LOTR v.s. Potter

[indy4 155]

Both of these trilogies are arguably the best music of the 21st century, and they're both fantasty type scores. Having said that, they're both very very different, even though their movies may be the same genre.

I voted Potter, mainly because PoA is my favorite score of all time. ROTK is still probably in my top five score of all time, though.

indy4

[King Mark 3,631]

oh no.Now you've really started something

K.M.Who voted HP

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Harry Potter all the way. I think the Lord Of The Rings are overrated.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

The first two selections drag down Harry Potter too far, and as fantastic as PoA is, it cannot take on the three behemoths like LotR.

Shore's Lord of the Rings is an excercise in musical storytelling and the epitome of cohesion. It has a soundscape and universe all its own. The music goes somewhere, from beginning to end, for example when you first hear the Nature theme...gentle and innocent...to the end, where you hear it in glorious majesty...it's spine tingling. The story is within the tapestry of the music.

Harry Potter is basically "The Collected Concert Works of John Williams + One Amazing Soundtrack" Outside of Azkaban, the only reason HP works is because of a couple of majestic concert pieces. Other than that, it all is on some shabby foundation. If Williams had approached all three with the same cohesiveness, creativity, and delicacy of Azkaban, I would vote HP.

But as it is, Lord of the Rings wins by far.

[King Mark 3,631]

I think HPSS is a genuine Williams classic

[John Crichton 4]

I think HPSS is a genuine Williams classic

Me too.

John- who thinks that there will be much shouting, throwing of objects, and possibly crying by page 2 of this thread

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

The problem with Sorcerer's Stone and by that token Chamber of Secrets, is that outside of the genuinely heartfelt and great concert pieces, a lot of the other materials just "happen to be there." Williams very clearly hadn't gotten down the real passion and drive to invent a unique tone, and to pursue it with all his creative energy. Maybe it was the movie, or director, or what not. But whatever the case, I used to be a big proponent of Sorcerer's Stone, but I have realized that I skip too much of the music to get to the concert pieces, to actually call it anything above very good, which mind you is a hardly a bad "grade."

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

Potter, obviously. I appreciate the painstaking effort and care that went into the LotR scores, but they just don't do much for me aside from a few enjoyable highlights. Way too much long, droning, uninteresting underscore. SS, PoA, and portions of CoS are terrific, compelling scores with real heart to them.

Ray Barnsbury

[Ollie 1,059]

LOTR.

I love Williams' HP scores but LOTR is something new and fresh that we haen't heard before.

[odnurega1 0]

I tied the poll...for now. I voted Harry Potter. I truly love the LOTR scores (in fact, I looked forward to them the most out of all when the movies came out), but I love Harry Potter even more. PoA was brilliant, SS brilliant, and most parts of Chamber of Secrets brilliant! I am one of the few who do not think that "JW's heart was not all in it". I recently listened to all three scores (including the complete scores of SS and POA), and I love them even more know than I did when they were first released. So, after a long paragraph of my reasoning, I vote HP!

[Red 75]

I like where this thread is going . . .

I voted Lord of the Rings, because I feel they as a whole are better and deserving of the term "modern masterpiece". That being said, Prisoner of Azkaban and Sorcerer's Stone are two of Williams' recent best, so the choice wasn't as obvious for me than it might have been for others.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

Way too much long, droning, uninteresting underscore.

Let me light the first fire by saying that people no longer appreciate grandiose majesty. But that's our instant gratification world for you.

Or maybe I'm misinterpreting the world...but I just got off reading a post on another forum by someone who said the Eagles track from RoTK complete recordings was "dull, slow, underscore."

To which I could only reply: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

Nope, I love lots of music that could be called "grandiose" or "majestic." In fact, the parts of the LotR scores that fit that description are the ones I really enjoy. Unfortunately, however, they're pretty few and far between.

And I should add that there's a difference between enjoyment and appreciation. As I clearly state before, I appreciate the scores for what they are.

[King Mark 3,631]

Yeah,that's what I think too.

and the themes themselves aren't that good,no matter how much they are elaborately orchestrated

K.M.

[Henry B 50]

I LOVE the Rings themes. The Ring motif is as quintessential and recognizable as any Williams blockbuster theme. It's short and simple, but less can be more!

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

Well, I like the themes for the Hobbits, the Fellowship, Rohan, and some others I don't know the names of. In general, I think they tend to be the more listenable parts of the scores. But few of them seem to be more than motifs really; I can't see a lot of them being developed into lengthy concery arrangements. Not that that should be an indication of their effectiveness within the scores, but that's my impression of them.

[Henry B 50]

Well, that's right. Shore didn't write the themes for the concert hall.

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

Doesn't he perform a lengthy "symphony" of the music in concerts?

[John Crichton 4]

Doesn't he perform a lengthy "symphony" of the music in concerts?

Yes, but it's all cue based rather than concert arrangements of the themes.

Personally I'm right in the middle on LotR: lots of great moments, quite a bit of blandness in between. I can't help but think it might have been better if the films were more sparsely scored.

[Joni Wiljami 1,206]

(...)

[indy4 155]

Wow, this is a really close race!

I just realized that LOTR might have an advantage, with the Complete Recordings, but oh well.

[Neimoidian 14]

Lord of the Rings

I'm preety much in agreement with what Blumenkohl wrote. If the three Potters were like PoA then I would really consider voting for Williams, but three great scores win over one great score, one good score and a good score's superior clone.

[Trent B 337]

Easy done deal... LOTR.

[King Mark 3,631]

Seems like we have less and less JW loyalists

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Seems like we have less and less JW loyalists

Well I wouldn't vote for any of Williams' "lesser" scores over LOTR just because it's John Williams.

[robthehand 3]

Harry Potter, definitely.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

Seems like we have less and less JW loyalists

Well I wouldn't vote for any of Williams' "lesser" scores over LOTR just because it's John Williams.

You Philistine!

[ins 42]

Isn't it unfair comparing 10 CD's of music to 2.5 (where COS is half a CD)?

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Seems like we have less and less JW loyalists

Well I wouldn't vote for any of Williams' "lesser" scores over LOTR just because it's John Williams.

You Philistine!

I object!

[Elmo Lewis 6]

Fine. Overruled.

[fommes 153]

Hey we didn't have this poll before!

Just for the heck of it, I voted for LotR. It's better as a whole, even though I find PoA the best score of the six.

[Salacius 7]

The first two selections drag down Harry Potter too far, and as fantastic as PoA is, it cannot take on the three behemoths like LotR.

Shore's Lord of the Rings is an excercise in musical storytelling and the epitome of cohesion. It has a soundscape and universe all its own. The music goes somewhere, from beginning to end, for example when you first hear the Nature theme...gentle and innocent...to the end, where you hear it in glorious majesty...it's spine tingling. The story is within the tapestry of the music.

Harry Potter is basically "The Collected Concert Works of John Williams + One Amazing Soundtrack" Outside of Azkaban, the only reason HP works is because of a couple of majestic concert pieces. Other than that, it all is on some shabby foundation. If Williams had approached all three with the same cohesiveness, creativity, and delicacy of Azkaban, I would vote HP.

But as it is, Lord of the Rings wins by far.

Fair comments but IMO the Harry Potter Williams music if far better than as you described "The Collected Concert Works of John Williams + One Amazing Soundtrack". First of all The Philosopher's stone is an amazing soundtrack. Full of magic, complex writing and orchestrations. He gave the film a unique feeling that no one else came even close so far. And to me the last masterpiece written by Williams

Despite all the controversy about the Chamber of Secrets I still believe that this score came close to the vintage Williams sound that any other score we have had for the last 10 to 15 years. The complexity of the writing was immense (see Spiders) and other than the obvious repeats due to time constrains Chamber of Secrets is simply awesome.

The Prisoner "Amazing Soundtrack" is actually the weakest to me. Other than double trouble and a small part @ the match were the Dementors are chasing Harry, I find it to be a very watered down score with melodies that don't even come close to the Philosopher's Stone and complexity that doesn't touch Chamber of Secrets. However it is a good score but for me not the best.

About Lord of the Rings. Other than the incredible choral work Shore has created a very easy-to-write score which fair enough serves the film very well but it doesn't come close to the caliber of Williams' writing. BUT it works fantastically within the film.

The Fellowship is the best IMO. Awesome choral works beautiful tapestry of themes and story telling. Absolutely love it

I found The Two Towers a bit less interesting than the first film but great never the less.

But I was surprised to find the Return of the King boring on CD. There were a few amazing cues but as I said they all work very well in the film so as a film score it does the job really well

Both three scores are heavyweight and nearly impossible to choose but I will go with Harry Potter purely on the quality of the writing.

[AI 0]

What a grotesque poll, it's like comparing a glass of dirty river water with a bottle of chilled Gatorade.

It's like comparing a bowl of rice with a Steak Sandwich.

The music of John Towner Williams is divine. Howard Shore's music is just trash.

[Marcus 390]

What a grotesque poll, it's like comparing a glass of dirty river water with a bottle of chilled Gatorade.

It's like comparing a bowl of rice with a Steak Sandwich.

The music of John Towner Williams is divine. Howard Shore's music is just trash.

I love you.

I love you for your brutal frankness, and for your honest truths.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

The first two selections drag down Harry Potter too far, and as fantastic as PoA is, it cannot take on the three behemoths like LotR.

Shore's Lord of the Rings is an excercise in musical storytelling and the epitome of cohesion. It has a soundscape and universe all its own. The music goes somewhere, from beginning to end, for example when you first hear the Nature theme...gentle and innocent...to the end, where you hear it in glorious majesty...it's spine tingling. The story is within the tapestry of the music.

Harry Potter is basically "The Collected Concert Works of John Williams + One Amazing Soundtrack" Outside of Azkaban, the only reason HP works is because of a couple of majestic concert pieces. Other than that, it all is on some shabby foundation. If Williams had approached all three with the same cohesiveness, creativity, and delicacy of Azkaban, I would vote HP.

But as it is, Lord of the Rings wins by far.

That pretty much sums it up.

The Lord of the Rings wins.

[MrScratch 294]

LOTR, three great scores, lots of good themes.

Potter is two good scores and a dud, some good themes, some not so good.

LOTR by far.

[gkgyver 1,645]

The first two selections drag down Harry Potter too far, and as fantastic as PoA is, it cannot take on the three behemoths like LotR.

Shore's Lord of the Rings is an excercise in musical storytelling and the epitome of cohesion. It has a soundscape and universe all its own. The music goes somewhere, from beginning to end, for example when you first hear the Nature theme...gentle and innocent...to the end, where you hear it in glorious majesty...it's spine tingling. The story is within the tapestry of the music.

Harry Potter is basically "The Collected Concert Works of John Williams + One Amazing Soundtrack" Outside of Azkaban, the only reason HP works is because of a couple of majestic concert pieces. Other than that, it all is on some shabby foundation. If Williams had approached all three with the same cohesiveness, creativity, and delicacy of Azkaban, I would vote HP.

But as it is, Lord of the Rings wins by far.

Harry Potter's first two are 98% Williams on autopilot.

[Sandor 797]

No matter how good the music for Harry Potter is, I prefer The Lord Of The Rings which is - in my opinion - easily some of the best film music ever written.

I do admire the Potter scores immensly, especially Hedwig's Theme. It's great that Williams was able to attach another instantly classic theme to a film series, something that other composers have been unable to do.

[Henry B 50]

What a grotesque poll, it's like comparing a glass of dirty river water with a bottle of chilled Gatorade.

It's like comparing a bowl of rice with a Steak Sandwich.

The music of John Towner Williams is divine. Howard Shore's music is just trash.

I love you.

I love you for your brutal frankness, and for your honest truths.

Ah, if only more of us could tell the truth like AI does. I voted for Rings, but it's only because I'm lying to myself. If only I could be honest!

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

I LOVE the Rings themes. The Ring motif is as quintessential and recognizable as any Williams blockbuster theme. It's short and simple, but less can be more!

The usage of the word 'any' is higly insulting.

'Some' fits perfectly.

[Sandor 797]

I LOVE the Rings themes. The Ring motif is as quintessential and recognizable as any Williams blockbuster theme. It's short and simple, but less can be more!

I'm not too fond of the term 'Williams blockbuster theme'

Sounds a little degrading...

The Ring motif is great on the other hand...

[Salacius 7]

The first two selections drag down Harry Potter too far, and as fantastic as PoA is, it cannot take on the three behemoths like LotR.

Shore's Lord of the Rings is an excercise in musical storytelling and the epitome of cohesion. It has a soundscape and universe all its own. The music goes somewhere, from beginning to end, for example when you first hear the Nature theme...gentle and innocent...to the end, where you hear it in glorious majesty...it's spine tingling. The story is within the tapestry of the music.

Harry Potter is basically "The Collected Concert Works of John Williams + One Amazing Soundtrack" Outside of Azkaban, the only reason HP works is because of a couple of majestic concert pieces. Other than that, it all is on some shabby foundation. If Williams had approached all three with the same cohesiveness, creativity, and delicacy of Azkaban, I would vote HP.

But as it is, Lord of the Rings wins by far.

Harry Potter's first two are 98% Williams on autopilot.

some autopilot huh?

[Red 75]

Seems like we have less and less JW loyalists

There's a difference between being a loyalist and a fanboy. Preferring LOTR over Harry Potter doesn't make me like Williams any less.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I love HP:PS and POA, but the LOTR scores are really something special.

[Ollie 1,059]

Actually I like to think while we love JW we have more film music fans.

[Sandor 797]

I don't like the insinuation that choosing LOTR over HP equals "not being really a John Williams-fan".

In that sense, stating that one prefers Star Trek TMP over Always would also make one "not really a JW fan".

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I vastly prefer Star Trek TMP over Always.

[Sandor 797]

I vastly prefer Star Trek TMP over Always.

Sometimes I wonder what kind of John Williams fan you really are man...

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Atleast i have been here, not out making some movie about something called Gomp!

Doesn't sound very John Williams-ish.....

[Sandor 797]

...The project hasn't been called Gomp since October 2006...

I have been visiting on a daily basis though. Not a lot of posting, but I've been here...

Where would I be without getting my daily dose of Cosman-output...?