnation of cheap direct-to-video fare - he scored the likewise abysmal 'Leviathan' back in 1989 - the musical classification must have come easy: calypso drums, lots of mean brass buzzing for the monster, brawny Rambo fanfares for the heroes (Treat Williams!) and a heavy sampling of the trusted battery of synth (never more appropriate than here), all cooked up with puzzling gusto, even in the face of a very modest set of aspirations the movie at hand presented. 

 

The musical means are lightweight, syncopated rhythms, ostinati galore, open fifths in the horns - but still, if this thing pops up on my iPod, i cherish it. It's as if your favourite composer tackled your favourite 'Fall Guy' episode - and how likely is that? I remain eternally grateful that Goldsmith didn't go the respectable-drama-route, even late in life. And for Intrada for improving on the dreary 1998 release. You still may have to edit this down to a perfect 45-minute length but that is as fun as your first day at the wild ride bumper cars.

I think it's one of his worst scores, but I love it!

18 minutes ago, Strangways said:

 

 I'd recommend Players to listen at least once, it's far from the best but it has a decent main theme. Quite a short score. 

 

As for MacArthur, personally having heard it more, I'd say it was better than Inchon but behind Patton -for me Patton has the likes of Winter March to elevate it. Inchon's a good score but I've only heard it through once so wouldn't say more on it. MacArthur, like the man himself, is a match for Patton I'd say.

Ok, thank you. Maybe I'm gonna wait for Varese to expand or at least remaster MacArthur and give it a listen. And of course Players.

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9 hours ago, Jay said:

Hans Zimmer - Dunkirk

 

I liked it!

I just saw the film two days ago and the score works in the film even though it is pretty basic tension ratcheting stuff for the most part. It is also nearly constantly present and I would say it is even an effective way to describe the mental state of some of the main characters but I would never listen to it on its own on an album.

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It is the same for me as well. I like that it often avoids a lot of the clichés associated with war films but there is something very detached, dispassionate and documentarian about the whole affair that I found slightly off-putting. And as such Zimmer's score was a perfect fit for the tone of the film.

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23 minutes ago, Bilbo Skywalker said:

Return of the Jedi - OST

 

I think my favourite version of this score is about 25 minutes long :|

 

 

How can anyone like a 25 minutes long version of Return of the Jedi that omits "The Death of Yoda" and "Final Duel"?

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19 minutes ago, Bespin said:

 

How can anyone like a 25 minutes long version of Return of the Jedi that omits "The Death of Yoda" and "Final Duel"?

 

It might be longer than 25 minutes but there's more music on the OST than I need. 

The only parts of the score I really enjoy are:

 

Death Star Arrival

Pit of Carkoon

Death of Yoda

The Space Battle

Final Duel

Victory Celebration

 

 

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10 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

Trashing William's ROTJ and praising Zimmer's Dunkirk on the same day... :|

 

JWFAN is becoming a very, very sad place... A very sad place, indeed.

 

It's my least favourite Star Wars in every respect. I just can't warm to any aspect of it. 

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