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


Ollie

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The Haunting. This is a really classy and elegant late Goldsmith score. It was somewhat overshadowed by The Mummy from the same year but, for my money, it is just as good. It's not a cliched stinger and screeching strings either. There's melody and mood. Remember those?

 

Karol

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No, you moron!

An early sixties flick set in a mental hospital.

One of the few films left on my

' have it- never seen it 'list.

 

23 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Wha'? That sequel to THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW? Jerry scored that?

" How can you not know that?"

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On 12/4/2020 at 5:19 PM, Jay said:

The main theme was nice on its own, but didn't seem to jive well with what was happening on screen often, nor really capture the tone of the actual movie, and the rest of the music was just kinda there.  I dunno.  Anyways, I listened to the OST album twice afterwards to see how I'd feel about that.  It also didn't make much of an impression on me.   ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I guess this score just isn't for me.

That is exactly how I feel about the score. Just as Far and Away I consider it quite generic Williams scoring.

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3 hours ago, crocodile said:

:music: King of Kings

 

Karol

A good score from a very interesting film.

 

 

 

6 hours ago, bruce marshall said:

" How can you not know that?"

I can't be expected to know everything :P

6 hours ago, bruce marshall said:

No, you moron!

Don't you call me a "moron", you horse's arse!

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The Fellowship of the Ring by Howard Shore

The Two Towers by Howard Shore

The Return of the King by Howard Shore

 

Revisited the OSTs recently after the conversation in the other thread. I was never super fond of them but was half-expecting a more favourable experience this time. Nope, the first two are still pretty lame.

 

Take FOTR, for instance. Now I know throwing three hours of anything at the average consumer is a bad idea. But how did these guys end up deciding that 70 minutes of Ringwraith stuff (4 cues in a row!), occasional 30 sec cameos of Fellowship + Shire material half-assembled with embarrassingly amateurish cross-fades and about 3 proper action cues was a good idea? For what is the ultimate "journey film", there is just little dramatic arc to the album. It just kind of plays like a collection of musical ideas. Which is a shame, because I actually consider musical drama one of the real strengths of these scores. LOTR plays better in that framework than a collection of "greatest hits" (the more flamboyant Williams-esque set-pieces work better in this form).

 

I mean 9 minutes of "Keep It Secret, Keep It Safe" does a far better job of telling a story than 70 minutes of this OST does. And it's really not a matter of length (70 minutes is plenty!). It's just really poor curation.

 

TTT fares better, but is still pretty drab as far as the the pacing and selection of underscore. A lot of the most colourful writing in both FOTR and TTT are either left out of the OSTs or chopped up into lacklustre soundbites that are scattered around different cues. ROTK is a much stronger OST because it gets the bulk of the major highlights, although I was surprised to find that most of the Rohirrim charge didn't make the OST.

 

It goes without saying that there is lovely music in these albums. Because Shore has written some goddamn lovely music. But as previews and samplers of Shore's work, the first two OSTs are mostly failures.

 

On another note, I must admit to tearing up a bit when "Into the West" came on. I don't know how others feel about it, but so much of my younger self has become tied to that song, along with the last half hour of the film. That's a lot of fucking emotional weight to bear!

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Something something tone poem, something something separate thing, something somehing album. There, now I explained why they're actually fantastic.

 

I prefer to look at them as 3 additional Rarities Archives.

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Haha. Yea, I mean they're harmless, given how much music we've been spoiled with. But if they were the only albums available to us (and probably the only albums casual fans listen to), they would indeed suck.

 

All of that verbose nonsense mostly just applies to the first two by the way. I think ROTK is a pretty good OST.

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Prancer, Prancer, and more Prancer

 

I've loved this score for years but this December it's really been the center of my listening.  It's one of Maurice Jarre's best scores and one of the 3 or 4 best Christmas film scores.  And yes, it is a little weird that the non-vocal track for the David Lynch/Badalamenti song "Mysteries of Love" is used in the film.

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42 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

Prancer, Prancer, and more Prancer

 

I've loved this score for years but this December it's really been the center of my listening.  It's one of Maurice Jarre's best scores and one of the 3 or 4 best Christmas film scores.  And yes, it is a little weird that the non-vocal track for the David Lynch/Badalamenti song "Mysteries of Love" is used in the film.

 

I'm not familiar with that one. Is there an official soundtrack release?

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Meditative, soothing, relaxing...pick your nondescript adjective. Like many scores with hardly a key change, this Pathless afterthought album has a hard time getting into my ear canal beyond a few moments (before dozing off). It's well done stuff, and aesthetically pleasing but there's just nothing to hang on to.

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..

 

Two above-average late 90's Goldsmith's (though The Haunting is more stylish, Small Soldiers tends to resemble his numerous action/adventure scores). I find it totally cool that Varése makes these editions widely available, especially as I now can sample stuff I only have a mild interest in, like the complete Dolores Claiborne). Way to go, Varése!

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Officially Christmas soundtrack season at Chez Tom (and I generally profess not to like Christmas much, but there are so many great scores to choose from...):

 

Home Alone & Home Alone 2 (JW) - I would have to almost agree that if you have the sequel, you have pretty much the entire original plus lots of terrific "big city" JW does Leonard Bernstein/George Gershwin stuff on top. Plus Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas which is probably hands down my favourite Christmas song that isn't religious (notwithstanding the pretty meh lyrics). I don't think I'd have any hesitation in picking Home Alone 2 as my favourite Christmas score, just so many great moments and terrific tunes, heartwarming without being too cloying (at least to the extent possible with a Christmas score).

 

The Snowman (Howard Blake) - I realised that I didn't own this, mistakenly thinking that it was a narration only soundtrack (which would make it the only score with dialogue on the album but not in the film) however the album presents the score with (Bernard Cribbins, lovely choice) and without narration. Some lovely melodic content outside of Walking in the Air, although I forgot how much it mimics the on-screen action so closely on occasion, so some passages are a bit stop-start but when it gets going, it really is wonderful. Walking in the Air is one of those songs that I think most people have heard too many times to actually enjoy much but it's really quite lovely and surprisingly melancholy considering, even if the not-Aled Jones boy soprano sings it with just a little bit too much over-enunciated church choir diction.

 

Elf (John Debney) - One of those scores that's pretty much exactly how you imagine it to be, but no worse for that, plus it riffs on the much-used Thor swinging his hammer melody from the final movement of Sibelius' 5th Symphony. See also, Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (Rachel Portman) who uses the same basis for the song As Long as There's Christmas. There's a score that deserves more than the handful of minutes it gets on album, but I doubt there's much interest from either Disney or labels... shame, it's a delightful score, even if it never reaches the heights of Alan Menken.

 

Santa Claus: The Movie (Henry Mancini) - Mixed feelings on this one. Some of it is super, the Making Toys cue is great fun and the whole thing has lots of typically memorable Mancini tunes. That being said, some of it has more cheese than a wheel of stilton on a cheese board that is formed into tiles on the roof of a cheddar factory. Especially Thank You, Santa, a song which makes me want to rip my ears off.

 

Several of the Christmas Carol scores that were mentioned in my other thread on the subject, the Alan Menken one never fails to put me in the Christmas spirit. The animated score by Julian Nott is lovely, although I'm not sure it's as memorable as I remembered. If that makes sense. Some nice versions of carols and surprisingly good songs performed by Charlotte Church and Kate Winslett (which were apparently quite big hits at the time). I enjoyed the Nick Bicât score, as recommended in the other thread, although not sure it stuck with me that much.

 

Next up... the Santa Clauses. Michael Convertino does Mendelssohn and George S Clinton does Wagner. Really. But first... Spartacus (Alex North), the full length mono score. Very festive. Erm... but hey, it's brilliant.

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The Lost World: Jurassic Park

Die Hard (my reduced edit)

Arrival

Black Sunday

Orca

Giù la testa

Krull

Waterworld

ST:TMP

 

and ALIEN, with @The Illustrious Jerry, for whom this was the first time witnessing the greatness of the Intrada main program! (and @Disco Stujoining later and obviously also enjoying it).

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7 minutes ago, Holko said:

The Lost World: Jurassic Park

Die Hard (my reduced edit)

Arrival

Black Sunday

Orca

Giù la testa

Krull

Waterworld

ST:TMP

 

and ALIEN, with @The Illustrious Jerry, for whom this was the first time witnessing the greatness of the Intrada main program! (and @Disco Stujoining later and obviously also enjoying it).

One of the few expansions that are a great listen. Both programs!

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5 hours ago, KK said:

The Nest by Richard Reed Perry

Funny Boy by Howard Shore

Mank by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

 

Meh.

And I'm the one not liking anything? 😆

 

Karol

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6 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

His finest domestic drama? Possibly, yes.

Incorrect. His finest domestic drama is either A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, or WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?

I understand where you're coming from, but CLEOPATRA is epic, in every sense of the word.

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10 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Incorrect. His finest domestic drama is either A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, or WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?

I understand where you're coming from, but CLEOPATRA is epic, in every sense of the word.

 

Maybe in some of the senses, but definitely not every!

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10 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

What the chuffin' 'eck, are you talking about, JS???!!!!

CLEOPATRA is North's finest hour, and make no mistake!!!!!

I'm a North fan but CLEO is a crashing bore- at least in full form.

An endless parade of fanfares, processionals, marches....

Zzz zzz.

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1 hour ago, bruce marshall said:

I'm a North fan but CLEO is a crashing bore- at least in full form.

An endless parade of fanfares, processionals, marches....

Zzz zzz.

Having listened to the full mono version of Spartacus, it really is significantly more dynamic and exciting than Cleopatra (although I concede they are pretty different films, even if they broadly fall into the category of historical epic) although I do still enjoy Cleopatra. But Spartacus really is superb. I really should listen to it more often.

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2 minutes ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Having listened to the full mono version of Spartacus, it really is significantly more dynamic and exciting than Cleopatra (although I concede they are pretty different films, even if they broadly fall into the category of historical epic) although I do still enjoy Cleopatra. But Spartacus really is superb. I really should listen to it more often.

 

I recently bought Varese's stereo album of Spartacus. I really should listen to it!

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10 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

I recently bought Varese's stereo album of Spartacus. I really should listen to it!

Definitely... a shame it's not the complete score, but it's a pretty decent selection and sounds great.

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5 minutes ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Definitely... a shame it's not the complete score, but it's a pretty decent selection and sounds great.

 

I expected the selection to be good since it consists of the OST, the unreleased volume 2 OST, and a few extra tracks (like the overture).

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