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BLUMENKOHL

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A collection of some words I've had for the older Maestro over the last few years:

Artistic Maturity = Artistic Conservatism = Lack of Creativity = No.

It's a simple fact of life, creativity lessens with age.

There is an inherent rawness, a magic if you will, that accompanies an artist in his first few steps, that will never be with him again as he matures in his technical prowess. As a result the only answer to this poll is a no.

Doing different things does not equal creativity. It can help find creativity, yes, but it is not creativity.

He's stuck in his ways, as it happens with old age. If you doubt it listen to his three BEST scores of this decade...

Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone

Memoirs of a Geisha

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Those were the only three where Williams stepped outside of the Lucas/Spielberg sphere of influence (Geisha = barely so). And of those three, the best one came from Alfonso Cuaron, who was never satisfied, who never said "just do what you do Johnny," who kept pushing John Williams to create something truly different that also carried the message of the film. It also drove John away from the Harry Potter series, but that's a different story.

In everything else we see him going through the numbers, spouting regurgitated materials with more flourishes and ornamentation. But there is really nothing that differentiates his scores of late.

For instance what differentiates the set piece of Indy 4, "Jungle Chase," from anything out of the Star Wars prequels? There is nothing inherently JUNGLE about it, for all I know it is accompanying the Battle Over Coruscant, or a duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin.

Compare that to "The Desert Chase" it FEELS like a desert, it is lonely it builds upon itself, it contains a narrative that is inseperable from the Desert Chase. Listen to The Mine Cart Chase....it sounds like a roller coaster.

I can sum up the difference in creativity between the two time periods right here:

The Desert Chase is desert chase music. Jungle Chase is chase music.

Oh come on Jessie, you know the Joker's siren is 10 times more readily remembered than the dooo-doooo-dooooo....something something Crystal Skull theme!

Hans Zimmer has no difficulty coming up with stick-in-your head melodies and themes. His problem is he can't develop them to save his life. He is generally also under the impression that music has to be melodic and completely tonal and pleasant in order to be memorable. Bernard Hermann is thrashing about in his grave.

On the flip-side, John Williams used to consistently pump out great themes and be able to sophisticatedly handle them, now he just throws a plethora of notes at the problem and hopes it'll solve it.

He's sort of stagnating in the same way Goldsmith stagnated in his late career, and yet very differently. They both have sort of lost their heart and spark, but Jerry resorted to ultra-annoying simplicity, while Johnny has fallen back on ultra-annoying spray painting his notes on paper.

Incidentally, they were both each others favorite living composers, so maybe one saw the flaw in the other and decided to rectify it.

I finally purchased Hancock...and WOW. John Powell still has to work on consistency, but this soundtrack is sort of what I mean by heart and spark. There's something exciting there, and you can feel Powell was excited to tackle the idea of a hobo superhero.

And that's the thing, when you stop being able to hear a composer's excitement for his task at hand, you know he's aged a bit. It's the point where the artist's art has stopped being his life and has become his artistic endeavor. And honestly, I can imagine why. Grandkids + Family Neglected in 40 years of scoring non-stop > Art. Any day. John's earned it, and the fact that he can still write what he is writing is impressive to say the least, despite what we may be saying.

I still hold that much of his 2000s film works outside of Harry Potter and Geisha were significantly weaker than he's ever been.

But Tintin and War Horse (War Horse especially) have made me eat my own words. The Maestro, by luck, or by sheer skill and talent has still got it.

I genuinely believe that if my assessment that the maestro had run out of steam was true, he would not have been able to give us the two scores he has this year. I hear excitement and energy from him. With Tintin, yes I still hear the flurry of notes, but on the whole most notes seem to be there with purpose, something I think has been lacking in the past. War Horse on the other hand just outright proves my "all he does...spray paint notes" comment utterly wrong. It's a score where I cannot find a note out of place...where I cannot find a moment with too little or too much. It's just right, from beginning to end. From the emotional to the comedy to the action, it is supreme.

It's perhaps too soon for me to label it (War Horse) as one of the top scores from the maestro just yet, we still haven't seen the movie. But suffice it to say....

I am pleased to have been proven wrong!

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You're right - and I also agree it's amazing that he still "has it". I think Tintin is an above average score that works and even though parts of it are recycled - home alone, hook, indiana jones, harry potter. It still has a couple of tracks of "new" sounding orchestration that Williams has not used as of late. I would give it a solid B+/A- effort.

I think War Horse on the other hand is well above Tintin in quality/technique, so I think there is still some spark there even if it is a bit old fashioned. I only hope audiences don't allow the sappyness of the film denegrate their opinion of it.

From above: "I still hold that much of his 2000s film works outside of Harry Potter and Geisha were significantly weaker than he's ever been. "

By weaker I guess you mean more intellectual and less from the heart? Often times I think of JW's year 2000 onwards scores as structured and predictable - e.g. Harry Potter Chamber of Secrets of having 4 bar phrases where Williams writes in a structured manner - chord progression to chord progression. Like you, I find I have contradicted what I thought years ago after listening to Tintin and War Horse where the tempo is all over the place and the music is anything but formularic or autopilot.

Technically at least I believe JW strongest scores of the 2000's have been - Munich, Prisoner of Azkaban and Geisha - (which is unfortunately predictable at times).

Harry Potter 1 & 2, Star Wars, CMIYC, A.I. Minority Report, Terminal, War of the Worlds are all above average works but are not brilliant!

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I never really doubted he still had the ability in his advancing years, I just believed he'd lost the inspiration. War Horse is nice, but it's yet to really draw me in. Tintin however sounds like a John Williams with a childlike sense of adventure and fun. After the last decade it almost seems out of character, same goes for Spielberg. But the film and score has reminded me very much of both mens roots.

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You were wrong Blume, but so was I because I agreed with you.

I still cant claim that Tintin or War Whores can stand shoulder to shoulder with the best he has ever done. But both feel like more then just John Williams writing very complex and intricate music. There's a heart and soul there.

After the last decade it almost seems out of character, same goes for Spielberg. But the film and score has reminded me very much of both mens roots.

Again, can anyone now say Spielberg has outgrown his "childish" adventure movies?

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Again, can anyone now say Spielberg has outgrown his "childish" adventure movies?

For a good while I truly believe he did. But maybe he's having a late mid-life crisis or somethin', who knows.

Honestly I have a theory that Spielberg is a reader of the internet, especially the fan orientated stuff, and I do think he has been influenced by the often humbling things he's read. I absolutely believe he's making an effort to turn around the effects of Indiana Jones IV, seriously.

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Compare that to "The Desert Chase" it FEELS like a desert,

That was a truly dumb statement.

No it wasn't. The orchestration and harmony has got an aridity and dryness to it makes it unique.

AfrikaansAlbanianArabicArmenianAzerbaijaniBasqueBelarusianBulgarianCatalanChinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)CroatianCzechDanishDetect languageDutchEnglishEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchGalicianGeorgianGermanGreekHaitian CreoleHebrewHindiHungarianIcelandicIndonesianIrishItalianJapaneseKoreanLatinLatvianLithuanianMacedonianMalayMalteseNorwegianPersianPolishPortugueseRomanianRussianSerbianSlovakSlovenianSpanishSwahiliSwedishThaiTurkishUkrainianUrduVietnameseWelshYiddishAfrikaansAlbanianArabicArmenianAzerbaijaniBasqueBelarusianBulgarianCatalanChinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)CroatianCzechDanishDutchEnglishEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchGalicianGeorgianGermanGreekHaitian CreoleHebrewHindiHungarianIcelandicIndonesianIrishItalianJapaneseKoreanLatinLatvianLithuanianMacedonianMalayMalteseNorwegianPersianPolishPortugueseRomanianRussianSerbianSlovakSlovenianSpanishSwahiliSwedishThaiTurkishUkrainianUrduVietnameseWelshYiddish

Detect language » Hungarian

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AfrikaansAlbanianArabicArmenianAzerbaijaniBasqueBelarusianBulgarianCatalanChinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)CroatianCzechDanishDetect languageDutchEnglishEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchGalicianGeorgianGermanGreekHaitian CreoleHebrewHindiHungarianIcelandicIndonesianIrishItalianJapaneseKoreanLatinLatvianLithuanianMacedonianMalayMalteseNorwegianPersianPolishPortugueseRomanianRussianSerbianSlovakSlovenianSpanishSwahiliSwedishThaiTurkishUkrainianUrduVietnameseWelshYiddishAfrikaansAlbanianArabicArmenianAzerbaijaniBasqueBelarusianBulgarianCatalanChinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)CroatianCzechDanishDutchEnglishEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchGalicianGeorgianGermanGreekHaitian CreoleHebrewHindiHungarianIcelandicIndonesianIrishItalianJapaneseKoreanLatinLatvianLithuanianMacedonianMalayMalteseNorwegianPersianPolishPortugueseRomanianRussianSerbianSlovakSlovenianSpanishSwahiliSwedishThaiTurkishUkrainianUrduVietnameseWelshYiddish

Detect language » Hungarian

Huh?

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Good post, Blume. It shows again your intellectual honesty, a quality seldom seen in today's age.

I wonder if you would be applauding his "intellectual honesty" had he arrived at the opposite epiphany -- that the vim and vigor so endemic earlier in WIlliams's career has in fact largely subsided, despite our misguided attempts to convince ourselves otherwise.

If Tintin and War Horse represent a Damascus Road of sorts for Blumenkohl, fine, but I would suggest that two newly released scores constitute an awfully small and flimsy sample on which to base a decision to discard years of contrary evidence.

Again, can anyone now say Spielberg has outgrown his "childish" adventure movies?

For a good while I truly believe he did. But maybe he's having a late mid-life crisis or somethin', who knows.

Honestly I have a theory that Spielberg is a reader of the internet, especially the fan orientated stuff, and I do think he has been influenced by the often humbling things he's read. I absolutely believe he's making an effort to turn around the effects of Indiana Jones IV, seriously.

Yeah, and Spielberg must've forwarded some of the more inflammatory JWFAN postings to Williams, too! It explains everything!

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Good post, Blume. It shows again your intellectual honesty, a quality seldom seen in today's age.

I wonder if you would be applauding his "intellectual honesty" had he arrived at the opposite epiphany -- that the vim and vigor so endemic earlier in WIlliams's career has in fact largely subsided, despite our misguided attempts to convince ourselves otherwise.

If i have learned something about human beings in the past 30+ years, it's that they really like to applaud views which match their own.

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Good post, Blume. It shows again your intellectual honesty, a quality seldom seen in today's age.

I wonder if you would be applauding his "intellectual honesty" had he arrived at the opposite epiphany -- that the vim and vigor so endemic earlier in WIlliams's career has in fact largely subsided, despite our misguided attempts to convince ourselves otherwise.

If Tintin and War Horse represent a Damascus Road of sorts for Blumenkohl, fine, but I would suggest that two newly released scores constitute an awfully small and flimsy sample on which to base a decision to discard years of contrary evidence.

You come across all intellectually threatened here, Alan. Bless!

Again, can anyone now say Spielberg has outgrown his "childish" adventure movies?

For a good while I truly believe he did. But maybe he's having a late mid-life crisis or somethin', who knows.

Honestly I have a theory that Spielberg is a reader of the internet, especially the fan orientated stuff, and I do think he has been influenced by the often humbling things he's read. I absolutely believe he's making an effort to turn around the effects of Indiana Jones IV, seriously.

Yeah, and Spielberg must've forwarded some of the more inflammatory JWFAN postings to Williams, too! It explains everything!

Well, Spielberg famously is a spiteful bastard. He probably "accidentally" slips in links to the board when forwarding on those joke spam emails which do the rounds between families and friends, the blighter.

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Good post, Blume. It shows again your intellectual honesty, a quality seldom seen in today's age.

I wonder if you would be applauding his "intellectual honesty" had he arrived at the opposite epiphany -- that the vim and vigor so endemic earlier in WIlliams's career has in fact largely subsided, despite our misguided attempts to convince ourselves otherwise.

If Tintin and War Horse represent a Damascus Road of sorts for Blumenkohl, fine, but I would suggest that two newly released scores constitute an awfully small and flimsy sample on which to base a decision to discard years of contrary evidence.

You come across all intellectually threatened here, Alan. Bless!

*Sniff* Hating Williams so hard! I can't do it alone! Don't leave me, Blumenkohl!

Ironically, I do have to say that listening to War Horse and trying to assess it in the context of all the hype surrounding it has helped shed some positive light on The Patriot, a score I've often dismissed as undistinguished and representative of Williams's decline.

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Good post, Blume. It shows again your intellectual honesty, a quality seldom seen in today's age.

I wonder if you would be applauding his "intellectual honesty" had he arrived at the opposite epiphany -- that the vim and vigor so endemic earlier in WIlliams's career has in fact largely subsided, despite our misguided attempts to convince ourselves otherwise.

If Tintin and War Horse represent a Damascus Road of sorts for Blumenkohl, fine, but I would suggest that two newly released scores constitute an awfully small and flimsy sample on which to base a decision to discard years of contrary evidence.

:up:

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If Tintin and War Horse represent a Damascus Road of sorts for Blumenkohl, fine, but I would suggest that two newly released scores constitute an awfully small and flimsy sample on which to base a decision to discard years of contrary evidence.

I'd love to give you a thumbs up, but that makes no sense.

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What about it doesn't make sense?

I am also curious, in what new light do you regard those scores you used to not care for after your epiphany? Are they lazy efforts, projects to be humbly re-discovered or something you have just given up on understanding?

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What about it doesn't make sense?

If we're going to rate John Williams based on his ratio of creatively energized scores to mediocre ones, then he fails miserably even in the glorious 80s. Think of the number of films he's scored relative to the ones we consider great.

Second, I claimed War Horse and Tintin could not be done if Williams was out of creative energy. I'm not sure how the last decade proves that he is out of creative energy, if he just pumped out two back to back scores that are wonderful.

I am also curious, in what new light do you regard those scores you used to not care for after your epiphany?

I don't. The crap is still crap.

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I guess that anyone can have a Damascene moment. In the 90's, I listened to far more J.G., than J.W. What brought me back? Simple; "Rosewood", a score that to me at the time, sounded like no other. I still get goosebumps whenever I hear "Look Down, Lord". "Tintin" may bring a few erstwhile fans back round to J.W. and good luck to them, and the music for doing so. Although not in the upper eschelons of his music by any standard, "Tintin" both continues, and endorses a love affair that I have with a man's music that began in 1975, and which shows no sign abating.

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What about it doesn't make sense?

I am also curious, in what new light do you regard those scores you used to not care for after your epiphany? Are they lazy efforts, projects to be humbly re-discovered or something you have just given up on understanding?

Apparently "I was wrong" means "I was wrong that Williams will no longer be writing 'creatively energized' scores." He had predicted rain for the rest of Williams's career, but now he sees the sun peaking through the clouds. It was not a statement about level of artistic ability, which I believe has to be judged over a matter of years and perhaps at a certain temporal remove. My apologies for misinterpreting.

The only point on which I would still differ is the conflation of "creatively energized" and "great." I would by no means consider Presumed Innocent a "great" score, but the gorgeous and haunted monothematicism with which Williams graces the film suggests significant inspiration on his part.

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The only point on which I would still differ is the conflation of "creatively energized" and "great." I would by no means consider Presumed Innocent a "great" score, but the gorgeous and haunted monothematicism with which Williams graces the film suggests significant inspiration on his part.

Having to do with serving a genre rarely any JW fan would let him loose on instead of bloated spectacles of the HOOK-variety. Why either WAR HORSE or TINTIN (i'm always writing TIT IN for whatever Freudian reason) pop the old adjectives cannon cited above i don't know.

Being satisfied with both, i hardly hear anything in them i'd describe as 'creatively energized'. It sounds all wonderfully polished and really worthy of a veteran craftsman, but there isn't a note in them i haven't heard before.

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You. Just. Don't. Get. It.

What do you think the vast majority of Williams' fans have been pining for all these years? Do you even know?

I'm not sure you do, the proof of which seems to be here:

It sounds all wonderfully polished and really worthy of a veteran craftsman, but there isn't a note in them i haven't heard before.

I dunno, maybe you should look for another composer.

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Having to do with serving a genre rarely any JW fan would let him loose on instead of bloated spectacles of the HOOK-variety. Why either WAR HORSE or TINTIN (i'm always writing TIT IN for whatever Freudian reason) pop the old adjectives cannon cited above i don't know.

Being satisfied with both, i hardly hear anything in them i'd describe as 'creatively energized'. It sounds all wonderfully polished and really worthy of a veteran craftsman, but there isn't a note in them i haven't heard before.

ROTFLMAO

Well, you don't! That's fine.

But many many others do, and don't try to convince us otherwise.

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You. Just. Don't. Get. It.

What do you think the vast majority of Williams' fans have been pining for all these years? Do you even know?

Same old, same old?

ROTFLMAO

Well, you don't! That's fine.

But many many others do, and don't try to convince us otherwise.

Of which THIS gives ample proof!

:biglaugh:

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You. Just. Don't. Get. It.

What do you think the vast majority of Williams' fans have been pining for all these years? Do you even know?

Same old, same old?

Return to the glory days my good man, glory days. Those were the times.

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You. Just. Don't. Get. It.

What do you think the vast majority of Williams' fans have been pining for all these years? Do you even know?

Same old, same old?

Return to the glory days my good man, glory days. Those were the times.

Ah, yes... [Cue plaintive rendition of Chopin's Mazurka in A Minor, Opus 17]

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Return to the glory days my good man, glory days. Those were the times.

Newsflash to Incanus: they are gone forever and will never return! :shakehead:

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!! :crymore:

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Publicist makes a very good point about the JW as of late, and I think this idea was alluded to above that as Jerry Goldsmiths scores became even more stratified and streamlined as he aged - Williams have become perhaps overly complicated which is not necessarily beneficial for the listener. For example, when Alan Silvestri scores a cartoon, it will be very intricate but won't have anywhere near the counterpoint and complexity of a JW score. As we all know, since the early 2000's and with the influence of Remote Control Productions the trend has been toward minimalist film scores that give much information in as few notes as possible. Perhaps more and more you realise, as a great musician once said "Music is not so much about the notes as it is about the mind".

The ironic thing is JW is very capable of writing a more "easy listening" score like catch me if you can or terminal. But as soon as the director says " Well, hmmm we need some chase music here" - JW reverts to what he knows; the mickey mouse, xylophone and woodwind runs. Prisoner of Azkaban is a notable exception as the music seems very much fresh and not forced. I believe it comes down to unity and, once again, keeping the action music direction relatively direct like he did in the 1980's; maybe we should blame Spielberg for not "challenging" JW to take path B instead of A.

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The ironic thing is JW is very capable of writing a more "easy listening" score like catch me if you can or terminal. But as soon as the director says " Well, hmmm we need some chase music here" - JW reverts to what he knows; the mickey mouse, xylophone and woodwind runs. Prisoner of Azkaban is a notable exception as the music seems very much fresh and not forced. I believe it comes down to unity and, once again, keeping the action music direction relatively direct like he did in the 1980's; maybe we should blame Spielberg for not "challenging" JW to take path B instead of A.

That's 100% personal opinion. And I disagree with you 90%. "The Terminal" is easy listening for you, and you don't like xylophone and woodwinds. OK, gotcha.

I am perfectly happy with JW's output right now (especially after Tintin and WH), and only the most nitpicky and uptight fans would still want more (or less or whatever you want). ´For some of you: how about being grateful for what we've gotten so far, instead of always complaining about what we didn't get or pining for the old days? I mean, seriously.

:rolleyes:

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I am perfectly happy with JW's output right now (especially after Tintin and WH), and only the most nitpicky and uptight fans would still want more (or less or whatever you want). ´For some of you: how about being grateful for what we've gotten so far, instead of always complaining about what we didn't get or pining for the old days? I mean, seriously.

:rolleyes:

Because this is not the Josh500-Board but the JW DISCUSSION forum. People have different opinions on the subject so stop being whiny all the time because others do not join your 'i like everything like it is' chorus.

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Publicist makes a very good point about the JW as of late, and I think this idea was alluded to above that as Jerry Goldsmiths scores became even more stratified and streamlined as he aged - Williams have become perhaps overly complicated which is not necessarily beneficial for the listener. For example, when Alan Silvestri scores a cartoon, it will be very intricate but won't have anywhere near the counterpoint and complexity of a JW score. As we all know, since the early 2000's and with the influence of Remote Control Productions the trend has been toward minimalist film scores that give much information in as few notes as possible. Perhaps more and more you realise, as a great musician once said "Music is not so much about the notes as it is about the mind".

The ironic thing is JW is very capable of writing a more "easy listening" score like catch me if you can or terminal. But as soon as the director says " Well, hmmm we need some chase music here" - JW reverts to what he knows; the mickey mouse, xylophone and woodwind runs. Prisoner of Azkaban is a notable exception as the music seems very much fresh and not forced. I believe it comes down to unity and, once again, keeping the action music direction relatively direct like he did in the 1980's; maybe we should blame Spielberg for not "challenging" JW to take path B instead of A.

Someone else who hasn't gotten the Tintin bug. Never mind, maybe next time.

I honestly feel very lucky to have fallen in love with this score; after the massive disappointment that was Indy IV. I've been waiting for a Tintin quality JW score since, well, The Phantom Menace. That's a bloody long time to wait. I feel for you guys who are still left wanting.

Actually that's a lie. I really think fuck 'em.

it's about time you made a public apology for the other threads where you bash Williams output of the last 10 years

Who, me?

I've always loved the man, KM. I just didn't click with any of his prequel trilogy stuff (besides TPM) or Potter, that's all. In fact the only time I think I've ever really "bashed" JW is for Indy IV. But maybe it's unfair to criticise someone for being completely disinterested in their work, I dunno.

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Because this is not the Josh500-Board but the JW DISCUSSION forum. People have different opinions on the subject so stop being whiny all the time because others do not join your 'i like everything like it is' chorus.

Ahhh, I said:

That's 100% personal opinion. And I disagree with you 90%. "The Terminal" is easy listening for you, and you don't like xylophone and woodwinds. OK, gotcha.

Why don't you quote EVERYTHING I said next time? I said that's 100% your opinion, and I agree only 10% with it. And then I just made a suggestion...

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Josh, try not to be so touchy whenever someone strongly disagrees with you. You have a tendency to overreact. Pub's a good guy, he just likes healthy debate and his style is to swagger about a bit, which is never a bad thing where the company can sometimes threaten to be likened to wallpaper.

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Josh, try not to be so touchy whenever someone strongly disagrees with you. You have a tendency to overreacted. Pub's a good guy, he just likes healthy debate and his style is to swagger about a bit, which is never a bad thing where the company can sometimes threaten to be akin to wallpaper.

Actually my initial response was to lostinspace's post, but duly noted.

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There is really a division among John Williams fans: those who are foremost fans of his 'creative peak' and are constantly annoyed by the fact that Williams hasn't written anything on par with Jaws, Superman or The Empire Strikes Back since 1982 and those who are fans of John Williams, the composer he was before, during and after his creative peak.

I for one acknowledge that artists in general experience a creative peak at one point during their careers. Williams definately has had his. But since (post E.T.) Williams has written many excellent scores and somehow always knows how to differentiate himself from other composers working in the industry. Scores like Sleepers, Angela's Ashes or Tintin are 100% Williams scores (yet very diverse) and I find much enjoyment in basically all his output, even if he leans on gimicks at times. Being a 'fan' is not a word to me; it's a principle.

If I had been dissapointed with Williams for more than two decades already, I would have cherished my Star Wars and Raiders soundtracks and would have looked for other things to invest time in. Not saying there is no place for negativity or criticism here; just that some have taken it to a certain extreme which I don't understand anymore. Feels like a big waste of time to me.

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There is really a division among John Williams fans: those who are foremost fans of his 'creative peak' and are constantly annoyed by the fact that Williams hasn't written anything on par with Jaws, Superman or The Empire Strikes Back since 1982 and those who are fans of John Williams, the composer he was before, during and after his creative peak.

Roald, with respect, that's not the division among JW fans.

We disagree on when JW's creative peak actually was . . . or is. ;)

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There is really a division among John Williams fans: those who are foremost fans of his 'creative peak' and are constantly annoyed by the fact that Williams hasn't written anything on par with Jaws, Superman or The Empire Strikes Back since 1982 and those who are fans of John Williams, the composer he was before, during and after his creative peak.

Roald, with respect, that's not the division among JW fans.

We disagree on when JW's creative peak actually was . . . or is. ;)

Creative peak: from Jaws (1975) to E.T. (1982). That's a fact. ;)

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Many think his peak was in the 80s (E.T., Raiders, ToD, Empire, etc.)

Some think it was in the 90s (Hook, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, TPM, etc.)

And still others think it was in the 00s (A.I., Harry Potter, Memoirs, etc.)

And then there are those who think he's been at his peak ever since the 80s... or the 90s...

Creative peak: from Jaws (1975) to E.T. (1982). That's a fact. ;)

For you, yes.

For me, no. ;)

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There is really a division among John Williams fans: those who are foremost fans of his 'creative peak' and are constantly annoyed by the fact that Williams hasn't written anything on par with Jaws, Superman or The Empire Strikes Back since 1982 and those who are fans of John Williams, the composer he was before, during and after his creative peak.

Roald, with respect, that's not the division among JW fans.

We disagree on when JW's creative peak actually was . . . or is. ;)

Creative peak: from Jaws (1975) to E.T. (1982). That's a fact. ;)

No, from Jane Eyre to Temple of Doom!

Even though what I really think is that JW's "creative peaks" just go up and down and up and down.

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Many think his peak was in the 80s (E.T., Raiders, ToD, Empire, etc.)

Some think it was in the 90s (Hook, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, TPM, etc.)

And still others think it was in the 00s (A.I., Harry Potter, Memoirs, etc.)

And then there are those who think he's been at his peak ever since the 80s...

Creative peak: from Jaws (1975) to E.T. (1982). That's a fact. ;)

For you, yes.

For me, no. ;)

He peaked throughout his career with great scores (The Reivers, Hook, JP, HP, etc.)

But Jaws, CE3K, SW, Superman, ESB, Raiders and E.T. are seven truly classic, perfect scores that were written in a seven year period. For me; his biggest and most impactful creative peak.

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