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Overkill: When film music is played out


Quintus

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I'm still not sure I get the point myself. Star Wars is overplayed, but it's still great, but it's overplayed, but it's still great. But Star Trek is cheesy and embarassing.

Is there something else I'm missing?

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Well it would seem that you and Wojo have missed the point. Which is no surprise on your part.

Nobody is suggesting that the music of Star Wars or Star Trek isn't "magnificant and some of the best composed music ever". Don't be ridiculous, you sound like a vehement fanboy, quick to jump to the defence of your precious music when none was needed in the first place.

No we get the point, I hate to speak for Wojo but I'm sure he gets it.

I come to the defense when I feel ignorance or ill-informed comments are made.

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Sigh, I wasn't making making a point, I was making an observation. It is up to you to either agree or disagree, it ain't difficult. Why so friggin' anal about everything all of the time?

The fact that I've had to explain the thread to you dull as dishwater people is reason enough for me to now abandon it. Carry on.

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I'm still not sure I get the point myself. Star Wars is overplayed, but it's still great, but it's overplayed, but it's still great. But Star Trek is cheesy and embarassing.

Is there something else I'm missing?

I guess not, we're dull as dishwater so we must bow before the superior intellect.

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At last, some sense, but alas it is too late.

But my final word on the subject is this: Whether you like it or not Star Wars and Star Trek music has been played out. Same as the 007 theme and Jaws.

The context of the music is irrelevant since of course one would expect to hear the music whilst watching the movie, do'h which brainy sonofabitch put that one together huh? - to hint I suggested otherwise is a joke. Unfortunately the media love blasting out the Superman theme wherever and whenever anything heroic or exciting is part of their programming and commercial design, thus lessening the effect of the music in the longrun. That means it has a negative effect on the music, it cheapens it. If you can't see that then that means you disagree, well done.

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I'm still not sure I get the point myself. Star Wars is overplayed, but it's still great, but it's overplayed, but it's still great. But Star Trek is cheesy and embarassing.

Is there something else I'm missing?

I guess not, we're dull as dishwater so we must bow before the superior intellect.

I'm laughing at the superior intellect. ;)

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Nothing is real. It's what we make of it.

Quite! how deep does the rabbit hole go...

It's not really possible for something to be overplayed in the broader sense, it's how you react to the repetition.

Often in film, familiar "songs" can be placed in a new context, and the song itself becomes anew and takes on another , greater dimension.

Don't Stop Believing, in the ice skating scene in Monster comes to mind. Love that scene.

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You *cannot* overplay Bohemian Rhapsody.

I adore Queen, but I personally always skip BR. And I adore BR.

We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions for me. They're even more overplayed and they're far less fit to withstand it. And they're not even the best songs on their album.

You are quite right, Marian, the best tracks on "News Of The World" are "Fight From The Inside", and "It's Late", oh, and "All Dead, All Dead". Oh, to hell with it, and the rest of the bloody record, as well; it's brillant!!!

Personally, I would be quite happy if I never heard "Star Wars" again. It's not that I dislike the music, it's simply that I have no need to hear it because I know it so well. It seems to be almost a part of my musical d.n.a. I'm sure that there are a lot of people reading this post who can tell, just by listening, which of the six Main Titles is playing with their eyes shut! You can't blame the music for this. J.W. only wrote it; he had no idea that it would become a musical touchstone. If we don't want to hear it, how do you think poor old J.W. feels about conducting it, ad nauseum? I feel the same way about "Bohemian Rhapsody" (not even the best track on "A Night At The Opera"-that acolade belongs to "The Prophet's Song"), "Stairway To Heaven", and "Imagine". I am even begining to feel that way about-shock, horror-"The Spirit Of Radio", and I ABSOLUTELY ADORE Rush. The problem is that people, by which I mean people who have not explored the back catalogues of any of the artists mentioned in this post, seem to be spoon-fed one particular song, or piece of music which "someone" deemed representative of an artist's, or group's output-musical typecasting, if you will. It is up to every serious fan of that artist/group to educate those who have not had the pleasure of listening to all the great music that exists beyond the "greatest hit". Of course, playing "Planet Of The Apes",to someone has only heard "Star Trek:TNG", is probably not a good idea ("Small moves, Ellie, small moves"). We know the (musical) truth, people, and it is out there, in our c.d. collections, in shops, and on-line. let the lesson begin!

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It happens in all genres of music: sometimes a track is played so many times in it's lifetime that it is eventually overplayed to death. A song or piece of music becomes so massive and 'timeless' that it is eventually reduced to pretty much nothing more than a parody of itself; its former greatness is largely forgotten and it is forever the soundtrack of so many tv compilation clips, home videos and other novelty functions.

Could Bishop's Countdown also be a candidate for the "overplayed-to-death club"? :) Just think of all the action trailers ...

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You are quite right, Marian, the best tracks on "News Of The World" are "Fight From The Inside", and "It's Late", oh, and "All Dead, All Dead". Oh, to hell with it, and the rest of the bloody record, as well; it's brillant!!!

Switch Fight with Spread Your Wings, and I'm with you.

Personally, I would be quite happy if I never heard "Star Wars" again. It's not that I dislike the music, it's simply that I have no need to hear it because I know it so well.

I often feel that way. But I know it's not true. And when, every few months (or even years, perhaps) I finally do play it again, I'm very glad I do.

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I'm sure that there are a lot of people reading this post who can tell, just by listening, which of the six Main Titles is playing with their eyes shut!

If you guess The Phantom Menace, you have a 50% chance of being correct. From a certain point of view.

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Most definitely. And the TPM recording may be the most overplayed of them all, but it's also a really fantastic recording.

It's an incredibly dull and uninspired performance.

SW had been gone since 1983. The opening music should have been bristling with live and energy. But apparently JW and the LSO played it so much that they just could not be bothered.

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I think they played it very well, which is nothing special, for them. I was expecting more at the time, but that's probably Williams and Lucas' fault.

I actually remember feeling a little disappointed whilst sat in the cinema as the opening crawl began in Phantom Menace. I was hoping for new orchestration, perhaps wrongly.

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Most definitely. And the TPM recording may be the most overplayed of them all, but it's also a really fantastic recording.

It's an incredibly dull and uninspired performance.

I just listened to all four original recordings in real-world chronological order, and you know what? I love 'em all. They all have something about them that I don't quite like - ANH goes too heavy on the horn in the final strain, ESB is mixed really poorly, ROTJ has some annoyingly bad trumpet moments, and TPM somewhat sacrifices unbridled enthusiasm for technical precision - but they are all wonderful listening experiences for me. It's a testament to how great the music is that after hearing four recordings of it in a row, I really wouldn't mind listening to it again. Even with it being so overplayed.

EDIT: And I'm glad it wasn't reorchestrated, at least not in any significant way. It didn't need it.

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Most definitely. And the TPM recording may be the most overplayed of them all, but it's also a really fantastic recording.

It's an incredibly dull and uninspired performance.

I just listened to all four original recordings in real-world chronological order, and you know what? I love 'em all. They all have something about them that I don't quite like - ANH goes too heavy on the horn in the final strain, ESB is mixed really poorly, ROTJ has some annoyingly bad trumpet moments, and TPM somewhat sacrifices unbridled enthusiasm for technical precision - but they are all wonderful listening experiences for me. It's a testament to how great the music is that after hearing four recordings of it in a row, I really wouldn't mind listening to it again. Even with it being so overplayed.

EDIT: And I'm glad it wasn't reorchestrated, at least not in any significant way. It didn't need it.

Of all six, I prefer ANH. The first note explodes from the spaekers. No other recording has ever been able recapture this quantum of absolute magic.

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Of all six, I prefer ANH. The first note explodes from the spaekers. No other recording has ever been able recapture this quantum of absolute magic.

Unfortunately, in the film, it explodes from the speakers with enough gusto to take it into a whole 'nother key. =| Not sure why they didn't fix that.

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why not just say Star Wars, people do understand that's the first films title

You and I are probably one of the few here who actually saw the film with the title of Star Wars only. ;)

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I actually remember feeling a little disappointed whilst sat in the cinema as the opening crawl began in Phantom Menace. I was hoping for new orchestration, perhaps wrongly.

mmm it has different orchestration as much as SW, ESB and ROTJ had.

Now, I WAS dissapointed when the same orchestration was used in AOTC and ROTS.

I still dont see the point of ruining the 'un-continuity' of each movie having a different orchestrated main titles.

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i could swear ROTJ sounds different than ESB, specially the beggining, and different from TPM.

EDIT: come on ROTJ features a timpany roll in the start of the cue, not present in any other version. you didnt heard that??

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The main titles for SW and ESB begin cleanly, while in ROTJ it sounds like one trumpet starts just before everybody else, making a sloppy beginning. And the triplet figure played when the orchestra reprises the A theme is played much quicker in ROTJ, whereas in SW and ESB, it is savored much more slowly.

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The main titles for SW and ESB begin cleanly, while in ROTJ it sounds like one trumpet starts just before everybody else, making a sloppy beginning.

Hm, to me, it sounds more like one of the trumpets holds the opening blast note longer than the others and is then also heard louder than the others, almost as if playing solo ... :lol: I wonder if it could have been dear old Maurice Murphy ... :P;)

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There's that weird figure in the 1st trumpet part toward the end of the B theme in ROTJ...boy, I'm glad that only showed up in one film.

The ornament at 0:41?

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why not just say Star Wars, people do understand that's the first films title

You and I are probably one of the few here who actually saw the film with the title of Star Wars only. :P

Resheath that lightsabre, my friend. I saw STAR WARS in the Summer of 1978 (several times) and again in a limited re-issue, in Jan, 1979, complete with a teaser trailer for THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. :)

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why not just say Star Wars, people do understand that's the first films title

You and I are probably one of the few here who actually saw the film with the title of Star Wars only. :)

Resheath that lightsabre, my friend. I saw STAR WARS in the Summer of 1978 (several times) and again in a limited re-issue, in Jan, 1979, complete with a teaser trailer for THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. :rolleyes:

I remember staying in the theatre after Star Wars finished in 79 to see TESB trailer again. ;)

Back then they didn't kick you out after the film was done.

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FWIW, I saw Star Wars back in 77. Which may explain why I felt that the Princess Leia's theme and Throne Room music in the Revenge of the Sith end credit suite were "played out". I know some people will say it ties the whole Ep III to Ep IV yada yada yada, but for the final end credits, I wanted an original coda, and not something I'd heard in dozens of concert arrangements.

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FWIW, I saw Star Wars back in 77. Which may explain why I felt that the Princess Leia's theme and Throne Room music in the Revenge of the Sith end credit suite were "played out". I know some people will say it ties the whole Ep III to Ep IV yada yada yada, but for the final end credits, I wanted an original coda, and not something I'd heard in dozens of concert arrangements.

It could have been a great recap of all the star wars themes.

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