gkgyver

The know-how is called "JUST FUCKING STOP" 

I voted, because I assumed that this poll was about his music.
 
Don't forget to mention these awful giant pixelated memes that he seems to just photograph from a screen. Let alone the disturbing instances, when he is randomly quoting himself, in fact the post that he is posting at the very moment.

Odd people, who get offended by thread making on an open message board. 
It's not trolling just because you don't like it. 
God forbid we have fun threads instead of endless barrages of "What obscure score nobody knows have you heard today". 

I mean, you guys don't actually get a laugh out of this, do you? 
 
I'd appreciate if the mods were so kind as to reprimand troll-like behavior such as this. And who the heck is this bruce marshall fellow, with 400 something posts in the last month and all of them read something like this:
 
 

We start at the beginning, and make a few references to sync points throughout. But really, I don't think we line up anything all that tightly anyway. It should work fine as long as you're close.
 
Thanks for the kind comments, everyone. Part two this coming week. 
 
D

Let me start off by saying I've been counting the hours until the day this album got released. The Godzilla movie franchise is so full of really brilliant music, and I have the privilege of knowing all of it, and I assume so does Bear McCreary, since the few bits of score that were already out there focused on the Ifukube Godzilla March. So, what could possibly go wrong?
Well, let's see ...
 
This is one of these scores that I, and I assume plenty of others, can enjoy because of the personal affection and emotions for the source material, that the score tries to evoke, rather because of its own merits. There are usually three types of scores for movies that are made in a franchise series:
The first type tries to slavishly stay in tone, thematically and tonally (i.e. Jurassic Park series)
The second type abandons all themes and semblances to previous entries, and tries to recreate the same emotions differently (i.e. Dark Knight series, Spider-Man series).
The third type keeps existing themes and tries to embed them into a new sonic environment - such as King Of The Monsters.
 
And that's a very good thing because, putting it bluntly, without those classic Ifukube themes, McCreary's effort would fall way short behind Desplat's Godzilla 2014.
For those who know even cinematic trash like Son Of Godzilla, you are probably aware that the scores to those films play a major part in making them more appealing than they by all means should be. And that's because they have an essential thing: heart.
I feel no heart in King Of The Monsters whatsoever.
 
There is no shortage whatsoever of brass blasts, choir, churning rhythms, and a dose of classic themes. But none of it means a thing. I can't help but come back to the modern difference between a composer and a film composer. How is it that composers of merit can take one small aspect of a movie, and make it mean so much that it becomes an identity (i.e. Night On the Yorktown, Rose's theme, Hedwig's theme), but modern film composers can have 60 years and 30 movies worth of film music history at their disposal, just for one film, and then turn it into insignificance, or at most a cool moment?
 
And that's because this score is plagued by modern film music sores, the most significant one being that there is this draining compulsion to always keep the music moving, be it with string chopping, with drum smashing, or synth bomping. Fucking why? There are never these moments where the music just lingers in the moment, relishes in itself, and explores an idea further, except when you hear the melodic part of Ghidorah's theme for example.
Every time you start to hear a theme or a melody form for a few seconds, it's SNAP back to more chopping and droning. 
And it goes like that FOREVER, and after 30 minutes you just want to scream "Give me something to sink my teeth into!" A small setpiece, a militaristic march, anything!
 
Speaking of themes, this score does itself no favors by choosing to make the guttural droning chant of Ghidorah's theme its central focus. I realize that Akira Ifukube himself wrote tribal chanting into his Godzilla music on occasion, but it didn't take up major parts of his score. 
At first, for example in "Outpost 32" or "Rise of Ghidorah", it does really get you, and if I listened to that alone in the dark for the first time, I'd probably shit my pants. The chanting has its peak in "The Hollow Earth", where it ventures almost into Moria territory.
But it gets old. Quick. Very quick. Also because there is no melody to it, it's just one note/chord chanted.
There is no other main theme to the score that I can hear, except that four note motif in "Welcome To Monarch", but that's a whisper of a motif, not a theme.
There may be 17 or something monsters in the film, but you'd never know from this score. Godzilla has his theme, both the A and the B part, Ghidorah has his theme, Mothra's theme is there for dissapointingly brief moments, and that's it.
A track like "Mass Awakening" is just hugely dissapointing.
The inclusions of these themes I don't find organic at all, sadly, so with that, and the plague of modern film scoring techniques, lots of this score is just really sterile.
The Godzilla March Arrangement in "Main Titles" is orgasm inducing I want to say, but there really isn't much else in this score that elicits feelings of deep satisfaction. The Godzilla March finds a few uses, especially in "Rebirth" and "Battle Of Boston", but you really want to yell "Fuck, just let it fly, dude, stop mickey mousing a fucking Godzilla movie!!"
Also, there is no end credit music as far as I can tell.
 
I still have to give this one the edge over Desplat's score. The use of classic Ifukube themes will just do that, and in the end, Ghidorah's theme beats no real theme for the Muto in Godzilla 2014. Also, King Of The Monsters does have the better individual tracks, even though you can cut 30 minutes easily.
 
If I wanted to make a playlist, it will probably be this one:
 
1. Godzilla Main Title
2. Outpost 32
3. Rise Of Ghidorah
4. The First Gods
5. Rodan
6. Queen Of The Monsters
7. The Hollow Earth
8. Rebirth
9. Battle In Boston
10. Redemption
11. King Of The Monsters
12. Mothra's Song
13. Godzilla Main Title (reprise)
 
Favorite track beside the Main Title is probably "Rodan". There, I can finally hear some character in the music, and the rhythm partially reminds me of the 60s movies.
 
All told, the rating is heavily influenced by personal affection for Godzilla.
 
So, personally, this is a 3/5
Objectively, it's 2.5/5  

Closer to reality than you think. 
By 2050, cinemas will be gone. The end of the evolution will be virtual reality equipment at home, and interactive photo realistic video games will probably be commonplace. 
There will be no individual TV stations anymore. There will be a handful of huge, strictly regulated companies that produce movies/series in house, and release them on On-Demand services only. All classic movies will be digitized, and either be released on demand in full form, in euthanized form, or be flat out banned for unwanted content. 
What used to be TV zapping will be a form of today's YouTube, with private channels with various content - appropriate content of course - that you also need to pay for. 
Music production for all of those will largely be reduced to digital studio production. So that, you know, we can finally leave the terrible suppressing tradition of Western music behind. 
John Williams will be regarded as a great composer, who unfortunately stood for all that was wrong with Hollywood tradition. 

It does what HanZ is best at: repetitive, pompous buildups that lead to nothing.

Nah. You're just not worth my time to correct typos.

To get around copyright, there will be a replacement score by Lorne Balfe. 

Why? What are the time signatures? 
 
After a long wait, I've finally downloaded Berlin Strings. The last string library I had was EWQL from 10 years ago. The difference in sound is incredible, and the smaller sections very handy for divisi. 
It's also the first time (you'll probably think I'm a caveman) I have a proper MIDI Keyboard with proper MIDI controllers. 
Just improvising with the various sounds is something I could spend hours on. There's nothing synth-y about it at all. It's as if you listen to actual players. 
I can't stress enough how much of a quantum leap (no pun intended) this is from 10 years ago. 
And how liberating it is to not worry about spending an excruciating amount of time on making something sound *just about* right. 

"I'm all of the Sith" 
"And I'm all of the Jedi" 
 
exchange is waaaaay up there. 
 
 
Nah. AotC is rancid. 
There is bad, then there's so bad it's funny, and then there's so bad that it's funny for 5 minutes and then it's bad AND boring. 

Can't you dictate melodies or chords into your smartphone? 

Like when they drive, and suddenly turn the volume up and say "uuh, I like this song!" 
And you ask yourself "Really? Really? The last 5 were exactly the same, but THIS is the one?" 

Some of us are used to more complex brain stimulation, so that not every half assed bass line elicits dopamine. 

LOL 
 
It's called developing a palette. People do that when they grow older (well, some). As you grow to experience a more complex emotional tapestry with life experiences, music that covers and conveys a broader and deeper spectrum of emotions will naturally become more satisfying. 
Many people stay emotionally stuck in their early teen years, and often perceive orchestral music, in the vein of classical composers or operas or high class film music, as inaccessible or heavy. I mean, they say so. 
This kind of music is capable to strike diverse emotions so precisely, that many people stuck on the surface are frankly not capable of dealing with, or not even familiar with. 
 
It's torture to sit in a car with someone who wants to play the mainstream stations up and down. I don't know how they can take it. It's hypnosis. At some point, you zone out. You don't hear individual songs anymore, all I hear is the constant thumping of a beat. The same beat. 

Can't you dictate melodies or chords into your smartphone? 

LOL 
 
It's called developing a palette. People do that when they grow older (well, some). As you grow to experience a more complex emotional tapestry with life experiences, music that covers and conveys a broader and deeper spectrum of emotions will naturally become more satisfying. 
Many people stay emotionally stuck in their early teen years, and often perceive orchestral music, in the vein of classical composers or operas or high class film music, as inaccessible or heavy. I mean, they say so. 
This kind of music is capable to strike diverse emotions so precisely, that many people stuck on the surface are frankly not capable of dealing with, or not even familiar with. 
 
It's torture to sit in a car with someone who wants to play the mainstream stations up and down. I don't know how they can take it. It's hypnosis. At some point, you zone out. You don't hear individual songs anymore, all I hear is the constant thumping of a beat. The same beat. 

Like when they drive, and suddenly turn the volume up and say "uuh, I like this song!" 
And you ask yourself "Really? Really? The last 5 were exactly the same, but THIS is the one?" 

I wanna watch it on my smartwatch - while running - uphill - on a rocky terrain - with bad light - no sound - and my battery dying.
 
That's the only way to watch this movie.

LOL 
 
It's called developing a palette. People do that when they grow older (well, some). As you grow to experience a more complex emotional tapestry with life experiences, music that covers and conveys a broader and deeper spectrum of emotions will naturally become more satisfying. 
Many people stay emotionally stuck in their early teen years, and often perceive orchestral music, in the vein of classical composers or operas or high class film music, as inaccessible or heavy. I mean, they say so. 
This kind of music is capable to strike diverse emotions so precisely, that many people stuck on the surface are frankly not capable of dealing with, or not even familiar with. 
 
It's torture to sit in a car with someone who wants to play the mainstream stations up and down. I don't know how they can take it. It's hypnosis. At some point, you zone out. You don't hear individual songs anymore, all I hear is the constant thumping of a beat. The same beat. 

Some of us are used to more complex brain stimulation, so that not every half assed bass line elicits dopamine. 

To get around copyright, there will be a replacement score by Lorne Balfe. 

What's the pride in doing your own stunts? You're basically showing that you're dumb enough to hurt yourself for real, for scenes that everyone knows are fake.