What Is The Last Score You Listened To? (older scores)

[lonzoe 18]

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[publicist 4,643]

And still, as with SNOWPIERCER, you listen to individual tracks and think how Beltrami is leagues beyond many of his contemporaries in his grasp of film music architecture. If he would, like his mentor Goldsmith, compile more lean and mean albums the scores would come off much better, i. e. SNOW PIERCER that has a solid 25 to 30 minutes of material.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[crocodile 8,142]

This scores, while far from perfect, gets better with subsequrnt listens.

Karol

[Jay 37,631]

subsequrnt listens.

Sounds painful.

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

 

That's actually another way of putting my issue with Young's music. It lacks character. It's proficient and fairly colorful but it doesn't manage to be its own thing.

That's exactly how I feel about Marco Beltrami. I'm still waiting to be converted.

I read Alvar's praise and Sami's ravings about him 'leagues above' his contemporaries, but I just can't hear it. You know I'm not cloth-eared...

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

I have yet to really give any of his scores proper attention. Nothing I've heard seems to make that urgent.

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

Everything orchestral I've heard sounds like late 90s/early 2000s bargain basement Goldsmith-lite.

[KK 3,307]

I find Beltrami's music very workman-like. Yes, he can tap into Goldsmith at times, but it's like Goldsmith without the life or the colour. His music rarely ventures out of that neutral/quirky zone to make some kind of statement.

Having said that, there are some wonderful cues under his wing. Knowing has some cool highlights, Soul Surfer is very nice, I also enjoyed Don't Be Afraid of the Dark very much.

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

I'll give KNOWING a proper listen, though I was underwhelmed by BB's highlights. With a title like 'Roll Over Beethoven' I was expecting something frenetic, and instead I get a leaden dirge. Mahler on Ketamine.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Incanus 5,741]

Beltrami is one of those composers that has yet to impress me entirely. He does solid work but very rarely rises above the competent very workman-like writing. To my ears his music often lacks the emotional core you brought up while talking about Knowing, BB.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[crocodile 8,142]

I'll give KNOWING a proper listen, though I was underwhelmed by BB's highlights. With a title like 'Roll Over Beethoven' I was expecting something frenetic

It was named that because this cue was replaced with Beethoven in the film.

Karol

[publicist 4,643]

Beltrami is one of those composers that has yet to impress me entirely. He does solid work but very rarely rises above the competent very workman-like writing. To my ears his music often lacks the emotional core you brought up while talking about Knowing, BB.

While i find this a fair assessment, i still raise an eyebrow occasionally when i see what kind of stuff some of you then go on celebrating as emotionally stirring. Different strokes for different folks, i guess..

[crocodile 8,142]

Yeah, the "emotional" angle is the most shaky of them all. After all, Howard Shore makes pub snooze instantly, while TGP gets stirring reaction from Zimmer's Deshi Basaras. Besides, not all composers strive for what we would call a traditional "emotional core" and Beltrami is one of them. The so-called traditional theme-character-emotion link can be awfully clichéd as well.

Karol

[publicist 4,643]

Though i guess that Howie's fanbase generally shrivels dramatically whenever there are no gnomes, goblins, dragons or wizards are involvd.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Then how do you explain their/our appreciation for all of his other non-Tolkien scores?

[publicist 4,643]

That i almost never see them mentioned anywhere?

[The Great Gonzales 5,503]

no gnomes,

I didn't know you read the History of Middle-earth series

That i almost never see them mentioned anywhere?

http://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=21447

It starts out a bit LOTRy, but veers into his other material pretty quickly.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

That i almost never see them mentioned anywhere?

Probably because management has striven via multiple polls to make him such a taboo topic for praise!

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[KK 3,307]

That i almost never see them mentioned anywhere?

Really? I feel like we Shore fans try to talk about them all the time. Although as TGP, he has become taboo topic here...

[publicist 4,643]

http://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=21447

It starts out a bit LOTRy, but veers into his other material pretty quickly.

It still seems like claiming there is a large and devoted fanbase for british comedy here. I'm sure most have seen Monty Python sketches and know Simon Pegg but it stops right there.

[The Great Gonzales 5,503]

That i almost never see them mentioned anywhere?

Although as TGP, he has become taboo topic here...

Since when has TGP become a taboo topic around here?

[publicist 4,643]

What I meant by "emotional core" was just "music that creates an emotional reaction". Beltrami's music is technically perfectly fine, but some of it just fails to create any emotion for me (and it has nothing to do with a lack of themes). But when it does, it's always a home run.

I think he's generally a 'dry' composer but then composers like Horner get always patted on their back even for the xth recycling of rather mundane 'emotionally gripping' material that i would cut him some slack in that department. I don't listen to much of his stuff but when i took a chance after watching SNOWPIERCER i discovered a wonderful musical arc and his textures are engaging even with limited ensembles. That must account for something.

[KK 3,307]

Ever since he confessed his love for the dark lord Zimmer!!

[Incanus 5,741]

Beltrami is one of those composers that has yet to impress me entirely. He does solid work but very rarely rises above the competent very workman-like writing. To my ears his music often lacks the emotional core you brought up while talking about Knowing, BB.

While i find this a fair assessment, i still raise an eyebrow occasionally when i see what kind of stuff some of you then go on celebrating as emotionally stirring. Different strokes for different folks, i guess..

Yes but isn't that the brilliance of music, the unique way it moves each and every one of us, that there is no formula for writing music which would have the same universal emotional or indeed intellectual response from us. Yes there are some works loved by millions but there are then again those millions who might think very little of them.

What I meant by "emotional core" was just "music that creates an emotional reaction". Beltrami's music is technically perfectly fine, but some of it just fails to create any emotion for me (and it has nothing to do with a lack of themes). But when it does, it's always a home run.

I think he's generally a 'dry' composer but then composers like Horner get always patted on their back even for the xth recycling of rather mundane 'emotionally gripping' material that i would cut him some slack in that department. I don't listen to much of his stuff but when i took a chance after watching SNOWPIERCER i discovered a wonderful musical arc and his textures are engaging even with limited ensembles. That must account for something.

Yes if that grips you and keeps you engaged then it must count for something. I have yet to listen to the Snowpiercer or some of the other more recent Beltrami like The Giver.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Incanus 5,741]

What I meant by "emotional core" was just "music that creates an emotional reaction". Beltrami's music is technically perfectly fine, but some of it just fails to create any emotion for me (and it has nothing to do with a lack of themes). But when it does, it's always a home run.

I think he's generally a 'dry' composer but then composers like Horner get always patted on their back even for the xth recycling of rather mundane 'emotionally gripping' material that i would cut him some slack in that department. I don't listen to much of his stuff but when i took a chance after watching SNOWPIERCER i discovered a wonderful musical arc and his textures are engaging even with limited ensembles. That must account for something.

It does. It certainly does.

The fact that his music is not "your usual film score" is what I like about him.

All this talk has forced my hand. I just have to take a listen to these Beltrami scores now.

Though i guess that Howie's fanbase generally shrivels dramatically whenever there are no gnomes, goblins, dragons or wizards are involvd.

Hey I gave his Silence of the Lambs a very positive short review a few pages back! And no it was not an emotional rollercoaster but there was a brilliant atmosphere of dread Shore conjures.

[The Great Gonzales 5,503]

Yes but isn't that the brilliance of music, the unique way it moves each and every one of us, that there is no formula for writing music which would have the same universal emotional or indeed intellectual response from us. Yes there are some works loved by millions but there are then again those millions who might think very little of them.

Reminds me of this Tolkien quote:

The Lord of the Rings has been read by many people since it finally appeared in print......Some who have read the book, or at any rate have reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible; and I have no cause to complain, since I have similar opinions of their works, or of the kinds of writing that they evidently prefer. But even from the points of view of many who have enjoyed my story there is much that fails to please. It is perhaps not possible in a long tale to please everybody at all points, nor to displease everybody at the same points; for I find from the letters that I have received that the passages or chapters that are to some a blemish are all by others specially approved. The most critical reader of all, myself, now finds many defects, minor and major, but being fortunately under no obligation either to review the book or to write it again, he will pass over these in silence, except one that has been noted by others: the book is too short.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Such rational thinking will render 90% of the posts here obsolete!

[Incanus 5,741]

Yes and it is much more stimulating to disagree than to agree!

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

http://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=21447

It starts out a bit LOTRy, but veers into his other material pretty quickly.

It still seems like claiming there is a large and devoted fanbase for british comedy here. I'm sure most have seen Monty Python sketches and know Simon Pegg but it stops right there.

Hey! I love Pete and Dudd (especially Derrick and Clive), Peter Sellers/The Goons, Peep Show, Phoenix Nights, Alan Partridge, the good seasons of Black Adder (1,3 and to a lesser extent 4) and so on! Unless of course you're referring to DINNER FOR ONE...

[Incanus 5,741]

Snowpiercer by Marco Beltrami: The first listen was a bit underwhelming. Nothing definite emerges that would make a distinct impression outside the last track, the near concertized version of Yona's Theme, which of course is the most easily memorable clear (if a bit off-kilter) melody on the album. Otherwise Beltrami focuses on rhythms and atmospherics and does some clever interpolation of steady pulses imitating subliminally the chugging of a train (although the train in the film must be a bit ahead of a steam engine) on its tracks. Also the dulcimer (or cimbalom) is a nice unique textural effect used on several tracks.There are a few outright action sequences that also pulse with electronics and sharp string and percussion rhythms. There is a rising dramatic arc to the album and Beltrami succeeds in programming a selection that has a clear beginning, middle and an end, which with the trio of tracks Take My Place, Yona Lights and This is the Beginning forms a quite satisfying finale. Still I feel it all lacks a bit of bite and energy, whether it is the dry recording or whether it is the size of the ensemble but the music feels a bit cold (which it in part is surely meant to be in the ice age portrayed in the film) and does engage more the head instead of the heart. Let's see if subsequent listens will rectify this first impression.

[Jay 37,631]

Just Snowpiercer, no "the"

[Incanus 5,741]

Duly noted Jay. Thanks.

[publicist 4,643]

The first track is a great opener but i guess you either get it or you just hear some meandering sustained notes on the piano. When the huge brass blast comes in after 02:45, i think oozes character.

[DreamTheater 131]

Backdraft - Zimmer

The complete leak from a while ago is a revelation. I'm beginning to prefer this version more and more in favor of the 30 minute score which is absolutely fantastic in its own right, but is missing so many highlights.

These are, I assume, the film versions of the cues and are somewhat different from those assembled for the album. In the end I just think the 60+ minute length flows better and has much more detail building up to that glorious finale.

This is one of those early Zimmer scores done right and I love it dearly.

[Koray Savas 2,253]

Beltrami's opus is and will probably forever be 3:10 To Yuma.

His score for The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada is another gem, so I'm really looking forward to his music for The Homesman.

The Giver and The November Man are two solid scores from this year.

[DreamTheater 131]

Lethal Weapon - Kamen & Clapton

I'm beginning my second listen of the awesome box set. It's strange, I've never been a fan of Kamen's style, though I immediately bought this upon release. It just felt like something I should have, because I love all 4 films.

In general his music always struck me as highly effective in the film, but a bit musically inconsistent outside of it. That's how I felt when I was younger.

So now all these years later and in the form of that LLL box set, I can finally appreciate the genius of the man, because his LW scores are absolutely brimming with creative ideas.

With this one he almost effortlessly gave the buddy cop film a musical identity that's both original and recognizable, and at times a lot of fun.

The first one is not a favourite but it holds a couple of standout cues like 'The Desert' and 'We're Leaving'. At least the themes for Riggs and Murtaugh were already defined and work superbly off of each other.

So I'm giving this one 3.5 out of 5, for a nice enough presentation by LLL and for starting that unique LW sound.

[crocodile 8,142]

Over the past few days: Monuments Men, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Godzilla, How To Train Your Dragon 2, Maleficent, Under the Skin. The Amazing Spider-Man, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Penny Dreadful and The Boxtrolls. All good major stuff this year, basically. Well, most of it.

Karol

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,282]

2014 is such a mediocre year for new scores.

[crocodile 8,142]

Nah, you just need to accept Goldsmith is dead. Time to move. Or will you let the pain destroy you?

Karol

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,282]

He's not really gone as long as we remember him!

[Jay 37,631]

The last scores I listened to were three great ones from 2014: Planes Fire And Rescue, then How To Train Your Dragon 2, then Maleficent.

[crocodile 8,142]

That first one. Is it Mancina?

Karol

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,282]

The last scores I listened to were three great ones from 2014: Planes Fire And Rescue, then How To Train Your Dragon 2, then Maleficent.

Really? Are those GREAT scores? Or merely good ones?

[Quintus 5,400]

Nah, you just need to accept Goldsmith is dead. Time to move. Or will you let the pain destroy you?

Karol

Nah, you're just not very fussy with your movie music.