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

[Tallguy 3,402]

As I mentioned earlier:

 

 

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) Shirley Walker

Not sure what I can say about this other than "Wow!" It might not be the perfect Batman score (but it might be). But it's the perfect Batman movie. Obviously Walker was standing on Elfman's shoulders but this is my favorite Batman theme. The story of the lyrics being the music departments name's backwards never gets old.

 

She also runs through all the musical settings of the sunlit Americana of Bruce and Andrea's past. Then the over the top insanity of the Joker's music. It's enough to give you whiplash.

 

This movie is kind of like Galaxy Quest: I saw it. All my friends saw it. We all loved it. Then I find out it has a "cult" following? Doesn't it just have a "following"? No? Bummer.

 

 

[Thor 7,523]

 

An amazing 2022 synth score by Michael Chambers & Rob Willey. It really annoys that I didn't discover this in time for my 2022 list last year -- it would have been high, high up. But again something I discovered now while initially exploring 2023 scores on other people's film music sites. A little bit of Jarre, but with synthwave elements interweaved. Great stuff!

[Edmilson 7,474]

Ryiuchi Sakamoto - Wuthering Heights

 

 

I'm no expert on Sakamoto (though I really like his The Revenant), but I saw the cover and it looked like a great epic romantic score. And I was not disappointed: it's melodramatic and classical sounding, but not overbearing. A nice discovery. And I'll make sure to explore other works by Sakamoto, whether they're electronic or not!

 

Edward Shearmur - Reign of Fire

 

 

A while ago Thor described this score as "Don Davis on steroids" on another thread. Well, I love Don Davis, so I was curious to check it a similar score. 

 

To be honest, I didn't find it similar to Davis at all, more like Goldenthal's sci-fi horror scores like Alien 3 and Sphere. And that's not a problem: I like dark, violent, horrific and dissonant Goldenthal music and Sphere is my favorite of his.

 

Anyway, Shearmur is no Goldenthal and Reign of Fire is no Sphere, but it's still good. I'll enjoy listening to it anytime I'm in the mood for something less melodic and more dissonant and harsh but don't want to listen to Sphere for the umpteenth time.

[Tallguy 3,402]

6 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Edward Shearmur - Reign of Fire

 

 

That poster is STILL the movie we all wanted to see!!! IIRC RoF is not a bad movie at all. It just wasn't in any way the movie we were expecting to get.

[Thor 7,523]

43 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

A while ago Thor described this score as "Don Davis on steroids" on another thread. Well, I love Don Davis, so I was curious to check it a similar score. To be honest, I didn't find it similar to Davis at all, more like Goldenthal's sci-fi horror scores like Alien 3 and Sphere.

 

Goldenthal works too. The point is there are a LOT of dense tone clusters here, which both Davis and Goldenthal excel at.

[filmmusic 1,843]

33 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

And I'll make sure to explore other works by Sakamoto

have you listened to

The Last Emperor

Little Buddha

The Sheltering Sky?

[Thor 7,523]

Could just as well post my top 10 Sakamoto film scores again, in case it's of any interest (it's also in the obituary thread):

 

1. Wild Palms

2. L.O.L. – Lack of Love (video game)

3. Alexei and the Spring

4. Fantasy of Light and Life (art installation, super rare!)

5. The Sheltering Sky

6. Silk

7. Little Buddha

8. Wuthering Heights

9. Snake Eyes

10. The Last Emperor

 

On to:

 

 

I wish Tyler did more of this stuff -- broad, expansive, emotionally resonant. And not so much inane, percussive action stuff. One of my favs of him, from 2007. Album needs a little whittling, though.

[Edmilson 7,474]

2 hours ago, Tallguy said:

That poster is STILL the movie we all wanted to see!!! IIRC RoF is not a bad movie at all. It just wasn't in any way the movie we were expecting to get.

I saw this movie once when I was a kid, liked it well enough but I don't think I saw it again after that. I honestly only remember a scene during the climax where a maniac Matthew McCounaghey (I think) jumped into the mouth of a dragon branding an axe.

 

1 hour ago, filmmusic said:

have you listened to

The Last Emperor

Little Buddha

The Sheltering Sky?

 

1 hour ago, Thor said:

Could just as well post my top 10 Sakamoto film scores again, in case it's of any interest (it's also in the obituary thread):

 

1. Wild Palms

2. L.O.L. – Lack of Love (video game)

3. Alexei and the Spring

4. Fantasy of Light and Life (art installation, super rare!)

5. The Sheltering Sky

6. Silk

7. Little Buddha

8. Wuthering Heights

9. Snake Eyes

10. The Last Emperor

I appreciate the suggestions! I haven't heard a lot of Sakamoto but I'm curious to check it out his other works. 

 

And what do you guys thought of The Revenant? I liked it, it's not always easy to listen but it creates a dark and cold atmosphere that is perfect for the movie (which I also really enjoyed).

[Thor 7,523]

14 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

And what do you guys thought of The Revenant? I liked it, it's not always easy to listen but it creates a dark and cold atmosphere that is perfect for the movie (which I also really enjoyed).

 

Absolutely adore the film! In fact, it's my favourite film of the whole year (2016, when it premiered in Norway). I thought the score worked superbly in the film, but it wasn't something I could get into on album.

[GerateWohl 4,378]

A History of Violence - Howard Shore 

 

From time to time I am struggling with Shore as he is first of all not what I would call a symphonic composer and he often falls into very simplistic musical patterns that I don't find particularly interesting. But I really like this score. It might help, that I love the movie and am a big Cronenberg fan. But even there in that great body of work this score is easily in my top 5. Very lyrical. Rather illustration the peaceful life in the small town and how it slowly gets disturbed and questioned.

Very heavy, very psychological and slow, but beautiful at the same time. Musically more inspired than other recent works of Shore. 

[Tom Guernsey 2,287]

4 hours ago, Tallguy said:

As I mentioned earlier:

 

 

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) Shirley Walker

Not sure what I can say about this other than "Wow!" It might not be the perfect Batman score (but it might be). But it's the perfect Batman movie. Obviously Walker was standing on Elfman's shoulders but this is my favorite Batman theme. The story of the lyrics being the music departments name's backwards never gets old.

 

She also runs through all the musical settings of the sunlit Americana of Bruce and Andrea's past. Then the over the top insanity of the Joker's music. It's enough to give you whiplash.

 

This movie is kind of like Galaxy Quest: I saw it. All my friends saw it. We all loved it. Then I find out it has a "cult" following? Doesn't it just have a "following"? No? Bummer.

 

 

Great score but I need to see the film again. I don’t really remember it now aside from that I enjoyed it. Walker’s theme is the first one I think of when I think of Batman. I love Elfman and Goldenthal’s but Walker’s seems to capture more grandeur and mystery somehow. 

[Jay 37,374]

Opening up and listening to more physical CDs for the first time this week

 

John Williams - The Lost World (2023 LLL)

 

One of my favorite scores of all time, now perfectly presented.  By happenstance, I listened to Disc 1 then had to do a whole bunch of other stuff, then came back to Disc 2 a while later.  This was nice, as Disc 1 actually ends at a really nice spot, Disc 2 opens at a really nice spot, and most of the bonus tracks at the end of disc 2 are different versions of stuff on Disc 1, so it was only at the very end that I was hearing repeated music.  Overall, such a great release I am so proud to have helped make happen in this way.

 

 

James Horner - Dad (Quartet)

 

This is a movie I had never heard of at all outside of it being a film James Horner score, and a score I had never heard a note of before playing this edition.  It turns out the original OST album from 1989 (rebuilt here on disc 2) is a REALLY well done abridgement of the score, and the new complete main program on Disc 1 is wonderful as well, with some nice atypical moments that balance out the sound of the rest of the score.  A nice expansion I am glad I bought and listened to already!

 

 

Hans Zimmer , Nick-Glennie Smith, etc - The Rock (Intrada)

 

One of my favorite scores of all time. I have found memories of taking the OST album's physical CD into my car to listen to while driving around in my 1991 Chevy Lumina.  Taking off the shrinkwrap of this edition and have two new physical CDs of it made me think of that. The original album is one of the best distillations of a long score down to a OST album there is, but luckily I enjoy this complete edition very much as well!  Now, that mostly just means I like the new main program; The bonus tracks are more of the "nice to haves" than "essential listening" variety, though hearing the early versions of The Chase are pretty neat.

 

 

John Williams - The Post (FYC Album)

 

There isn't a terrible difference between listening to the OST or FYC for this score; Both largely rely on the opening cue setting the mood and then the final tracks celebrating the win of everything.  But this is a score I hadn't heard in many years, and it was nice to return to it.  It will never been a score mentioned as huge or important in Williams' career, but it shows that even for a smaller drama film that doesn't need a grandiose score, he composes something better than average and memorable long afterwards

 

 

John Powell - Solo (Intrada Deluxe)

 

Wowzers!  Soon after this was released digitally, I made my own custom edit that moved all the source music to be bonus tracks instead of in between score cues, added Williams' theme performance to the end, and did some other tweaks.  I got so used to that edit of mine, when I took the shrinkwrap off my Intrada physical edition and started playing it and the source pieces came on, I was really thrown for a loop!  I'm still not sure why Powell wanted things that way, other than making the entire thing be one album with a beginning, middle, and end, no "main program then bonus tracks" thing.  But even then, I'm not sure why he didn't overlap the last cue into the end credits.  Oh well.  Oh hey, have I mentioned this score is a amazing, I love it, and am so happy to own it physically?

[Holko 9,532]

19 minutes ago, Jay said:

John Williams - The Lost World (2023 LLL)

Perfectly complementarily I listened to the other 3 '97 scores this week! And it made me realise what a kind of depressing year it was for him, scoring all kinds of awful human on human atrocities - slavery, racism and lynch mobs, the invasion of another country, a David Koepp script...

[Jay 37,374]

Ha!

 

Yea, it was a very varied year for him!  I was glad to be on a podcast discussing the entire year, and was able to bring up how the year started with George Lucas reissuing the Star Wars films in theaters, and we all got those great 2-CD sets for each score, which are the first entries on Mike Matesino's website.  Williams also conducted lots of Star Wars music in concerts throughout that year, it being the 20th anniversary and everything.  It was quite a year to be a Williams fan!

[Faleel 5,364]

25 minutes ago, Holko said:

Perfectly complementarily I listened to the other 3 '97 scores this week! And it made me realise what a kind of depressing year it was for him, scoring all kinds of awful human on human atrocities - slavery, racism and lynch mobs, the invasion of another country, a David Koepp script...

Not to mention a digitally altered ending of a film he scored in 83, with a world music temp track...

[Jay 37,374]

Like Rosewood, recorded in 1996, technically

[Faleel 5,364]

12 minutes ago, Jay said:

Like Rosewood, recorded in 1996, technically

Figured...

[Jay 37,374]

Saving Private Ryan was actually recorded closer to Lost World/Tibet/Amistad than Rosewood was.  But anyway!  None of these changes the fact that what was released in 1997 was all super good, super varied, and a banner year for Williams!

[Tallguy 3,402]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

John Powell - Solo (Intrada Deluxe)

 

Wowzers!  Soon after this was released digitally, I made my own custom edit that moved all the source music to be bonus tracks instead of in between score cues, added Williams' theme performance to the end, and did some other tweaks.  I got so used to that edit of mine, when I took the shrinkwrap off my Intrada physical edition and started playing it and the source pieces came on, I was really thrown for a loop!  I'm still not sure why Powell wanted things that way, other than making the entire thing be one album with a beginning, middle, and end, no "main program then bonus tracks" thing.  But even then, I'm not sure why he didn't overlap the last cue into the end credits.  Oh well.  Oh hey, have I mentioned this score is a amazing, I love it, and am so happy to own it physically?

 

I've kind of let this one slide in my listening. I didn't buy the Intrada but thanks for reminding me to listen to the digital. I might need to see about picking this up. But I need to hunt down How to Train Your Dragon 1 & 2 first.

[Bespin 8,484]

I saw the announcement about the expansion of the third installment of 'How To Train Your Dragon', which made me want to revisit a bit the first 2 expansions, that I haven't listened to as diligently as I probably should have over the past year. John Powell is a composer whom I discovered mainly through Solo. His style of composition doesn't feel too unfamiliar to me, as I particularly enjoy fairly classic Fantasy scores. So, of course, I then moved on to 'Happy Feet', the HTTYD trilogy, and obviously 'The Call of the Wild'.

 

I'm not sure if this playlist (10 tracks selected for each expansion) seems satisfying to evoke the great moments of the first two 'How To Train Your Dragon' movies, but it's what I'm listening to right now, and I'm really enjoying it!

 

[JTN 2,048]

On 5/1/2024 at 5:48 PM, Tallguy said:

As I mentioned earlier:

 

 

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) Shirley Walker

Not sure what I can say about this other than "Wow!" It might not be the perfect Batman score (but it might be). But it's the perfect Batman movie. Obviously Walker was standing on Elfman's shoulders but this is my favorite Batman theme. The story of the lyrics being the music departments name's backwards never gets old.

 

She also runs through all the musical settings of the sunlit Americana of Bruce and Andrea's past. Then the over the top insanity of the Joker's music. It's enough to give you whiplash.

 

This movie is kind of like Galaxy Quest: I saw it. All my friends saw it. We all loved it. Then I find out it has a "cult" following? Doesn't it just have a "following"? No? Bummer.

 

 

Just rewatched it the other day. The opening credits with the 3D art deco facade with the gothic main theme is spectacular. I just wish that the entire score would be so monumental, but it’s still great. 
 

——————

 

Upon @Thor’s recommendation I listened to Henry Mancini’s The Adventures of the Great Mouse Detective. What a lovely score. 
 

I’ll be listening to HZ’s Beyond Rangoon today, also because of you. 
 

Thanks for the recommendations, Master Thor! 

[Jurassic Shark 12,094]

 

It's okay.

[JTN 2,048]

Same as @Jay, before this release I never heard of this film, which is odd, considering how good the cast is (Lemmon is always great).

Anyway, it’s a very nice score, and not just for fans of JH. 
 

[Edmilson 7,474]

It's not bad. The most interesting part is that it has some seeds of what would be even better scores in the future: Field of Dreams, Legends of the Fall, etc.

[A24 4,347]

 

It's amazing to me that in this day and age someone is allowed to write music for movies in the style reminiscent of Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki.

[filmmusic 1,843]

1 hour ago, A24 said:

It's amazing to me that in this day and age someone is allowed to write music for movies in the style reminiscent of Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki.

Haven't listened to this. You mean it's atonal, or tonal?

[A24 4,347]

17 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

Haven't listened to this. You mean it's atonal, or tonal?

 

Mostly atonal, but very relaxing or calming.  

[Bespin 8,484]

Periodically, I try to revisit the Boston Pops albums recorded under the Philips label, which not only allowed John Williams to showcase the Boston Pops but also to promote the music he composed during a period that likely contributed to establishing his renown as a film music composer.

 

I believe these six albums truly form a collection of recordings that have become 'legendary' today.

 

[Thor 7,523]

 

Always been a sucker for Silvestri's Synclavier excursions in the 80s, and this is a gem among them.

[filmmusic 1,843]

7 minutes ago, Thor said:

Always been a sucker for Silvestri's Synclavier excursions in the 80s, and this is a gem among them.

I LOVE this score (and film)! (although I'm not into synth scores).

Especially the theme.

I hope for an official release!

[Thor 7,523]

Surprised by that, as you - like you say - don't usually care for electronic music. But kudos!

[filmmusic 1,843]

2 minutes ago, Thor said:

Surprised by that, as you - like you say - don't usually care for electronic music. But kudos!

Yeah, maybe it has to do with watching the film first in my childhood.

That main theme was stuck on my mind afterwards.

[Bespin 8,484]

They turn 50 in 2024!

• Jerry Goldsmith - Chinatown
• John Williams - Earthquake
• John Williams - The Towering Inferno
• Nino Rota - The Godfather Part II

 

Will you be turning 50 this year?

 

[Tallguy 3,402]

1 hour ago, Bespin said:

Will you be turning 50 this year?

 

 

Too late.

[Thor 7,523]

 

I really miss Illarramendi's wistful voice on the film music scene these days. Here a nice multi-score disc from 1997 that covers some of his earlier material (EL ALIENTO DEL DIABLO, in particular, was the first Illarramendi I got and has been with me for 25+ years).

[A24 4,347]

 

 

[Andy 4,147]

On 9/1/2024 at 8:34 AM, Tallguy said:

 

Too late.

 

[Edmilson 7,474]

31 minutes ago, A24 said:

 

 

I read the name of this album as Close Encounters of the John Williams Kind 

[Tallguy 3,402]

11 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

I read the name of this album as Close Encounters of the John Williams Kind 

 

Best kind.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,554]

On 09/01/2024 at 1:34 PM, Tallguy said:

 

Too late.

 

Far too late 

[A24 4,347]

 

54 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

I read the name of this album as Close Encounters of the John Williams Kind 

 

 Synth work (Close Encounters and Presumed Innocence) is really bad on this album.

[Raiders of the SoundtrArk 2,433]

On 09/01/2024 at 1:23 PM, Bespin said:

They turn 50 in 2024!

• Jerry Goldsmith - Chinatown
• John Williams - Earthquake
• John Williams - The Towering Inferno
• Nino Rota - The Godfather Part II

 

Will you be turning 50 this year?

 

Really hope LLL tackles The Godfather, part. II expansion this year. And speaking of 50th anniversary, there's two missing Williams scores that don't even have an OST that would be worth celebrating

[Jay 37,374]

Latest physical CDs opened up and listened to:

 

James Horner - Sneakers (La-La Land)

 

Wow. I  listened to the OST album disc one day, and it was great.  I listened to the new main program disc another day, and it was also great.  I prefer the new main program, it has excellent flow and not a dull moment.  Also the chronological order means the big moments hit at a better time.  You gotta play disc 2 though for Marsalis going wild on the sax in the SNeakers Theme Alternate!

 

 

John Powell - How To Train Your Dragon 3 (OST)

 

Wow!  I was blown away by how good this score is.  While 2 spent a lot of time giving us (GREAT!) new renditions of many Film 1 themes, this score uses them more as cameos at just the right moments, and is largely made up of (wonderful!) new material.  And such GREAT work from the choir!  I can't wait for next month's Deluxe Edition!

[Jay 37,374]

This week's digital listening

 

 

John Powell - How To Train Your Dragon 2 (Deluxe Edition)

 

Great score!  Just getting to know it finally and boy, it's a perfect sequel score!

 

 

Brian Tyler - Now You See Me

 

Just so much fun

[JTN 2,048]

2 hours ago, Jay said:

John Powell - How To Train Your Dragon 3 (OST)

Couldn't wait 'til the new expanded release?  

[Bespin 8,484]

The Cinema Of Martin Scorsese:

• Bernard Herrmann - Taxi Driver
• Bernard Herrmann, Elmer Bernstein - Cape Fear
• Elmer Bernstein - The Age of Innocence
• Howard Shore - Gangs of New York
• Howard Shore - The Aviator
• Howard Shore - The Departed
• Howard Shore - Hugo

[Naïve Old Fart 9,554]

A good haul, Bes, and TAXI DRIVER would have been a shoo-in for the Oscar, if a certain diabolical film hadn't been released.

[Bespin 8,484]

19 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

A good haul, Bes, and TAXI DRIVER would have been a shoo-in for the Oscar, if a certain diabolical film hadn't been released.

 

It would have been rather pointless to award an Oscar to a deceased person!

[Naïve Old Fart 9,554]

Not at all! Peter Finch, Conrad Hall, Geoffrey Unsworth, and Heath Ledger deserved their awards.

[Jurassic Shark 12,094]

But they're all dead!