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


Ollie

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10 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

I can think of at least three soundtracks by Glass which I find more entertaining than Notes on a Scandal: The Hours, The Illusionist, and Mishima.

 

Notes on a Scandal is a better film score than all of those. I'd rank the ones you listed as follows:

 

1) Notes on a Scandal

2) The Hours

3) The Illusionist

4) Mishima --> this worked best in its concert format anyway (String Quartet No. 3)

 

Granted, I will concede that Notes on a Scandal is the least notorious of the bunch.

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27 minutes ago, The Doctor said:

Yeah and it seems to get worse and worse as you progress through the score. The deterioration I refer to that occurs during disc 2 includes the horrendous sound.

 

The bad '97 sound quality could mean the tapes were already beginning to deteriorate, and who knows how their condition are now, 20 years laser... maybe they're damaged beyond repair. That would probably imply that a future new release would have to work with the digitizing done for the '97 release.

18 minutes ago, KK said:

 

Notes on a Scandal is a better film score than all of those. I'd rank the ones you listed as follows:

 

1) Notes on a Scandal

2) The Hours

3) The Illusionist

4) Mishima --> this worked best in its concert format anyway (String Quartet No. 3)

 

Granted, I will concede that Notes on a Scandal is the least notorious of the bunch.

 

In your opinion it's a better film score, you mean.

 

I'd like to clarify that I'm referring to the album presentations, not how the scores are experienced in the films.

 

In the album presentation, Notes on a Scandal feels to me more like background music than the other albums. But nice and very atmospheric background music.

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7 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

In your opinion it's a better film score, you mean.

 

Well sure, that goes without saying, doesn't it?

 

8 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

I'd like to clarify that I'm referring to the album presentations, not how the scores are experienced in the films.

 

In the album presentation, Notes on a Scandal feels more like background music than the other albums. But nice and very atmospheric background music.

 

I would make the same argument in that case as well. Of the bunch you listed, only The Hours makes a good album experience for me. I have little patience for The Illusionist, and Mishima runs too long as an album. Notes on a Scandal is about as close to perfect as Glass got with his film score albums, alongside Kundun and The Hours.

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1 minute ago, Baby Jane Hudson said:

 

You've got that right. I hate that stupid redundant "in my opinion" saying.

 

I don't really care either way if someone decides to include it in their own posts.   But yeah, someone else saying "in your opinion" is incredibly redundant.

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3 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

 

I don't really care either way if someone decides to include it in their own posts.   But yeah, someone else saying "in your opinion" is incredibly redundant.

 

Oh of course, when the schoolmarm, language police show up to remind you that you're meant to say it are just as bad.

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3 minutes ago, KK said:

I would make the same argument in that case as well. Of the bunch you listed, only The Hours makes a good album experience for me. I have little patience for The Illusionist, and Mishima runs too long as an album. Notes on a Scandal is about as close to perfect as Glass got with his film score albums, alongside Kundun and The Hours.

 

I'm listening to Scandal now and certain passages remind me of The Illusionist. I think the latter also has its fair share of background music.

 

I'd say the Scandal album has too little variation for its 50 min. running time. When it comes to Mishima, the variation between tracks makes it an interesting listening experience to the end. I'd rank the Runaway Horses track as one of Glass' best works.

 

In my opinion, the Kundun score has waaay too little variation and details in it, which makes it a boring listening experience. It's like a nice rough draft where the composer didn't have the time to do the necessary refinement. I sold my copy on eBay :)

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Scandal and Illusionist are indeed quite similar, but the former has a lot more range and personality, so it comes off as the more entertaining work for me. And it's funny you say that, because I hear a lot more variation in Scandal than I do in most Glass scores. Plus it features one of the best climaxes of his film music career.

 

And yes, Kundun isn't the most diverse album musically, but its succinct enough for its hypnotic temperament to not have worn out its welcome.

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13 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

 

I don't really care either way if someone decides to include it in their own posts.   But yeah, someone else saying "in your opinion" is incredibly redundant.

 

Well, it just sounds a bit kindergarten-like to say This score is better than all the others. That's all. But hey, I don't know the age of all people posting here. :D

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Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow by Edward Shearmur

 

Arsène Lupin by Debbie Wiseman

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1 minute ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

Well, it just sound a bit kindergarten-like to say This score is better than all the others. That's all. But hey, I don't know the age of all people posting here. :D

 

Well, I think that the context of my post makes it quite clear that it was my opinion that that score was better than the ones you listed. I apologize for not having attached a 10-page disclaimer clarifying this.

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Just now, KK said:

 

Well, I think that the context of my post makes it quite clear that it was my opinion that that score was better than the ones you listed. I apologize for not having attached a 10-page disclaimer clarifying this.

 

Apology accepted :D

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1 hour ago, KK said:

 

Well, I think that the context of my post makes it quite clear that it was my opinion that that score was better than the ones you listed. I apologize for not having attached a 10-page disclaimer clarifying this.

 

I'd also like to apologize - I didn't mean to sound like a troll. I just cannot stomach people who think they've got the answer to everything - amongst which I think you're not. Let's agree that Philip Glass knows how to make good music, and it's good he writes music to satisfy people with different taste!

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7 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

I'd also like to apologize - I didn't mean to sound like a troll. I just cannot stomach people who think they've got the answer to everything - amongst which I think you're not. Let's agree that Philip Glass knows how to make good music, and it's good he writes music to satisfy people with different taste!

 

No worries friend! Apologies if I came off as such. And yes, Glass is one cool dude!

 

6 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

KK tends to be like that. He's JWFAN's Mr. Nice Guy.

 

Aww shucks! You just get me, don't you? :wub:

 

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:music: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Trevor Jones. This is one comic book/"superhero" score of the modern era that everyone seems to be ignoring. For a good reason, of course, given how godawful this film is. But the score itself, while not a masterpiece of any kind, does offer some fun muscular orchestral material performed by the LSO. The album itself is a big of a mixed bag but there's enough enjoyable material on it to warrant some attention.

 

 

 

Karol

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8 hours ago, KK said:

 

Notes on a Scandal is a better film score than all of those. I'd rank the ones you listed as follows:

 

1) Notes on a Scandal

2) The Hours

3) The Illusionist

4) Mishima --> this worked best in its concert format anyway (String Quartet No. 3)

 

Granted, I will concede that Notes on a Scandal is the least notorious of the bunch.

 

Kundun is my favorite score of his career and I love how the album feels like one big, consistent orchestral work. And the atmosphere it conveys, as others have said, is quite hypnotic. I'm also very fond of The Secret Agent

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Chinatown - Jerry Goldsmith

Sphere - Elliot Goldenthal

2010  - David Shire

The Lion in Winter - John Barry

 

Haven't had much free time lately - mostly falling asleep to the above, not even complete listens.  Still need to hear the full Justice League deal.

 

10 hours ago, KK said:

I have little patience for The Illusionist

 

I like The Illusionist.  Idiot!

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18 hours ago, Richard said:

THE RUSSIA HOUSE, by Jerry Goldsmith.

Well, this is nothing less than a class act. Sly, humorous, tense, suspenseful, sultry, sexy, and downright gorgeous.

It's a quintessential piece of work, by a master craftsman, at the very top of his game.

In a funny/sad way, I'm almost glad that he's not here to hear how film modern music is being flushed, constantly, down the shitter. I suspect that he wouldn't have a good word to say about it, and more power to him, for it!

Good ole Jerry. I miss this man more, with each passing year.

 

 

I remember buying the album as I chanced upon it in a CD store in Rome years ago and I am glad I got it. Such a great score of measured suspense and with a gorgeous part sultry part yearning love theme.

 

But I thought the film was a dull bore.

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Dreamcatcher - James Newton Howard

 

Better than i expected (the complete score is a drag, of course, but at 100 minutes, what isn't?). It's harsher, more uncompromising than the Shymalayan scores but features some of the same imprints. Some of the textural choices are surprisingly original, brief though they often are. It's hard to select a few highlights because the whole thing is so organic - you must stomach a fair share of rumbling, dissonant and even aleatoric passages and there isn't much in the way of 'The Great Eatlon' to salvate the listener. Still, for genre fans it's a forgotten gem that clearly was not just phoned in (like many more recent JNH scores).

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Grand Piano by Victor Ryes. Only 5 tracks (32 mins), but the music is quite stylish and suspenseful, although the composer rips off several romantic piano concertos. The end is unfortunately an anticlimax.

 

 

 

 

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It's probably his most comprehensive score. The closest he's gotten to the "complete package", if you will. It has a bit of everything.

 

The scale of the whole thing is quite impressive actually.

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5 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

 

I listened to this one just last night!  Easily my most listened to T. Newman album that I own.

The Shawshank Redemption, Road to Perdition and Oscar and Lucinda also belong to that list for me.

 

But Angels in America is the best showcase of everything Thomas Newman.

 

Lincoln by John Williams


The Book Thief by John Williams

 

Nerakhoon (The Betrayal) by Howard Shore

 

The Lion in Winter by Richard Hartley

 

Assassin's Creed Syndicate by Austin Wintory

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1 minute ago, Incanus said:

The Shawshank Redemption, Road to Perdition and Oscar and Lucinda belong to that list for me.

 

Shawshank is definitely in competition for most listened to.  After that, probably Little Women and Bridge of Spies (which I listened to quite a lot last year) come closest.

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ShawshankRoad to PerditionAngels in America and Series of Unfortunate Events for me I think. They make his best albums.

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Who can blame him? He's in his 80s, well past his creative prime and still writing in a rather restrictive style. He doesn't owe us anything bold or original. He's done his service for the music scene. We'll always have his classics to turn back to.

 

Doesn't make scores like this any less a chore to sit through though.

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