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What's JW's most annoying march?


Jurassic Shark

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TFA's March of the Resistance recording has something about its recording or playing or tempo or... something that just irritates me.

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It's very cartoony and a bit overplayed, but likeable. Raiders lacks a major identifiable and memorable Nazi motif, it's more a style and various connected throwaway military melodies - this is what partly inspired me to say The Ark is the villain motif of that score.

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40 minutes ago, Holko said:

Raiders lacks a major identifiable and memorable Nazi motif, it's more a style and various connected throwaway military melodies - this is what partly inspired me to say The Ark is the villain motif of that score.

What?

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1 hour ago, King Mark said:

I always wished for an orchestral version of America, The Dream Goes On

 

Is that a march? If so, I'd probably pick that.

 

Also never been that keen on the 1941 march, or the score as a whole.

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11 minutes ago, Thor said:

Also never been that keen on the 1941 march, or the score as a whole.

 

The 1941 march is absolutely great, among his best, but the OST can be quite grating. The expanded release offers more variation and I definitely prefer that one.

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I was going to say that none of them annoyed me, but then I remembered March of the Villains. That one can bug me a bit at times.

 

Just in terms of structure, I also think the Imperial March contains one too many statements of the theme toward the end. Starts to feel repetitive to me.

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I hate TFA's recording of March of the Resistance, so I really disliked that theme for a few years until TLJ fixed the situation. JW did a far better job integrating that theme organically into the sequel score than TFA.

 

Also, March from 1941. Something about it just irritates the heck out of me, whether the stop-start tempo, the weird cartoony vibe, the Loonie Tunes-esque orchestration in parts (don't get me started on the awful cannon version), or the fact it feels like JW throwing thirty different ideas into one piece. Yes, I get this is probably intentionally reflecting the chaotic, haphazard movie but, musically, it's extremely grating to my ears.

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4 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

JW's a master composer of marches, but not every march he's written is gold. What's his most annoying march, in your opinion?

 

I nominate March of the Villains!

March of the Villains took time growing on me. Now I love it. It ends with some gusto.

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59 minutes ago, crumbs said:

I hate TFA's recording of March of the Resistance, so I really disliked that theme for a few years until TLJ fixed the situation. JW did a far better job integrating that theme organically into the sequel score than TFA.

 

3 minutes ago, Not Mr. Big said:

The Last Jedi's recording of March of the Resistance.  TFA's is much better

 

Interesting...

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8 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

March of the Villains!

 

3 hours ago, Datameister said:

 March of the Villains

 

2 hours ago, Smeltington said:

March of the Villains for me, possibly the only John Williams music I've heard that I don't like. Although some of what he does with it is still interesting - I'm just not a fan of the theme itself.

 

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34 minutes ago, mstrox said:

I like the way it builds in the concert version so I'm tempted to agree with you, but like Smeltington, I can't get behind the melody.  Just something about it...

 

It's too cartoonish, just like the villains it portrays. So in that regard it fits perfectly to the film. The fault is on the producers for making the villains so stupid.

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"Raider's March" may be overplayed, of course, and have a sense of over-saturation. Like "O Fortuna", "Stars and Stripes Forever" and so on. An evergreen. But damn, that doesn't take anything away from its sheer brilliance.

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12 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Anybody who dislikes America, the Dream Goes on? I find it catchy, apart from the vomit-inducing lyrics.

If memory serves, members of the Boston Pops didn't care for it, either.  This was apparently the source of creative differences that nearly had Williams quitting the BPO back in the early '80s.

 

The 1941 march doesn't do too much for me; maybe it's the flamboyancy or comedic tone of it, although the same probably could be said of "March of the Villains," which I actually do enjoy.

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Love "March of the Villains", which everyone seems to dislike here. It nails the comedic aspect far better than the overblown 1941 march.

 

Also, I've never understood why "Men of Yorktown March" from MIDWAY is called a march. It sounds more like an Elgarian waltz or something. Too slow for a march. It's a very nice cue, don't get me wrong, I'm just "annoyed" it's called a march when it really isn't.

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1 hour ago, Thor said:

Love "March of the Villains", which everyone seems to dislike here. It nails the comedic aspect far better than the overblown 1941 march.

 

Also, I've never understood why "Men of Yorktown March" from MIDWAY is called a march. It sounds more like an Elgarian waltz or something. Too slow for a march. It's a very nice cue, don't get me wrong, I'm just "annoyed" it's called a march when it really isn't.

 

This sounds like a waltz to you? 

 

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8 hours ago, Thor said:

Also, I've never understood why "Men of Yorktown March" from MIDWAY is called a march. It sounds more like an Elgarian waltz or something. Too slow for a march. It's a very nice cue, don't get me wrong, I'm just "annoyed" it's called a march when it really isn't.

 

A march is just a piece in 2/4 or 4/4 with a steady rhythm. It doesn't need to be fast nor have any drum accompaniment. 

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I'm thinking more of the RSNO version, or the one on the recent Lockhart CD. There is nothing in this cue that signals 'march' to me -- regardless if it technically is or not:

 

 

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I know, I know. I'm going by the 'layman' understanding here; something upbeat and rousing. And "The Men of Yorktown March" is not that.

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Just an example. :)

 

 

 

11 minutes ago, Thor said:

I know, I know. I'm going by the 'layman' understanding here; something upbeat and rousing. And "The Men of Yorktown March" is not that.

 

It's definitely rousing in the extented version on the Lockhart album!

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Yes, and there's also the main theme from Gaute Storaas' A MAN CALLED OVE, which -- despite its sorta tango-ish feel -- he himself describes as a march:

 

 

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10 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

It's definitely rousing in the extented version on the Lockhart album!

 

A couple of places, but mostly it's Elgar-type elegance.

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