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JWFan James Horner Listening Party


Jay

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They are a nuisance. Costly and mostly unnecessary. If not for the often stellar remastering, most of them are BS (did anyone need 78 minutes of BOBBY FISCHER? The old album sounds great and is 50').

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Meh. I have my collection, you have yours.

I own 1,200 CDs. I think I'm doing just fine.

That's pretty impressive Jay! I don't even have half of that number.

But I do have some essential Horners. :mrgreen:

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Now ask him how many, among these 1,200 CDs, does he listen to regularly?

The only music I listen to regularly is Coheed and Cambria, Porcupine Tree, and Dream Theater.

There are so many film scores in the world, I always like to listen to a mix of new stuff and some old classics. And there are a lot of old classics!

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There are only so many hours in the day. I wouldn't want to have 1200 CD's.

The only thing I listen to regularly is Coheed and Cambria, Porcupine Tree, and Dream Theater.

There are so many film scores in the world, I always like to listen to a mix of new stuff and some old classics. And there are a lot of old classics!

Ah, you listen to me? Well man I'm honored. It's more than I deserve. :worship:

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Black Gold

I much enjoy this dramatic score by Horner. Glad he tackled it after Avatar and Karate Kid. Strong sweeping main theme, ethnic wailing, a single fun cue (The Wonders of Wealth), a single action cue (Battle in the Oil Fields) and a lot of dark, plodding drama. You have to be in the right mood, but if you are, it really hits the spot! Like so many of his scores, it has a really strong finish (A Kingdom of Oil). Wow!

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48 Hrs

Heh, I had never listened to this before (never seen the movie either). Fun little (29 minutes long!) Horner score with saxophone, steel drums, fun percussion. Little hints of that Aliens military theme (also heard in Wolfen, Uncommon Valor, and ST3) again. The pop songs after the score are all terrible

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The military theme from Aliens is the theme used for the military. Heard in Combat Drop, Ripley's Rescue, Futile Escape, and I think one other track. It's basically identical to the main theme from Wolfen, the bad guys theme from Uncommon Valor, and the Klingon theme from ST3.

Yea, I might listen to Commando this week. I'd have to take the shrinkwrap off my LLL CD!

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Yes, of course!

I can see how it can be disappointing to those who already intimately knew all his early 80s scores.

Even still, the application of those existing themes, amped up and played to perfection by the LSO is still something to be admired, no?

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Commando

Subtle as a brick, loud bordering on obnoxious at times and consisting of just a few thematic ideas repeated over and over again with not much variation.

Yet incredibly infectious and fun.

Essentially 48 Hours on acid, but a good 50 minute listen. Totally macho, except for a short "family theme" that seems to come from another movie.

Aliens

Little more then a selection of themes and styles from his previous scores sewn together in a sledgehammer fasion + some shameless rip-off of the Gayenne Ballet Suite and Jerry Goldsmith.

Yet its effectiveness cannot be denied. From the atmospheric first half (in which Combat Drop really stick out like a sore thumb, i can see why Cameron dropped it) to the second half which is action galore!

I can't honestly say its up there with Horners best of the 80's, but as 2 week rush jobs go this is excellent.

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Wolfen

This is essentially the genesis of Aliens. Not just the so called military theme (or Klingon theme as I prefer to call it), but also the echoplexed trumpet theme, several of the action rhythms and textural orchestral effects. Several parts of Wolfen were lifted, dusted off and beefed up a bit for the 1986 Cameron film. One recurring string motif would resurface in Khan's Pets in TWOK.

This makes it hard to appreciate the score on its own merits, especially since I never saw the film. It's competently written of course, and the performance by the small orchestra is decent. But most of this score would be done again in bigger and better fashion in later years. So no real need to return to this one.

Deadly Blessing

Or James Horner rips off Jerry Goldsmith.

This is largely a thinly disguised clone of The Omen. Again, well written for what it is, but not enough character of it's own to really consider it. And unlike Battle Beyond The Stars, another James does Jerry score it isnt outrageous and fun enough to be enjoyable as a guilty pleasure.

The score does have a track called Final Confrontation years before any Elfman score.....

Two scores from the era when Horner was cutting his teeth and earning his dues. They are interesting in an archival manner, and already show that even as a hack he had considerable talent. But other then that they have no real replay value.

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