Coheteboy

I just picked up mine from Tower Records today. It wasn't as cheap as amazon but $13.99 meant I can have it immediately.

I think I know the piece you're looking for. It's from the movie Dragonheart scored by Randy Edelman. So... do I get a special Irish blessing now?

Friday night was a beautiful night. Nice cool breeze, clear skies, and John Williams was conducting the LA Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl for a night of great orchestral music. The theme? It sounds kinda gross but it was "Olympic Fever". Boy, I hope nobody has died from the "olympic fever".. it sounds pretty severe. But it only comes around every two to four years. The symptoms usually involve running around with a torch or having a sudden urge to learn how to pole vault. Or maybe it's not a disease at all but rather... the theme for the night's program! Ah yes. But onto the Bowl! Now, when I was a young lad I always thought the Hollywood Bowl was just some fancy bowling alley! You laugh at me now but how could you NOT think this as a kid? And you can probably picture the disappointment when there WAS NO bowling at the Hollywood BOWL. "What a Jip", I must have thought. If you haven't been to the Hollywood Bowl, it's what I like to call the poorman's concert venue. I say this because there are several factors that make this place less than ideal for hearing the orchestra at its full potential. The first factor is that it's outdoors, so while you get the nice evening breeze and plenty of fresh air, you also get other elements you never thought of. All of us have been to a regular rock concert one point or another... and we all know that when you leave the show, your ears are RINGING from the loudness of it all! That isn't the case at the Bowl. The orchestra plays, and you hear it amplified on the speakers, but you don't "feel" it. You don't get the awesome resonance that comes with a concert hall, which is too bad. It's like listening to your stereo with medium volume. When I see it live, I want to feel and see the music. Other factors that make the music experience less than perfect: chatty patrons who think they can't be heard since it's outdoors, helicopters zooming over head, sirens from emergency vehicles, empty bottles rolling down the aisles, and best of all... CRICKETS. Yes, crickets. These little bugs don't stop for any reason! They've grown so acustomed to the music they just add their own. But hey, it's the Hollywood Bowl and if you want a seamless experience, it'll probably cost you $200 to get a seat right on the bottom. But tickets can be as cheap as $6 for nosebleed! And did I say that you can bring food to this place? EVERYONE has bags and bags that clog the aisles. My tickets were $35 and were a decent distance away. Not too close, not too far. I wouldn't say it's perfect but they were good enough. So what did they play? Here's the complete program including encore pieces: -National Anthem -John Williams -- The Cowboys Overture -Arnaud/Williams -- Bugler's Dream/Olympic Fanfare and Theme -Torke -- Javelin -Williams -- The Olympic Spirit (for Seoul winter games) -L. Bernstein -- Olympic Hymm Cal State Fullerton University Singers -Williams -- Call of the Champions (for Salt Lake City winter games) Cal State Fullerton University Singers Intermission -Williams -- Music from Superman: The Planet Krypton - Main Theme -Williams -- Suite From Harry Potter: (Hedwig's theme wasn't played.. it was something else, and harry's wondrous world included bits from the latest potter film... so it's a mix that we don't have on cd). Hedwig's Theme - Double Trouble* - A Bridge to the Past - Harry's Wondrous World *Cal State Fullerton University Singers -Williams -- Dry Your Tears, Afrika (from Amistad) Cal State Fullerton University Singers -Newman -- Cathy's Theme from Wuthering Heights Bing Wang, violin soloist -Williams -- Raiders March (from Raiders of the Lost Ark) Encore: -Williams -- "Flying theme" from E.T. -Williams -- Yoda's Theme from ESB -Williams -- Imperial March from ESB -Williams -- Star Wars Main theme Ah, the familar music of the movies. It's pretty amazing that he did four encores. He usually only does two or three. Other highlights of the evning were special guest: Olympian Bruce Jenner with 20 southern Californian Olympic Medalists, and John Williams own mother who is now 95 years old. How sweet is that? So yes, it was a very nice evening despite my snobbiness. There were also two heavier set women sitting next to me who commented on each piece afterward. "Oh, wasn't that just lovely?" "it sure was... mmph." Very entertaining indeed. I'm still disappointed that the place isn't a real bowling alley though. Who wants to go bowling?

Although I find this debate completely immature and pointless, as each party will never come to an agreement over which one is better. But well... here goes: In defense of Star Wars... (because I'm immature as well) -No matter how disappointing TPM and AOTC are, it wasn't as bad as Generations. -Phasers vs. Lightsabers. Nuff said. (choose the phallic one) -Space battles. The Borg ship vs. the Federation in First Contact was pretty darn cool, but it also had a Millenium Falcon in the scene. -No matter how disappointing TPM and AOTC are, they also aren't as horrid as ST: The Motion Picture. Everyone in that movie is wearing pajamas! -Star Wars is pure imagination from ships to weapons to costumes. Star Trek has too may aliens that look exactly like humans but with some deformalities. That's just lame and lazy. (though Star Wars is kinda getting like that too sadly) -Star Trek may have 7 of 9, but Star Wars has Natalie Portman. -Darth Vader! C'mon! There's no competition there! Although Palpatine went out with the Borg Queen once... I think she was the one that got dumped. -As someone mentioned before (and this being a JW board), the score for Star Wars is beaten by no other sci-fi score... except maybe Space Camp (haha). -Sure the captains are cool but there aren't any Muppets on Star Trek! -Star Trek has Whoopie Goldberg... that's a big no no. Ok I'm sure there's tons more but I'll let you guys work on those. I'd have to agree though... some of the acting in the prequels are just awful. But overall, I like the continous STory of Star Wars and I care more about that then some border dispute in the Neutral Zone or the trouble with tribbles.

I'm new 'round here so forgive me as I try to catch up, but I have a few cents (or dollars) to add to this ongoing conversation. First up, HP2. Wow... few scores give me the rush of total comfort that only Williams can provide (another i can think of is Empire of the Sun). While this is clearly the work of John Williams, it does have the feel of one of those Varese Sarabande CDs conducted by someone else. It sounds right, but somehow not as authentic. But even so, it sounds great! For those who doubt Williams wrote the music, if the OFFICIAL source says the music was only adapated by William Ross, then believe it. Nowadays you can't lie or not give credit when it's due. That can lead to lawsuits, and nobody wants that do they? And besides, there have been plenty of times where Williams music was adapted to a lousy sequel, and a lousy score for that matter. You can TELL that Williams didn't write 40 minutes of music for those disasters. The score for HP2 reminds me of the Williams I really loved in the 80s... just magical. But as of late, I think Williams had really created some of his best stuff. The score for AOTC was great, it was just the cues that weren't new and used in the film that bothered me. Minority Report, very refreshing and just awesome. See? Williams can create something totaly new and different, so don't be quick to judge if something isn't as familiar to you. A.I.: was a very inspiring film. It had its' dull spots but it's not a failure, especially if Williams is writing the music. Anyway, I can't wait to buy this soundtrack so I can listen to it in the car. Sure some themes resemble other ones, but that is unavoidable with Williams. Just be glad it's not American Journey or whatever that crap was. (see, I'm a critic too!)

Thanks for the help guys! Ricard, good site, I know it's underconstruction... which is why i joined the message board to find out! Hehe. Cant' wait to see how it'll look when it's finished.

Hey folks, I'm new to this message board and had a question. I'm wondering if any of you know of a good website that displays a complete listing of ALL of John Williams work in chronological order? And I'm not just talking film scores, I'm talking about compositions for events (Liberty Fanfare, Olympics, etc) and concertos as well. If any of you put www.imdb.com as a reply, you OBVIOUSLY have no brain. I appreciate any help with this. Thanks!