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Does John Powell kick John Williams's ass?


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Powell versus Williams  

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  1. 1. Which is the superior action-adventure score?

    • How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
      11
    • The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011)
      44


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I know I shouldn't be answering this seriously, but I think it's practically impossible compare Williams to Powell, or viceversa. Speaking as a personal fan of both, their styles are very different... Williams is much more clasically oriented in the sense that he uses the orchestra in a traditional an organic way. He's always playing around with the tempo too, something that Powell rarely does because of his passion with rythm and percussion. And that's something we love about him: His sense of rythm.

Williams doesn't like to stay with the same tempo over an entire piece. He likes to change it constantly, challenging the players like it was a classical/romantic piece of music.

They both have their pros and cons, but it's impossible to compare these two scores. Now, if Williams would have composed Avatar, then we could compare...

A better comparison would be Horner vs Powell, or Elfman vs Powell.

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This thread will end gracefully.

But before the implosion, I'll say that I prefer HTTYD. It doesn't suffer from Williams' curious step back from his usual theme-oriented approach, and it's also just so much damn fun.

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No active composer is even remotely close to JW's level right now. But what about...

David Arnold? no.

Harry Gregson-Williams? no.

John Powell? no.

Hans Zimmer and his Remote Control Buddies? Please.

Gustavo Santaolalla? Most definitely not.

Danny Elfman? Getting closer but no.

James Horner? Same as Elfman

Alan Silvestri? Same as Elfman.

Michael Giacchino? Same as Elfman.

Howard Shore? Same as Elfman.

Joe Hisaishi? Maybe.

Ennio Morricone? Maybe.

Jerry Goldsmith(if still active)? Maybe.

List goes on and on...

But the bottomline is JW has at least 20 more years of film scoring experience on most of these other young'uns.

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But the bottomline is JW has at least 20 more years of film scoring experience on most of these other young'uns.

The question is Do modern composers trounce modern williams?

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The thread is wrong, it's Harry Gregson Williams that kicks JW's ass

The Narnia scores prove it

Od course. And also he has a double last name. John can't compare.

Karol

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John Williams' Tintin shows a level of intelligence that certainly no Powell or Gregson-Williams could even remotely come close to. You guys are preferring McDonalds over fine cuisine.

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If Tintin is mediocre then I want to be able to write mediocre music.

:thumbup:

The comment I would make to this (which again many people may not agree which are so enthusiastic about Tintin):

Tintin score might be mediocre comparing to the Williams standards.

But comparing to scores of other composers it certainly is much much superior..

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If Tintin is mediocre then I want to be able to write mediocre music.

Well said! :thumbup:, Tintin can't be considered mediocre (it's forbidden saying it).

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In the case of these two scores I've got to say that I love them both. HTTYD is raw, powerful, emotive, direct. TSOTU is quirky, funny, adventurous, mysterious, and asks you to get "into it" in order to get the adrenaline.

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Melodically, HTTYD is very appealing. No doubt there. But when it comes to the medium of film music, I am equally intrigued by traditional, profound orchestral writing. On this level, Powell lacks so much and therefore I have about as much interest in his score as I have in the latest Coldplay album. I enjoy them on another level. The artform, the tradition of film scoring, that people like Williams, Goldsmith, Barry or Morriconne carried on even though more modernistic standards were set by guys like Zimmer is what motivates my fascination for film music. HTTYD is almost another genre to me, film music that is always inferior to the works of Goldsmith, Williams or a Poledouris.

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If Tintin is mediocre then I want to be able to write mediocre music.

:thumbup:

The comment I would make to this (which again many people may not agree which are so enthusiastic about Tintin):

Tintin score might be mediocre comparing to the Williams standards.

But comparing to scores of other composers it certainly is much much superior..

Tintin stands a pretty good chance with Williams standards when you consider the enormous thematic integrity and the general spirit of the score. Its been one of his best scores in a while.

HTTYD is an awesome score mind you, for its melodic power and its entertainment value. But Tintin does the entertaining while remaining acting as a highly intellectual composition. Its kind of like how someone else compared them to food. When compared to Tintin, HTTYD would be like fast food, highly enjoyable but low on quality while Tintin would be lie something served by Gordon Ramsay.

- KK

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Also Stever Jablondsky's recent masterpieces with the Transformers scores have made me doubt of Williams status

even Crushercomix has converted

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Powell is a good film composer, Williams is a good composer.

Powell is a film composer.

Williams is a good composer.

Zimmer and his Remote Control buddies are technicians.

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Where's Santaolalla when you need him?

Karol

Preparing his speech for the next Oscars. I am sure his accidental guitar twanging for no particular movie will earn him his 3rd golden statuette.

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some tense political drama with George Clooney ? I'm sure that could win

Ides of March is smothered in oscar bait. I saw the film last weekend and it would be impossible to make a film more patriotic.

And I'd actually support Desplat - the score's good and could be nominated. It's just sad that it would be mainly for the wrong reason.

And hey, 4 other people like Powell more than Williams... :wave:

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. HTTYD is almost another genre to me, film music that is always inferior to the works of Goldsmith, Williams or a Poledouris.

Well said, I complete 100%.

And there it is. Wasn't there someone who doubted that this doesn't get said all the time? John Goldfarb, Please Come Home is superior than anything else ever written by anyone else?

When compared to Tintin, HTTYD would be like fast food, highly enjoyable but low on quality while Tintin would be lie something served by Gordon Ramsay.

- KK

How can you enjoy something that is low quality? That's a contradiction.

Tintin is a run-of-the-mill score, it retreads everything Williams has done before. He brings nothing new to the table.

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Well, HTTYD, while being a great score, isn't the most original thing ever. Its approach is basically the same as any other MV score (with a few new ideas), it's just executed so skillfully that it is much more enjoyable than the average MV score. Tintin, on the other hand, does bring several new ideas to the table. "Adventures of Tintin" is absolutely not a retread of "Catch Me If You Can," the similarities are superficial at best. The two are completely different pieces in terms of instrumentation, mood, intensity, and structure. The jerky stop-and-go motion of "The Adventure Continues" is unlike anything I've heard Williams write. And of course the French-sounding music of "Milanese NIghtingale" is new. I'm not very familiar with the score yet so those are the only three examples I can remember off the top of my head, but I remember thinking the entire score was pretty fresh while listening to it.

And the tools that Williams uses to execute these creative ideas are much more developed than Powell's - it's the difference between decades of extra experience, but also being trained classically and being trained by a rock and roll music producer (that's not a knock against Zimmer or Powell, it's just the truth).

HTTYD is certainly better than some of JW's scores, but not Tintin.

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No active composer is even remotely close to JW's level right now. But what about...

David Arnold? no.

Harry Gregson-Williams? no.

John Powell? no.

Hans Zimmer and his Remote Control Buddies? Please.

Gustavo Santaolalla? Most definitely not.

Danny Elfman? Getting closer but no.

James Horner? Same as Elfman

Alan Silvestri? Same as Elfman.

Michael Giacchino? Same as Elfman.

Howard Shore? Same as Elfman.

Joe Hisaishi? Maybe.

Ennio Morricone? Maybe.

Jerry Goldsmith(if still active)? Maybe.

List goes on and on...

But the bottomline is JW has at least 20 more years of film scoring experience on most of these other young'uns.

Howard Shore is certainly close to JW's level. 1980-2003 Alan Silvestri is close too (not his newer RC influenced scores).

I wouldn't say Hans Zimmer is a bad composer, i would say he's "Getting closer but no".

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I still would prefer TINTIN over the Powell score (which goes insanely loud at too many points), but his approach and orchestrational choices are not more or less apt than Williams romantic-era style. Fluttering flutes, racing strings and lots of tremolos do not make a work great, per se (certainly not if 90% of your score consist of so well-trodden ground as TINTIN).

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I still would prefer TINTIN over the Powell score (which goes insanely loud at too many points), but his approach and orchestrational choices are not more or less apt than Williams romantic-era style.

And from there, you lost me.

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I still would prefer TINTIN over the Powell score (which goes insanely loud at too many points), but his approach and orchestrational choices are not more or less apt than Williams romantic-era style.

And from there, you lost me.

Of course i did. It must feel as if some religious deity is brutally destroyed - i only take solace in the fact that the most devoted JW fans usually are more sedate than the usual middle-east zealot. :biglaugh:

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Tintin is a run-of-the-mill score, it retreads everything Williams has done before. He brings nothing new to the table.

As opposed to HYTAD? Which is totally original in every respect? What does it do that has not been done in either the animation or fantasy genre Koray?

Tintin does not break new ground for JW (why would someone expect a 79 year old composer to change his style), but it does show, in a very painful way that the current crop of composers, including the good ones like Giachino, Arnold, Powell etc.... don't write orchestral music with the same depth, poise and complexity that Williams does even at his advanced age.

It gets worse if you realize that Tintin isn't even a score that requires any deep emotional writing

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. HTTYD is almost another genre to me, film music that is always inferior to the works of Goldsmith, Williams or a Poledouris.

Well said, I complete 100%.

And there it is. Wasn't there someone who doubted that this doesn't get said all the time? John Goldfarb, Please Come Home is superior than anything else ever written by anyone else?

Typical. Placing an argument out of context and stretching it to an extreme. The only way some people can keep their heads above water it seems. Why not read the entire post that quote originates from..?

Tintin is a run-of-the-mill score, it retreads everything Williams has done before. He brings nothing new to the table.

As opposed to HYTAD? Which is totally original in every respect? What does it do that has not been done in either the animation or fantasy genre Koray?

Tintin does not break new ground for JW (why would someone expect a 79 year old composer to change his style), but it does show, in a very painful way that the current crop of composers, including the good ones like Giachino, Arnold, Powell etc.... don't write orchestral music with the same depth, poise and complexity that Williams does even at his advanced age.

It gets worse if you realize that Tintin isn't even a score that requires any deep emotional writing

Agree 100%.

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