What is the last score you listened to?

[indy4 155]

I think the ideal track time is 4-7 minutes, although is certainly varies depending on the music. Longest track I have is 33 minutes. It's the first movement of Mahler's 3rd Symphony.

Angela's Ashes:

Wow, this is great! I've been listening to an all synth version of the main theme for years (it's the only one I could find on iTunes), so hearing the actual orchestra was really nice. Everything about this score is great. The source music, while nice to listen to on its own, really doesn't work well with the rest of the score.

[paleo 63]

Yeah, Horner is known for, amongst other things, unusually long track times. The final track on Willow is like a whopping 18 minutes.

Well, the second to last track is. The last track is "only" 12 minutes long.

Anyway, speaking of long track times/James Horner, and hearing a lot about internet predators that sell rare scores for insane amounts of money, I would really, really like to have "Land before Time". It's one of my favorites, but I missed the opportunity to buy it when it was still around, and now I don't want to spend $60 for a CD without artwork or jewel case. And I'm also not at all interested in footwarmers. I actually bought the crappy DVD in order to hear the music

So, if members of any label read this, a reissue would be much appreciated...

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I think the ideal track time is 4-7 minutes, although is certainly varies depending on the music. Longest track I have is 33 minutes. It's the first movement of Mahler's 3rd Symphony.

My longest track is 1 hour 10 minutes, but not technically a score. It's Disc 3 from Jeff Rona's Exploring Bali set. I actually think it was supposed to be 3 tracks, but since the set is handmade by Rona I think he messed up and made it all one long cue.

Other than that, longest is a 34 minute violin performance from the Fallout 3 game rip.

Although that doesn't really count either, so #1 is from Hans Zimmer's K2. "The Ascent" which is 28 minutes long.

[Wojo 2,453]

Other than that, longest is a 34 minute violin performance from the Fallout 3 game rip.

Where from, pal?

[publicist 4,643]

Although that doesn't really count either, so #1 is from Hans Zimmer's K2. "The Ascent" which is 28 minutes long.

Yeah, i will edit together the first 8 tracks from RAMBO II and call it "Back to Vietnam".

[Ollie 1,059]

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Other than that, longest is a 34 minute violin performance from the Fallout 3 game rip.

Where from, pal?

I thought you would have had this! I'll send you a PM shortly.

Although that doesn't really count either, so #1 is from Hans Zimmer's K2. "The Ascent" which is 28 minutes long.

Yeah, i will edit together the first 8 tracks from RAMBO II and call it "Back to Vietnam".

Hey blame the album producers. There are two tracks: The Ascent and The Descent.

[Wojo 2,453]

Other than that, longest is a 34 minute violin performance from the Fallout 3 game rip.

Where from, pal?

I thought you would have had this! I'll send you a PM shortly.

If it's Agatha's music, then I never actually gave her the violin to unlock that radio station.

And while I'm pretty sure that the ambient game music is present in MP3 form somewhere in the PC folder structure, the radio stations are locked inside of larger files. I have not looked hard enough for a tool to permit me to add random songs to make a custom radio station, or dissect Three Dog's songs out of the game. I need to reinstall it.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Yeah, it's Agatha's music. It's actually pretty good, but at 34 minutes not very practical to listen to.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

StarFox for the SNES. Absolutely awesome, great fun. I wish this kind of stuff got released over here.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

StarFox for the SNES. Absolutely awesome, great fun. I wish this kind of stuff got released over here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUifNQU2Pc4&feature=related

Starfox 64 theme is brilliant, too !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOtuyLNSK40

And let's not forget Star Wolf theme !

[Jacob 0]

Batman by Danny Elfman (La-La Land)

My first Elfman purchase, and it couldn't be a better formal introduction.

I knew this score had a lot of praise. It's been on my mental "look into someday" list for years.

Well, that day is today. I put in the first disc... and wow.

I was familiar with the main title and liked it well enough, but this first listen on CD smacked me over the head with a two-by-four.

Of course, can't help but make the Superman comparison. The Batman theme is just as great and suited to the character.

The rest of the score though? Not so much (Beautiful Dreamer? Really? I guess it's on the same level with Luthor's Luau).

[The hidden Beautiful Dreamer chorus came on as I was typing this up. Riot. ]

Still, it's very good. The Joker material is fun and quirky, and the Bat theme gets an incredible workout.

Descent into Mystery, Charge of the Batmobile, the Batwing cues -- all great stuff.

Kind of feel like Waltz to the Death disrupts/ruins the momentum that was being built up towards the finale.

All in all, a great release for a fantastic score (I'll have to rethink how I feel about Zimmer's Bat scores).

Eagerly awaiting Batman Returns now. Is it really as good as they say?

[Andy 4,141]

Batman Returns is very different. It's more Elfman sounding than the original. Think of it as a Nightmare Before Christmas/Batman hybrid. I happen to like the original better. The treatment of the Batman theme in the cues you mentioned is simply amazing. I love the "here comes Batman in his Bat-vehicle" moments in both Batman and Batman Returns. Oh, and I think Waltz to the Death is absolutely brilliant. It is amazing within the film.

[Datameister 2,044]

Eagerly awaiting Batman Returns now. Is it really as good as they say?

No...sorry. In my opinion, it's a little too goofy and weird, with some interesting themes that get overused and end up rubbing me the wrong way a little. "Birth of a Penguin" has some really great stuff in it, though.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

It suits the movie. It's good.

[Jacob 0]

Oh, and I think Waltz to the Death is absolutely brilliant. It is amazing within the film.

Maybe my opinion on that will change with subsequent listens. I've only seen the movie once and didn't care for it too much.

Listening to the score has prompted me to give it a second chance though.

Hedji: Batman Returns is very different. It's more Elfman sounding than the original. Think of it as a Nightmare Before Christmas/Batman hybrid.

Datameister: No...sorry. In my opinion, it's a little too goofy and weird, with some interesting themes that get overused and end up rubbing me the wrong way a little. "Birth of a Penguin" has some really great stuff in it, though.

Hmmm, anticipation for said sequel moderately tempered.

Different can be good. It may be just what I need to

on quirky Elfman.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Batman Returns is a very polarizing score. People either love it or hate it. I'm in the "love it" crowd because it's just so wonderfully written, beautifully orchestrated, the thematic development is intelligent and catchy, and its highlights like "Birth of a Penguin", "Selina Transforms", "Cat Suite", "Rooftops/Wildride", "The Final Confrontation", "The Finale" and "End Credits" will blow your cape off. Even the Siouxsie song is lovely. It's a score with guts and character without a dull moment, but it's a real turn-off for some people for whatever reason.

[fommes 153]

I like Batman Returns much, much more than the original Batman.

[Jay 37,374]

Both are 5 star scores in my book, but they are pretty different types of scores

[Ollie 1,059]

With Batman you can hear Shirley Walker's influence on the score. As mentioned above, Batman Returns is Elfman only.

And I must echo Drax's sentiments about the score.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

You can hear the Walker factor in Dick Tracy too.

[Quintus 5,399]

StarFox for the SNES. Absolutely awesome, great fun. I wish this kind of stuff got released over here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUifNQU2Pc4&feature=related

Starfox 64 theme is brilliant, too !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOtuyLNSK40

And let's not forget Star Wolf theme !

Ah memories. I used to sit and watch the end credits after a playthrough, just to listen to the wonderful music. John Williams was clearly a huge inspiration for the game's composer.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

You can hear the Walker factor in Dick Tracy too.

Walker's Batman kills Elfman's.

Batman Returns, like Drax said, has gorgeous orchestration, and some of it is wonderful, but I do find - like the film - it's just a bit too much, even in its OST form. But selected tracks are amazing.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Film Music Masterworks JW (Prague): Good. I found the slow version of Sayuri's Theme/End Credits and the WOTW suite (!) to be the highlights. The suite makes the WOTW OST especially useless to me for the time being. This is a strange phenomenon since I dislike WOTW.

Escapades from the American Spectrum CD. Awesome. Highly recommended if you're a fan of CMIYC.

Memoirs of a Geisha suite from Sony America CD. Two thumbs up. Better than the OST tracks.

[Andy 4,141]

Batman Returns, like Drax said, has gorgeous orchestration, and some of it is wonderful, but I do find - like the film - it's just a bit too much, even in its OST form. But selected tracks are amazing.

Yes, well said. It has a tendency to overwhelm in its sweeping Elfman-ness. It's very grand, but can be numbing. I'm not sure how I feel about an expansion. I will probably cave and get it, but already the program borders on overkill. But Charlie's right.. there are some wonderful bits.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

The missing highlights are two awesome scenes of BATMAN underscore. His arrival in Gotham square in the Batmobile and the short-but-sweet cue where he straps dynamite to the Strongman and knocks his ass into a ditch.

[Demondm810 399]

I think Batman Returns will benefit from being complete, chronological, and with some cues slightly shortened. That being said, it is my favorite Elfman score by far. It is incredibly tragic and sad at times, which I always thought really helped the Batman theme from becoming redundant. Birth of a Penguin is no doubt in Elfman's top 3 pieces ever. It's amazing. I would honestly encourage anyone on the fence to buy it (especially if you like Batman). I would be genuinely shocked if anyone couldn't find something that would make the purchase worthwhile.

[Andy 4,141]

The missing highlights are two awesome scenes of BATMAN underscore. His arrival in Gotham square in the Batmobile and the short-but-sweet cue where he straps dynamite to the Strongman and knocks his ass into a ditch.

I think I remember both of those moments. The first is a bit subdued and quiet, right? The second, if I remember, was a pulsing rendition of the Batman theme. (I think).

[Taikomochi 1,136]

The Lost World by Michael Giacchino

It sounded yucky. I didn't like it at all. I've heard a lot of good things about this score, but it didn't grab me at all. The style just sounded silly. There are some interesting bits, but I couldn't get into it at all.

So, I decided to check out his more recent game scores in an effort to avoid the style of The Lost World, which led me to...

Turning Point: Fall of Liberty by Michael Giacchino

Eh, it doesn't have that style that I disliked, but it's really just uncompelling to me. I tend to fall in love with Giacchino's action cues, but they didn't really grab me either. I understand the game was bad, but I hoped for a better score.

So, I decided to keep looking for another Giacchino game score which led me to...

Secret Weapons Over Normandy by Michael Giacchino

Wow, much better than the other two. Loved the Main Theme. It sounds really cool. It reminds me of John Williams' work for the Olympics, which is a good thing. The action cues are much more interesting. I don't like a specific one, but I like to just let the album play through. It's very entertaining. The one thing that bothered me was the use of Choir. That seems like it would be out of place in this type of game, but I haven't played any of the games listed here, so I wouldn't know.

[Incanus 5,716]

In the last two days:

Minority Report by John Williams

Sleepers by John Williams

The Edge by Jerry Goldsmith

First Blood by Jerry Goldsmith

Amistad by John Williams

Catch Me If You Can by John Williams

Lady in the Water by James Newton Howard

Munich by John Williams

Medal of Honor by Michael Giacchino

Sinbad by Harry Gregson-Williams

Wolfman by Danny Elfman

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Predator.

Oh baby, yeah!!

[Padme 0]

Listening to Jurassic Park as we speak

[Brónach 1,302]

The Lost World. can't stop listening to stuff like The Hunt and Visitor in San Diego.

[Taikomochi 1,136]

The Lost World. can't stop listening to stuff like The Hunt and Visitor in San Diego.

Oh yeah, from 5 minutes on, VISD is just amazing. That and the film version of Rescuing Sarah were the reason I bothered with the album since I wasn't initially interested. I'm still disappointed that Rescuing Sarah was edited. Bullcrap!

[Jay 37,374]

I purposely put a bunch of CDs in my car last week that I either hadn't listened to that many times, or just hadn't listened to in a very long time. The ones I got to so far are:

Michael Kamen - Die Hard (Varese)

Hmmm. I must have not listened to this too many times, because I completely forgot that the melody from "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" is woven throughout the entire score, appearing in a great many cues! And the theme that I would call the Main Theme (the one that appears in all 3 movies) is actually not on the CD that much! I believe I heard it in 3 or at most 4 tracks (I think it first pops up in track 8, "And If He Alters It"). I liked the guitar work, and the one track with the rock drums. I'd like to watch the film again now that I'm more familiar with the score.

Elmer Bernstein - Airplane! (La La Land)

Such a fun score! I forgot that the main theme actually doesn't appear on the CD that much (in fact, does it even appear anywhere other than the first track and "News"?) I also forgot how prominent the Love Theme is - towards the beginning of the CD there are 4 tracks in a row based off it! I enjoy the bonus track section too, a lot of fun stuff there. I'm glad LLL included the choir-free version of those 2 cues as well, its nice to hear without the (purposely) over the top choir.

Danny Elfman - Beetlejuice (OST)

This is a very well assembled album that's over before you even realize you're approaching the end. I look forward to listening to my rip of the isolated score now, as I have no idea how much music wasn't included on the OST, or how good it is. Such a fun score!

David Arnold - Casino Royale (OST)

Wow. OK, I must take back my words when I said that this score didn't do much for me. Something just "clicked" this time, and I liked it alot - it's probably my second favorite Arnold Bond score now, after Tomorrow Never Dies. I just LOVED the way "You Know My Name" is woven into the score, its so perfectly done! And I also really enjoyed the way he subtly hinted at elements of the classic James Bond theme from time to time, especially in the track "Blunt Instrument" - I had to play that one again after the CD was over. The Vesper/Love theme is nice too. Do people generally enjoy listening to this with the iTunes bonus tracks integrated in, or do they hurt the listening experience for you?

Danny Elfman - Edward Scissorhands (OST)

It's funny, when I was about halfway through this OST (towards the end of the "Part 1" section anyway), I was writing in my head a post where I said that perhaps for this score the suite from "Music For A Darkened Theater 2" was enough for me, as I wasn't really hearing anything on the OST that added to the experience - it seemed like that suite covered all the important tracks. But oh, was I wrong. When I got to the second half, there is some amazing stuff that I hadn't heard in a long time. The first half of "The Tide Turns" is just absolutely amazing, and the "End Titles" really floored me. The mood that piece creates is like no other... its so tragic and yearning and... I don't know how else to describe it. It's perfect though, it wouldn't have been appropriate at all to have some big John Williams style suite of all the big grandiose moments and themes. What Elfman wrote is perfect.

[Henry B 50]

Listening to the Academy promo of Danny Elfman's Good Will Hunting. I'd definitely call this a case of "less is more," and I'd put it alongside Edward Scissorhands or Batman as one of Elfman's best. His signature style is very present, but there's no Burton-style goofiness. It's a razor-sharp character study. The instrumentation is strange and confused, mixing militaristic fife melodies with guitar twangs, horn swells, children's choir and even sitar. Crazy, yet so subtle. Clemmensen from filmtracks.com wrote "Watching a film about a confused genius seeking direction is one thing, but listening to a score that embodies much of the same isn't as thought provoking or inspiring.." Hah! No way; there's so much to discover here.

The score is only 23 minutes long, but combine it with the wonderful Elliott Smith songs from the film and you have a great, well rounded listening experience. I feel the Smith songs are just as much a part of the score, even though only "Miss Misery" was actually written for the film. The rest of the songs from the OST are fun, but I think they're only on it because they were used as source music in the movie.

[Demondm810 399]

Just finished Goldsmith's "the Final Conflict". I am completely ashamed I avoided this for so long!! Some amazing brass work. I'm looking forward to the onslaught of Goldsmith albums coming my way this week. Fantastic, fantastic score.

[Marian Schedenig 8,211]

That it is.

[indy4 155]

"The Hunt" from Final Conflict is among my favorite Goldsmith cues.

[nightscape94 965]

Got Batman the other day, listened to it a couple of times. I forgot how much the Batman theme is used in the score, it's all over the place, which is not unlike a lot of Elfman's earlier stuff.

I also forgot that the love theme is based on "Scandalous" by Prince. It sounds so based on the Batman theme that I thought it was Elfman's.

Great score, though. Nice job on the expansion.

Tim

[Incanus 5,716]

Always by John Williams

Stepmom by John Williams

Schindler's List by John Williams

The Red Violin by John Corigliano

The Violin Concerto by John Corigliano

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I went through old music I had put away and I realized I had four JW compilation CDs by the City of Prague Philharmonic. I haven't listened to them in a long time and I guess I always thought they were by some other orchestra or just never cared either way. But they were the first time I ever heard music from Black Sunday or The Rare Breed. They are Jurassic Park, Schindler's List and Close Encounters.

[fommes 153]

Hang on to the Prague Close Encounters compilation, which is the only one to feature the full rerecorded Rare Breed suite.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I know! I just got the 40 years set and I thought some of the pieces sounded familiar. I KNEW that I'd heard Rare Breed before. There's even more music on that CE set.

[Taikomochi 1,136]

I know! I just got the 40 years set and I thought some of the pieces sounded familiar. I KNEW that I'd heard Rare Breed before. There's even more music on that CE set.

Yeah, I'd gotten that set too. The Indiana Jones recordings are the exact same as those on this set.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I just bought that as well. I liked it just fine for what it is. I'm still waiting on the Harry Potter and Star Wars CDs to ship. I don't know. They get a bad rap and I've heard some particularly nasty recordings by them certainly, but Prague's alright.

[Ollie 1,059]

I got the Rare Breed suite from iTunes. That way I didn't have to get the whole set.

[Padme 0]

Listening to Munich atm

[Richard Penna 3,695]

The Rare Breed suite is a marvellous piece of music. It's one of the few times that I appreciate Williams rearranging his material for a listening experience.

I listened to Isham's Lions for Lambs earlier. Very nice to have in the background as like much of his material, it scores on a more reflective level.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

The complete E.T. Pass me a tissue, will you.