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


Ollie

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I've builded a nice James Horner Basic CD collection since 2-3 years... no Name of the Rose yet... It doesn't mean it's not a good or an important score.. I just say it didn’t show up on my radar.

 

I'll work on this!

 

There is still no US release, no?

 

nameoftherose

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Amazing boxset indeed.

 

Don't forget... some tracks on this CD were left out of the boxset...

Primary

 

There is also this CD that was part of the original collection... it was obviously left out of the boxset because it's conducted by David Raksin.

 

Primary

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4 minutes ago, publicist said:

 

10 hours of Charles Gerhardt and The National Philharmonic may be daunting, but it's the greatestTM Reader's Digest of Hollywood's Golden Age and so it's a worthy task (Korngold, Steiner, Rózsa, Newman, Herrmann, Young, Waxman & Tiomkin).


A good place to start for the curious and uninitiated?

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10 minutes ago, Andy said:


A good place to start for the curious and uninitiated?

 

Yes of course it's the place to start if you're not familiar with golden age scores.

 

Recommended at 100 %.

 

Begin with:

 

  • CD01-Erich Wolfgang Korngold-The Sea Hawk
  • CD08-Franz Waxman-Sunset Boulevard
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3 minutes ago, Andy said:

A good place to start for the curious and uninitiated?

 

These pieces were never bettered, playing- and recording-wise. The examples below are the less well-known examples, btw.

 

Brutal:

Swashbuckling:

Uber-romantic:

Groovy even:

 

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I’ve wondered if my love for Williams’s “Korngoldian” sound is enough to sustain my interest, despite not having seen or appreciated the films. 

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31 minutes ago, Bespin said:

Don't forget... some tracks on this CD were left out of the boxset...

Primary

 

There is also this CD that was part of the original collection... it was obviously left out of the boxset because it's conducted by David Raksin.

 

Primary

 

The Raksin album was however included in the 2010 remastered series. The former, along with the Williams albums, has never been remastered or re-released (after the initial Dolby Surround versions).

28 minutes ago, Andy said:

A good place to start for the curious and uninitiated?

 

The perfect place to start, and to return to. The Gerhardt series remains the benchmark by which all Golden Age re-recordings are measured.

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1 hour ago, Edmilson said:

I don't think, from a listening experience point of view, that The Name of the Rose is that interesting, unless you like subtle synth scores.

It's like no other score that Horner composed. That, for me, easily makes it top-5.

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17 hours ago, Bespin said:

I've builded a nice James Horner Basic CD collection since 2-3 years... no Name of the Rose yet... It doesn't mean it's not a good or an important score.. I just say it didn’t show up on my radar.

 

I'll work on this!

 

There is still no US release, no?

 

nameoftherose

I wouldn't bother trying to find this. Bet there would be a new release sometime soon. 

 

Karol

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55 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

I've just seen the CD of THE NAME OF THE ROSE on Amazon, going for the very reasonable price of £17:33, plus shipping.

It's sold by a company based in Berlin, called Momox. I've bought stuff from them, and I've had no issues.

Bargain! You’ll especially enjoy the bit during the confession when they arrive on Vulcan ;-)

 

Giving this a first listen in ages. Not sure it’s a Horner style I rush out for but an interesting effort none the less and I certainly appreciate it a whole lot more than I did when I first got it a couple of decades ago! Shame the cover art is so horrible though. Looks like it’s by the same person who did The Omen…

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Brian Tyler - Now You See Me

 

Wow, I hadn't listened to this score in quite some time (a year or two maybe) and had forgotten how much I really enjoy it!  I wish Tyler had more scores like this in his oeuvre instead of so many loud action scores that I can't get into.  And then he followed this up with a sequel score that mostly betters it in every way!  The films aren't great, but I wish we got a third just for Tyler to complete a score trilogy!

 

 

Basil Poledouris - Starship Troopers (Varese Deluxe)

 

This is a score I love so much I still listen to it quite frequently; Even though I know it all really well, it still blows me away by how awesome it is every time, still.  Last year I really got into the weeds and observed that there are 31 themes that recur throughout the score, and the fact that they are all hummable and interesting and used at just the right times is really remarkable.  I wish we had gotten another score like this one out of him before his untimely passing!

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lait.png

 

We pay our milk a lot more in Québec than our neighboor, the Ontario. Our industry is a hack here, they are an union, an union of bandits... they better like to spill the milk instead of selling it cheap. A non sense.

 

With inflation, it's ridiculous how things cost more now.

 

MILK-PRICE-INCREASE-CANADA_4L.webp

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My CD copy is being delivered later today, but I couldn't stop myself listening on streaming to the newly released It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, finally sourced from the original tapes instead of the audio stem of the show.

 

As a long, long-time fan of both Guaraldi and Peanuts, together and separate, it really is such a joy to at last hear these cues without random volume dips and SFX.  And the alternates at the end really help round out the short score into a more filling musical experience.

 

Two very enthusiastic thumbs up!

 

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_l76xtdRjsAYWfskvFS4UHgrND3ZDtE_Y4&feature=share

 

Sending a message to 2018 me: the tapes weren't lost!  We got 'em!

 

On 22/10/2018 at 10:18 PM, Disco Stu said:

It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown - Vince Guaraldi (Varese Sarabande, 2018)

 

Word of warning about this Varese album just released.  It is very clearly just the music stem from the TV show audio mix.  So there are awkward edits, abrupt endings, and even many instances of sound effects.

 

I mean, I guess it's better than nothing?  I assume the session tapes are long destroyed/lost?

 

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2 hours ago, Bespin said:

lait.png

 

We pay our milk a lot more in Québec than our neighboor, the Ontario. Our industry is a hack here, they are an union, an union of bandits... they better like to spill the milk instead of selling it cheap. A non sense.

 

With inflation, it's ridiculous how things cost more now.

 

MILK-PRICE-INCREASE-CANADA_4L.webp

$8? I make that £5:22 for a two-pinter.

Ooh, er :blink:

In good ole Blighty, the average price of a two-pinter of skimmed (2%) milk - I prefer full-fat :) - is £1:30.

 

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image.jpeg

 

Most reviews have labelled it quite pedestrian but I really like it. Yes, the temp-tracking is rather obvious (lots of Rachel Portman and Thomas Newman-esque stuff), but I think it's a lovely half-hour listen and JNH's style shines through more than most have said.

 

It's just a lovely product of a small orchestra of strings and woodwinds, guitar, piano and the occasional dulcimer. 

 

Hundert Quits is a gorgeous little cue... but it's all very lovely.

 

 

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Generic fluff.

 

Spotify offered me a longer version of 'The Bourne Identity', but i was insufficiently engaged to find out what's new to this release. The old one was more than enough for this expertly written but rather monotonous score (Carter Burwell was fired for being too musically flamboyant, if you can believe that). 

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22 minutes ago, publicist said:

(Carter Burwell was fired for being too musically flamboyant, if you can believe that). 

I'm not sure if I can :lol:

Still the best cue in the film is "Ready Steady Go", by Paul Okenfold. That, plus Per Hallberg's stunning sound design, makes the car chase sequence a thrilling listen.

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3 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Still the best cue in the film is "Ready Steady Go", by Paul Okenfold. That, plus Per Hallberg's stunning sound design, makes the car chase sequence a thrilling listen.

 

The music brought a whiff of fresh air to action movies, both Powell and Oakenfold mix (who in true Hollywood fashion was also shoehorned into other score productions with much less spectacular results)...and i sure appreciate Powell's economic ideas to the Bond excesses of David Arnold from those years that were considered 'hip' and 'modern' (listening to cues like 'Backseat Driver' today makes me cringe).

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I pleasured myself this week.

 

John Williams & Mutter - Violin Co 2 and other pieces to fill the CD

John Williams - The Last Jedi (the plain mean OST)

Handsome Lockhart - John Williams: Movie and Magic, Silence! (anyway, that tribute album)

John Williams - Stanley & Iris Expanded

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Michael Giacchino - John Carter (recording sessions)

 

Man, Gia used to be such a great composer. I really think his best years were from 2004 (with The Incredibles and Lost) to 2013.

 

This is surely one of his best scores for a live-action movie. It's a mix between his biggest influences, John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith - parts of it sound like 1968's Planet of the Apes! There's some hints of James Horner and Howard Shore as well, but this is all pure Giacchino, and I love it!

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Once Upon a Forest - James Horner

 

Entertaining little score where Horner tended to  rip himself off. There's a good dollop of "Willow", shades of "The Land Before Time", "The Rocketeer" (particularly the "Flying" cue) and even a pinch of "Krull" thrown in.

 

The LSO gives the score more vibrancy and life, which makes it more enjoyable. Would've loved to hear "The Rocketeer" had Horner recorded it with the LSO instead of L.A. musicians.

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27 minutes ago, Matt C said:

Once Upon a Forest - James Horner

 

Entertaining little score where Horner tended to  rip himself off. There's a good dollop of "Willow", shades of "The Land Before Time", "The Rocketeer" (particularly the "Flying" cue) and even a pinch of "Krull" thrown in.

 

The LSO gives the score more vibrancy and life, which makes it more enjoyable. Would've loved to hear "The Rocketeer" had Horner recorded it with the LSO instead of L.A. musicians.

Are the songs good? I usually don't care about Horner's songs based on his scores, and this OST has 4 of them, which is why I haven't given a chance for it yet

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15 hours ago, Edmilson said:

Are the songs good? I usually don't care about Horner's songs based on his scores, and this OST has 4 of them, which is why I haven't given a chance for it yet

I have a playlist that cuts the songs out as they are pretty cloying even by JH’s standard (and I have a fairly high musical saccharine threshold!) so I would have to say that you may not love the songs! However the score is quite lovely and well worth getting even if it’s perhaps somewhat down the pecking order of JH animated scores. 

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On 29/08/2022 at 1:21 AM, Edmilson said:

Michael Giacchino - John Carter (recording sessions)

 

Man, Gia used to be such a great composer. I really think his best years were from 2004 (with The Incredibles and Lost) to 2013.

 

This is surely one of his best scores for a live-action movie. It's a mix between his biggest influences, John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith - parts of it sound like 1968's Planet of the Apes! There's some hints of James Horner and Howard Shore as well, but this is all pure Giacchino, and I love it!

 

This is such a wonder of a score - perhaps Gia's one and only true masterwork. It doesn't have the stupidly pinched sound (close-miked, my arse) he was going for at the time, perhaps in a misguided nostalgic effort to sound like an old Schifrin LP. Nor does it have the bittiness that has plagued a lot of his contemporary action music. It just flows well with brilliant themes and creative orhestration

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Discovered a new artist this evening called Melodysheep. I came across a space/universe short film on YouTube and paused it a minute in to find any indication of who wrote the score, and it turns out all this guy's scored a load of short documentaries and he put his scores on Spotify and Bandcamp.

 

If you like modern, melodic, synthy stuff, you might like it. (JWFan trigger warning: if you can't tolerate electronic, even vaguely Zimmer-esque music: this is not for you)

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David Hamilton Stone's Solis score is brilliant - MSM has released a few of his works, but this one is just so impressive in a minimalist/maximalist way. No idea what the film is about (or if that is David Harbour staring into a CGI flare and don't care), but the scope of the orchestra and the way it occasionally reminds me of Goldenthal's massive adagios, especially in its brass textures, is astonishing - 2:40 onwards.....

 

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On 31/08/2022 at 10:08 PM, Edmilson said:

Are the songs good? I usually don't care about Horner's songs based on his scores, and this OST has 4 of them, which is why I haven't given a chance for it yet

 

I've seen the movie years ago and I avoid the Horner songs unless the movie is, say, Fievel Goes West or The Pagemaster.

 

--

 

Mulan (2020) - Harry Gregson-Williams

 

I don't know where to begin with this. HGW doesn't even come close to Goldsmith's fantastic score for the 1998 animated film -- and as noted, doesn't quote any of his themes. The only motif he reuses is "Reflection" -- and it's poorly integrated into the score. It's a standard HGW action score with a Chinese flavor to it -- and he could've done better.

 

One wonders that if Goldsmith was still alive and working when this remake began production, if he would've been approached to score this instead. And he would've knocked it out of the park.

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THE CORE - CHRISTOPHER YOUNG

 

A deliciously over-the-top 'everything but the kitchen sink' score from Young. It's a shame that, since 2003, while disaster films have in no way gotten any less silly (looking at you Emmerich) their scores have become more and more boring (looking at you Kloser/Wander). I think this was genuinely one of the last of its kind.

 

I was lucky enough to get my hands on a promo copy of this back in the day but I'm happy to see it eventually got a full release from Intrada... it was a long time coming.

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5 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

I never got to finish The Core. We walked out 40 minutes in or so because of a whole family talking incessantly behind us.

 

I hope you demanded a refund. As I did, despite sitting it through to the end.

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5 hours ago, Matt C said:

 

I've seen the movie years ago and I avoid the Horner songs unless the movie is, say, Fievel Goes West or The Pagemaster.

 

--

 

Mulan (2020) - Harry Gregson-Williams

 

I don't know where to begin with this. HGW doesn't even come close to Goldsmith's fantastic score for the 1998 animated film -- and as noted, doesn't quote any of his themes. The only motif he reuses is "Reflection" -- and it's poorly integrated into the score. It's a standard HGW action score with a Chinese flavor to it -- and he could've done better.

 

One wonders that if Goldsmith was still alive and working when this remake began production, if he would've been approached to score this instead. And he would've knocked it out of the park.

Agreed in both Mulan scores. HGW’s didn’t do much for me at all. I actually had modestly high expectations as he has written some decent scores but this was just a bit of a dud. Of course it’s always tricky comparing to Jerry especially when he was firing on all cylinders but even with tempered/realistic expectations I was disappointed.

 

Obligatory hope for a complete Mulan release (although Intrada not Disney. Thanks).

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