439 replies to this topic

[Morlock]

The title says it all. I was just going through some of my Powell collection, and I was taken by just how good so much of it is. Just about all of the scores of his I've heard retain their excitment and interest time and time again. I won't say his scores are perfect or perfectly consistant...but there's more interesting music in your average Powell album than just about any other composer working today. No one can touch him action-wise nowadays. The man actually uses strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion in ways that sound individually conceived. He can have 5 different interesting things going on at once. And he can still bring it all together for a splendid moment of the big theme.

Along with Desplat and Giacchino, Powell's the most exciting voice to be introduced to film music in my life as a film-score collector. Just needed to say that yet again.

Tangiers from The Bourne Ultimatum by John Powell (my favorite action cue of the past couple of year, hands down)

[indy4]

I love his animated work (Shrek, Chicken Run, Kung Fu Panda), but the Bourne Ultimatum is a giant bore for me, aside from a few good cues ("Tangiers" and "Man Versus Man").

[Vaderbait1]

I think he has potential to be amazing.

He needs to slow down on the kiddie fare, I was never big on it.

To truly prove his worth, he needs to tackle a big, epic movie, something with a little fun in it. Bourne was too super-hyper-techno-modern to deserve a quality score. Something with a more human or dramatic touch would display his skills.

I love X3, and I hear great stuff in his kiddie works, but just can't bring myself to actually own any of them. They're too....cheerful. I love music with more range.

But yes, he's definitely the most exciting, if only he'd take that next great leap that will use ALL his skills.

[indy4]

Shrek is not all cheerfulness. "Eating Alone" is absolutely gorgeous.

[Richard Penna]

I generally only don't like Powell in one of two modes: kiddie fare, or really, really modern stuff such as Mr & Mrs Smith or Paycheck. It's the sense of rhythm that I like from him, and that when he does make the effort to make a 'main theme', I Know that I'll never get it out of my head.

I'm head over heels in love with Hancock though, I think it's one of the best current examples of 5 things going on at once without it becoming a wall of sound. The penultimate track builds up into a tour-de-force for strings, and when we get onto the final track, the underlying rhythms and little touches here and there really give the music a quality that makes me believe he spent a lot of time on it.

Similar praise for Tangiers - what's going on in there must be a nightmare to play and it all meshes together so well.

[Hlao-roo]

the Bourne Ultimatum is a giant bore for me, aside from a few good cues ("Tangiers" and "Man Versus Man").

As far as the action cues go, it's very much The Bourne Supremacy rehashed, recycled with a few tweaks. That said, Powell's music in every Bourne film has been indispensable and agreeably distinctive in ways that James Newton Howard music, for instance, would not have been. I won't go as far as to say that Powell has conceived an endemically Bourne soundscape in the manner that Davis did for The Matrix films or Shore did for The Lord of the Rings, but for this series, particularly in the second two films, he has transcended his MV/RC roots more often than not.

[Red Rabbit]

X-Men: The Last Stand is very good. He's definitely one of the better composers to come out of MV.

[Ray Barnsbury]

I really like a few of his scores (Chicken Run, Hancock, X-Men...), but I don't have too many. Any recommendations? The Bourne scores seem pretty popular.

[Jacob]

I don't know much Powell, but I've been listening to Chicken Run for the first time... Building the Crate... wow.

Those kazoos are inspired.

[Koray Savas]

John Powell has always kicked ass. The second best, probably best, composer working today. Giacchino is possibly better, but he has a lot less scores.

His animated scores are the best. Horton is genius, as is Happy Feet. His actions scores are also magnificent.

[king mark]

I don't like this composer .He might steer away from MV but his sound is still generic modern film music .His themes are no good.

[Koray Savas]

His themes are plenty good. It's not generic if no one else sounds like him.

[ChuckM]

Powell is absolutely amazing.

In my list of favorites, he is currently tied for second with Elfman (both right under Williams of course).

My favorite of his works would have to be Horton Hears a Who though. It is an incredible score. Definitely the best of the year.

[Trent Bennett]

I don't like this composer .He might steer away from MV but his sound is still generic modern film music .His themes are no good.

*smacks KM*

If you haven't heard his complete score for X-Men: The Last Stand then you should. It's an awesome score.

[Koray Savas]

I never really understood all the love for his X-Men score. It was ruined by temp tracks, which is why it sounds like every other superhero score. It's definitely not close to Powell's best, even though it is a great score and the best thing to come from that film.

[Red Rabbit]

If you haven't heard his complete score for X-Men: The Last Stand then you should. It's an awesome score.

Right you are.

[Trent Bennett]

I never really understood all the love for his X-Men score. It was ruined by temp tracks, which is why it sounds like every other superhero score. It's definitely not close to Powell's best, even though it is a great score and the best thing to come from that film.

Moron.

[king mark]

I don't like this composer .He might steer away from MV but his sound is still generic modern film music .His themes are no good.

*smacks KM*

If you haven't heard his complete score for X-Men: The Last Stand then you should. It's an awesome score.

might give it another try.

[Nick Parker]

Powell is absolutely amazing.

In my list of favorites, he is currently tied for second with Elfman (both right under Williams of course).

Ultimately, I prefer Danny Elfman.

[Koray Savas]

Elfman hasn't composed anything that's wowed me since Men In Black. Powell is consistently on the top of his game.

[Ray Barnsbury]

I don't like this composer .He might steer away from MV but his sound is still generic modern film music .His themes are no good.

*smacks KM*

If you haven't heard his complete score for X-Men: The Last Stand then you should. It's an awesome score.

might give it another try.

The Phoenix theme is one of the best in recent memory.

[Vaderbait1]

I don't like this composer .He might steer away from MV but his sound is still generic modern film music .His themes are no good.

*smacks KM*

If you haven't heard his complete score for X-Men: The Last Stand then you should. It's an awesome score.

might give it another try.

The Phoenix theme is one of the best in recent memory.

It's unbelievably awesome.

[Trent Bennett]

Elfman hasn't composed anything that's wowed me since Men In Black. Powell is consistently on the top of his game.

Elfman wowed me with Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2's score. Having the full scores for both sure helps the listening experience.

[Nick Parker]

I assume those "full scores" are not official?

[Kendal_Ozzel]

Elfman wowed me with Wanted.

[indy4]

Elfman wowed me with Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride, Wanted, Sleepy Hollow. . . .

[Quint]

Along with Desplat and Giacchino, Powell's the most exciting voice to be introduced to film music in my life as a film-score collector. Just needed to say that yet again.

Tell me, what is your favourite Powell score? I kind of enjoyed the scores to the Bourne movies, but I haven't actually sat down and listened to them. I'm a fan of the Shrek score and thats about all I know of Powell.

[Docteur Qui]

I don't like this composer .He might steer away from MV but his sound is still generic modern film music .His themes are no good.

*smacks KM*

If you haven't heard his complete score for X-Men: The Last Stand then you should. It's an awesome score.

might give it another try.

The Phoenix theme is one of the best in recent memory.

I'm completely obsessed with the Phoenix music. It's not only the theme that's good, but the development it receives. It really is littered all across the score subtly, and makes the two huge cues ("The Death of X" and "The Phoenix Arises") all the more impressive.

[Morlock]

Along with Desplat and Giacchino, Powell's the most exciting voice to be introduced to film music in my life as a film-score collector. Just needed to say that yet again.

Tell me, what is your favourite Powell score? I kind of enjoyed the scores to the Bourne movies, but I haven't actually sat down and listened to them. I'm a fan of the Shrek score and thats about all I know of Powell.

Firstly, an obvious one would be Chicken Run. That's just plain good, though it's not especially a Powell score. Just really good. As for bona fide Powell scores....I have a hard time to pick a favorite. I know that The Italian Job was the first one that caught my ear, and I still love it. But I wouldn't recommend it as a starter. All his animation scores are imaginative, colorful, varied. But they are cartoonish in nature, so the sum of the parts are greater than the whole. Of the animation cartoons, I find Horton Hears a Who and Happy Feet to be the most consistantly interesting. They're full of ideas, both whimsical, and rather ambitious.
Of his action scores, I think my favorite is The Bourne Ultimatum. And while it has it's drawbacks (mostly temp-track related), X-Men III is a full-blooded comic book score, with fantastic themes, a great listen from begining to end.
I must stress, however, that you might be dissapointed if you're expecting any of these to be unqualified successes. My love for him comes from the fact that I've heard quite a bunch of his scores, and just about everyone showed an ambition to be interesting, to transcend cliches and prove that modern film scoring convetions such as heavy percussion, need not be a bad thing. His cues are wonderfully layered, with everything in there for a reason, never just filling up empty channels in the mix.

[Olivier]

Powell is a very good composer indeed.

The "Phoenix" theme is remarkably beautiful.

Two great scores that have not been mentionned yet: I Am Sam (the first track is an example of the clarity and transparency he can display; there's just enough, no pointless additional layers of orchestration); P.S./ I Love You (a truly superb love theme).

[Koray Savas]

Along with Desplat and Giacchino, Powell's the most exciting voice to be introduced to film music in my life as a film-score collector. Just needed to say that yet again.

Tell me, what is your favourite Powell score? I kind of enjoyed the scores to the Bourne movies, but I haven't actually sat down and listened to them. I'm a fan of the Shrek score and thats about all I know of Powell.

Animation-wise, definitely check out Horton Hears A Who! and Happy Feet. Also, Antz and Ice Age: The Meltdown, both brilliant scores. A lot of people love Chicken Run, which is indeed a fantastic score, but personally, I would pick those other 4 scores over it.

Action-wise, definitely check out The Bourne Supremacy and Ultimatum. Other than those, I'd move to either Hancock, Mr. And Mrs. Smith, or like Morlock mentioned, The Italian Job. These are mostly very Powell-ish modern scores, I'd recommend Paycheck if you want something a little more unique.

If you want some light-hearted stuff, Gigli is actually rather good, at least the "Opening Titles." P.S. I Love You is O.K. I suppose, as is Evolution.

United 93 is a genius score, but it's not something you can listen to very often.

[Stefancos]

I see the word genius used here far to often.

Disturbing.

[Koray Savas]

I used it once, but Powell is after all a genius composer.

[Stefancos]

No.

[Koray Savas]

O.K. well maybe genius is too harsh of a term, but excellent he definitely is. Ultimately there are only so few genius composers, the ones that define a genre. So I guess you're right, Powell doesn't belong there.

[Quint]

Along with Desplat and Giacchino, Powell's the most exciting voice to be introduced to film music in my life as a film-score collector. Just needed to say that yet again.

Tell me, what is your favourite Powell score? I kind of enjoyed the scores to the Bourne movies, but I haven't actually sat down and listened to them. I'm a fan of the Shrek score and thats about all I know of Powell.

Firstly, an obvious one would be Chicken Run. That's just plain good, though it's not especially a Powell score. Just really good. As for bona fide Powell scores....I have a hard time to pick a favorite. I know that The Italian Job was the first one that caught my ear, and I still love it. But I wouldn't recommend it as a starter. All his animation scores are imaginative, colorful, varied. But they are cartoonish in nature, so the sum of the parts are greater than the whole. Of the animation cartoons, I find Horton Hears a Who and Happy Feet to be the most consistantly interesting. They're full of ideas, both whimsical, and rather ambitious.
Of his action scores, I think my favorite is The Bourne Ultimatum. And while it has it's drawbacks (mostly temp-track related), X-Men III is a full-blooded comic book score, with fantastic themes, a great listen from begining to end.
I must stress, however, that you might be dissapointed if you're expecting any of these to be unqualified successes. My love for him comes from the fact that I've heard quite a bunch of his scores, and just about everyone showed an ambition to be interesting, to transcend cliches and prove that modern film scoring convetions such as heavy percussion, need not be a bad thing. His cues are wonderfully layered, with everything in there for a reason, never just filling up empty channels in the mix.

Right, well I'm going to get hold of the X-Men III score and give it a try. Cheers for the helpful reply

[Romão]

He's alright...

[Jeshopk]

He's alright...

I remember liking parts of the XMEN 3 score quite a bit while watching the movie. Especially that cue for baldy biting the dust. I'd pick it up used for sure. Chicken Run was ugly music to me. Just the general melodic construction was sort of candy coated. Gave me the feeling of Debney/LiarLiar.

[Quint]

Debney/LiarLiar.

I personally can't stand that cheesy sort of sound.

[Trent Bennett]

I assume those "full scores" are not official?

That would require a big, DUH.