Leaderboard

"Songs", "tunes", "songwriter"

Here lies Jeff Bridges ... that actor...in Tron. Has it come to this, JWFan?!

I've been putting off starting another of these TROS track appreciation threads, because honestly talking Star Wars feels so exhausting lately. But I happened to listen the cue "Farewell" this morning and was again reminded how superb this piece is, probably the emotional heart of the soundtrack as a whole and a grand musical payoff for so many things Williams was doing in the Sequel Scores. In a way, the power of this cue has a lot to do with the fact that Williams was forced to communicate through music what the screenplay was unable (IMHO) to accomplish: make for a convincing romantic catharsis for the underwritten Rey & Ben relationship, and convey suitable sense of galaxy-wide triumph against the ill-defined First Order. In that respect, I find it similar to some of the best stuff he did for the PT, like "The Dinner Scene," "It Can't Be," and "Lament," where the music massively picks up the slack where the writing & acting falls short. It's a really dense track, with too much to delve into in one post, but here are a few observations: The austere rendition of Rey's theme for her momentary death is exquisite, and by using the comparatively rare ending first (and only?) heard in TFA's 1M7, does a great job tying the beginning and ending of the trilogy together w/r/t her leitmotif. The music that accompanies Kylo Ren dragging himself out of the pit, with those overlapping statements of his motif over a D pedal, is almost Gabriel Yared-like in its dissonant but tonal longing. Delicious stuff. Rey's resurrection is accompanied by what I imagine many Reylos were long hoping for -- a sort of synthesis of her and Kylo Ren's themes. Notice the way melodic semitones, the markers of Ren/Ben's leitmotif, seem to push through all over the place. There's a particularly subtle way in which Ren's former 5-#4 gets turned into b6-5 and then later inverted to 5-b6 which probably deserves more study. The way this surge of musical emotion end prematurely on an unresolved chord calls to mind the other most notable time Williams did this in Star Wars, and prepares nicely the kiss music that follows on its heels. Here's the notation from the (terrific) piano album: Everything following Ben's death, from the tiny bit of string-section mourning Rey is allowed for Ben to the Bb-major choral hymn that concludes the track is such vintage Williams musical exultation that I dare say the whole ST was worth it if just for this sonic reward. And while simple in its emotional effect, the music is again anything if simplistic -- there's even more cool motivic transformations happening with that 5-b6 motif, which flowers into part of the Victory Theme proper. Plus what I suspect is a reconfiguration of the March of the Resistance at 4:14 that I haven't seen anyone else remark on (or maybe I'm just hearing things, wouldn't be the first time!). I'd love to hear all your thoughts, and see what else is going on in this track that I'm surely missing.

I loved the HTTYD 2/3 albums to bits long before seeing the films (and I haven't seen the third yet). It's got nothing to do with a lack of reconceptualisation - you just don't find the scores as interesting, therefore you think the albums should be shorter.

I think Planet of the Apes is a brilliant score but I understand how it's not for everyone

That edition of Planet of the Apes is mindblowing

Added to main post 1972 - The Cowboys Score Restore videos by Holko 1979 - Dracula Score restore videos by Holko 1984 - The River Score restore videos by Disco Stu 1987 - Empire of the Sun Score restore videos by Holko 2001 - A.I. Artificial Intelligence Score Restore videos by Holko 2001 - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Score restore videos by Holko 2002 - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Score restore videos by Holko 2004 - Harry Potter and the Prisoner Of Azkaban Score restore videos by ragoz350 2017 - The Post Score restore videos by Disco Stu

A.I. Artificial Intelligence A beautiful, thoughtful, sensitive, touchingly heartbreaking masterpiece... AND kind of a hot mess.

The makers of the Marvel Netflix shows weren't creating their content with teenagers in mind. They were making those shows for adult fans who grew up with the comic books and wanted to see their childhood heroes on the telly, but in a mature show aimed at adults. Of course many teenagers watched and liked it as well, but the showmakers didn't alter their plans and start adding in content that would draw in more teenage viewers or anything

Bonus - The alternates (well, the more interesting ones) Interestingly this original opening is much longer and lines up very differently. And this one runs much longer too. Very different in places! But I prefer the focus on the Abandonment motif in the film version. Fits. Had to stretch it the same way as the other version. Interestingly different! Fits. I had to seriously trim this one here and there since it's a shorter take. But all worth it for when the strings take Monica's theme by the end.

Fuck the English.

And then you have dudes like Doomcock who probably make stuff up just to make journalists write the word "doomcock" in print.

The use of the harpsichord might recall Francis Poulenc's Concert Champetre from 1928. There is an overall air that harks back to French composers of that era like Poulenc, Honegger, Milhaud. All of them were strongly influenced by the early jazz music coming from the US (Gershwin, Antheil et al). It makes sense considering the source material and also the setting of the film.

I have no interest in ever buying any vinyl records, but damn the artwork on this set is aces https://mondoshop.com/blogs/news/music-weekly-the-mandalorian-season-one-boxset

Always two there are.

By the way, I noticed a small detail - Alternative Finding the Blue Fairy ends in the same key in which 1nd version of Journey through the Ice begins. The same goes for Final Finding the BF and 2nd version of Journey through the Ice, but the key is different. However, since final Finding and beginning of 1nd version JttIce are used in the film, the transition is not as smooth.

Jerry Jerry Jerry!!! If I understand well, that's the remastered version (+bonus) of this great original album:

GoldenEye beats the hell out of Skyfall. And if you put a gun to my head, I'd prefer the score to GoldenEye as well. Eric Serra's score has a distinct personality, whereas I can detect no such thing in Newman's.

I dunno, there's the scary precedent of them releasing an exclusive new Batman cue.

Oh now you ask!? What am I, your little slut? Oh, you know I am. As I was playing through the game, I loved it, and after completing it, I really liked it. I loved the battle system, in contrast to Stu, but I'm way more into puzzle games than he is. At first it's incredibly simple, but damn does the heat pick up after a while. Even with some of the assistance tools, by late game I still struggled with a good amount of the battle puzzles. But as Stu alluded to, this game is basically designed to be unloseable, with the difficulty being as high or easy as you want it to be at any given moment. It's a unique way of video game difficulty, and I was very impressed by this game's approach. Where the battle system really shone for me were the boss battles, which were some of the most fun I've ever played. Like Stu said, the other aspects of the game are what really make the game pop. The music, surprisingly acoustic, still captures the Paper Mario spirit very well, and the visuals are incredibly vibrant and appealing. Then comes what some might argue is the most important ingredient for Paper Mario: the writing. In short, it's hilarious. Whether it's self-aware self-effacement of a Koopa Troopa, or jabs at commercializing a religious pilgrimage, the jokes come fast and hard. Practically every character has something amusing to say, and I wanted to talk to each one, just to see what that would be. The larger plot and story is where it didn't come together as well for me. Like many, I love Thousand Year Door and consider it the pinnacle of the series: one of the reasons why was that the plot took you into some really interesting and memorable places, in location and idea. There was a surprising amount of emotional and tonal robustness and depth, that came together to really create a sense of grand adventure. ...and Origami King doesn't have much of that. The plot is a romp, a giant vessel to cram as many gags as possible. And while almost all of them hit, I did find myself wanting for more. There's a very notable--and memorable--exception to this, but it happens relatively early in the game, and bizarrely isn't really followed up on by anything else. From that point on, it becomes a pretty straightforward trek through a standard video game plot, exceptional comedic surprises notwithstanding. The endgame, as a result, left me with a "Well, that's that" feeling. Overall, this would have been the perfect game I would've rented from Blockbuster for a week or two, and returned completed, satisfied and not looking back. That might sound like damning praise, but I have no hesitation calling this the best Paper Mario since 2004, and would highly recommend it...just maybe not at $60.

Added! Dunno how I missed those before

Says the Watchmen/Nolan Batman apostle.

That could very well be it, yea! Williams provides little flourishes sometimes for the things going on in outer space Check out 3:25 for example

'As long as all the cues are included' is the key phrase. I actualy disagree with him about the 'museum piece' idea. I think that's exactly what these releases are to a large extent. Things can be rearranged a bit if it sounds better, but it should never come at the cost of leaving something off. If a cue really stands out like a sore thumb, that's what the 'additional/bonus' section is for.

And instruments! Middle Earth is as defined by the unusual instrumentation as it is by the thematic content. I'd love for Shore to write a few themes and sketch them for a couple of new instruments that we haven't heard before in these scores.

Lol I doubt it as long as Disney keep ploughing the Marvel crop. People like me need an antidote to all that, and boy is The Boys it. I bet we get 7 seasons at least.

If you enjoyed the Potters then you should enjoy these. Potter is basically a whodunnit at its core. The characters in Strike are great too. I’d say give the first one a go anyway. It’s an easy read.

What track is that?

You're absolutely right! FSM Blue Box page 29 confirms this, and pages 58-59 go into more detail. In fact, these pages explain that the Film Version of the opening actually uses 16 seconds of the revised Main Title in between the Prelude recording and the End Title recording. Sheesh! Updated the post above.

I probably don't have any real interest in this score, but I ordered it to support Powell and get his autograph.

I'm an expert on Shostakovich. Let me know if you need help traversing. I've heard Wigglesworth perform several of these live and attended a premiere of Shostakovich's Orango with his widow as well. I've performed bass trombone on No. 5 too, have studied his scores, and read multiple biographies even the apocryphal "Testimony" by the discredited anti-soviet Solomon Volkov. Mravinsky is a romantic soviet interpretation. Very solid and completely respectable. Kondrashin is a more intense and more raw interpretation (more mistakes). There is no single great interpreter but many are great in different ways. Bernard Haitink's Decca series is very fine mix of modern (circa 1980's) excellent performances, recording, and interpretation. There are also performance eras. Practically anything pre-late 1970's is influenced by Soviet sound (faster tempo, harsher sound emphasizing dissonance) and most after until around 2000 were Western influenced and emphasized pathos and slower tempo. There is a bit of re-evaluation post 2000 as "Testimony" was debunked by scholars and that anti-soviet interpretation faded from performance approach. Rudolf Barshai is a very respectable series of both Mahler and Shostakovich but not audiophile quality though very fine interpretations. Good recent series are Vasily Petrenko but again, it doesn't succeed in all symphonies but is quite strong in many. Like any great symphonist, Shostakovich is a connoisseur's composer. We relish in every detail and no one cycle fully satisfies.

I really can't quite put my finger on it, but this shot really haunted me:

It's clearly bullshit. Pedro did not leave during Season 2, and will be back for the inevitable future seasons. FYI, Grace Randolph is just the female Mike Zeroh. They both create bullshit rumors and spread them around in order to make a quick buck. They're well-known con-artists, and bad ones at that.

I don't know if there would be much more for City Slickers 2 but the original could certainly do with an expansion. And yeah, the LLL Addams Family was worth getting if you can find it although the original album has a pretty decent selection and sounds just fine. NP: Company. :-p (and earlier Mahler 7, Gielen)

Oh I have the first City Slickers OST album as well; I'd love for the specialty labels to show Shaiman some love and do new versions of both scores! I should have bought the Addams Family expansion from LLL before it went OOP. Oh well

Movement III - Finale Kind of straightforward. This is the original, warm and "friendly" version. A bit longer and less straightforward - this is the colder, revised version, actually not only of the previous cue but seems to be a partial revision of the next one's opening, too. The final film combines them, using the first half of the first, warm version, and the second half of the colder more distant version - even taking the partial revision idea further and looping parts of this cue to cover up the cello part of the next one. And here we have the showstopper finale where the emotions are let loose after a score's worth of restraint and subtlety. All of these cues fit, even if the final film messes with Reunion a bit. At the end I've recreated JW's original intended credits even if I really don't like it.

This is one of the freakiest scenes I've ever seen, and the way JNH uses the brass in a slowly meandering fashion is perfect, wth his repeated motif kind of indicating the panic and chaos that's going on in their minds. I also think M. Night's camerawork works well in making the viewer really unsure about what to look for, so that when 'it' happens, with the musical stinger, you're so tensed up. I first saw this alone, at night, as a teenager. Not the best idea. Aside from the completely brilliant Hand of Fate, Baby Monitor really gets me going with the chord changes and gentle strings. The whole score is like an exercise in how to take a simple motivic structure and produce a textural score that works without any big themes. Although, honourable mention must go to the aliens (?) theme, which I find such a subtle but evocative, and more 'mystery' than 'evil' theme:

Black Panther was good as hell! Sure, it didn't stray far from the Marvel formula, but it did an excellent job of worldbuilding, had charismatic characters and a compelling villain, wasn't super quippy (I know that some people around here's gripe). It definitely had moments of slowness but I wouldn't call anything about the movie boring - just had some room to breathe. Score was also top-tier among Marvel Cinematic Universe, whether or not you'd call that damning with faint praise.

Darkest Hour Commissioner Gordon and ... ... Stannis Baratheon together in one movie! I thought it was better (less political) than Lincoln. It's also a nice companion piece to Dunkirk.

About Phillip Glass I think, I pay him respect for being so consequent in not even trying to conceal the lack of originality in his music like most others do with not less simple tricks than his three or four. And that is in my opinion a quality of it's own. Is that a reason for me to listen to his music? No. But I think, I understand why people do. There is some kind of refreshing honesty in his music.

Added: David Arnold 1995 Stargate John Barry 1990 Dances With Wolves Bruce Broughton 1985 Young Sherlock Holmes Danny Elfman 1995 Mission: Impossible Michael Giacchino 2011 Super 8 2016 Rogue One Jerry Goldsmith 1995 First Knight 1997 Air Force One James Newton Howard 1995 Waterworld Michael Kamen 1995 Die Hard 3 Joe Kraemer 2015 Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation Mark Mancina 1996 Twister Ira Newborn 1986 Ferris Bueller's Day Off John Ottman 2014 X-Men: Days of Future Past John Powell 2008 Bolt 2017 Ferdinand Craig Safan 1984 The Last Starfighter Hans Zimmer 2014 Interstellar

I loled I also loled

I don't listen to anything anymore. 🤷‍♂️

I instantly identified the artwork as that of Paul Mann. Probably my favorite illustrator out there. Check out his Saving Private Ryan... looks like a throwback to a paperback cover. https://www.paulmannartist.com

Yes the original John Conrad Berkey artwork is certainly iconic but I must admit the new artwork for the CD cover does grow on you after a while. It makes it stand out even more and for the uninitiated it was designed by poster artist Tom Jung utilizing the 1976 theatrical re-release poster. Some have commented that it doesn't look like Steve McQueen but it does, it just isn't that good a representation of him. Not crazy about the way they kept the title design all on one line, albeit aesthetically I can see why they did, to keep it balanced. However, the title design was iconic too and seeing it modified is a little jarring at first. I wonder if any of you have seen this alternate Berkey art before? I think the one that was used was the better one but this one is quite striking, I think.