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

[Bespin 8,480]

What a lovely score!

 

Mark Isham - A River Runs through it.

 

[GerateWohl 4,343]

19 minutes ago, Bespin said:

What a lovely score!

 

Mark Isham - A River Runs through it.

 

The cover looks like it contains a lot of folky accoustic guitar.

[Bespin 8,480]

[Bespin 8,480]

Thomas Newman - How to Make an American Quilt
Elmer Bernstein - Far From Heaven
Randy Newman - The Natural
Mark Isham - A River Runs Throught It

[Tallguy 3,380]

3 hours ago, Bespin said:

Elmer Bernstein - Far From Heaven

 

It's interesting that I see nothing unusual about Jerry Goldsmith writing scores in 2002, but Bernstein seems like he must have time traveled.

[filmmusic 1,823]

Fargo (Carter Burwell)

I have only listened to a couple of scores from this composer (and not his 2 Oscar nominations)

I love the main theme.

Can anyone suggest anything else that is noteworthy?

[Bespin 8,480]

1 hour ago, filmmusic said:

Fargo (Carter Burwell)

I have only listened to a couple of scores from this composer (and not his 2 Oscar nominations)

I love the main theme.

Can anyone suggest anything else that is noteworthy?

 

That's the only album I have from him in my CD collection!

 

Oh that's not true, I have the Twilight OST too, but only one track is taken from the score of Burwell, but it is Top Burwell.

 

[filmmusic 1,823]

42 minutes ago, Bespin said:

Oh that's not true, I have the Twilight OST too, but only one track is taken from the score of Burwell, but it is Top Burwell.

Thanks, just listened to it.

I see there is a score only release too if you're interested.

https://www.soundtrackcollector.com/title/85176/Twilight

The Summit Ent/Chop Shop/Atlantic 517000-2  release.

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

The full score album for the 1st Twilight is not that good (I think).

The 2 scores for the final 2 films are much muxh better. With some wonderful orchestra & choral action and romance

[Tom Guernsey 2,280]

3 hours ago, filmmusic said:

Fargo (Carter Burwell)

I have only listened to a couple of scores from this composer (and not his 2 Oscar nominations)

I love the main theme.

Can anyone suggest anything else that is noteworthy?

Fargo is a very atmospheric score however I believe the main theme is based on an old folk melody rather than being composed by Burwell. Good choice though as it’s perfect

for the film. 

[Holko 9,499]

No idea what source the 50-60something track complete South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut comes from, a release, an iso score, a boot, but I adore all of it. It's a perfect example of a parody that works on both levels - as a parody of a subject and as an example of the subject itself, from Winona Ryder's Ping Pong Balls to war propaganda background music, to score proper renditions of song melodies, to the songs themselves, be that an overture, a Disney Princess song, a high-pumped preparation song, a full-blown Les Miserables medley, or an insufferable credits song that has barely anything to do with the movie in any way, I like some of them more than any example I can think of of the thing they're parodying, on an unironic level. I want to listen to it again and again for days everytime I get through it once.

[Jay 37,319]

Yea!  I love it!

[filmmusic 1,823]

Driving Miss Daisy (Hans Zimmer)

Not a fan of this kind of music, but it provides a nice background music to surfing on the web.

[thestat 348]

 

 

Alien references

[Faleel 5,340]

PoA

[Knight of Ren 787]

Fear Street Trilogy (1994 - 1978 - 1666) - Marco Beltrami & co.

I really, really like these scores a lot! I think Beltrami and his team did such a great job with the three of them, crafting a very exciting journey, with some great themes, fantastic action writing, and some deeply emotional cues. The first one serves as a great introduction, but also as a homage to Beltrami's own Scream scores, which are the ones that put him on the spot at the beginning of his career. The Curse theme that ties all three films together has some emotional variations in here, but I also really enjoy the killer action, especially in a cue as fun as Market Massacre.

 

1978 is probably the most of the three, and is almost completely action focused, with cues that mix choir and orchestra to great effect, like Heart of Darkness or The Final Axe. Apart from the insanely good action music, this score also has a lot of heart with the piano theme for the sisters that pops around from time to time. 1666 is probably the weakest of the three, because it's more focused on atmosphere and mood, but that doesn't mean there aren't some good bits here and there.

 

Full Moon Dance and Dalliance are beautiful, and then a cue like The Curse offers a welcome return to the stylings of 1994, which are so much fun. And of course, this last score is completely worthy because of Sarah's Fate, the emotional centerpiece of the entire trilogy where Beltrami allows his Curse theme to develop in full with choir and orchestra, achieving glorious emotional heights! Probably one my favorite cues from the composer.

 

So yeah, I really like these scores, especially because they manage to be scary without relying on sound desgin and electronic manipulation, but with a complex orchestral and thematic tapestry that shows that good horror scores can be also very fun to listen to!

 

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

Agreed. Only small complaint I have is that the 2nd 1994 seqience in the third film is hardly on the album. But it has some of the best action writing.

Other than that. Terrific scores

[Knight of Ren 787]

Yeah, I recently rewatched the movies and I noticed that the third score is the most incomplete of the three. The other two have some missing cues here and there, but the third is missing the more pretty stuff from the first half (instead relying on the atmospheric tracks), and some cool new variations on the themes from the trilogy in the second half! At least we got a couple of action cues, which are great, but it could be nice to have an expanded version of these scores!

[Bespin 8,480]

I'm currently in a phase where listening to a whole album pisses me off.

 

So I use the "This is..." Spotify compilations to make my own playlists, using the CDs I actually own.

 

I like that, I listen to them in Random Mode.

 

By example, my James Newton Howard playlist look like this, it's very enjoyable to listen:

 

[Holko 9,499]

I'm so glad I bought Quartet's Silence of the Lambs! The score really has a really thick characteristic sound and atmosphere with its strings and brass, but the woodwinds, changing held notes and winding melodic lines help pull you through it, as well as the few different cues breaking it up by either being more dramatic and tense (Lecter Escapes) or lighter (Quid Pro Quo, Yes or No) than the average.

[filmmusic 1,823]

The Village (James Newton Howard) (Complete recordings)

One of Howards best!

[Disco Stu 15,495]

6 minutes ago, Holko said:

I'm so glad I bought Quartet's Silence of the Lambs! The score really has a really thick characteristic sound and atmosphere with its strings and brass, but the woodwinds, changing held notes and winding melodic lines help pull you through it, as well as the few different cues breaking it up by either being more dramatic and tense (Lecter Escapes) or lighter (Quid Pro Quo, Yes or No) than the average.

 

I love this score, but it's definitely one where I'm not sure I'd love it if I didn't also love the film.

[GerateWohl 4,343]

16 hours ago, Holko said:

I'm so glad I bought Quartet's Silence of the Lambs! The score really has a really thick characteristic sound and atmosphere with its strings and brass, but the woodwinds, changing held notes and winding melodic lines help pull you through it, as well as the few different cues breaking it up by either being more dramatic and tense (Lecter Escapes) or lighter (Quid Pro Quo, Yes or No) than the average.

It is definitely my favourite Shore non-middleearth non-Cronenberg and non-Scorcese score.

___________________________

 

The Last Unicorn - Jimmy Webb

Songs performed by America

 

One of the scores, I pick up again and again. It is so colorful and rich. And the songs are brillant. Special with that album is that it does not contain one weak or wasted minute. It is straight to the point.

[crocodile 7,988]

 Ghost Story by Philippe Sarde. Brilliant stuff, yet another great score overshadowing its film. Perfect for this time of the year. Quartet's recent release comes highly recommended. Delicious and charming.

 

 

Karol

[filmmusic 1,823]

The Witches of Eastwick (DVD isolated score)

This needs a complete release badly.

Maybe it's the Black Friday title?

[Bespin 8,480]

6 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

The Witches of Eastwick (DVD isolated score)

This needs a complete release badly.

Maybe it's the Black Friday title?

 

I remember, when listening to the DVD isolated score, to have said to myself: this will not be an easy one to expand, with all these montages with classical works...

 

The fanfare band tracks (which are out of tune by purpose)... include them or not? Hmmm...

[crocodile 7,988]

6 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

The Witches of Eastwick (DVD isolated score)

This needs a complete release badly.

Maybe it's the Black Friday title?

I keep trying to find that old DVD with isolated score. None of the other editions seem to have that.

 

 Dracula by John Williams. 

 

Karol

[Bespin 8,480]

7 minutes ago, crocodile said:

I keep trying to find that old DVD with isolated score. None of the other editions seem to have that.

 

 Dracula by John Williams. 

 

Karol

 

I made my own extraction from my own DVD. This is not so impressive... the fanfare, the cello/violin passages, the volume that goes up and down, many micro music passages if I remember well...

[Bespin 8,480]

A bit of James Newton Howard. 

 

James Newton Howard - The Hunger Games (2012)
James Newton Howard - Fantastic Beasts (2016)
James Newton Howard - The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)
James Newton Howard - A Hidden Life (2019)

[filmmusic 1,823]

The Frighteners (Danny Elfman)

The usual high quality and style of Elfman with intricate textures and stuff, but forgettable...

 

A Hidden Life (James Newton Howard)

Sublime score. Pity it wasn't nominated for an Oscar. I think it wasn't eligible or something. I'm not sure.

I haven't watched the film yet, and I generally love Terrence Malick.

[Edmilson 7,395]

41 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

Sublime score. Pity it wasn't nominated for an Oscar. I think it wasn't eligible or something. I'm not sure.

 

Yeah, it was completely shunned from that year's Oscars because the movie also contained classical music. Which is completely bonkers because it wasn't the first time a Malick movie also included classical music, and that didn't stop Morricone and Zimmer from being nominated for Days of Heaven and The Thin Red Line.

[publicist 4,643]

9 hours ago, filmmusic said:

I haven't watched the film yet, and I generally love Terrence Malick.

 

I generally find his movies insufferable, but 'A Hidden Life' was a step up. The empty (and endless) symbolism was tied to a strong story, for a change.

[publicist 4,643]

 

Finally came around to deep-listen to my not-so-new LLL edition for a Spielberg/Williams score from The Unsteady Years - when Spielberg, in the wake of real-life fatherhood, divorce and a lack of love for his first *serious* moviemaking forays, became rather lost between play-it-safe blockbusters like 'Last Crusade' and bewildering updates of old projects like 'Always' and 'Hook' (natch, 'Peter Pan').

 

Spielberg played around with the project for many years, burning through screenwriters and script versions in a rather quichotic quest for a sensible update of an old MGM wartime tearjerker full of metaphysical mumbo-jumbo with Spencer Tracy and Irene Dunne that made him (and actor Richard Dreyfuss) cry when he was a 10-year old. When the whole thing limped to cinemas in December 1989, heads were rightly scratched. Exchanging the World War II backdrop to one of aerial firefighting, Spielberg can't seem to set one foot right. Miscast Dreyfuss comes back from the netherworld to fix up his girlfriend Holly Hunter with a new flier guy (the actor playing him was so devoid of characteristics, he sank without a trace) - this idea is presented as darling, precious concept, but, in 1989 (!), the whole notion that anyone could have *gasp* sex in a love triangle like this seems to frighten Spielberg, so all you get is Holly Hunter in a white dress and a few romantic scenes that are exactly a 10-year old's idea of what 'romantic' constitutes. All that's left are a few spectacularly directed aerial scenes that Spielberg would have better put into a showreel (or saved them for his later WW2 tv shows).

 

John Williams was left with this mess, trying to figure out what Spielberg was trying to tell us. The result is a very discreet affair (for Williams, anyway). He dodges the things that don't work - the mousy 5-note motif that brackets the sweeter scenes (Intimate Conversation) is characteristic of a time when he tried to put some distance between himself and the many bad reviews he earned for overscoring 'Empire of the Sun'. But very exciting it ain't. The thoughtful piano cadences of the movie's proper love theme (Pete and Dorinda) are very delicate and nostalgic and they sure work better than the scenes they are accompanying. The big dramatics remain either unscored or are handled in a kind of skimmed milk manner (The Rescue Operation). There's also a kind of long-lined flying theme, and that's the stuff that stays with you. Williams elaborates on it in the metaphysical finale, a long scene of Holly Hunter flying through the night with Dreyfuss by her side as guardian angel. Williams seizes this scene - he musters all the french horn love he has in him and makes a symphonic poem out of it (Among the Clouds), though Spielberg made him replace the final minutes with a movie music finale more pitched to Spielberg's sentimental 80's sensibilities. And it includes the only big gesture in this score, on a biblical scale that would have made Cecil B. DeMille proud, when Hunter's plane crashes into the water and a big string exclamation full of religioso phrasings takes over. It's the only moment when 'Always' musically comes truly alive.

 

With all the lackluster minimalism of the first half, the finale and the several versions of the credits save it (one includes a long Williams do-over of the old Jerome Kern-standby 'Smoke Gets in your Eyes' sandwiched between his own themes). So the LLL is one of the rare cases when the expansion of a middling score unleashes at least two or three reasons to like it more than you did before. 

 

[Bespin 8,480]

Getting into Halloween's atmosphere...

 

[A. A. Ron 1,740]

I’m fantasizing that this batch will be
 

1. The new JW expansion

2. The Lost World

3. HP4

4. Gladiator

 

and in a surprise twist

5. Tomorrow Never Dies

 

I’ve never bought the whole BF batch before. Maybe this’ll be the year.

[crocodile 7,988]

11 minutes ago, A. A. Ron said:

I’m fantasizing that this batch will be
 

1. The new JW expansion

2. The Lost World

3. HP4

4. Gladiator

 

and in a surprise twist

5. Tomorrow Never Dies

 

I’ve never bought the whole BF batch before. Maybe this’ll be the year.

I wouldn't object to that.

 

Karol

[Jay 37,319]

Wrong thread?

[crocodile 7,988]

Clearly. 😆

 

Anyway...

 

 Sleepy Hollow. One of Elfman's definitive masterpieces. Even the studio background noise and coughing feels like it belongs on this recording. Particularly delicious around Halloween.

 

Karol

[A. A. Ron 1,740]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

Wrong thread?

Yep. No idea how this happened. I was literally reading the LLL thread.

[Marian Schedenig 8,176]

17 minutes ago, A. A. Ron said:

I was literally reading the LLL thread.

 

To add an even more off-topic thought: How would one read something un-literally? 

[filmmusic 1,823]

Apocalypto (James Horner)

Atmospheric but not one I would revisit often.

[Bespin 8,480]

You'll revisit it.

[publicist 4,643]

22 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

Apocalypto (James Horner)

Atmospheric but not one I would revisit often.

 

If you're a fan of the bird calls, you can alway fall back on 'The New World'. 

[filmmusic 1,823]

3 hours ago, publicist said:

 

If you're a fan of the bird calls, you can alway fall back on 'The New World'. 

So, took your advice and listening to this too.

Nice Titanic vibes, though I think the main theme with the 3 note motif that is repeating, is a bit simplistic.

It's been many years since I saw the film and don't remember how much music from Horner was used. I just remember that I thought at the time that Mozart's piano concerto that was used was unsuitable for the film and the scenes it was used for.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

listening experience

[crocodile 7,988]

 Scream 2. Out of all the scores this one works best on album. And while I do enjoy the entirety of recent box set, if you want to add only one of those scores to your collection, go with DE of this one. It's the most listenable one.

 

Karol

[Holko 9,499]

First ever listen to JW's Jane Eyre, on Tidal thanks to @ConorPower's tip. Well this is definitely a predecessor to Fury/Dracula/ESB/Raiders, even Images a bit. I like it a lot! But too bad it doesn't survive in better quality and a better less separated/wide mix

[ConorPower 148]

@Holko Happy to be of service (), and to hear its on other streamers too. It is such a rich score, can hear all of Williams's love for English music poured into it.

The film is available on YouTube for free if you've not seen it. (As are many of his other early stuff, much to my surprise)

 

Hoping someone might share a piano arrangement of some of the themes someday!

 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,507]

15 minutes ago, Holko said:

First ever listen to JW's Jane Eyre, on Tidal thanks to @ConorPower's tip. Well this is definitely a predecessor to Fury/Dracula/ESB/Raiders, even Images a bit. I like it a lot! But too bad it doesn't survive in better quality and a better less separated/wide mix

It was described by Films And Filming magazine, as: "musical phrases which seem to eminate from the bowels of the Earth".

It's an utterly beautiful score, and it was definitely, his finest, up to that point in his career. It fully deserved its Emmy.

[publicist 4,643]

6 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

 It's an utterly beautiful score, and it was definitely, his finest, up to that point in his career. It fully deserved its Emmy.

 

Interestingly, between the late 60's and early 70's Williams (and Goldsmith too) spent longer periods of their life in the UK. There is little known about the Why's, but it must have been the place to be for musicians back then.