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Philosopher's Stone vs. Prisoner of Azkaban


Josh500

Which score do you prefer?  

50 members have voted

  1. 1. Not the OS albums, but the score as heard in the movies

    • Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Sorcerer's Stone)
      20
    • Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
      30


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This would really interest me. (Almost) 5 years after PoA came out... although I suspect PoA will still win.

Personally I think SS is an AMAZING score. Vitage JW, if you will. It has everything. Many great themes, many great little subtle moments, many outstanding action cues. Yet, some complained that it's not too original. I don't agree. The orchestration may be standard JW, but the themes are brilliant. Really one of the very best.

What's your opinion? :)

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Wowwwwwwww tough poll. I might have to abstain from voting until I listen to the expanded versions of each again

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Wowwwwwwww tough poll. I might have to abstain from voting until I listen to the expanded versions of each again

Just watch the movies!!

I tell you SS is underrated around here... there are SOOO many great moments unreleased on the OS album!

I like a few cues from the HP1, but HP3 is the richer, superior score of the two.

Yeah, PoA is more elegant, I agree with that (if you mean that by richer).

However, as far as themes are concerned, I think they are equally good. I mean, all of Harry's themes are introduced in SS, as well as the 3 Voldemort's themes. And don't forget Hogwart's theme, the Quidditch fanfare, etc.

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I don't think I'll be able to vote on this, but if I do, it'll be for SS. Very solid thematic and non-thematic writing...and there's something about the sound quality and orchestration that I really love. I didn't have any knowledge of Hook and the like before hearing it, so most of it sounded quite original to me - and it still sounds better than its predecessors, if you ask me, even though it didn't come first. However, it does face steep competition from the more unusual third score, which is why I'm not sure I'll vote in this thread. They're just so different and wonderful in their own ways.

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I'm not saying PoA is not great, but I'm still wondering: What makes this SO much better than SS???

SS has better main themes, they are classic. But POA is a better overall score and I think the medieval sound is perfect for the film. I wish all the films had been scored this way from the beginning. When I listen to SS, I listen to a handful of tracks. Some of the tracks on SS are snoozers or just plain redundant. When I listen to POA I listen to the whole damn thing. That's why I voted Azkaban.

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No chance! none of 'em!

What's your favorite cover?

Either:

317VFFY504L._SS500_.jpg

Or

41ST4XZSTVL._SS500_.jpg

Or

5152RWN4F0L._SS500_.jpg

Or

412SXHRSNVL._SS500_.jpg

Well, the scores themselves are among the very best, but I think there are better cover art works. :)

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I tell you SS is underrated around here... there are SOOO many great moments unreleased on the OS album!

I don't under rate it at all. That's why this poll is hard. I LOVE both scores VERY much. Sorceror's Stone is amazing, and gets better over the years too

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Well, the scores themselves are among the very best, but I think there are better cover art works. :)

Blame it on my age, but I tend to favour artwork created prior to the dawn of Photoshop.

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I voted for Prisoner without any hesitation. From all three JW's Potter scores, I own only 2nd and 3rd. I found HP&PS disappointing, mainly because of its lack of expected... balls. The music sounds like magic, but I feel none. It resembles Hook, but doesn't have it's charm, nor similar emotional resonance. Just like in case of KotCS, it's very solid work with good themes (Hedwig's Theme alone is stellar), but leaves me cold when compared to many previous JW's works of that kind.

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I'm not saying PoA is not great, but I'm still wondering: What makes this SO much better than SS???

SS has better main themes, they are classic. But POA is a better overall score and I think the medieval sound is perfect for the film. I wish all the films had been scored this way from the beginning. When I listen to SS, I listen to a handful of tracks. Some of the tracks on SS are snoozers or just plain redundant. When I listen to POA I listen to the whole damn thing. That's why I voted Azkaban.

Really? I rarely listen to the whole PoA.

For example, I find some tracks like Apparition on the Train, The Portrait Gallery, The Patronus Light, and The Dementors Converge as forgettable as the most forgettable tracks on the SS album....

But POA is a better overall score and I think the medieval sound is perfect for the film.

Many people seem to forget, SS has Diagon Alley, which has a very medieval sound, too (although only part of it was used, I know).

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Harry_Potter_and_The_Prisoner_of_Azkaban.JPG

I always thought this was the best JW OS cover.

I still do, although Memoirs of a Geisha is a (very) close second.

828767470825.jpg

It's the other way around for me, but I suppose I've made that clear in the other threads.

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Azkaban for me.

It's interesting to compare the two scores because although they are in the same franchise and are fairly new, they kind of evoke different styles from Williams. I think Sorcerer's Stone reflects the golden age of the 1980's while POA is in many ways a score in JW's modern style.

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Azkaban for me.

I think Sorcerer's Stone reflects the golden age of the 1980's while POA is in many ways a modern JW score.

Yeah, I agree.

But the funny thing is, although many people usually prefer the golden age Williams, in this case, it's the modern score they prefer...

HUH! :)

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Thematically speaking, Philosophers Stone reminds one of the 80's. but in many other ways it's a modern JW score.

True, but out of all of what we call Williams' modern period I think SS is the most like the 80's.

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Thematically speaking, Philosophers Stone reminds one of the 80's. but in many other ways it's a modern JW score.

True, but out of all of what we call Williams' modern period I think SS is the most like the 80's.

Hmmm, actually I think it's more like 90's.

The orchestration reminds me more of Hook and Jurassic Park...

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HPSS

With the Indy Box and a lot of SW Prequel music released in games, this score has become THE Holy Grail for an Expanded /Complete release

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HPSS

With the Indy Box and a lot of SW Prequel music released in games, this score has become THE Holy Grail for an Expanded /Complete release

Yes, that and PoA! :)

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I agree, red rabbit. Although TPM is favorably similar to his older work in some ways, too, I think.

In some ways yes it definitely is.

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With the Indy Box and a lot of SW Prequel music released in games, this score has become THE Holy Grail for an Expanded /Complete release

Nah, that's still Hook

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HPSS, the score most needing a complete release with all the concert arrangments

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With the Indy Box and a lot of SW Prequel music released in games, this score has become THE Holy Grail for an Expanded /Complete release

Nah, that's still Hook

Yes.

I went with Sorcerer's Stone. There are more moments in that one I love such as Luke's theme when Harry sees the train (unreleased), the complete Owl letter delivery scene (unreleased), Hagrid's tale of Voldemort (unreleased), the entry into the Great Hall/Diagon Alley (unreleased), the sorting hat scene (unreleased), entire Christmastime scene (unreleased), Voldemort in the woods (unreleased) and winning the House Cup (unreleased).

My list of desired cues from POA is slightly smaller, and consists of: Harry uses Patronus charm the first time and Harry with the map (Peter Pettigrew's Theme).

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First one, easily.

I never really got wowed by PoA. It's a really good effort with some nice themes, but somehow it never quite comes together into a perfect whole for me. Plus there are a lot of sequences where little happens (Saving Buckbeak being one of them), whereas the first score rarely seems to let up.

And IMO, nothing can approach the complexity and sheer energy of The Quidditch Match - one of my favourite Potter cues (which JW evidently considered having more 'musical logic' than Desert/Jungle Chase - twat). For once, I agree with Joey - it needs an expanded edition. The first score is one of the three scores that got me into soundtracks, and therefore has intangible nostalgic value.

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There are various scenes in the film that utilize the Chamber theme, naturally excluded from the album. That secondary Voldemort theme/Philosopher's Stone theme/dark magical object motif is also presented awesomely throughout the film (such as when McGonagall tells the students the Chamber is home to a monster and when the entrance to the Chamber is opened). I'd buy all three scores in a heartbeat.

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Easy! Sorcerer's Stone For one simple reason: Hedwig's Theme. No theme yet in Harry Potter has stood up to that. It was clear from first listen that Williams was more inspired by the book than the movie.

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