Top 5: Composer Series

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Here are the nominees:

Hot Fuzz (2007)

Casino Royale (2006)

Amazing Grace (2006)

Stoned (2005)

Four Brothers (2005)

The Stepford Wives (2004)

2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)

Die Another Day (2002)

Enough (2002/I)

Changing Lanes (2002)

Zoolander (2001)

The Musketeer (2001)

Baby Boy (2001)

Shaft (2000)

The World Is Not Enough (1999)

Godzilla (1998)

Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

A Life Less Ordinary (1997)

Independence Day (1996)

Last of the Dogmen (1995)

Stargate (1994)

The Young Americans (1993)

[indy4 155]

indy4 - who should get more by Arnold

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Casino Royale is the only score of his I find good. Even though the best track, African Rundown, isn't even by him.

[indy4 155]

Who's it by?

[Henry B 50]

Casino Royale is the only score of his I find good. Even though the best track, African Rundown, isn't even by him.

"African Rundown" is the best track? I find it kind of incessant. "Blunt Instrument" and the title song are awesome.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Who's it by?

My mistake, it is by him. I have a film score channel that just plays film music, and I remember seeing them credit African Rundown to Nicholas Dodd. I just checked my CD and Nicholas Dodd is the orchestrator and conductor, I guess the channel decided to credit him for some reason.

[bondo 33]

1. Independence Day

2. Stargate

3. Godzilla

4. Casino Royale

5. Die Another Day

I know #5 is not a popular choice, but I really dig the full score. The OST is a poor representation of the full score though; too many techno pieces were put on the CD in place of orchestral pieces. The score in its entirety is just fun if you don't take it seriously.

[tjguitar 0]

1. Stargate

2. Independence Day

3. Tomorrow Never Dies

4. Godzilla

5. Last of the Dogmen

[Neimoidian 14]

One of my favourite film composers.

1) StarGate

2) ID4

3) Tomorrow Never Dies

4) Last of the Dogmen

5) Four Brothers

It's my top 5 of his, but I like most of his works (at least most of these which I have heard so far;). From his recent works, Amazing Grace is really worth listening.

[King Mark 3,625]

1. Stargate

2. Independence Day

3. Godzilla

[Richard Penna 3,671]

I don't have enough Arnold to do anything except name my collection here.

I do have a question however - at a risk of opening a can of worms, how much does Nicholas Dodd do for Arnold? I'm pretty much aware that he composes with synth but not much beyond that.

[SomeNewGuy 0]

1. Casino Royale

2. Independence Day

3. Stargate

4. Tomorrow Never Dies

5. The World Is Not Enough

[Morlock 11]

Independance Day, Last of the Dogmen, Stargate, Tomorrow Never Dies, Stepford Wives, in no discernable order.

[Wycket 36]

Why do I feel that we've already done this?

Anyone just to help you out....

1. Stargate

2. Casino Royale

3. Independence Day

4. Godzilla

5. Tomorrow Never Dies

[John Crichton 4]

1. Independence Day

2. Stargate

3. Independence Day

4. Casino Royale

5. Independence Day

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Why do I feel that we've already done this?

Maybe cause I've been doing a Top 5 series for awhile now, although I've never done David Arnold.

Anyone just to help you out....

Thanks

[Carnifex 5]

1. Independence Day

2. Last of the Dogmen

3. Stargate

ID4 is one of the biggest scores on the 90's. I consider it one of the best. Arnold was about to become a new John Williams but he chose to ruin his career by accepting Bond franchise. One of the great tragedies amongst the film composers in Hollywood.

It was a miserable sight to see David Arnold in some Bond event playing themes of Bond with acoustic guitar (or was it electric?). I felt really low for him.

[Neimoidian 14]

ID4 is one of the biggest scores on the 90's. I consider it one of the best. Arnold was about to become a new John Williams but he chose to ruin his career by accepting Bond franchise. One of the great tragedies amongst the film composers in Hollywood.

It was a miserable sight see David Arnold in some Bond event playing themes of Bond with acoustic guitar (or was it electric?). I felt really low for him.

I am not sure if I understand your statement. Do you imply that participating in one of the most popular and beloved series (James Bond series) and stepping in shoes of the great John Barry is a step down in composers career? Not that I don't miss his spectacular scores, but Arnold's "Tomorrow Never Dies" is one of the best soundtracks in the franchise and one of the best action scores of the 90s in general. His other 00-projects (The World is Not Enough and Casino Royale) were also very effective and enjoyable. Only "Die Another Day" can be considered as a flop, but still it cointains of a great deal of decent cues.

It's definitelly not a Bond franchise which can be considered a let-down in Arnold's career, but rather what he does or does not except it. Instead of major pictures, he keeps scoring small and often insignificant projects, some of which happen to be a terrible movies. Since he lives and works back home in England, I don't expect many blockbuster directors and producers hire him, when they have people like Jablonsky available next door (sad but true). While I highly enjoy (the music from) "Stepford Wives", "Amazing Grace", "Four Brothers", "Baby Boy" and so forth, I cannot say these movies were important enough to elevate him back to the place he shared or was about to share in the 90s. But then again, he is still quite young composer. Soon there will be another Bond movie (which meas BIG score for a BIG and IMPORTANT picture), later he will score 3rd Narnia film (one of my most anticipated scores so far), so I (quite optimistically) expect him to be back with A BANG in the near future .

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

ID4 is one of the biggest scores on the 90's. I consider it one of the best. Arnold was about to become a new John Williams

That's an insult to both John Williams and David Arnold.

Arnold is capable of a whole lot more then just big orchestra and choir scores.

[fommes 153]

Indeed!

[Sandor 796]

I always have the feeling that Arnold has very little to do with the arrangements and orchestrations that end up being recorded. Doesn't he have a team of orchestrators around him that work out his very simple 2 to 4 bar "sketches"?

Isn't he "just" a poop-, uh, pop-artist writing for a symphony orchestra?

I could be wrong here.

My mistake, it is by him. I have a film score channel that just plays film music, and I remember seeing them credit African Rundown to Nicholas Dodd. I just checked my CD and Nicholas Dodd is the orchestrator and conductor.

According to my theory, Dodd has a lot more to with Arnold's music that is being credited for, hence the score channel's "mistake" (or was it a "hint"?)

[Neimoidian 14]

My mistake, it is by him. I have a film score channel that just plays film music, and I remember seeing them credit African Rundown to Nicholas Dodd. I just checked my CD and Nicholas Dodd is the orchestrator and conductor.

According to my theory, Dodd has a lot more to with Arnold's music that is being credited for, hence the score channel's "mistake" (or was it a "hint"?)

Some say the same about Herbert W. Spencer

[Sandor 796]

Some say the same about Herbert W. Spencer

I always assumed that. But most people know how detailed Williams' sketches are, and that the orchestrators working with his scores really don't add anything to his work...

[Luke Skywalker 1,792]

My mistake, it is by him. I have a film score channel that just plays film music, and I remember seeing them credit African Rundown to Nicholas Dodd. I just checked my CD and Nicholas Dodd is the orchestrator and conductor.

According to my theory, Dodd has a lot more to with Arnold's music that is being credited for, hence the score channel's "mistake" (or was it a "hint"?)

Some say the same about Herbert W. Spencer

Excuse me, its not the same. Most of these young composers that do even not conduct their own scores seem to rely very much in their orchestrators(=conductors).

Ottman, Arnold... even Giacchino owes alot to Tim Simonec (but not that much).

Start suspecting when the CD only says 'Music by Mr.Composer'

[Pieter Boelen 740]

I don't care whether it's David Arnold or Nicholass Dodd. Fact is: The end result is good. In the case of Stargate, Independence Day, Last of the Dogmen and Godzilla anyway.

[Ollie 1,059]

ID4

Godzilla

Tomorrow Never Dies

Stargate

Casino Royale

Alot of CD data bases list conductors and orchestras as the primary artist on some CDs. iTunes and Window Media players especially,

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I always have the feeling that Arnold has very little to do with the arrangements and orchestrations that end up being recorded. Doesn't he have a team of orchestrators around him that work out his very simple 2 to 4 bar "sketches"?

You are mistaking him for Hans Zimmer again.

Isn't he "just" a poop-, uh, pop-artist writing for a symphony orchestra?

No, he started writing for film before he ever had anything to do with pop music, and his film work far exceeds the work he has done in "pop".

I could be wrong here.

You are, very wrong.

David Arnold is very much a film composer, but perhaps not in the traditional sense of John Williams, Goldsmith, Herrmann.

Arnold does not orchestrate every note of every cue, but he's never claimed he did.

Nicholas Dodd probably has a lot of influence over the final product when compared to what orchestrators can get away with in a JW score.

But is that really a bad thing?

David Arnold has a very distinctive sound, a musical voice. Reconisable even in such diverse scores like ID4 or Too Fast, Too Furious.

He actually understands subtlety in underscore (check Casino Royale)

He's got a knack for good themes and can cross over into a lot of genre's, From big orchestral to urban techno in a way that I've heard no other film composer apart from Michael Kamen do as succesfully.

And he's a hell of a charming guy.

The problem is that his first 3 scores (The Young Americans, Stargate and ID4) were orchestral/choir works so he was very soon lasbeled "The Next John Williams" by film score fans, who really got a dissapointment when Arnold branched out into other things.

[Luke Skywalker 1,792]

So, he literally left the path of God, didnt he?

[Quintus 5,399]

Independence Day is an outstanding score and quite literally as much of a blockbuster as the film was.

But David Arnold and 'Restraint' should never be mentioned in the same breath.

The John Williams comparison is valid. David Arnold is in many ways just like a young John Williams, where scoring approach is concerned. His pop work is irrelevant.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Casino Royale is a very restraint score, so is The Young Americans, so is most of last of the dog men and Amazing Grace, Baby Boy etc...etc...

You are just basing your opinion on Die Another Day!

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I don't care whether it's David Arnold or Nicholass Dodd. Fact is: The end result is good.

The same can be said for Hans Zimmer. Who cares if five other composers work on it, if the end result is good.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Arnold does not run a "of the shelve" soundtrack factory...

[Koray Savas 2,251]

What does it matter if the end result is good? I don't understand why training new composers is such an act of defiance against the perfect scoring methods of John Williams.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

IMO the end result is often obvious, derivetive, inpersonal and flat.

[John Crichton 4]

Independence Day is an outstanding score and quite literally as much of a blockbuster as the film was.

It's too good for the film. And I'm a fan of the film.

[indy4 155]

God, I tried three times, but I never manged to sit through one viewing of Independence Day. What's so amazing about buildings blowing up?

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Nothing, the movie sucks.

[Carnifex 5]

ID4 is one of the biggest scores on the 90's. I consider it one of the best. Arnold was about to become a new John Williams but he chose to ruin his career by accepting Bond franchise. One of the great tragedies amongst the film composers in Hollywood.

It was a miserable sight see David Arnold in some Bond event playing themes of Bond with acoustic guitar (or was it electric?). I felt really low for him.

I am not sure if I understand your statement. Do you imply that participating in one of the most popular and beloved series (James Bond series) and stepping in shoes of the great John Barry is a step down in composers career? Not that I don't miss his spectacular scores, but Arnold's "Tomorrow Never Dies" is one of the best soundtracks in the franchise and one of the best action scores of the 90s in general. His other 00-projects (The World is Not Enough and Casino Royale) were also very effective and enjoyable. Only "Die Another Day" can be considered as a flop, but still it cointains of a great deal of decent cues.

It's definitelly not a Bond franchise which can be considered a let-down in Arnold's career, but rather what he does or does not except it. Instead of major pictures, he keeps scoring small and often insignificant projects, some of which happen to be a terrible movies. Since he lives and works back home in England, I don't expect many blockbuster directors and producers hire him, when they have people like Jablonsky available next door (sad but true). While I highly enjoy (the music from) "Stepford Wives", "Amazing Grace", "Four Brothers", "Baby Boy" and so forth, I cannot say these movies were important enough to elevate him back to the place he shared or was about to share in the 90s. But then again, he is still quite young composer. Soon there will be another Bond movie (which meas BIG score for a BIG and IMPORTANT picture), later he will score 3rd Narnia film (one of my most anticipated scores so far), so I (quite optimistically) expect him to be back with A BANG in the near future .

Yes well we have a different opinion about the value of the Bond scores, to me he could have aimed his energy to better projects. I regard the films sometimes entertainable to watch, but music is something I have to bear whilst watching.

After Tomorrow Never Dies he has composed to classic gems like Shaft, Zoolander, Stoned, and of course other Bond films. To this day his period of renaissance is focused on the triad of the mid 90's mentioned in my original post.

I wait for 3rd Narnia too, let us see what he will form from material of fantastic qualities. I really look forward to hear.

[Pieter Boelen 740]

The same can be said for Hans Zimmer. Who cares if five other composers work on it, if the end result is good.

I don't care if the end result is good. The defining word being "if". Frequently the end result isn't good.

[Maglorfin 196]

1. Stargate

2. Tomorrow Never Dies

3. The World Is Not Enough

4. Independence Day

5. Casino Royale

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

I could be wrong here.

You are, very wrong.

David Arnold is very much a film composer, but perhaps not in the traditional sense of John Williams, Goldsmith, Herrmann.

Arnold does not orchestrate every note of every cue, but he's never claimed he did.

Nicholas Dodd probably has a lot of influence over the final product when compared to what orchestrators can get away with in a JW score.

But is that really a bad thing?

David Arnold has a very distinctive sound, a musical voice. Reconisable even in such diverse scores like ID4 or Too Fast, Too Furious.

He actually understands subtlety in underscore (check Casino Royale)

He's got a knack for good themes and can cross over into a lot of genre's, From big orchestral to urban techno in a way that I've heard no other film composer apart from Michael Kamen do as succesfully.

And he's a hell of a charming guy.

The problem is that his first 3 scores (The Young Americans, Stargate and ID4) were orchestral/choir works so he was very soon lasbeled "The Next John Williams" by film score fans, who really got a dissapointment when Arnold branched out into other things.

I agree with Master Cosman!

- Marc, not really into rating.

[MSM 126]

1) Independence Day

2) Stargate

3) Godzilla

4) Musketeer

5) Last of the Dogmen

Yes I like his orchestral music way better than the techno style, which he should leave to composers who can handle the style better (Brian Tyler, Mark Mancina, Trevor Rabin).

[fommes 153]

Hahaha!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Dutch idiot!

[Ollie 1,059]

Indeed!