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

[publicist 4,643]

48 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Anyway, your statement is correct, Zimmer's best years were from 1998 (Prince of Egypt and The Thin Red Line) to the late 2000s.

 

1998 - 2006 (Da Vinci Code) for me.

 

He's written cool, sometimes even ambitious stuff after (as much as his pop/rock/new age leanings allow), but while i can accept his recent concept scores like 'Dune' for what they try to do, it becomes increasingly hard for me to wade through hours of muddy, suggestive stuff that rarely gets to the point. It's time for another Pirates III-style love theme. 

[Thor 7,504]

Ah, you young whippersnappers!

 

His best period was the late 80s up untill about the millennium turnover....by FAR!

[Jurassic Shark 12,076]

Perhaps his best period hasn't come yet...

[Edmilson 7,456]

14 minutes ago, publicist said:

1998 - 2006 (Da Vinci Code) for me.

 

Wait, you don't include 2007's Pirates 3 as part of his golden age, even though you mentioned its love theme on the same comment?

[publicist 4,643]

Who cares about specifics, DVC is certainly the best album of that era. Call that love theme the last exhaust fumes.

 

Just dug out this old Fenton score - with Pierce Brosnan playing an indian! - which is endearingly pleasant.

 

 

[Jurassic Shark 12,076]

Is that a wind instrument?

[publicist 4,643]

Indian dildo!

[Jay 37,364]

John Williams - Jane Eyre (LLL)

OOOH, this is great!

 

 

John Williams - Always (LLL)

 

Nice!

 

 

John Williams - The Eiger Sanction (Intrada)

 

Love it

[Jay 37,364]

Jerry Goldsmith - Planet of the Apes (LLL)

 

This score is GREAT!

 

 

 

Christopher Larkin - Hollow Knight (Complete gamerip, then the OST, then the 2nd OST)

 

I'm in love with this score.  I wish Silksong was imminent!

 

 

 

Daniel Pemberton - Ocean's 8

 

One of my fave scores of the 2010s.  So fun to listen to every time.  Invokes the spirit of David Holmes' originals while adding its own Pemberton flair.  Great stuff!

 

 

 

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

3 hours ago, Thor said:

His best period was the late 80s up untill about the millennium turnover....by FAR!

 

 

[Thor 7,504]

Yes, lots of fun/fine stuff in the early 80s too, although a bit more uneven. Love the Nicholas Roeg collaborations, for example.

[Jurassic Shark 12,076]

Icky!

[redishere 697]

Bennett Salvay, "Jeepers Creepers" (2001)

Spooktober begins!
The director of this movie is not a nice human being, but I have a soft spot for this horror flick.
Its old school, slithering original score always got under my skin, so I decided to give the full album a listen, and I must say, even if it's nothing innovative, it does its job and it does it well. God, I miss raw, simple, orchestral soundtracks.
 

 

[publicist 4,643]

 

Powell's bubbly style may be unsuited for Bond, but it's sure more enjoyable than Hans' latest krawallfest, cf an ear-piercing noise that combines gruesome brickwalling with sledgehammer percussions. 

 

At 95 minutes, Paycheck outstays its welcome at some point midway through, but who's for complaining when the last cue is a reflective reading for strings (Uma's Tune), a variation on the main theme that recalls the clear, precise writing of yesteryear. Anyhow, Powell's melody is a snake, with it's everchanging patterns it's perfect for the ambiguity of Dick's story. In harmonic language it isn't that far from Barry's 60's scores like 'Petulia' or 'Deadfall', which is a double plus.

 

The score is certainly a highlight in that particular idiom in Powell's career, staying within the confines of his busy-yet-transparent style (especially the high strings), with lots of motion that only flags in some of the longer 5-minute + cues that don't hang well together (or just run out of steam, compositionally). But with so many moments, a little flute solo here, a catchy b-motif there, that's minor gripes.

 

The cue Hog Chase 2 always has been a curiosity: Powell's animation style has never been more present in an 'adult' movie and it's probably a last kind of hurrah for big, ballsy film music in big blockbuster pics (before it all degraded into drab sound molasses). 

 

With both, the (better-curated) old Varése and the Deluxe streaming, everyone should be happy.

 

Neither fish nor fowl, Hans Zimmer's newest caper puts him at the top of the world again, at least box-office-wise: musically it's a mixed bag that either recalls much better things from 60's John Barry or doesn't differentiate itself enough from lowbrow recent action pattern, so apart from a few moments that make you perk up, it's curiously routine for such a 'dream harbored for decades'-affair. And the no holds barred-recording/mastering - hot doesn't describe it - is an additional minus.

 

Cues like 'Message from an Old Friend' or 'Cuba Chase' feature cool, jagged moments (counter trumpets!) but either need too much time to get there or die halfway on the road (the score is closest to David Arnold here). Others like 'Norway Chase' or 'The Factory' are complete losses. Outside these big action moments, there are some pleasant enough quieter moments (Home, Poison Garden, Final Ascent), that meander through the few basic chords of the Billie Eilish song to good effect. It's stylish enough, but again, when the old Barry chords are piercing through them, you just know how frugal modern film music has become.

 

Given Zimmer's tendency to compile long suites it's a bit of a puzzler why he puts in so many non-descript 1-minute cues here that don't do a whole lot, but that's what playlists are for. It's OK (he says without overt enthusiasm).

[Tallguy 3,389]

Sneakers (1992, James Horner)

I always find with Horner scores there are two ways to hear it: The first time Horner wrote a piece of music and the first time you heard a piece of music Horner wrote. (Or, less charitably, the place you heard something because you hadn't heard Capricorn One yet.) If you never heard The Hand Off here maybe the first place you heard it was Apollo 13 or Titanic. And maybe there was an earlier score that I don't know.

 

That said, this was the first time I heard what would become a large part of the Horner songbook / bag of tricks through the 90's. The opening two tracks are worth the price of the disc alone (Main Title, "Too Many Secrets"). I actually listened to this because pieces of Dune reminded me of Cosmo... Old Friend. (Common source, perhaps?) I remember when movie reviewers were going nuts over A Beautiful Mind I wanted to call them back to this score.

 

It's almost two scores. There's the bright, bubbly pieces based on The Sneaker Theme. And then there are the cold, wintry tracks like Main Titles and Goodbye.

 

Maybe there are pieces missing for me from earlier scores that I don't know. But I don't know them and I love this one.

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

55 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

I actually listened to this because pieces of Dune reminded me of Cosmo... Old Friend. (Common source, perhaps?)

 

Ha! I noticed that in the theatre. Are any of them on any of the soundtrack releases? (I don't have them, I've only been jumping through the official YouTube releases, without finding much of interest)

 

Ralph Vaughan Williams' Tallis Fantasia is often cited as a background for Horner's Cosmo music, but I've never found the similarity too striking (certainly not for Horner's standards). Consequently I wondered if the Horner might actually have been an inspiration for Zimmer.

 

55 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

I remember when movie reviewers were going nuts over A Beautiful Mind I wanted to call them back to this score.

 

I already knew Sneakers, perhaps that's why A Beautiful Mind never did anything for me. It's why I skipped Apollo 13, too.

[Thor 7,504]

 

I don't care much for big and boisterous orchestral action music these days, but I will never lose my love of the ones in that idiom that I heard in my formative years. This is a good example. Perfectly curated album too (I've deleted the songs from my iTunes).

 

On to:

 

 

The big, waltzy show music doesn't do much for me, but fortunately there are some of Delerue's trademark bittersweetness here. Some of it sounds kinda like Francis Lai, which is a compliment.

[Edmilson 7,456]

Sneakers, A Beautiful Mind and specially Apollo 13 are all top tier Horner for me. 

[Jurassic Shark 12,076]

Top ten?

[Edmilson 7,456]

Yea

[Thor 7,504]

 

Funky stuff! Always a soundtrack I return to when I need to get pepped up. Moroder for the win!

[publicist 4,643]

2 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

Ralph Vaughan Williams' Tallis Fantasia is often cited as a background for Horner's Cosmo music, but I've never found the similarity too striking (certainly not for Horner's standards). Consequently I wondered if the Horner might actually have been an inspiration for Zimmer.

 

Pärt's 'Fratres' was a temp on 'Sneakers' and the part after 05:10 (more clearly after the 9 minute mark) is similar enough to the Cosmo stuff. I guess that's where it comes from.

 

 

2 hours ago, Thor said:

 

The big, waltzy show music doesn't do much for me, but fortunately there are some of Delerue's trademark bittersweetness here. Some of it sounds kinda like Francis Lai, which is a compliment.

 

In this case i prefer the 'waltzy' stuff, which is really more of a festive baroque dance, french style.

[Thor 7,504]

To each their own. I prefer Delerue close to his true self. The opera stuff is interesting, though. Not being a fan of opera, is this original Delerue or existing material?

 

Also love the synth cue "Futurissimo" in the VA VOIR MAMAN part; a rare foray for him into that territory.

[Jurassic Shark 12,076]

On 05/06/2021 at 10:10 AM, Thor said:

 

One of the great, unheralded film composers of France (of his generation) - although doing only very sporadic things in the last 15 years. I first encountered his name in JEAN DE FLORETTE and CYRANO DE BERGERAC on television in the early 90s, like many others, but this is a great overview disc of his other great work as well.

 

I just got that album for practically nothing. Looking forward to listening to it!

[Thor 7,504]

13 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

I just got that album for practically nothing. Looking forward to listening to it!

Don’t know what you paid for it, but great deal regardless!

[Jurassic Shark 12,076]

6 minutes ago, Thor said:

Don’t know what you paid for it, but great deal regardless!

 

About €7.50 including shipping, new. I've seen it for about €40 used...

 

I also got Cyrano De Bergerac for about the same price, although it's the French edition... *shivers*.

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

3 hours ago, publicist said:

Pärt's 'Fratres' was a temp on 'Sneakers' and the part after 05:10 (more clearly after the 9 minute mark) is similar enough to the Cosmo stuff. I guess that's where it comes from.

 

Ah yes, that's more like it. I thought I knew Fratres, but this sound like I've actually listened to it before.

 

Of course, Sneakers also has some Glassworks in it. And Beethoven's 9th.

[Brundlefly 2,385]

On 30/09/2021 at 7:28 PM, publicist said:

It's time for another Pirates III-style love theme.

Absolutely.

[Tom Guernsey 2,284]

Partition (Brian Tyler) - Fine mix of James Horner style drama (albeit not quite up to his standard) and standard Hollywood does Indian type music for a well wrought dramatic score. Good album and not brick-walled to shit. Shame he doesn't do more decent scores like this any more. His action scores bore the pants off me.

 

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Patrick Doyle) - I remember thinking this was a bit of a bust but actually enjoyed it much more than I remembered. OK it's much more a standard 21st century action/sci-fi score than a ground breaking work of serialism, but still an enjoyable effort with more Doyle-isms than you might have imagined (although I still think he's never quite recaptured his 90's peak, alas).

 

Clash of the Titans (Laurence Rosenthal) - One of those scores I never really enjoy as much as I want to. For me, the main theme is the weak link, being just a bit too upbeat and cheesy. Compared to the grinding drama of Herrmann's classic scores for Harryhausen, it all feels a bit upbeat and cheery. I don't think it helps that I recently tried to watch the film but gave up after about half an hour; alas I thought it was pretty awful, especially compared to the other movies of 1981, it feels about 20 years too late.

 

Agent Cody Banks (John Powell) - Not his most profound work, but fun with plenty of good tunes, not too overwritten (as JP self confesses to doing sometimes). A long album but rarely a dull moment.

[GerateWohl 4,369]

45 minutes ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Clash of the Titans (Laurence Rosenthal) - One of those scores I never really enjoy as much as I want to. For me, the main theme is the weak link, being just a bit too upbeat and cheesy. Compared to the grinding drama of Herrmann's classic scores for Harryhausen, it all feels a bit upbeat and cheery. I don't think it helps that I recently tried to watch the film but gave up after about half an hour; alas I thought it was pretty awful, especially compared to the other movies of 1981, it feels about 20 years too late.

At that time (age of 11) I was a huge fan of these stop motion visual effects. I found the movie quite inspiring to learn more about greek mythology. And I would always take this movie and its score rather than the remake or Disney's Hercules.

Unfortunetly, there are hardly any watchable movies in greek mythology. And don't let me get started on Troja.

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

1 hour ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Clash of the Titans (Laurence Rosenthal) - One of those scores I never really enjoy as much as I want to. For me, the main theme is the weak link, being just a bit too upbeat and cheesy. Compared to the grinding drama of Herrmann's classic scores for Harryhausen, it all feels a bit upbeat and cheery. I don't think it helps that I recently tried to watch the film but gave up after about half an hour; alas I thought it was pretty awful, especially compared to the other movies of 1981, it feels about 20 years too late.

 

I love the Straussian main theme, just as music, not necessarily for its association with the film (which I've never seen) or Greek mythology in general.

[Jurassic Shark 12,076]

I prefer Strauss.

[Thor 7,504]

 

I've only played this rejected score once since it "leaked". It's pretty good (and pretty much a what's what of Hornerisms throughout the decades), but can't measure up to Korzeniowski's wonderful replacement score, IMO.

[Tom Guernsey 2,284]

3 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

I love the Straussian main theme, just as music, not necessarily for its association with the film (which I've never seen) or Greek mythology in general.

I’d never really thought it the theme as Straussian (Richard presumably!) but now you say it I can definitely hear the connection. I don’t know quite what it is as I really like R Strauss but I just don’t enjoy Rosenthal’s theme in context. It feels too whimsical for me. 

[Thor 7,504]

I had the Rosenthal CLASH once, but I think I sold it or traded it away. It's fine, but it was a bit too "gritty" on the OST. I'm content with the material on one of those Kunzel compilations.

 

Credit to the man, though....he's still around at 94 (95 in a month).

[Tallguy 3,389]

5 hours ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Clash of the Titans (Laurence Rosenthal) - One of those scores I never really enjoy as much as I want to. For me, the main theme is the weak link, being just a bit too upbeat and cheesy. Compared to the grinding drama of Herrmann's classic scores for Harryhausen, it all feels a bit upbeat and cheery. I don't think it helps that I recently tried to watch the film but gave up after about half an hour; alas I thought it was pretty awful, especially compared to the other movies of 1981, it feels about 20 years too late.

 

I don't revisit this as much as I should.

 

This score is just right for me. I'm sure it's just because I'm familiar with this film and not with the Herrmann scored films. I'm always a little surprised by the darker bits because I'm so used to the joyful main title.

 

The main title managed to be upbeat without winking at the audience. There was about 10 minutes there (after Star Wars, of course) when that was normal.

 

27 minutes ago, Thor said:

I had the Rosenthal CLASH once, but I think I sold it or traded it away. It's fine, but it was a bit too "gritty" on the OST. I'm content with the material on one of those Kunzel compilations.

 

 

This was a good 'un. I love the arrangement of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves on here. I just wish the opening strings were stronger otherwise it would be my default recording.

[Thor 7,504]

Yes, that's it. One of my favourite compilations. I even named a podcast episode after it.

[Bespin 8,482]

It is NOT a compilation, it's an original album...

[Thor 7,504]

7 hours ago, Bespin said:

It is NOT a compilation, it's an original album...

I’m not going down that rabbit hole again….

[Jurassic Shark 12,076]

Hate the sound effects.

[Raiders of the SoundtrArk 2,433]

Mary Queen of Scots by Max Richter

One of my favourite score of 2018. I never get tired of the main theme, such an elan of freedom, it works every time for me

[Tallguy 3,389]

"Arrr yew Meeery Queen uv Scooots?" 

 

"I am." 

 

(BANG SMASH WHAM CLANG POUND ETC.) 

[Thor 7,504]

5 hours ago, May the Force be with You said:

Mary Queen of Scots by Max Richter

One of my favourite score of 2018. I never get tired of the main theme, such an elan of freedom, it works every time for me

 

Yup. Definitely in the top 10 for 2018.

[A24 4,333]

 

Can it be more Americana than this?

[Raiders of the SoundtrArk 2,433]

Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire by Joel McNeely

It never has worked with me before but today I've decided to give it another go and I was surprisingly please by what I was hearing. It has some good references to the original materials and offer also a lot of original content among the best non-Williams SW materials

 

[bruce marshall 1,315]

4 hours ago, AC1 said:

 

Can it be more Americana than this?

Would love a custom cover that actually has something to do with the subject of the film-

BASEBALL.

 

Tintacle?😊

[Tom Guernsey 2,284]

4 hours ago, May the Force be with You said:

Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire by Joel McNeely

It never has worked with me before but today I've decided to give it another go and I was surprisingly please by what I was hearing. It has some good references to the original materials and offer also a lot of original content among the best non-Williams SW materials

 

Without wishing to be too much of a drag (I really enjoy Shadows of the Empire) but much of the original music is pretty similar to a ballet by William Walton (the Wise Virgins if I remember correctly) and Xizor's theme is the more mysterious version of the Dance of the Knights from Prokofiev's Romeo & Juliet.

[Raiders of the SoundtrArk 2,433]

The Orville Season I

What a terrific score, it keeps growing in me since the past two weeks. It's a wonderful ode to Goldsmith music, like an encore of his compositions.

One deception though, there's not enough of it....

[Edmilson 7,456]

Ferdinand OST - John Powell

 

Amazing! The combo of Escape from the Spa, Highway Chase, From Station to Arena and Madrid Finale is probably one of the best things JP has ever done. I loved it!

[Jay 37,364]

4 hours ago, May the Force be with You said:

The Orville Season I

What a terrific score, it keeps growing in me since the past two weeks. It's a wonderful ode to Goldsmith music, like an encore of his compositions.

One deception though, there's not enough of it....

 

What are your favorite and least favorite episode scores?