FilmManiac79 6 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 A few months ago, the YouTube channel Watchmojo posted their Top Ten Composers list. Thoughts? I'm down with #1 (as I assume most here would be)...but the rest of the list bugs me. What do you think they got wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrbellamy 6,280 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 List:01. John Williams02. Danny Elfman03. Bernard Herrmann04. Hans Zimmer05. Alan Silvestri06. Howard Shore07. James Horner08. James Newton Howard09. Jerry Goldsmith10. Ennio MorriconeHonorable Mentions: Thomas Newman, Rachel Portman, Clint Mansell, Elmer Bernstein, Alexandre Desplat, Michael Giacchino.It's okay. Pretty much the same people that are always mentioned on these things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not Mr. Big 4,639 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 I've seen worse lists.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardHall 30 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 I would include Basil Poledouris on that list and remove Howard Shore.A list of the top ten dead film composers might be interesting. Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Leonard Rosenman and Franz Waxman would definitely be on that list for me. Ricard 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedBard 71 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 The clip of Ennio Morricone they play from Days Of Heaven is actually "Aquarium" by Saint-Saëns. How embarrassing.But now I want the limited edition Mulan soundtrack with Jerry Goldsmith's score and alternate cues.And what's this? They called Horner's score for Titanic "the best-selling orchestra film soundtrack ever"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrbellamy 6,280 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 The clip of Ennio Morricone they play from Days Of Heaven is actually "Aquarium" by Saint-Saëns. How embarrassing.*sigh* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon Hill 4,234 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 And what's this? They called Horner's score for Titanic "the best-selling orchestra film soundtrack ever"? It is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedBard 71 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 And what's this? They called Horner's score for Titanic "the best-selling orchestra film soundtrack ever"? It is.So I was wrong about that. I admit it. But sales records is not an indication of how good a soundtrack is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkissimo 1,973 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Would never include Danny Elfman, Michael Giacchino and Alan Silvestri. Might feature Shore, Newton Howard and Horner if I was feeling generous, but where's Barry and North? KK and Not Mr. Big 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KK 3,307 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 North rarely ever gets the credit he deserves on these lists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedBard 71 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 North sadly rarely ever gets the credit he deserves on these lists.Because those list videos are strictly popularity contests based on the whims of those producing it, not at all reflective of the artistic merit of each film composer and their body of work.How would you have written the list ceteris paribus? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koray Savas 2,251 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 I'm okay with that list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FilmManiac79 6 Posted May 20, 2015 Author Share Posted May 20, 2015 Zimmer above Goldsmith? Now now... chuck 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not Mr. Big 4,639 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 At least Zimmer wasn't in the #1 spot... chuck 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FilmManiac79 6 Posted May 20, 2015 Author Share Posted May 20, 2015 And what's this? They called Horner's score for Titanic "the best-selling orchestra film soundtrack ever"? It is. So I was wrong about that. I admit it. But sales records is not an indication of how good a soundtrack is.I'm sure a good chunk of the people who bought it, got it solely for that damn Celine Dion song... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Titanic is a masterpiece. And sold so much more copies then any other score that its not even funny!One of the best soundtracks of the 90's. Which is a decade which is hard to beat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koray Savas 2,251 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Zimmer above Goldsmith? Now now...It's true. Dixon Hill 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicist 4,643 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Thankfully only in sales, the lowest common denominator these lists can process. That guys like Morricone and Goldsmith are always appearing as stopgaps on the tail end of these lists just goes on to show that 'genius' can't be measured by BO. chuck and Sharkissimo 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnome in Plaid 219 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Considering it's Watchmojo, this is nowhere near as bad as I would've expected. Elfman, Howard, and Silvestri wouldn't make my personal top 10 (I'd put Mansell, Kamen, and either Young or Barry instead), and I'd re-order the ones there, but this isn't really all that bad a list from people I would generally consider clueless about music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Mansell??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unlucky Bastard 7,782 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 This list should read:1. Jerry Goldsmith 2. John Williams3. James Horner4. John Barry5. Jerry Fielding6. Joseph La Duca7. John Debney8. Joel McNeely9. Joseph Bishara10. James Newton Howard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Lotta J's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloodBoal 7,538 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilal 569 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Whatever list ranks Zimmer higher than Goldsmith (and Silvestri, and Shore, and Horner, and Morricone) doesn't even deserve my attention.What about honorable mentions to North (!), Newman (Al), Rosenman, Waxman, Steiner, Korngold, ... ? Rózsa?? Ricard 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloodBoal 7,538 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muad'Dib 1,802 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 I'm pretty sure Goldsmith had absolutely nothing to do with the Mulan songs, not even the arrangements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightscape94 965 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 No real oddities on this list. Its ignorance of golden age composers is conspicuously dubious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon Hill 4,234 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 It's either ignorance of the golden age guys or a blind devotion to them. I prefer this if it has to be one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkissimo 1,973 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 With a few exceptions, I'm not too crazy about the so called Golden Age, but the Silver Age absolutely needs more love. And while I wouldn't agree with a list that included just the following (unordered by me)... Lalo Schifrin Elmer Bernstein Jerry Fielding Leonard Rosenman Hugo Friedhofer David Amram Frank DeVol Johnny Mandel Jerry Goldsmith Alex North ... I'd support it just for the fact that it would rile up the Gen Xers and Millennials who passively accept the shitty WatchMojo list, and also because it reminds us of a great now-lost tradition of uniquely American composition. When people weren't affraid to push the envelope, and the first and last time the worlds of the concert hall, jazz club and college radio converged. publicist 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unlucky Bastard 7,782 Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 Women have become big Elfman collectors after the release of 50 Shades of Grey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon Hill 4,234 Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 I only have one shade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnome in Plaid 219 Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 With a few exceptions, I'm not too crazy about the so called Golden Age, but the Silver Age absolutely needs more love.And while I wouldn't agree with a list that included just the following (unordered by me)...Lalo SchifrinElmer BernsteinJerry FieldingLeonard RosenmanHugo FriedhoferDavid AmramFrank DeVolJohnny MandelJerry GoldsmithAlex North... I'd support it just for the fact that it would rile up the Gen Xers and Millennials who passively accept the shitty WatchMojo list, and also because it reminds us of a great now-lost tradition of uniquely American composition. When people weren't affraid to push the envelope, and the first and last time the worlds of the concert hall, jazz club and college radio converged.Who's Frank DeVol? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedBard 71 Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 I'm pretty sure Goldsmith had absolutely nothing to do with the Mulan songs, not even the arrangements.You mean like how he had absolutely nothing to do with the score to The Secret of NIHM?Hey, it was either Goldsmith's sound or the "sappy and now-corny Menken sound":http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/mulan.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicist 4,643 Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 He did incorparate them sparingly, i. e. the main title. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedBard 71 Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 He did incorparate them sparingly, i. e. the main title.According to the webpage I linked:That material was...badly cut into pieces and placed together to form mini-suites of each type of music for the film, meaning that the music heard in "Attack at the Wall" or "The Huns Attack" will include material not relating to those scenes.So my guess is it wasn't so much his lack of conviction toward incorporating material, but post-production hackwork that wasn't supposed to happen.Which is even more sad given that Mulan was his last Oscar nod before he died. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicist 4,643 Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 That's rubbish. Is it off Filmtracks? Of course the material relates to those scenes though it expands them to include a prelude from a scene earlier or the consecutive cue (ATTACK AT THE WALL). Goldsmith even wrote short bridging sections to join two cues in i. e. BLOSSOMS so that there would be only a few 5- to 6 minute cues. And that certainly didn't affect his Oscar chances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedBard 71 Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 I never implied that it affected his Oscar chances; I was just going off of what I was reading.Judging from your reaction, am I correct in assuming that Filmtracks is not a reliable source when it comes to cataloging the production process of film soundtracks?If so, then what would you recommend as a reliable source? For instance, another source I found compared his action cues in Mulan to his work on the Rambo series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corellian2019 386 Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 No Kamen or Goldenthal?? Seriously??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicist 4,643 Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 Erm...there is no such a place. For Williams there is the main page here that provides extensive information on his scores and albums, you might go to jerrygoldsmithonline.com for JG but your best bet is always searching FSM or JW message boards because only then you will find all the tidbits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedBard 71 Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 JG on these boards and FSM? Really?? Where does all this insider information come from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicist 4,643 Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 I guess the community isn't that large, there is always insider information that gets picked up. And sometimes it needs just a regular fellow with ears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloodBoal 7,538 Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeinAR 1,949 Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 List:01. John Williams02. Danny Elfman03. Bernard Herrmann04. Hans Zimmer05. Alan Silvestri06. Howard Shore07. James Horner08. James Newton Howard09. Jerry Goldsmith10. Ennio MorriconeHonorable Mentions: Thomas Newman, Rachel Portman, Clint Mansell, Elmer Bernstein, Alexandre Desplat, Michael Giacchino.It's okay. Pretty much the same people that are always mentioned on these things.01. John Williams02. Danny Elfman Maybe top 2003. Bernard Herrmann I like him but never my fav. 04. Hans Zimmer definitely top 100 somewhere near 10005. Alan Silvestri EH06. Howard Shore Double Eh07. James Horner #308. James Newton Howard #509. Jerry Goldsmith #210. Ennio Morricone #4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koray Savas 2,251 Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 Never knew you were a big Morricone fan, Joey. What are your favorites? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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