1999 vs. 2001 vs. 2004

[Josh500 1,615]

Well?

This is actually a very hard choice for me. But I would go with 2001, which has 2 outstanding scores.

[Datameister 2,044]

TPM is a truly superb score in my book, only a notch or two below Williams' best. I don't know Angela's Ashes. HP:SS is great fun for me, and in some respects rivals TPM. I don't remember much of A.I. POA is fantastic, though I enjoy it slightly less than the first score. And The Terminal has a delightful main theme, but I don't know the rest of the score very well.

Sooo...yet again, I can't really offer a fully educated opinion, but it's between 1999 and 2001 for me because of TPM and HP:SS. The latter has some issues with filler music and overuse of Hedwig's theme early in the film...but that theme and all the others are so utterly marvelous that I can't definitively put it below TPM.

[Josh500 1,615]

Datameister, I am amazed that you haven't tried to get a hold of all the "major" John Williams scores. You are obviously a big fan, so why don't you make the effort to get them on ebay?

When I was in my teens, I nearly starved (not really, but you get what I mean) because I bought so many John Williams albums!

Now, I own every JW score, save a dozen or so from the 50s and 60s and 70s.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Tough choice between A.I. and Prisoner Of Azkaban.

[John Crichton 4]

As much as I love TPM, 2 great scores beat out just 1. 2001 it is.

[Richard Penna 3,695]

Now this is a tricky one.

1999 is out - TPM is good, but only some of Ashes does anything for me. And I'm very torn between the two Potter scores (both have pros and cons). I'd say I enjoy The Terminal more than A.I.

In terms of effort and meaning inside the music, I'm going to go for 2001. I may give the A.I. promo another try actually. It always seemed a bit of an overload.

[Taikomochi 1,136]

2001. AI is one of Williams' true maserpieces, I think. The only year I'd put it behind is 2005.

[Datameister 2,044]

Datameister, I am amazed that you haven't tried to get a hold of all the "major" John Williams scores. You are obviously a big fan, so why don't you make the effort to get them on ebay?

Oh, I'm buying them slowly but surely...I just don't have a tremendous amount of money these days, and I tend to be pretty frugal (read: cheap ). I'd like to have them all eventually, but there's no point to me having them all RIGHT now - it'd take me quite a while to get through all of them anyway. So I'm just picking them up at a reasonable pace. I keep an eye out for limited releases and other albums that might be hard to obtain in the future, and I try to snag those, but I'm taking my time with the ones that are easier to get, except when I find a cheap price for a score I really want. My latest Williams purchases have been Images, COS, Hook, TLW, and Black Sunday, none of which I regret. I'm hoping to pick up Jaws soon - I know, I know! - and I'm hoping that the rumors of a complete Hook release come true so I can invest in that as well. Currently settling into a new apartment and about to start a new job, so we'll see how the bank account is looking.

[indy4 155]

This is tough...I've only heard the theme from Angela's Ashes, so that may bias my opinion, but to me it comes down to 2001 vs 2004. I love all four scores written those years, but in the end I'll have to pick 2004. Poa and The Terminal are both fantastic, gorgeous, and fun scores. JW brought something new and interesting to the table. While there is a lot of that in A.I. and a bit of it in SS, neither to the extent of Terminal or PoA.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Yeah I'm going to have to go with 2004. I prefer A.I. to Prisoner Of Azkaban, but The Terminal is better than Sorcerer's Stone.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

2001, just for A.I.

[Diego 21]

TPM is the last Williams score I totally love and that I feel is close to his prime, so 1999.

[Quintus 5,399]

TPM was Williams still at his peak, back in the day when he believed in Lucas just as much as the fans did, therefore I voted for it.

[Joni Wiljami 1,206]

1999 because of TPM

Tough choice because both Azkaban and A.I are awesome.

[Tom 4,671]

1999 also had the American Journey score, which has several highlights.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

For me it would come down between TPM and the first Harry Potter. It's a tough call.

[gkgyver 1,645]

2004 of course.

[Red 75]

That is a challenge. I like every score from every year listed, and each year features at least one masterpiece. Right now I'd have to go with 1999, because I love TPM and Angela's Ashes quite a bit. Ask me again tomorrow and I may choose differently.

[Josh500 1,615]

If you have a tough time deciding, then you can rate each score, and then add the points together:

Like for me:

TPM: 5/5

Ashes: 4/5

1999: 9 points

PS: 5/5

A.I.: 5/5

2001: 10 points

PoA: 5/5

Terminal: 3/5

2004: 8 points

Datameister, I am amazed that you haven't tried to get a hold of all the "major" John Williams scores. You are obviously a big fan, so why don't you make the effort to get them on ebay?

Oh, I'm buying them slowly but surely...I just don't have a tremendous amount of money these days, and I tend to be pretty frugal (read: cheap ). I'd like to have them all eventually, but there's no point to me having them all RIGHT now - it'd take me quite a while to get through all of them anyway. So I'm just picking them up at a reasonable pace. I keep an eye out for limited releases and other albums that might be hard to obtain in the future, and I try to snag those, but I'm taking my time with the ones that are easier to get, except when I find a cheap price for a score I really want. My latest Williams purchases have been Images, COS, Hook, TLW, and Black Sunday, none of which I regret. I'm hoping to pick up Jaws soon - I know, I know! - and I'm hoping that the rumors of a complete Hook release come true so I can invest in that as well. Currently settling into a new apartment and about to start a new job, so we'll see how the bank account is looking.

Hmmmm, yes! I see what you mean.

As I remember, my reasoning was always that I should get all of them ASAP, before they are sold out or OOP! I started collecting JW scores probably around 1995, so by then it was already pretty hard to get the 80s scores, like BotFOJ or EOTS. Also, back then internet wasn't in wide use, as I remember, at least not in my household.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

There's still tons of JW scores I haven't purchased. I buy some occasionally, but I'm buying mostly Goldsmith at the moment. The trouble is, there's so many great limited editions at the moment that the older releases get put on the backburner.

[crocodile 8,019]

1999: As awesome as TPM's highlights are, this score has a tons of filler material as well. There is quite a lot of uninteresting aimless underscore (Coruscant scenes, Naboo underscore, Jar Jar's music and so on). On the other hand Angela's Ashes might be one of the most overlooked scores.

2001: A.I. is one of the most unusual scores, SS is quite typical.

2004: Azkaban is very good, The Terminal is charming, but not very fresh.

Tough choice. But my voice would go to 2001, for it is the most consistent.

Karol

[Luke Skywalker 1,796]

1999

[Greg1138 3]

I don't know Angela's Ashes.

I have listened to it several times, and I still don't know it! Grab it when you can, it has some great moments, but probably not enough to sway you in this poll.

Greg - who chose 2001.

[Datameister 2,044]

I'll keep that in mind!

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Just put on "Fluffy's Harp" and talk during it.