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

[Naïve Old Fart 9,516]

No-one knows who Bansky is, that the whole point. I do agree with you, though, he is a douchebag, who produces little more than crass cartoons which, somehow, people think are social commentary. 

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Sounds like a famous outlaw to me

[Naïve Old Fart 9,516]

Believe me, Stu, he's not. He's an ejit.

 

 

BB, are you talking about Robin Hood, or, perhaps, Dick Turpin?

[KK 3,307]

15 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

I like to think there is...

 

Maybe on the day you'll finally listen to that magnificent score that one British composer wrote for England's most famous outlaw... Maybe then will there be a reconciliation...

 

[Marian Schedenig 8,192]

2 hours ago, BloodBoal said:

Add Lady In The Water to that and you're good to go.

 

Nah. None of the others are a match for it.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,516]

2 hours ago, KK said:

 

Sorry, I'm still none the wiser.

[Snake Plissken 10]

Blade Runner 2049

Personally hated it

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Army of Shadows - Éric Demarsan

 

Posted about this in my write-up for the "Last Film Watched (Older Films)" thread, but listened to the OST again this morning.  I am completely unfamiliar with Demarsan outside of the two scores he wrote for Jean-Pierre Melville (the other being for Le cercle rouge).

 

This is very good and really captures the mysterious, tragic tone of the film.

 

Recommended for the curious!

 

 

[KK 3,307]

Blade Runner 2049 by Benjamin Wallfisch and Hans Zimmer

 

Well that was disappointing. Occasionally interesting Vangelis hues and colours aside, there really isn't much to come back to. Certainly not enough to warrant a 2 CD release. Wallfisch's central four-chord idea isn't strong enough to sustain the score as its backbone. The other main melodic idea, introduced in "Someone Lived This", is stronger, though it seems to have been lifted from Mychael Danna's Life of Pi. Other than that, the setpieces, both in the atmospheric and action department are just not that interesting.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Does it sound like a score that was thrown together in a few weeks?

[Jay 37,351]

I listened to that too and thought it was really boring

[KK 3,307]

6 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

Does it sound like a score that was thrown together in a few weeks?

I'm not sure. It's well produced, but there isn't any real meat to chew on. They've emulated certain Vangelis colours well, but that's about it. Emulation (with the necessary modern embellishments you would expect from Zimmer & co) without capturing the real otherworldly scope of the original Vangelis. And there isn't really any one cue I would recommend to sample it either.

 

I'm someone who can enjoy atmospheric scores, but I agree with Jay, this one's a bit of a snoozefest. Maybe it needs another spin or two, but I can't be bothered at the moment.

 

Johannsson should have stayed on board!

 

- KK, who's going to play Arrival instead 

 

[Disco Stu 15,495]

As I said in the other thread, I was a bored but I'll withhold final judgment til I see the film.  I had a similar thing with Interstellar where I thought it was boring before I saw the movie and loved it after.

[Faleel 5,346]

Kung Fu Panda 2 - Hans Zimmer,  John Powell, Lorne Balfe, Paul Mounsey et al.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Blade Runner is supposed to be boring. Right?

 

Anyway, on the subject of boring, I've been listening to a score that's anything but. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial!

 

Now there's a Williams score!

[Bespin 8,480]

is it a JW forum? Not many JW scores listened... hum... hum...

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

King Solomon's Mines

 

In condensed form, I feel this is a superior adventure score to Raiders. Goldsmith just manages to capture the romance of federa hats, leather jackets and beautiful women in a way that John Williams never seemed to manage.

 

Supergirl

 

The expanded is great, but this OST is addictive. While everyone else is out sucking up to John Williams for that overrated hackwork he did in '78, Goldsmith proved he was superior once more with this monument to grace, beauty, adventure and heroism. Marvelous work.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,516]

4 hours ago, The Doctor said:

Blade Runner is supposed to be boring. Right?

 

The BLADE RUNNER score is a fucking transcendent experience, and one of the finest extended pieces of music, ever written for the cinema.

[publicist 4,643]

14 hours ago, KK said:

I'm not sure. It's well produced, but there isn't any real meat to chew on. They've emulated certain Vangelis colours well, but that's about it. Emulation (with the necessary modern embellishments you would expect from Zimmer & co) without capturing the real otherworldly scope of the original Vangelis. And there isn't really any one cue I would recommend to sample it either.

 

After seeing the movie i can sagely say that the score fails / was asked to fail at setting any musical accents. Apart from some expertly handled Vangelis synths emulations (purely of atmospheric nature) they re-did 'Tears in the Rain' in an obvious homage and the whole film lit up: such aspirations to play a vital part in the movie's DNA the Wallfisch/Zimmer never has. But it's not doing harm, either. So it's just a score that isn't really useful beyond the picture.

[Incanus 5,714]

On the Beach by Christopher Gordon: While the film itself is obscure the score shouldn't be as Gordon really captures both the humane poignancy and beauty and the tumult, horror and sorrow of a dying world in the story with his gorgeous orchestral music. Highlights abound from the sunnier spots during the opening half and the whole final "Burial Cloud" suite with multiple movements of orchestral and choral elegies, beautifully soaring interludes and a calm even optimistic end credits suite.

 

Angela's Ashes by John Williams: This still remains in my personal John Williams top 3. Goes straight to the soul.

[Bespin 8,480]

Thriller Selection.

- The Towering Inferno (Reissued for digital download in 2014, Rhino)
- The Fury [Expanded Original Motion Picture Score] (1978) (2013, La-La Land Records, LLLCD 1238; London SO/Williams)
- Presumed Innocent [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] (1990, Varèse Sarabande, VSD-5280)

 

[Bilbo 3,709]

Lincoln. 

 

I really like it! 

 

[publicist 4,643]

 

Ben-Hur - Miklos Rózsa

 

I can keep this short and sweet: another painstakingly accurate re-recording in expansive modern sound by Tadlow of an old Rózsa war horse that only suffers by said score's overpresence. Since most people own this in multiple versions it really depends on your devotion to the score's many distinct themes if you will stand in line for more of them (it's great though i still prefer El Cid, Sodom and Thief of Bagdad). It's of course brilliantly composed and one thing i noticed is how wonderfully mellow-if-dramatic the third act actually is - surprisingly, it's populated with lepers and crucifixions. So finally there's a 20-minute closure that's worthy of this grad epic. 

 

So since i got a good deal on Musicbox it's next on to E.T.!

[nightscape94 965]

The Accidental Tourist - John Williams

 

I have to admit that I have never listened to this score all the way through.  I had listened to the main theme a time or two over the years, but never dug into it from beginning to end.  The main theme is very malleable to fit many moods, and it never grows stale in its many uses throughout, but after hearing the whole thing, it's definitely a score I have to be in a specific state of mind for.  Thankfully I seemed to be in the right one.

 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,516]

It's an absolutely beautiful score, which currently resides at #7 on my all-time top-ten JW list.

[Faleel 5,346]

+1!

[publicist 4,643]

 

E.T. - John Williams

 

One of those obligatory hits that make or break your blossoming love with either Spielberg/Williams, especially if you came via the more ambivalent movies of the 70's. It's hard - impossible, even - to rate it properly when you're an adult because it's experienced best when you're young and maybe that's where the experience should end. I saw E. T. in an bulgarian cinema in 1987 and while it wasn't a movie i fell in love with i adored how 'operatic' it felt, even when i had no idea back then what that meant or how it was achieved. Seeing the movie much later again on tv and skimming it on Netflix i found it divided into three impressions: part calculated, white-bread american product, part raw emotions that work you over if you want or not, part little masterclasses of how an insulated scene or set piece should be put together cinematically. It just never coalesced into a great movie and remained in that irritatingly divisive state ever since.

 

With that in mind i approached the new LLL album apprehensively: i remain in the camp that found the old MCA one of the best retellings of a score in another medium but even then, whenever that flying theme pops up i tune out. It's one part of the movie that works that very first time but now feels like hearing Dancing Queen or Last Christmas at a party and dreading all those beats it motions through till it hope- and thankfully ends (which is not to say they're not great songs, but y'know). It's one of those 'beloved' pieces you have to sit through in almost every film music concert or compilation, and frankly, i don't ever need to hear it again. The melody runs too long, is too saccharine and doesn't sound like it's from the inside but a shrewdly calculated sales device (a trap Williams occasionally falls into when working with Spielberg).

 

With that out of the way, i still adore a lot of it: the introspective 'ET. and Me' melody (the main theme for me), that questing 'stargazing' theme that opens up the movie and the almost sacral passage following it, the Herrmannesque sinister government forces motif, the surprisingly harsh, dissonant tone of the first third, the delicate, impressionist scenes of Elliot and E.T.'s first bonding scenes culminating in the great 'E.T. Phone Home' cue and the first part of the long goodbye sequence. 

 

In essence that is what i got out of the new LLL set: a very operatic score with brilliant parts i had to circumcise somewhat but the many cues to choose from made it easier to pass on, say, the bike chase, and still getting a long round album out of the basic material. I will have to live with that long, blustering coda at the end which i hate now because of its reliance on crass, ear-shattering fanfares that Williams had to be muscled into supplying ('Isn't that a bit too shameless, Steven?', Williams asking Spielberg reportedly with Spielberg answering 'Movies ARE shameless!'). While the anecdote might make people chuckle - the money windfall the movie generated validates Spielberg's claim - for me personally it seems a cop-out. It isn't expressing the tumultuous feelings of the boy but is just an overly loud demonstration of orchestral showmanship. Williams can make stuff like that work, no question, but that doesn't mean it's great - for many it is the pinnacle of the medium, so i know i'm a minority opinion here.

 

Technically the set is flawlessly produced, with maybe a bit too much modern bass rumbling going on, but compared to the many mistakes the older releases made in regards to wrong takes or bad crossfades this is a very minor complaint. I probably will never listen to these cd's after having made my own cut so some details may remain in the dark (i haven't bothered to check the alternates) but the 75 minutes i have now seem generous enough. The Universal attraction music is a nice bonus even though it isn't much more than a little greeting card from the established mid-80's Williams gestures.

[crocodile 8,006]

 E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial by John Williams. Re-arranged the album into its chronological order and that is how it'll remain in my collection. I guess this closes the book on this score.

 

Karol

[Bilbo 3,709]

21 minutes ago, crocodile said:

 E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial by John Williams. Re-arranged the album into its chronological order and that is how it'll remain in my collection. I guess this closes the book on this score.

 

Karol

 

Sonwhat you’re saying is it’s the definitive release?

[crocodile 8,006]

Yeah, I would say so. Just reading the liner notes. Yeah, now it makes sense why those 3 cues were selected to be moved to disc 2 (other than for the fact the disc already clocks at 78 minutes). Perhaps it would have been just as good of an idea to move the end credits to the beginning of disc 2. But hey, what they did for this album makes sense too. So yeah, definitive.

 

I haven't heard this score in long years. I'm not a big fan of it and I could never watch the film from start to finish. I do, however, like the original album (even if the last two tracks should switch places in the programme). I forgot how quiet and fragile most of the score is.

 

The flying theme I never cared for that much. But I absolutely adore the darker and more dissonant material.

 

Karol

[publicist 4,643]

Any reason to concern oneself with alternate versions, ie real different versions? I really feel much need to delve into cd 2.

[Bilbo 3,709]

2 hours ago, crocodile said:

Yeah, I would say so. Just reading the liner notes. Yeah, now it makes sense why those 3 cues were selected to be moved to disc 2 (other than for the fact the disc already clocks at 78 minutes). Perhaps it would have been just as good of an idea to move the end credits to the beginning of disc 2. But hey, what they did for this album makes sense too. So yeah, definitive.

 

I haven't heard this score in long years. I'm not a big fan of it and I could never watch the film from start to finish. I do, however, like the original album (even if the last two tracks should switch places in the programme). I forgot how quiet and fragile most of the score is.

 

The flying theme I never cared for that much. But I absolutely adore the darker and more dissonant material.

 

Karol

 

 

Well I'm looking forward to Christmas Day and listening to it! 

[Quintus 5,399]

The Ghost and the Darkness 

[BloodBoal 7,538]

Hehehe...

[Bilbo 3,709]

Avatar. 

 

I don't think it's one of his best scores but it's a very satisfying latter day Horner score. I enjoy it!

 

Until the Leona Lewis song comes on!

[crocodile 8,006]

That is actually one of his least horrible songs.

 

 Waterworld by James Newton Howard

 

Karol

[Bilbo 3,709]

I only know it and the Titanic song and I'd take the Titanic song any day of the week!

[crocodile 8,006]

4 minutes ago, Bilbo Skywalker said:

I only know it and the Titanic song

Oh boy, you're in for a treat.

 

 

Karol

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[crocodile 8,006]

 

I want to spend my lifetime loving @BloodBoal

 

 

Then you look at me, @publicist!

 

 

Yours forever @KK

 

Karol

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Please. Show some mercy.

 

3 hours ago, publicist said:

Any reason to concern oneself with alternate versions, ie real different versions? I really feel much need to delve into cd 2.

 

Of course. Reading your critiques of scores and their accompanying films can be like momentarily living in an alternate universe created by Biff Tannen.

 

The last minute and a half or so of alternate Far From Home/E.T. Alone is very cool. It ends with a neat rendition of the E.T. (what everyone is now referring to as "The Call" or "Stargazing") and government agent themes. You'll love it because it's less bombastic than the film version. All of the alternates seem to be.

[publicist 4,643]

If the alternate to that is living between a Disneyland queue and 'Always' reruns i gladly take Biff's world. Thanks for the recommendation though.

[Wojo 2,453]

Biff's world lost its balls seventeen years ago. 

[crocodile 8,006]

I thought we were living in the Biff's world anyway.

 

Karol

[publicist 4,643]

Since November 2016!

[KK 3,307]

2 hours ago, crocodile said:

 

 

Yours forever @KK

 

 

I got the best of the bunch...I'll take it!

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

8 minutes ago, publicist said:

Since November 2016!

 

Obama was still president.

[Simon McBride 113]

Blade Runner 2049 - Benjamin Wallfisch and Hans Zimmer

 

Boring. It just drones on and on and on. I'm sure it's serviceable in the film, but it doesn't work well on its own.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

So it's just like the original score? Which isn't very interesting outside the film.

[Simon McBride 113]

I like the original score outside the film. It's more melodic than 2049's score.