What is the last score you listened to?

[Henry B 50]

Also listened to a few cues from The Road, which I saw on Wednesday. It's a mixture of dissonance for the more intense/disturbing scenes, and very affecting piano/string material.

It just isn't enough. I think the music is serviceable for a drama about issues like divorce and estrangement from children, but applied to a movie about hope in the face of the death of all life on Earth, it fell incredibly flat. The score says that everything's going to be just fine, and with a very condescending tone.

I'd disagree. The film was one of those that would be ruined, or made too cinematic with music, so when it did appear, I didn't feel it had to do anything except replicate the characters' fear/urgency. The film was projecting to me a sense of getting by day by day, with some vague sense of hope that they'd find something resembling civilisation, and that's exactly what the music did for me.

Right, I agree, but I think when the music did appear it ruined the film by making it too cinematic. I would have liked the film to have been completely musically silent, except perhaps for the final scene on the beach.

[indy4 155]

"The Doomsday Machine"

Largely uninteresting score, although I do like the theme of the episode and how it develops. Though those musical moments with the establishing shot of the Enterprise and the sparkling fanfare is wonderfully nostalgic.

"Amok Time"

This one is very good. I love the famous battle music, but also the stuff before and after.

[John Crichton 4]

Hearing the famous Amok Time cue played live with the show is a singular and wonderful experience.

I recieved my Sam & Max CDs today, fun stuff. Jared Emerson-Johnson could be a real up and comer.

[indy4 155]

That must have been great!

Beauty and the Beast: The Broadway Musical:

It's great! It's like Menken was given a shot to write about 20 minutes of extra music for the film. I especially love the extended instrumental stuff, particularly the variations of the theme from the "Prologue." The new songs are okay, the extensions of the old ones are great. Oh, the the cover art is amazing. All this for $1.95!

[crocodile 8,020]

Spider-Man 2. I like it. Of the three this one would be my favourite.

Karol

[Charlie Brigden 7]

JOE VERSUS THE VOLCANO yesterday. Man, that was good.

CLASH OF THE TITANS and THE LAST STARFIGHTER earlier today, now listening to STAR WARS. 'Chasm Crossfire' always makes me want to stand up and applaud.

[Ollie 1,059]

Players - Goldsmith

Heidi - Williams

[Wojo 2,453]

I just received my copy of Players yesterday, but didn't get a chance to even open the shrink wrap.

[Jay 37,374]

James Newton Howard - The Fugitive (La La Land)

I have always loved the OST to this score, and have always wanted an expanded/complete version, especially after watching the film once after having the OST and noticing how out of order the OST was. However, now that I have it... I find it a bit much. Its a good score, but just feel really long in its complete form. I might make myself a 60-80 minute edit of all my favorite tracks. The sound quality and overall presentation is top notch, despite a few errors that I read about on the FSM boards.

Bear McCreary - Caprica (OST)

Didn't do much for me, probably because I still haven't found time to watch the pilot. Will give it another spin after I do.

Christopher Young - Drag Me To Hell (Complete)

A truly amazing score (and my pick for the best score of 2009). A great listen in OST form or complete form

Michael Giacchino - Medal Of Honor

This score still hasn't grabbed me the way it has so many people here. Perhaps because I've never played the game? I dunno. Some sections I get into, but most of the time since I have NO idea what imagery the music is supposed to go with I just kind of tune it out.

Danny Elfman - Mars Attacks! (La La Land)

What a frustrating release! Mars Attacks! is a guilty pleasure of mine, and I've always completely loved the score. I remember seeing the film in theaters and instantly wanting it, and when the score CD was finally released in March 1997 (3 months after the film's release), I loved it. It contained all the music I remember liking from the film and was arranged in a way to make a great listening experience. And it had the funny source music songs from the film! But then the DVD came out in 1999 and wow! The complete score is contained on it! Sure it contained all the source music too so a few cues had their beginnings or endings overlapped, but the music wasn't cut to shreds like a Lucas or Spielberg movie so it was pretty amazing. And wow - some of the cues were longer here than their album counterparts, cool! I figured out how to get the music off the dvd, into my computer, and onto a CDR.

So now cut to 2009, and La La Land is issuing the first Expanded Score of Danny Elfman's career, and it's Mars Attacks!, one of my favorites from him! Surely this will contain the COMPLETE score, but with clean openings and endings to all cues, and maybe some alternates as well? Sadly this is not to be the case. All of the original album edits are retained, and not all of the missing cues have been included. For whatever reason, they simply... included some of them, and excluded others. WTF? The complete score only runs 70 minutes, so it wasn't a space issue. Then to top it off, the album is in chronological order... except in ONE instance, when they put a cue of of order to keep the artificial crossfade it had with another cue on the OST. Frustrating!

But worse of all is that the final product is not a good, well-rounded listening experience! The OST is, and listening to the COMPLETE score is. But this album lives somewhere halfway in between and doesn't quite work for me. What I mean is that when one track ends and the next begins sometimes it just doesn't sound musically sound. I don't know if its because in my head I know they skipped over some cues or what, but I just don't like it. I guess I'll just be replacing a few tracks on my rip of the iso score with the versions here and never really listen to this again. I don't like listening to the two source songs, and the bonus tracks here didn't really do anything for me either.

I just figured out how to explain it - its actually EXTREMELY similar to listening to the TOD disc of the Indy box. They took Williams' nicely arranged OST, kept all the edits and combinations, and added to it additional cues... but they didn't include ALL the cues, and the ones they did include throw off the balance... its all the big action cues, leaving off the quieter ones. The listening experience improves tremendously by adding the cues from Disc 5, and then improves even more by adding all the other missing cues from a dvd rip. Same with Mars Attacks!. Even down to cues being presented separate that were always meant to be merged (The Landing / First Firefight, for example). Oh well.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Michael Giacchino - Medal Of Honor

This score still hasn't grabbed me the way it has so many people here. Perhaps because I've never played the game? I dunno. Some sections I get into, but most of the time since I have NO idea what imagery the music is supposed to go with I just kind of tune it out.

Imagine you're in a German train station, alone, in disguise. You show your papers to one of the guards, and he finds you out. Now you're on the run, with dogs and Nazis lurking about, with "Radar Train" playing in the background. Sublime.

[Neimoidian 14]

Michael Giacchino - Medal Of Honor

This score still hasn't grabbed me the way it has so many people here. Perhaps because I've never played the game? I dunno. Some sections I get into, but most of the time since I have NO idea what imagery the music is supposed to go with I just kind of tune it out.

Imagine you're in a German train station, alone, in disguise. You show your papers to one of the guards, and he finds you out. Now you're on the run, with dogs and Nazis lurking about, with "Radar Train" playing in the background. Sublime.

I've been in a German train station once. Too bad I didn't know of that score back then

[Morlock 11]

Heidi - Williams

I think I've listened to the whole thing once in the six years Iv'e had. Didn't make much of an impression. Though it did make me hate football, for some reason.

[Ollie 1,059]

Michael Giacchino - Medal Of Honor

This score still hasn't grabbed me the way it has so many people here. Perhaps because I've never played the game? I dunno. Some sections I get into, but most of the time since I have NO idea what imagery the music is supposed to go with I just kind of tune it out.

Imagine you're in a German train station, alone, in disguise. You show your papers to one of the guards, and he finds you out. Now you're on the run, with dogs and Nazis lurking about, with "Radar Train" playing in the background. Sublime.

I'm not even worried about the images, I've never played the game and I doubt I ever will.

The music is just fantastic to listen to. It doesn't need to be associated with anything.

Heidi - Williams

I think I've listened to the whole thing once in the six years Iv'e had. Didn't make much of an impression. Though it did make me hate football, for some reason.

It's a nice little score with a lovely main theme.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Michael Giacchino - Medal Of Honor

This score still hasn't grabbed me the way it has so many people here. Perhaps because I've never played the game? I dunno. Some sections I get into, but most of the time since I have NO idea what imagery the music is supposed to go with I just kind of tune it out.

Imagine you're in a German train station, alone, in disguise. You show your papers to one of the guards, and he finds you out. Now you're on the run, with dogs and Nazis lurking about, with "Radar Train" playing in the background. Sublime.

I'm not even worried about the images, I've never played the game and I doubt I ever will.

The music is just fantastic to listen to. It doesn't need to be associated with anything.

I agree. But like with many things, a deeper appreciation can be found if you're familiar with the game (or movie, etc). I don't think it would be one of my favorite scores of all time if I had never played the game as a kid. Ah, nostalgia.

[Ollie 1,059]

I agree. But like with many things, a deeper appreciation can be found if you're familiar with the game (or movie, etc). I don't think it would be one of my favorite scores of all time if I had never played the game as a kid. Ah, nostalgia.

See I feel the opposite. If the music is good it's going to grab me regardless of whether or not I see the film or play the game.

When the game and CD were first released and reviews started popping up on the web (and I heard the sound clips), I knew I had to have this score in my collection.

[Datameister 2,044]

I'm listening to more or less all my albums in alphabetical order right now, which is something I've never really done. You know what? I can't explain it, but I'm appreciating the music more! I'm connecting again with music that's felt a little stale for years...it's awesome!

[Jay 37,374]

Joe that is very cool! Listening to every single one of my score CDs again is something I hope to start doing soon.

Last night I listened to:

Danny Elfman - The Wolfman

Didn't do much for me. The first track was good and I was into it, then it just meandered for an hour and I don't remember anything else sticking out. Haven't seen the movie either.

Then was looking for something else to listen to. All the FOTR vs HPSS talk in that other thread made me want to listen to FOTR again, so I listened to the second half of the score. Still great stuff. I need to finish my project of creating a "complete theatrical version" 2CD set sometime.

[Ollie 1,059]

Heh, that's one of the reasons I kept the original albums, in case I want LOTR condensed.

[Jay 37,374]

Yea both albums certainly have their merits. Its actually not too bad to create a mostly clean version of the Complete score with only the theatrical edition versions of the cues. Combining the CR with OST with stuff found on DVD menus with a few bits from rear channels. Plus hopefully some cleaner stuff will be on the Rarities.

[Marian Schedenig 8,211]

Heidi - Williams

I think I've listened to the whole thing once in the six years Iv'e had. Didn't make much of an impression. Though it did make me hate football, for some reason.

I don't play it too often, but it's wonderful. All the mountain music stuff is lovely in a shamelessly direct kind of way. But The Miracle is a compact masterpiece of RVW proportions.

[John Crichton 4]

Michael Giacchino - Medal Of Honor

This score still hasn't grabbed me the way it has so many people here. Perhaps because I've never played the game? I dunno. Some sections I get into, but most of the time since I have NO idea what imagery the music is supposed to go with I just kind of tune it out.

Imagine you're in a German train station, alone, in disguise. You show your papers to one of the guards, and he finds you out. Now you're on the run, with dogs and Nazis lurking about, with "Radar Train" playing in the background. Sublime.

I'm not even worried about the images, I've never played the game and I doubt I ever will.

Same here. It's WWII, I've never thought about it much beyond that.

[indy4 155]

I've been listening to two scores that don't get enough attention from me: Seven Years in Tibet (John Williams) and King Solomon's Mines (Jerry Goldsmith). Both are really quite good, way better than I remembered from my last listen (which was probably when I first got the CDs).

[Wojo 2,453]

Alien and Predator. Both are excellent scores. I may have to listen to them again more often paired like this.

[A24 4,346]

The River: Wow, John Williams used to be really good. A perfect selection for a perfect listening experience (no needless repetions for completion's sake). A very warm sounding recording too. Ah, the old days are so underrated.

Alex

[Maglorfin 196]

Alien and Predator. Both are excellent scores. I may have to listen to them again more often paired like this.

Definitely, and adding Aliens wouldn't hurt either.

[Incanus 5,716]

The River: Wow, John Williams used to be really good. A perfect selection for a perfect listening experience (no needless repetions for completion's sake). A very warm sounding recording too. Ah, the old days are so underrated.

Alex

Nonsense. The old days are well respected and loved among the fans, even if The River might not be universally praised or remembered. It is indeed a great score with a perfect length album.

[Marian Schedenig 8,211]

Actually, I find the album (or the score) tends to drag somewhat. There are *very* lovely bits in there, but I rarely listen to it because by the time it's nearing the end, I realize I've already half stopped listening.

[Ollie 1,059]

Varese's 2 disc Great Composers: Georges Delerue. This would be a desert island disc for me. A well put together set.

It also begs for a release of his rejected score to Something Wicked This Way Comes.

[Diego 21]

Jane Eyre

[Wojo 2,453]

Definitely, and adding Aliens wouldn't hurt either.

Except I don't own Aliens. It's not as high as it should be on my radar, either.

[Maglorfin 196]

Well, do pick up the Varese Sarabande deluxe edition ASAP, you'll never regret it!

[Datameister 2,044]

Braveheart. It's nice, but still not a favorite of mine. The bagpipes are okay, but the ethnic-flute-with-vibrato-on-steroids is just plain annoying to me. When Horner sticks to the orchestra, it can be rather lovely, but I prefer the way he adapted some of the same material in Bicentennial Man and Apollo 13, both of which I was familiar with before Braveheart. That's one of the few advantages to Horner's self-plagiaristic approach: if he ALMOST gets it right in one score, there's a good chance he'll revisit it in a more satisfactory later on. (And/or it may have a precursor with a little more spirit in it.)

[crocodile 8,020]

Braveheart. It's nice, but still not a favorite of mine. The bagpipes are okay, but the ethnic-flute-with-vibrato-on-steroids is just plain annoying to me. When Horner sticks to the orchestra, it can be rather lovely, but I prefer the way he adapted some of the same material in Bicentennial Man and Apollo 13, both of which I was familiar with before Braveheart. That's one of the few advantages to Horner's self-plagiaristic approach: if he ALMOST gets it right in one score, there's a good chance he'll revisit it in a more satisfactory later on. (And/or it may have a precursor with a little more spirit in it.)

That's an optimistic way of looking at it. I happen not to like theme from Glory very much. But it's much better in Avatar.

Karol

[indy4 155]

Where is it used in Avatar?

[crocodile 8,020]

Where is it used in Avatar?

Tracks 6 and 7.

Karol

[Naïve Old Fart 9,554]

Alien and Predator. Both are excellent scores. I may have to listen to them again more often paired like this.

I LOVE "Alien", especially in its new-ish expanded form. The sounds J.G. gets from the orchestra are absolutely terrifying! Is it true that "Predator" features the 20th Century Fox fanfare for "Alien 3" (the one that does not resolve)?

The River: Wow, John Williams used to be really good. A perfect selection for a perfect listening experience (no needless repetions for completion's sake). A very warm sounding recording too. Ah, the old days are so underrated.

Alex

This is interesting. For what I assume is a analogue score, to a first generation digital copy, it does sound remarkably open and, as you say, warm. Compare this to even the Concord "T.O.D.", and you find that there is too much "top end".

The River: Wow, John Williams used to be really good. A perfect selection for a perfect listening experience (no needless repetions for completion's sake). A very warm sounding recording too. Ah, the old days are so underrated.

Alex

Nonsense. The old days are well respected and loved among the fans, even if The River might not be universally praised or remembered. It is indeed a great score with a perfect length album.

I'm glad that they left off the awful stuff toward the gegining fo the film; the stuff with all the synth drums. It would be nice sync the film so that you can watch "The Tractor Scene", as it was originally scored.

[A24 4,346]

The River: Wow, John Williams used to be really good. A perfect selection for a perfect listening experience (no needless repetions for completion's sake). A very warm sounding recording too. Ah, the old days are so underrated.

This is interesting. For what I assume is a analogue score, to a first generation digital copy, it does sound remarkably open and, as you say, warm. Compare this to even the Concord "T.O.D.", and you find that there is too much "top end".

I'm glad you noticed that, Richard. Except for The Crystal Skull, everything from the Concord box has that fatiguing "top end". Most people don't hear subtle adjustments so most of today's rereleases are remastered in an exaggerated fashion. Even the new Beatles CDs have too much "top high". No way that a tambourine sounded that crisp in the '60s.

[crocodile 8,020]

The Agony and the Ecstasy, Viva Zapata, The Wolfman and Black Sunday.

Karol

[Wojo 2,453]

The World Cinema Album

At best, it's a nice sampler of pieces from soundtracks that I would otherwise never buy from films I have mostly never heard of.

At worst, it's hard to listen to straight through, and adds a bunch of one-track artists to my iPod, which makes Cover View utterly worthless and does not properly show up in the Compilations menu.

[crocodile 8,020]

The Ghost Writer by Alexandre Desplat

I like it very much. I don't see how it's supposed to sound like Herrmann. It's Desplat all the way through. 2010 is already better than 2009.

Karol

[Naïve Old Fart 9,554]

The River: Wow, John Williams used to be really good. A perfect selection for a perfect listening experience (no needless repetions for completion's sake). A very warm sounding recording too. Ah, the old days are so underrated.

This is interesting. For what I assume is a analogue score, to a first generation digital copy, it does sound remarkably open and, as you say, warm. Compare this to even the Concord "T.O.D.", and you find that there is too much "top end".

I'm glad you noticed that, Richard. Except for The Crystal Skull, everything from the Concord box has that fatiguing "top end". Most people don't hear subtle adjustments so most of today's rereleases are remastered in an exaggerated fashion. Even the new Beatles CDs have too much "top high". No way that a tambourine sounded that crisp in the '60s.

IMO, Alex, "Raiders" has tranaferred best, as it stil has a relatively warm, dry, analogue sound. "...Crusade", at least sounds better that the audio fog of the original release.

I happen to be blessed with very "open", and "transparent" (not to mention expensive) hi-fi, so I am in the habit of noticing stuff like that. As for The Beatles' re-masters; I like them, but which tambourine, and on which track, are you referring to?

If you want to hear some really high 60s top-end, then try the re-mastered "Days Of Future Past", by The Moody Blues.

For more info. on current re-mastering, try Googeling "loudness wars".

[Charlie Brigden 7]

Goldsmith's THE RUSSIA HOUSE. Awesome stuff, although I know have an uneasy feeling that somebody is following me.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,554]

Goldsmith's THE RUSSIA HOUSE. Awesome stuff, although I know have an uneasy feeling that somebody is following me.

It's interesting to compare "The Russia House" with "Alien Nation"...

[gkgyver 1,645]

Henry Mancini's The Pink Panther.

The classics never die. I love his music to no end. Makes you want to step into a suit and hit a few first class bars.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,554]

Henry Mancini's The Pink Panther.

The classics never die. I love his music to no end. Makes you want to step into a suit and hit a few first class bars.

I always remember a score that he composed for the David Warner film "Nightwing"; it was so different to anything I had heard from Mancini up to that point. I also like "Lifeforce".

[Nick Parker 3,040]

Henry Mancini's The Pink Panther.

The classics never die. I love his music to no end. Makes you want to step into a suit and hit a few first class bars.

I really wish the music in the first ten minutes or so of the film was on the album (especially those Plas Johnson solos).

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Stepmom

*yawn*

[Joe Brausam 215]

The Flash - Shirley Walker

There really just isn't enough variety in these scores to warrant a release, at least to me. After listening to the set three times, each time more tedious than the last, and reading through the liners I feel pretty confident saying that I hated it. It bored me. It's a shame, because I enjoyed the Batman Animated Series release so much.

If anyone wants this album, PM me. I'll sell it for $25 flat in the US.

[Incanus 5,716]

The Wolfman by Danny Elfman: After a few listens this score has really gotten under my skin. The 4-note main motif is extremely malleable and stretches to interesting and powerful variations in the running time of the album. At first it sounded like the music had no variety but Elfman actually retains a certain atmosphere throughout the album but succeeds in bringing something new to every version of the main thematic material. It is not a cheerful listen by any means but the gothic and classic horror feel are a joy to hear. The music broods and unleashes short burts of orchestral mayhem at suitable interwalls to retain aural interest. After spotting the obvious Kilar influences, I have completely forgotten about them as Elfman really follows his own insticts with the rest of the score. You could say this is darker and less romantic (and surprisingly less action filled) sibling of the Sleepy Hollow.

Stanley & Iris by John Williams: A lovely small drama score from Williams.

[Ollie 1,059]

Henry Mancini's The Pink Panther.

The classics never die. I love his music to no end. Makes you want to step into a suit and hit a few first class bars.

I really wish the music in the first ten minutes or so of the film was on the album (especially those Plas Johnson solos).

Unfortunately that was a major problem with Henry Mancini's releases. Too much "pop / easy listening" albums when there should have been more underscore included.

I would recommend looking for the Ryko Pink Panther Strikes Again CD, if it's still available.