Les Misérables

[Pieter Boelen 633]

Every few days I will post a thread on a random score from my collection that we can discuss and rate. I made a playlist on my computer with one track of each score I've got, so by using the random play option, I'll be able to post a truly random score each time. Hopefully this will allow us to discuss some scores that would otherwise never be discussed. Also we can record the rating so that we can create a full list of the ratings given to scores by JWFan.com.

At request, today's score is Les Misérables by Basil Poledouris. Are you familiar with it? What do you like about it? What don't you like about it? How do do you think it works in the film? What are your favourite tracks?

So far JWFan has rated:

See Soundtrack Ratings by JWFan.com.

This web page contains the ratings from all my previous polls as well as those of Blumenkohl's.

Final ratings are converted to a 1-10 rating for both rating systems so that they can be compared.

[Romão 1,931]

5 stars. Probably my favorite Poledouris score

[Marian Schedenig 5,520]

I'll have to ponder whether to give this a 5 or a 4.5. It's one of my top three Poledouris scores.

[Incanus 5,519]

5 stars. My favourite Poledouris score. I remember first being impressed by the dramatic main theme but the dozens of listenings have revealed so much more in this score. The album, although it has the tracks in long suites, offers a great listening experience with a wonderful dramatic arc.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

5 stars. Probably my favorite Poledouris score

[Jeshopk 8]

It's pretty good. 3.5

[Marian Schedenig 5,520]

I've decided to give it the 4.5. It has the typical tiny bits of utter brilliance that make Poledouris' great scores so great, but it also has long passages which are perfectly fine, but which I barely remember afterwards. I'm still tempted to give it the full 5 stars, but out of fairness to the really real top scores, I'll take away that half star.

[Richard Penna 2,082]

Never really given it a full listen (the boot, not the stupid OST with its 'suites'), but what I've heard is just wonderful.

4 stars, and that may go up.

[Pieter Boelen 633]

4,5 stars from me. Definitly very good indeed. Especially on the bootleg that doesn't have the tracks in long suites.

[Hlao-roo 388]

The ultimate anti-Alexandre Desplat score -- boldly lyrical and suffused with emotion. I'm sure Yared's original work rivalled Poledouris' for sheer loveliness, but the gravitas of Poledouris' main theme is difficult to match; it's certainly up there with The Last of the Mohicans, Legends of the Fall, and Seven Years in Tibet as one of those great '90s epic themes.

There's never a dull moment -- there's brooding, sure, but it's the sort of brooding that actually seems pregnant with portent and intent on taking us to the next step in the narrative. I love the little swatches of minimalism -- their restless, propulsive quality adds so much character to this score.

And, of course, there's the unashamedly turgid would-be power anthem rendition for Jean Valjean. Simplistic? Yes. (Of course, Poledouris isn't exactly known for pushing the compositional envelope.) But it's pure Poledouris, and you gotta love it.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,251]

I love you Humphry!

[Marian Schedenig 5,520]

Simplistic? Yes. (Of course, Poledouris isn't exactly known for pushing the compositional envelope.)

Generally true. But some of the action stuff in Starship Troopers is pretty mindboggling.

[Ollie 859]

I'l give it a 4.5.