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How would you rate John Williams's " The River?"


Josh500

The River   

24 members have voted

  1. 1. Do you own the original soundtrack album of "The River"?

    • Yes.
      17
    • No.
      7
  2. 2. How would you rate John Williams's "The River"?

    • 5 stars
      1
    • 4,5 stars
      0
    • 4 stars
      10
    • 3,5 stars
      4
    • 3 stars
      4
    • 2,5 stars
      0
    • 2 stars
      0
    • 1,5 stars
      0
    • 1 star
      0
    • I don't know the score.
      5


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Do you know this score, and if yes, how would you rate it!?

 

I only know the main theme, not the entire score, and I just saw the OS album for around 40 bucks! Should I get it?

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Good score. Wish I could find the album at the reasonable price. But then, something tells me it will be re-released eventually.


Karol

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26 minutes ago, crocodile said:

But then, something tells me it will be re-released eventually.

 

 

Making another of my original and rare CDs worthless. Story of my life! 

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:sarcasm: There's always one...(actually, THE RIVER is, by far, my fave BS record).

 

For all its stum und drang, I prefer JW's other 1984 score. It's a gentle love-song to a bucolic, and rural way of life, and the film is easily the best of the "down on the farm" movies, from that era. THE ANCESTRAL HOME is fabulous. STORM CLOUDS GATHER (main title) isn't too shabby, either. Its Oscar© nomination was well-deserved.

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Love THE RIVER. Nostalgic, rural and melancholic Americana with a definite jazz tinge. But in the pantheon of Williams' output, I probably wouldn't rate it higher than 3.5.

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The River is a lovely score in a vein I would love to hear more from Williams these days (Rosewood came close to this territory in great style). A 4 star score for me.  I recommend getting it if you can for a reasonable price (40$ seems a tad too much) but as Karol says above it might be re-released eventually.

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I love The River. I don't like ratting this things, but I come back to some of the tracks on a rather regular basis. Back in the mid 90's when the CD was released, it was yet another of those surprises, as one was quickly acknowledging the variety of styles Williams was able to work on. In recent years, it has been a joy to pick the 1984 released LP and play it. For some reason, despite sound quality issues, I really have a kick listening to this one on vinyl.

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6 hours ago, crocodile said:

Good score. Wish I could find the album at the reasonable price. But then, something tells me it will be re-released eventually.


Karol

 

Sure.

 

But nothing ever replaces the ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK album. Never forget that! ;)

1 hour ago, Incanus said:

The River is a lovely score in a vein I would love to hear more from Williams these days (Rosewood came close to this territory in great style). A 4 star score for me.  I recommend getting it if you can for a reasonable price (40$ seems a tad too much) but as Karol says above it might be re-released eventually.

 

The thing is, I have the Main Title, from the Japanese Filmworks. And I love it! Jazzy, upbeat, kind of Western-ish. 

 

I'd love to hear the rest of the score.

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You really should. There's so variety within the rest of the score.

 

The Tractor Scene for example is one of Williams's finest suspense cues. A masterclass in the careful application of pedal points and atonal pitch sets to ratchet up tension, as Sissy Spacek's arm gets trapped in a tractor's drive chain.

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7 hours ago, Richard said:

:sarcasm: There's always one...(actually, THE RIVER is, by far, my fave BS record).

 

 

 

Thank you, it was an important record in my career. 

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11 hours ago, Richard said:

THE ANCESTRAL HOME is fabulous.

 

9 hours ago, king mark said:

I like it mostly for the The Ancestral Home

This!

 

I once bought it as a completist and listened to it twice. After several years I rediscovered it and found out that it is much better than his other unknown works like Stanley and Iris, The Accidential Tourist, Sabrina and Always. But THE ANCESTRAL HOME is definitely the highlight of the score!

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Yeah, of course it is, but...as a "typical 'film music' cue with a big string crescendo" goes, it's pretty darn good!

 

 

4 hours ago, Brundlefly said:

...it is much better than his other unknown works like...The Accidential Tourist...

 

THE RIVER is a fine score, to be sure, but...better than THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST, JW's quiet masterpiece? Iffy, Seth, definitely iffy.

 

 

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Maybe "conventional" is what Rydell wanted?

Anyway, its crescendo is a good way of stating the triumph-in-the-face-of-tragedy aspect of the scene, the "let's really stick it to Scott Glenn's character" bit.

 

 

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OK, I decided to get this after all.

 

"The River" is the only JW album I still have missing, I realized. 40 bucks for a used but in like-new condition is just too good an opportunity to pass up.

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I don't own it, but I have a digital copy that I downloaded many years ago.  Really nice score.  Would love for it be re-issued or expanded so I can buy it.

 

The Rydell/Williams Collaboration is oft-overlooked and produced some great blues/jazz-influenced quintessentially American-sounding scores.  I still wish Williams had scored On Golden Pond for him.  And lest we forget, it was the Rydell/Williams Collaboration that begat the Spielberg/Williams Collaboration!

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I'm not a big fan.  It's good, but I don't think it's a classic as many do. I would've loved to have heard Williams' take. Ah well, he was a bit busy around '80-'81...

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1 hour ago, Disco Stu said:

I'm not a big fan.  It's good, but I don't think it's a classic as many do. I would've loved to have heard Williams' take. Ah well, he was a bit busy around '80-'81...

 

The pastoral theme is ace.

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I love the gorgeous flute solos.... 

 

An early precursor to the flute solos from War Horse? Or JW channeling Smetana (Die Moldau)? 

 

Either way, an underrated score. So glad I found this finally! 

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7 minutes ago, Josh500 said:

I love the gorgeous flute solos.... 

 

An early precursor to the flute solos from War Horse? Or JW channeling Smetana (Die Moldau)? 

 

Either way, an underrated score. So glad I found this finally! 

On the whole the flute material is a bit more jazzy/bluesy (the love theme) and Americana in style than something in e.g. War Horse but you can also clearly spot some similarities as well. 

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I always loved this album, the theme is great. I can't say I really remember the rest of the score, but this album always was ln my top albums of JW to add to my collection.

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The last track, "Young Friends Farewell," is essentially a trio of guitar, harp, and flute (with only very light string backing) and it's absolutely gorgeous.

 

Although now I'm listening back, it's really duo of guitar and flute with just a little harp and just a little strings.  Either way.  A highlight of Williams in the 80s for sure, that track.

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17 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

Sign, typical JWFAN revisionism. 

 

The River is the best John Williams score of the 80's!

 

 

Alternate theory: there's a different group of people on the board than the point in time you're comparing to?

 

Either way, it's far from his best scores.  Doesn't mean we can't appreciate it.

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"Growing Up" is my favorite Williams guitar piece. 

 

Young Friends Farewell and Pony Ride are the other pieces I return to the most. Ancestral Home comes in fourth.

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I own the OST album (Bought it when it was still in print, luckily) but haven't listened to it too many times.  I should revisit it!

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2 hours ago, Jay said:

I own the OST album (Bought it when it was still in print, luckily) but haven't listened to it too many times.  I should revisit it!

 

Definitely!

 

There are many JW soundtracks, which I very rarely listen to and which I should revisit: The Witches of Eastwick, Rosewood, Stanley and Iris, The Accidental Tourist, Spacecamp, etc.

 

I barely know these soundtracks, except maybe for a single track or two. 

 

 

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5 minutes ago, Jay said:

Stanely and Iris is great, but I like Pete N Tillie more

 

I got the new release the moment it came out, but I haven't listened to that one even once.... :lol:

 

I'm too busy listening to Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Jurassic Park! Damn! 

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I've listened to every single Williams soundtrack many, many times. But I always enjoy returning to those less-talked-about, like THE RIVER.

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