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

[A24 4,326]

10 hours ago, bruce marshall said:

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

BASEBALL.

 

Tintacle?😊

 

1) Either the makers didn't want to audience to think The Natural is just a sports movie.

2) Or Barry Levinson doesn't think his movie is about baseball. 

3) It's a combination of the above.

 

 

[Matt C 452]

Dressed to Kill - Pino Donaggio

 

It's beautifully written, but it's rather boring and has that late '70s/early '80s sheen that dates it. The Varese release sounds small and dry for the most part. But it fits Brian de Palma's campy Psycho-meets-Italian giallo thriller to a T.

[A24 4,326]

 

 

[Jurassic Shark 12,030]

There's only nine people.

[Jay 37,287]

I love Holmes' Ocean's 11 score but haven't been able to get into the two sequel scores much yet.  I should give them another try.  I love Pemberton's Ocean's 8!

[Raiders of the SoundtrArk 2,429]

14 hours ago, Jay said:

What are your favorite and least favorite episode scores? 

I think my favorite is the one from Firestorm. It beautifully switch between scary music ala Alien and epic moments with so much ease.

My least favourite is perhaps the one from New Dimensions because I thought it was a little bit less various than the others (plus it arrives just after the best score/episode of season 1)

 

I didn't listen to much to season 2 so far, as I'm waiting to finish it not to be spoiled by the titles.

[Jay 37,287]

15 minutes ago, May the Force be with You said:

I think my favorite is the one from Firestorm. It beautifully switch between scary music ala Alien and epic moments with so much ease.

My least favourite is perhaps the one from New Dimensions because I thought it was a little bit less various than the others (plus it arrives just after the best score/episode of season 1)

 

Yea, Firestorm is an awesome one!  I ranked it as one of my favorites in a small series of posts that started here.

 

15 minutes ago, May the Force be with You said:

 

I didn't listen to much to season 2 so far, as I'm waiting to finish it not to be spoiled by the titles.

 

You're in for a treat!  Season 2 of the show is awesome, especially the 2-parters (there's one in the middle of the season and one to end it).  Great tv!

[Raiders of the SoundtrArk 2,429]

Yeah I've already started it yesterday and the episode 1 was really great

 

Money Monster by Henry Jackman

One of the best Jackman score. It's quite different from his usual RCP productions and has a really nice flow

[Tom Guernsey 2,280]

Nanny McPhee at the Big Bang (JNH) - Forgot how enjoyable this is; charming main theme, some broad and entertaining action writing and plenty of more whimsical moments. Won't say I wasn't a bit disappointed that Patrick Doyle wasn't brought back as his score for the original is terrific, but a more than worthy follow up.

[publicist 4,643]

People who loved the movie may forgive this release the omission of one big set piece (it's Michael Nyman's breathtaking concert piece 'MGV', written for a very fast train) but Emile Mosseri's score isn't a loss, either. It's too short and underdeveloped to leave much of an impression, but his bittersweet americana idiom, full of woodwinds solos, small string ensemble and piano has some of the persuasiveness of a (more hip) James Horner and Elmer Bernstein's many lyrical outings. It's one of the recent scores where i wish the composer would have had the opportunity to flesh out his ideas for the album release. And as brilliant as the Nyman tune is, they should have given Mosseri the chance to come up with something himself (though i guess he did, in the cue 'Rock Fight', which is called demo but sounds too similar to Nyman, tbh). Still, Mosseri did some good stuff recently (the not unsimilar 'Minari', for instance) and is on my listen list.

[Thor 7,470]

MINARI is one of the year's highlights to me (2021 movie over here), so looking forward to anything else Mosseri has to offer.

[Jules 59]

3 hours ago, publicist said:

People who loved the movie may forgive this release the omission of one big set piece (it's Michael Nyman's breathtaking concert piece 'MGV', written for a very fast train) but Emile Mosseri's score isn't a loss, either. It's too short and underdeveloped to leave much of an impression, but his bittersweet americana idiom, full of woodwinds solos, small string ensemble and piano has some of the persuasiveness of a (more hip) James Horner and Elmer Bernstein's many lyrical outings. It's one of the recent scores where i wish the composer would have had the opportunity to flesh out his ideas for the album release. And as brilliant as the Nyman tune is, they should have given Mosseri the chance to come up with something himself (though i guess he did, in the cue 'Rock Fight', which is called demo but sounds too similar to Nyman, tbh). Still, Mosseri did some good stuff recently (the not unsimilar 'Minari', for instance) and is on my listen list.

This seems to be the score I keep returning to from the past few years, it's become a bit of a comfort food. 

[bruce marshall 1,315]

" The Name of the Game is Kill" ( 1968)

  - Stu Phillips

[GerateWohl 4,339]

The Film and TV Music of Christopher Gunning - Rumon Gamba and the BBC Philharmonic

 

Just discovered that on Spotify. This is really a collection of brillant and beautiful soundtrack suites. I must confess, I know none of the films or TV shows conciously. But the music is wonderful.

 

[Thor 7,470]

 

Cosma has been so insanely productive in his career (he still is), so finding your way into his work can be a cumbersome affair. Also because he juggles all kinds of styles and idioms with superb ease. But this 2CD set from 2002 is a good start, or a nice session if you just want a taste. Covers the orchestral, the jazzy, the poppy and everything inbetween pretty well.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Kindergarten Cop - Randy Edelman

 

*contented sigh*

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Tommy Boy - David Newman

 

I miss when dumb comedies got scores this nice.

 

 

[Thor 7,470]

 

The chord leap at the beginning that everyone says is a blueprint for the STAR WARS theme is such an exaggerated link, it's ridiculous. Mostly, this is small-town Americana as channeled through Korngold's Viennese exuberance.

[Brónach 1,301]

I love this cue

 

[Tallguy 3,378]

Lost in Space season 2 (Lennertz)

 

It's just soooo gooood!

[crocodile 7,984]

 Batman & Robin (sessions) by Elliot Goldenthal. While it does recycle a lot of the material from the previous one the overall listening experience is much smoother and more coherent. This desperately needs a release. I am hoping one day we will see a the Elliot Goldenthal Batman Collection 4-CD set with updated complete and chronological Batman Forever, this and the unreleased B&R score album programme as a bonus. This would be one of my dream releases and I bet it would be one as well for the folks from LLL.

 

 

Karol

[Raiders of the SoundtrArk 2,429]

May they hear you...

 

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (LLL) by Jerry Goldsmith

Beautiful as always...

[Tom Guernsey 2,280]

On 06/10/2021 at 10:42 AM, Thor said:

 

The chord leap at the beginning that everyone says is a blueprint for the STAR WARS theme is such an exaggerated link, it's ridiculous. Mostly, this is small-town Americana as channeled through Korngold's Viennese exuberance.

I agree that the link is probably overblown by anti-JW/film music critics, but it undeniably exists in terms of tone, harmony, orchestration and the shape of those opening phrases. When I first heard the Korngold I was pretty surprised, rather expecting it to be a more vague similarity. It doesn't help that the next phrase in the Korngold is very similar to Superman, especially as it uses those crunchy 7th chords that JW loves so much. Either, the Korngold is a superb score...  I'm sure I remember reading that Korngold wrote the main titles based on the name of the movie, expecting some grand epic rather than a relatively small drama.

[Jurassic Shark 12,030]

28 minutes ago, Tom Guernsey said:

I agree that the link is probably overblown by anti-JW/film music critics, but it undeniably exists in terms of tone, harmony, orchestration and the shape of those opening phrases.

 

I'd the the similarity is pretty volatile.

[Thor 7,470]

 

Interestingly, only "Surrender" was actually used in the film, so the 'soundtrack' label is somewhat misleading. But it's still one of Schulze's best concept albums. More open than the static sequencer stuff from the 70s. "Freeze" remains one of his best known tracks.

[Jurassic Shark 12,030]

Looks fun.

[Thor 7,470]

 

One more Schulze today. This was his score to a 1985 Norwegian film, very moody and ambient - painting the landscapes in chilly strokes. It's only available in one of Schulze's "Historic Edition" sets as one continous 28-minute track (as is his custom); the cover is something I mocked up in two minutes just to have something in my iTunes.

[Jurassic Shark 12,030]

Jim would be proud!

[Thor 7,470]

Jim?

[Jurassic Shark 12,030]

Titus.

[Thor 7,470]

Ah! Yeah, LOL, he's surely impressed.

[Jurassic Shark 12,030]

It looks authentic.

[Jay 37,287]

Nobuo Uematsu - Final Fantasy V

 

Hmm, I remembered liking this more than I did this time.  The main theme is great, but there's a lot of less-interesting tracks in between all the tracks with wonderful settings of the theme.  Hmm.

 

 

Nicholas Britell - Succession (Season 1 OST)

 

Getting HYPED for season 3 so checked out the old OST.  The music works great in the show but I don't really enjoying listening to it outside of it.  Oh well.

 

 

Howard Shore - The Two Towers (The Complete Recordings)

 

Legendary.

[Thor 7,470]

11 minutes ago, Jay said:

Nicholas Britell - Succession (Season 1 OST)

 

Getting HYPED for season 3 so checked out the old OST.  The music works great in the show but I don't really enjoying listening to it outside of it.  Oh well.

 

Brittell hadn't done much for me untill that. But loved that score -- both in and out of the series.

[Jay 37,287]

Maybe I should give the Season 2 OST a listen

[Tallguy 3,378]

The Hunt for Red October

 

Hoosiers

 

I'm having a very good day.

[GerateWohl 4,339]

Fedora - Miklós Rózsa

 

Not a re-recording, but well produced. A lot of dark dramatic strings. I would say, if you like Herrmann's score for Marnie (like me) you probably like this score as well.

 

The album contains also Rózsa's accoustic guitar suite "Crisis". Nice addition.

[LSH 968]

I’m packing up to move house. Breaks my heart to bring down movie posters but it does inspire some listening…

 

 

[Incanus 5,713]

Glory (LLL release) by James Horner: Pardon the pun but the new release is quite glorious. I don't think it actually could improve my opinion on this masterful score but listening to the complete score is a joy. 

 

I found particularly interesting the unused battle music for The Battle Of Grimball’s Landing and how it was originally more closely linked to the Charging Fort Wagner music as evinced by the alternate take at the end of disc 2. This must have obviously been Horner's original take on the scene with less overt O Fortuna temp track effect and there he reiterates the same musical figures as in Grimball's Landing more clearly, linking both scenes musically. Still the final version, where the composer is only barely skirting O Fortuna, feels little bit more emotionally satisfying as Horner manages to develop the music heard in the first battle scene further that in his first take.

[Thor 7,470]

I was willing to give it a shot, since I've warmed considerably to Barry in recent years. However, I've mostly warmed to his warm, lyrical scores or those with a jazzy, smooth flair. What I find when listening to this is that I still have major issues with his supense and action writing (of which there is plenty here). Those staccato patterns just grate on me, like that piano riff in EYES WIDE SHUT, almost. But the main theme is fine; easily likeable. Long-lined and elegant.

[Jurassic Shark 12,030]

How's the sound quality?

[Thor 7,470]

Variable, but fine given the circumstances, I suppose.

[Jay 37,287]

This week's physical CDs finally opened up (well, the first one I was last week):

 

 

 

John Williams In Vienna (2CD live edition)

 

First time checking this edition out at all.  Wonderful concert that was a pleasure to listen to!

 

 

David Helbock - Playing John Williams

 

Meh, not my cup of tea.  Some of these are really weird!

 

 

Michael Giacchino - Inside Out (Japanese edition OST album)

 

I had not listened to this score in a long time, and I was surprised to see how well I knew the highlight tracks!  The album as a whole is a bit overlong but the main themes are all really good and have nice variations.  The bonus tracks on this edition are worthless.

 

 

James Horner - Living In The Age of AIrplanes (Intrada CD)

 

Does anybody else besides me really, really, really love this score?  Yea it's not Horner's best and feels more like another composer's work at times, but I don't care - I just love what's here!

 

 

John Powell - Ferdinand (LLL CD)

 

I want to like this score more than I do.  This was kind of in one ear, out the other, without making an impression.  Maybe I just wasn't in the right headspace.  I haven't seen the film either

[Jurassic Shark 12,030]

8 minutes ago, Jay said:

This was kind of in one ear, out the other, without making an impression. 

 

Tell that to @Disco Stu!

[Thor 7,470]

21 minutes ago, Jay said:

James Horner - Living In The Age of AIrplanes (Intrada CD)

 

Does anybody else besides me really, really, really love this score?  Yea it's not Horner's best and feels more like another composer's work at times, but 

 

It's OK, but I still consider WOLF TOTEM Horner's last good score. A colleague of mine liked it very well, though. He wrote a review of it here, in Norwegian (Google Translate needed).

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

Planet Earth

 

A carefully curated 77-minute program of George Fenton's score for this 2006 BBC wildlife series is the latest subject for our Discord listening sessions.

 

Each episode focuses on a different environment (i.e., deserts, seasonal forests, grasslands), an approach that ultimately lends itself to a rich and inspiring musical epic with enough scope and scale to match the very landscapes themselves. Fenton captures the sheer awe and wonder of it all with Elgarian majesty, combining soaring flourishes and dense orchestrations to create a wellspring of musical richness. Even the score's locational interludes are some of the most tasteful I've ever heard, especially considering they come right in the thick of time where the wailing woman cliche was plastered over anything and everything remotely exotic or foreign. The expert interplay of cultural sounds add a layer of authenticity and coherence that really transforms the palette in these sections (see the stunning Namibia - The Lions and Oryx, which climaxes with some truly rousing vocals and ethnic winds). There's an overflowing amount of colour and life to every bit of this, and the energetic performance from the BBC Concert Orchestra is nothing short of fantastic.

 

It's been an absolute joy to rediscover this one, as I fondly recall being very attracted to the score when I first saw the series back in 2008 or thereabouts. Although I hadn't really realized just how much of an influence it has had on my tastes until now, I'm fairly confident this is a major touchstone in the development of my admiration for both film and classical music. In any case, it's always exciting to find that something you enjoyed when you were younger not only holds up, but exceeds your expectations the way this does for me. Besides, I really do miss the days when you could expect this level of composition and class from a nature documentary of all things (Fenton's Blue Planet and Frozen Planet entries are similarly excellent). 

 

Anyway, the gang really enjoyed what this had to offer: the hymn-like passages of the Prelude and The Snow Geese, the inspired instrumentation of River Predation and The Wolf and the Caribou, the joyous aquatic action pieces like Surfing Dolphins and A School of Five Hundred, the darker off-kilter interjections from The Geladas and Bat Hunt, and the classically-infused eruptions of Iguacu and Mother and Calf - The Great Journey (the main melody is like Elgar's 2nd symphony on steroids).

 

Many thanks to @HunterTechand @Holkofor joining!

[Tallguy 3,378]

3 hours ago, Jay said:

Does anybody else besides me really, really, really love this score?  Yea it's not Horner's best and feels more like another composer's work at times, but I don't care - I just love what's here!

 

Nope not just you. I love it. And it's one that I keep forgetting about so when it does come up it surprises me.

[Jay 37,287]

Nice!

[Edmilson 7,393]

6 hours ago, Thor said:

It's OK, but I still consider WOLF TOTEM Horner's last good score.

I agree with that. I loved Wolf Totem, but disliked the Airplanes score 

[Raiders of the SoundtrArk 2,429]

Knowing (The Deluxe Edition) by Marco Beltrami

The first time I listened to it, it didn't do much to me and I dropped it before half the program has passed.

But today I've decided to give it another try and this time I really liked it, it has a good flow especially in the second half of the program and some very nice action cues.