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That's one of the striking differences between the two scores, IMO. The original is about people's reactions to dinosaurs. The sequel is about the dinosaurs themselves, and the jungle they inhabit.

When you visit JWFAN for "a minute", only to look at the time and see that two hours have passed...

stegosaurus 2:40-4:00 fire at camp 0:39-0:55 Spilling petrol and Horning in 2:20-2:43 and 4:20-4:29 In the trailer 0:43-1:52 Visitor in San Diego 2:48-2:59 Tranquilizer dart 2:25-end (in the strings) probably this is a strech, but the eerie music it similar

Mine just arrived!! Looks amazing.

?? The Lost World is a great score. I prefer it to Jurassic Park, like the film, but I think they're both great. l love all the seemingly random Williams brass throughout. I've noticed it a lot in the new complete presentation. There are occasional motifs, but it's a lot of really chaotic random brass playing. Williams makes it work, somehow. It not only works, it's amazing. It's played with such force, it demands your attention. It's almost like he's musically channeling the cries of the dinosaurs. This score is a beast.

Yeah, his suspense building really shines through in this new release. That ascending island voice theme is really the glue that holds the score together from a thematic viewpoint. I agree with that ranking except AOTC. I appreciate that score more than most but TLW has a higher level of consistent entertainment for me. And ranking TLW below Indy, Potter, Star Wars is certainly not a bad reflection on TLW. Those are all exceptional scores. From a contemporary viewpoint, TLW is better than any score released in 2016 so far.

couldn't have said it better, artguy. The cues sound OK but reinforce the fears that someone on here had expressed earlier ---- that Giacchino just tries too damn hard and doesn't have the natural gift that JW has, so his cues just lack a certain something special. Sure, it sounds Star Wars-esque, but the cues feel woefully lacking in the complexity that we've been so spoiled with with JW's Star Wars scores and end up feeling like the music is tripping over itself, trying its best to emulate JW's style. I haven't heard giac's medal of honor music, but all of his scores for modern blockbuster movies have been terribly lacking for me ---- even Star Trek. I am a life-long JW fan here, since age 3, and know his Star Wars music inside and out. Personally, I don't think Giac should be given the "keys to the kingdom" for future Star Wars scores. Maybe a score here or there, if the rest of this Rogue One score sounds better and more naturally Star Wars in nature.......but he really shouldn't be considered the go-to guy for the Star Wars saga movies once JW hands off the baton permanently. Edit: 2nd listen yielded a little more enjoyment. It still feels like it lacks the complexity of JW's classic form, but I'm interested in hearing the rest of the score. There should be some good gems in there. Still would like others to get their chance future Star Wars films. i just want 1 score that rises to the satisfaction of the Empire Strikes Back score --- whomever accomplishes that, book him/her for all future saga films....

I find that footage very encouraging. I can close my eyes and feel Star Wars well enough, so job done. It sounds exactly like the expectations; Giacchino doing his own Star Wars score. Just as Desplat or anyone else would have sounded like themselves doing Williams doing Star Wars. No one can do entirely their own thing. It would have been interesting, which is why perhaps Desplat was let go, but it wouldn't have worked for the grand scheme of things. Essentially, without Williams, you are reduced to whomever composes it sounding like themselves, sounding like Williams, doing Star Wars. The strings and brass had that perfect feeling for me, and sounded fun and energetic. It may not be the score that some of Giacchino's detractors want, but it's the score the film needs.

Oh, no. It's COS all over again.

Giacchino.

(That's George seated to the left of Steven)

Why would I waste one hour listening to just one score, when I could listen to about 15 tracks from 15 different scores in the same amount of time?

No.

Went to the Lucerne Premiere yesterday. It was great, the orchestra really top form, I heard no wrong note, which is something with this exhausting soundtrack.

Coincidentally, here's a selfie I took after listening to The Lost World expansion:

No, it's not autopilot. Jaws 2 is a very good score. I prefer the OST presentation ("The Catamaran Race" is a great track, by the way), but the complete score does have some awesome music, like when the body washes ashore. Anyway, Jaws 2 is not Jaws, but it isn't trying to be. It's a fun companion score that, by the sound of it, is certainly of the same musical universe. But I think Williams knew that the sequel was campy and he was clearly having fun with it. It's a bit breezier. Where it really differentiates itself from the first score is all the fantastically over-the-top material for the shark scenes.

He does have a website that has a calendar of all the concerts he's conducted (http://www.keithlockhart.com/), but it's not easily searchable for Williams pieces. But just to show what we're missing, for example I just discovered that in December 2015, he conducted music from Star Wars with the Pops. (https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/names/2015/12/21/the-force-and-santa-was-with-boston-pops-friday/09RWzQgHTkVtZynBt6mRtJ/story.html) He actually conducted with a light saber. Of course it's a Williams arrangement, right? The only question is whether it's actually an old arrangement that was performed only once or twice and maybe simply wasn't recorded. The more exciting alternative, of course, is that JW is actually preparing new arrangements specifically for this new CD. But TownerFan's sources seem to indicate that these are old arrangements (although perhaps this is an exception, who knows).

God I love the way JW subtly holds back the brass in the build up to the first major statement of Luke's Theme in Main Titles. Gustavo's interpretation of that moment feels a bit too controlled to my ears. Quietly hopeful Williams conducts the Main Titles himself for Episode VIII. Also, how good does Johnny look? Nearly 85 and sprightly as ever in front of the orchestra (if not moreso than he looked in some of the TFA session videos).

They are both completely complete.

Hehehe... I did consider that! Now, just to be clear: if you do indeed that, as you said, to sample a score, to see if you'd consider listening to the whole soundtrack, that's of course fine. Everybody does that. But if you just listen to these tracks and like them but still move on to the next two or three tracks from another score, etc. I find it to be a shame, as I believe you can't really appreciate a score/soundtrack if you don't listen to it from start to finish. You lose something by just listening to two/three tracks from a score, followed by tracks from another score, etc. You don't get a clear picture of the composer's work.

*(this was suppossed to continue loert's post, but a wild Inky appeared!) We know that for the more suspense-like sections (like Compys in this particular case) Williams likes to give the players a certain range of pitch and make them play around with that. And the percussion seems to have a specific pattern, but as long as they keep the tempo, they can insert little variations wherever they want. Also, this particular score seems to have been tracked with a certain Silvestri influence (Predator 2 comes to mind with The Raptors Appear) and we know that there was a fair share of improvisation for that score too, particularly with the solo woodwind material. And I wonder if once the percussion kicked in, Williams only marked the entrances of the instruments or some particular hit-points here and there instead of conducting the whole thing. Almost seems like he could kick back and enjoy the fun.

Of course movie-goers care about the music. Even if they don't know Giacchino off the top of their heads, Disney knows that they will have different reactions to a Star Wars movie with a Daft Punk score and a Star Wars movie with a Giacchino score or some driving synth bass rhythm by Desplat. Hollywood has been tinkering with music for as long as they've been making films. Through over a century of empiricism they've come to the conclusion that most people are aware of and care about film music, even if they are not fapping to complete editions. Next time you see Gabriel Yared, tell him how most movie-goers probably don't even notice the score.

Yes, I agree. I think many parts of the score, but especially the last part of "Visitor in San Diego", sound like the orchestra improvising a series of action "licks" over a drum rhythm (though of course it's Williams' composition). You have the trumpets entering with some simple repeated notes, followed by a short flair by the horns - almost like the players are warming up. After that, the playing gets busier, with the underlying rhythm getting louder and louder with a few variations thrown in here and there. It's the kind of thing you might expect from a musical improvisation.

Continuing my tradition of sampling scores with one or two tracks on YouTube, I've listened to Silvestri's Polar Express suite. Some of the material isn't so good, but I love the whole section starting here: I'm sure Silvestri will become one of my favorite composers once I get a chance to dig into his works more.

Any film with Max von Sydow as the baddie is by definition a good movie. No matter what.

I've just placed my order for some new glasses!

Don't you EVER say his name!!!

New clip.

Hey, Will, we didn't start the fire

I can't speak to the rest of it but I can tell you that absolutely every single letter sent through the USPS gets a barcode printed on it at the first sorting facility it gets to. Although it's a barcode that only gets scanned by machines, mail carriers obviously aren't scanning letters at delivery. Not really apropos of anything, I just used to work for the Postal Service so I happen to know that.

I miss George Lucas.

Yeah, the 60 Minutes Williams TFA footage mostly included music from the opening scene that wasn't anything spectacular (although still pretty great of course, just not highlights!) and actually ended up being unused alternates to the final film and OST versions. There was also some Scherzo for X-Wings and Ways of the Force, but no The Scavenger, Rey's Theme concert arrangement, March of the Resistance, I Can Fly Anything, The Falcon, Main Title, Jedi Steps, etc.

In my Top 5 of the year. Such a strong suspense score. I hope he continues to work with Trachtenberg (director of the movie). They could be a new long-term director/composer collaboration!

A great American composer, film music won't be the same. RIP.

I really wonder what the pianist is laughing about at the end

Mine has arrived in deepest rural Ireland! Case is in perfect condition. Now to wait two weeks before I can listen!

#all miss John Glenn # He had the right stuff. R.I.P. "Loan me a stick of gum, will ya? I'll pay you back, later". "Fair enough".

Holy moley. Miyazaki is ruthless.

I think the second Raimi one is one of the best "popcorn movies" ever made. But I don't really care if Steef likes it or not.

The Lost World: Jurassic Park by John Williams. This was my first score album by the man (had just SW Skywalker Symphony before that). Sounds even better now than it did back in 1997. And it is also one of the most unique blockbuster scores of his career that receives a highly enjoyable expansion with no real dull spots. It's great from start to finish. Karol

Everyone said the Brexit wouldn't happen. Everyone said Trump would never be President. And now everyone is saying things will never go this far... I see a pattern here!

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice This has been on TV a lot lately, so I've been watching it in between much better films. I really do like Batfleck. I mean, at least he kills people and he has a cool Alfred. The fight scene between Batman and Superman is laughable. They fight in a bathroom. Superman throws Batman through the stalls. Batman slowly carries a sink and smashes it over Superman's head. It's so awkward and hilarious, but I guess it delivers what it promises. The rest of it is mostly boring and especially awful once the ugly CGI monster shows up. But then, out of nowhere, immediately after the big fight ends, what turns out to be the real fight of the movie begins. Batfleck swoops in in the Batwing (or whatever they're calling it these days) and unleashes an incredible arsenal of automatic weaponry on thugs, including one who looks like JWFan's own Stefancos. He then proceeds to kick and murder the shit out of everyone, and it's fantastic. "Thermal imaging is showing two dozen JWFanners on the third floor. Why don't I drop you off on the second?"

I didn't listen to any of his non-Trek stuff until last year when I watched Fantastic Voyage and heard some similarities to Star Trek IV (or vice versa rather). specifically (below) 1.40 to end. Shades of Crash/Whale Fugue and Home Again/End Credits Though after that moved onto his Robocop and respective Planet of the Apes scores.