Maestro

NERDS!!!

I LOVE this score. It's like The Village meets Schindler's List. Maybe that's a really shallow analogy, but it seems appropriate. And it is, believe me, high praise. This is making me very excited for the film. Best JNH score in years!

If Mary J Blige deserves a spot on that list, then Chris Martin does as well.

Hurry up, box!!!!

That ending coda is GORGEOUS! Either that or I'm just starving for new old JW music. We'll go with the former...

Why does Amazon say my estimated ship date is November 17?

I've never taken issue with the UE. I can understand how it's not ideal, but I've always been quite content with it.

"The Meeting with Mao" All in good fun, of course!

"Death on a Carousel" from The Fury is one of the creepiest cues I've ever heard.

If it had that effect, than I have done my good deed for the day! Seriously, 3 deluxe remastered & expanded Varese albums - by Jerry Goldsmith - for only $17. New! You just can't pass that up.

The Russian theme was one of the very few things I really liked about this score! And it was abysmally underrepresented on album. The only part of the whole album that truly thrills me like a good JW score should is the segue from Irina's theme to the Russian theme in the end credits track. That's it. Give me more!

I recently acquired the Varese deluxe trilogy box of the Omen scores (for the unbelievable bargain of $17!). It's something I'd wanted to get for a long time, especially at that rock bottom price. And boy was I thrilled with this set! Of the three films, I've only seen the original Omen - I actually watched it again last night. I've heard the sequel films are tripe, and I have no problem steering clear from them. I'm just in love with these scores - all three of them! The Omen scores definitely vary in tone, though they are all very dark in their own way. Goldsmith takes traditional religious sounding music and turns it on its head to hail the coming of the devil incarnate. The original Omen score is very dark and brooding, with some really beautiful highlights of a bittersweet family theme played mostly on piano. "Ave Satani," the wonderfully dark Mass, and it's assorted variations make this score truly worthy of its Oscar. I love how Goldsmith takes part of the piano family melody and plays it eerily and atonally against the disturbing background of "Ave Satani." My favorite track from this score, at present, is "A Sad Message," where he takes the xylophone (I believe) and hammers it lightly over the rising string chords, and then goes into that gorgeous statement of the family theme on very high piano over tremolo strings. So tragically beautiful! Damien: Omen II is a playful variation on the first score, with a similar style but somewhat more funky and mischievous. I LOVE the main titles for this score; they have an incredible rhythm and so many wonderful things going on instrumentally. It's just an incredibly fun (though still dark) take on "Ave Satani" from the first film. I respect the original Ave Satani, but I have to admit I have a lot more fun listening to the main titles from Damien: Omen II. I've yet to truly dig into the remainder of the score, but I intend to. The Final Conflict is, undoubtedly, my favorite score of the trilogy. It abandons the typical understated horror approach and goes for an all-out dark, dramatic, epic sound. There is a brilliant new theme that Goldsmith weaves creatively throughout the score. There are moments of sheer religious beauty in this score, with some impeccable string writing and truly gorgeous choral work. Perhaps my favorite track is "The Hunt," which accompanies a riding scene. It is this exhilarating equestrian music, with the main dark theme making several ominous and awe-inspiring appearances. I have to drop whatever I'm doing to listen to this epic highlight of Goldsmith's career. So c'mon! It's all hallow's eve, and there's no better time to be listening to and discussing the best of the best when it comes to horror music. Suspense, dark religion, bittersweet tragedy - it's all here!

For whatever reason, the Boys from Brazil waltz just doesn't get me going. I wish it did.

I only bought Earthquake for the screensaver and collector's cards.

Did this recording ever happen?

I liked what Townson had to say about the message boards in his video interview with FSM Online. He was flabbergasted at all the flak he was getting for essentially gifting the masses with music. So what if you're not excited about this particular release? Keep your mouth shut and be thankful there are people out there who are actually working their butts off to make music available. I'm wondering: are those of you outside the USA as materialistic as we are here? It just seems that we collect and hoard and amass all these treasures...and we've missed the whole point of it all! It's like we've gained the whole world and forfeited our soul. What happened to just delighting in a score for hours on end and being satisfied? Now we want more, MORE, MORE! Anyway, I'm as guilty as anyone else. But it's kind of sad really. And I just wanted to know if it was a similar problem in other cultures.

*slap* Thatsh for blashphemy!

Nothing tugs the tear strings like ol' Johnny's music! C'mon!

Indiana Jones and the Lost Shred of Dignity

...says the Rank Sentimentalist!

I shall obey sir Laurence's order, and listen to each score from beginning to end, starting with Raiders and concluding with Disc 5. And enjoy every doggone second of it!

Do you guys think that the market has changed over the last few years? I mean, Home Alone 2 finally sells out after several years, and Baby sells out in a matter of days (was it 2?). Is that a reflection of the actual release, or is it a reflection of us fans becoming more obsessive / excited to buy releases? And for the record, I own Heartbeeps and Home Alone 2. I just wish I'd known about The Fury...

Just refuting:

It doesn't take very much intelligence to grasp the overused metaphor being disgustingly actualized here.

Am I the only human being on the planet who has no trouble with the "Noooo!" scene...in fact finding it quite poignant? Probably.