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

[alicebrallice 134]

to kill a mockingbird - elmer bernstein: lovely score! I like it a lot.

how to train your dragon - john powell: sigh... I tried to stay away, I tried to take a break... but the force was too strong and I was too weak.

[publicist 4,643]

And, thanks to Spotify:

SKYFALL - Thomas Newman

After causing hysterical shouting matches here and elsewhere, Mr. Newman might be relieved that MY only real gripe with this score release is...tadaa!...it's length. Condensed to 45 minutes, it is indeed a stylish and well-orchestrated action score which biggest 'fault' might lie in the fact that it thrives on musical microcells and instrumental colourings which might offend those considering themselves the grail keepers of THE BOND SOUND (which special relevance eludes me). Over the course of 77 minutes, the score does drag - like most other scores at such a length - a problem easily solved by some judicious editing.

So, while it indeed does not bring the sky about to fall, most of the badmouthing seems to be fueled by surreal expectations and general incompability to a musical style which may sound a bit too wee after 15 years of more sledgehammer-y Arnold concoctions...both approaches have their faults and virtues (Arnold is more loyal to the concept of an overarching theme for each score, which does help to make his scores recognizeable despite of his unsophisticated action writing).

[crocodile 8,000]

Dragonslayer

Lawrence of Arabia

Die Hard

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Princess Mononoke - Symphonic Suite.

Karol

[Incanus 5,714]

I'll have to take a listen of this Skyfall to hear what is all the hulabaloo around it about.

[crocodile 8,000]

It's quite a solid action score, if not for all those cheesy dated outbursts of 60's chords.

Karol - who forgot to say he's also listening a lot to that recent release of King Kong

[JoeinAR 1,949]

The Amazing Spiderman is being spun in the car for the last several days. quite nice

[Incanus 5,714]

So he finally was caught in his own web and in Joey's car no less. How ironic.

[Wojo 2,453]

Stefan has a car?

[Incanus 5,714]

Damn I was completely fooled by the avatar, which Joey took to baffle Ren. It works on other people as well.

Original post corrected!

The Amazing Spiderman

[Wojo 2,453]

I still prefer Elfman's score to The Plain and Ordinary Spider-Man.

[Faleel 5,346]

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks: The Score Album - Koji Kondo, Toru Mineghishi, Asuka Ohta, Manaka Tominaga

[JoeinAR 1,949]

I still prefer Elfman's score to The Plain and Ordinary Spider-Man.

I only own one elfman score, Batman.

[Jay 37,346]

No interest at all in Batman Returns, Edward Scissorhands, or The Nightmare Before Christmas?

[JoeinAR 1,949]

actually now that I think of it I do have two. I have Batman Returns.

Edward Scissorhands is nice too. So is Sleepy Hollow.

[MrJosh 892]

I listened to the almighty soundtrack of all times (if you ask my dad): TITANIC.

I hate to say it, but it just wasn't fun to listen to this time, my attention started to wander. Its not because the music is bad....its because my dad played that ost nonstop back when it first came out!!! Titanic overload!

How can I remedy this situation? I thought that after not listening to it for 2 years that it would be more fresh and fun to hear....i guess 2 years was not long enough.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

I listened to the almighty soundtrack of all times (if you ask my dad): TITANIC.

I hate to say it, but it just wasn't fun to listen to this time, my attention started to wander. Its not because the music is bad....its because my dad played that ost nonstop back when it first came out!!! Titanic overload!

How can I remedy this situation? I thought that after not listening to it for 2 years that it would be more fresh and fun to hear....i guess 2 years was not long enough.

it's been 15 years since it came out how can it be overload after 15 years.

btw your dad has great taste.

[MrJosh 892]

Well iTunes told me I hadn't listened to it in two years. I've listened to it off and on through the years. But this is the first time I couldn't really get into it. Maybe it was just an off day... or I shouldn't have put so many jalapenos in my dinner that night. Who knows!

[crocodile 8,000]

Skyfall by Thomas Newman

My first listen didn't convince me. So I decided to give it another chance and, to my surprise, I'm actually mostly enjoying what I'm hearing. My initial disappointment came from the fact I wanted Thomas Newman to go all orchestral. He's clearly one of the most talented composers working on film and, while I like his music, it would be so cool to hear him do something like that. His harmonic language and orchestrations are so unique. I guess I just wanted to hear that applied to an action film like this. Occasionally, you could hear some hints of this typical gorgeous bittersweet writing with some cool references to Bond canon. Altough, they are often buried under percussion (both live and sampled) so it might seem weaker than it actually is. But the truth is it is all done pretty well. I cracked at a the typically Newman-esque variation on Bond theme at the beginning of Brave New World. Priceless. It's not what I wanted, but much better than most people say.

Karol

[Taikomochi 1,136]

I listened to the almighty soundtrack of all times (if you ask my dad): TITANIC.

I hate to say it, but it just wasn't fun to listen to this time, my attention started to wander. Its not because the music is bad....its because my dad played that ost nonstop back when it first came out!!! Titanic overload!

How can I remedy this situation? I thought that after not listening to it for 2 years that it would be more fresh and fun to hear....i guess 2 years was not long enough.

Ha! My dad did the same thing. It had to take a 12 year break from it, not 2. It sounds relatively fresh to me, now, though.

[Faleel 5,346]

The Hero of Time - George R Powell

some nice moments, but nowhere near the level of Kondo.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Jaws 2, played the Water Kite Sequence over and over.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Great cue

[Matt C 452]

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

It's deliciously frenetic, bombastic, and enjoyable as can be. It's an exhausting listen, but cues like "Anything Goes" (it sounds better in Cantonese than it does in English), "Nightclub Brawl", "Map/Out of Fuel", "Nocturnal Activities", "Bug Tunnel/Death Trap", "Slave Children's Crusade" and "Mine Car Chase" just cement this score from me. I don't think Williams has ever done a score this complex and in-your-face since then, and wow do I love it.

[Admiral Holdo 16]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

If all you know of 007 is David Arnold and Thomas Newman, you're missing out on some of the best music of the latter 20th century. This might be my favorite Barry Bond; there's a charming laidback spirit to it, but when it leaps into action, it doesn't mess around. Great stuff.

[Hlao-roo 389]

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

It's deliciously frenetic, bombastic, and enjoyable as can be. It's an exhausting listen, but cues like "Anything Goes" (it sounds better in Cantonese than it does in English), "Nightclub Brawl", "Map/Out of Fuel", "Nocturnal Activities", "Bug Tunnel/Death Trap", "Slave Children's Crusade" and "Mine Car Chase" just cement this score from me. I don't think Williams has ever done a score this complex and in-your-face since then, and wow do I love it.

It's Mandarin Chinese.

[crocodile 8,000]

Wanted

Standard Operating Procedure

Hellboy 2

Milk

Man, 2008 was a knockout year for Elfman. All of the above are great in their own way. Sadly, 2012 sounds nothing like that...

Karol

[Hlao-roo 389]

Sadly, 2012 sounds nothing like that...

He's a more mature composer now than he was then!

[Faleel 5,346]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

It says posted Image.

Dr. No Monty Norman

Goldfinger - John Barry

[Incanus 5,714]

Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone: Supremely beautiful and lyrical experience, which Morricone's brilliant new orchestrations of his most beautiful melodies and Ma's soulful and warm performance raise to another level of excellence.

[Faleel 5,346]

The Two Towers - Howard Shore

[Matt C 452]

It's Mandarin Chinese.

For some reason, I thought it was Cantonese.

[Brónach 1,302]

John Carter

I've become a big fan of this score.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

It's my favourite score of 2012 so far.

[Brónach 1,302]

I think mine too. I don't know why, but it only takes a few seconds of it to capture my imagination completely.

[Incanus 5,714]

I should take another listen of the score. I wonder how well the finale of the film is represented on the album as I somehow feel it is missing something to make it entirely satisfying.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Jay 37,346]

John Carter was my favorite score of the year but I think its Rise Of The Guardians now. Amazing Spiderman, Brave, and Grabbers are up there as well.... and Lincoln of course. But I'll never listen to Lncoln as much as all those others.

And Miles, your image didn't show up. Gotta mirror it to imageshack or something before posting on forums, they don't allow hotlinking.

[alicebrallice 134]

John Carter was my favorite score of the year but I think its Rise Of The Guardians now. Amazing Spiderman, Brave, and Grabbers are up there as well.... and Lincoln of course. But I'll never listen to Lncoln as much as all those others.

wow!

[Incanus 5,714]

John Carter by Michael Giacchino: I just watched the film and while it was rather inconsequential it gave the music some extra resonance. I took another listen of the score and connected with the music a bit better this time than previously. Giacchino has really composed one of his most appealing film scores here thusfar.

The Right of Challenge

[Brónach 1,302]

I love Giacchino going insane in some cues.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Pino Donaggio's Carrie

Love this 5 star score.

[Incanus 5,714]

I should really take a listen to that score and Donaggio's work in general. I have to admit that this Italian maestro is quite unknown to me.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I like his score for Blow Out. Can't say I'm familiar with any of his other scores.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

I love Dressed to Kill and Tourist trap.

[crocodile 8,000]

Quo Vadis

Another hooray for Tadlow/Prometheus. It's a really good score actually and the recording/performance is clearly a labor of love. The music itself feels somewhat different from the later epics penned by Rozsa (maybe it's just me). There is something a bit more intimate about it, lot of beautiful woodwind solos and stuff like that (as opposed to more consistently massive Ben-Hur or El Cid), sometimes also quite noir-ish (for the lack of better word). Maybe it is simply a voice of a composer still new to this kind of a genre. It makes for a very varied and strong listening experience. I also really like all the source material.

Karol

[crocodile 8,000]

Daddy Snoozeman graces my ears this lazy morning.

[media=]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkiRPi5-FBk&noredirect=1

and several others.

Karol

[Incanus 5,714]

Good choices

Also Quo Vadis must have been a blast. No one writes those epics like Miklós.

[Romão 2,274]

And as the first of its kind for Rozsa, it really does have a freshness to it. I love use of period melodies throughout the thing, the themes are for the most part achingly beautiful and very reflective. Also, the action music does not become so tiresome as it does at times in Ben Hur and El Cid. This one probably is my favorite Rozsa epic, and I still haven't even received nor heard the Tadlow (fingers crosses for today)

[Incanus 5,714]

Empire of the Sun by John Williams: A very beautiful and challenging score from Williams. Despite the very different approach in comparison with the previous Spielberg/Williams thematic ballets, this sparsely and subtly thematic score is a masterful distillation of the essence of the soul of the film, at times heart rendingly tragic and at others poignantly uplifting. Williams delves into the inner world of the main protagonist Jim with unusual depth, the music an expression of his view and understanding of the world, the music flitting from joyous, awe inspiring, haunting and lyrical boys choir music to gentle home and hearth of classical piano repertoire (memories of mother and a home) and to angst, fear and panic driven orchestral bursts. Williams' theme for Jim's dreams of flight heard in Cadillac of the Skies (which transforms into theme for yearning for freedom and the general expression of the boy's spirit) weaves into the music only at the most important moments and really strengthens its significance when it does appear. Exsultate Justi, a gloriously jubilant but also curiously out of place faux-Baroque choral chant seems to convey Jim's choral back ground (he sings in a boys choir in the film) but also like part of the unconscious bleeds into his moment of joy and gratitude for being set free from his trapped existence by the American soldiers toward the end of the film and forms a cathartic release at the end of the album, presented in an extended end credits guise to celebrate the main character's rescue and salvation. The Japanese element in the film is portrayed quite similarly as it will be in Memoirs of a Geisha but here Williams writes exotic, alien and sparse music for shakuhachi and assorted percussion of which the Pheasant Hunt is an example on the album, almost purely atmospheric and rather a challenging listen on its own, but at the same time it illustrates the way Jim sees these people, alien and scary.

It is really a terrific score on the album as well with haunting orchestral and choral moments ranging from deep joy to harrowing sorrow. Damn now I feel I have to write another Incanalysis!

[Admiral Holdo 16]

Skyfall

Objectively awful, as it doesn't fit with my preconceived notions of what a Bond score should be.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, I enjoyed that. Now that I've made a bit of fun...

Definitely a more rhythmic approach than thematic (though I did notice a couple of recurring figures, albeit nothing standout), which is par for the course with Thomas Newman. To his credit, he doesn't stifle his own voice (nor should he have), but he tips his cap to Barry enough for it to fit in the Bond universe. I can't speak for its accused similarity to the Bourne scores (haven't seen, don't care) but anyone comparing it to Zimmer should consider getting their ears cleaned. It's very well-written, with enough variation between the various orchestra sections and electronics to keep things interesting (helped considerably by the crystal-clear recording and mix). It does run a bit long for its own good, and the lack of title song integration hurts it; a 40-minute assembly plus Adele's song would be a fantastic listen.

Highlights: New Digs, Komodo Dragon, She's Mine, Breadcrumbs, Mother