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

[JTN 2,030]

There is really nothing to say here. A masterpiece, in every sense of the word. 
 

 

Very good. I heard a little Basic Instinct in it, and in a twisted way the house is a serial killer like Catherine Tramell, and she also kills people after they sleep “with” her, in her, so it’s a pretty apt analogy that Goldsmith subconsciously incorporates into the score.

[Thor 7,508]

 

Listening to the great SEGUNDA PIEL again, from the year 2000. God, I really miss THIS Banos, before he was swallowed up by boring tropes.

[Thor 7,508]

 

You can't really go wrong with Robbins. Those slowmoving, circular movements feel like someone's rubbing balsam on your soul. He was doing post-minimalist romanticism long before it was fashion. Richter, Korzeniowski, Desplat, Marianelli etc. -- they all point back to Robbins.

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

Too bad all his soundtrack albums are OOP.

[Thor 7,508]

Are they? Could be. You can find quite few of them on Discogs for reasonable prices (but of course, that's often counterweighed by the expensive shipping). You can get JEFFERSON IN PARIS, for example, for about a Euro or a Dollar, not counting shipping. Of course, half that album is made up of classical pieces; about 30 mins of original Robbins.

 

On to...

 

 

Francois de Roubaix was really cutting-edge, wasn't he? Combined avantgarde elements with things like Morricone, Budd and whatever was going on the New Wave scene at the time. This is one of my favs of his; more accessible and wistful (this cover is from the single, but I've separated the Universal release of this and LE SAMOURAI into two albums, and needed a separate cover).

[Thor 7,508]

 

OK, last one for today, promise (I tend to hog this thread with my obscure selections, sorry). Another brilliant Banos score from the past (2007). Gorgeous, sweeping stuff. It wears its Bernard Herrmann on its sleeve.

[Thor 7,508]

 

Romantic and beautiful, with lovely use of acoustic guitar - like in the 12-minute "Cendrillon".

[crocodile 8,017]

 Something Wicked This Way Comes by James Horner. A really great effort from Jimmy, glad Intrada managed to revisit it. I only got my hands on the new copy today (it was waiting for me for weeks). I love dark fantasy music so this hits the spot.

 

Karol - who also likes Delerue score quite a bit

[Thor 7,508]

 

This is a great one. Big, bold and religoso, with choir and operatic solo voices, among other things. True, some of those "contemporary ostinati" here and there aren't that interesting, but for the most part a very impressive work by Mr. Donaggio in the latter part of his career. (Sorry I didn't mention to it to you before, filmmusic, but I only just discovered it myself as I'm trying to build my Donaggio collection a little bit).

[Badzeee 110]

On 2/3/2024 at 3:55 PM, Marian Schedenig said:

Both scores work reasonably well in their films (with the Zimmer score having several moments where it seems very overbearing for no discernible reason). But the Toto score is actually interesting music that I like to listen to apart from the movie, unlike Zimmer's sound design.

 

Of course, the Toto score accompanies a film that, despite many brilliant aspects, simply doesn't work itself. The score is perhaps that one aspect where it trumps Villeneuve's version.

 

On reflection, and after finding the time to watch Lynch’s movie for the first time in many years, I feel I may have been a little harsh in that initial (re)assessment. In context, the music works perfectly well. There’s a synthetic quality to it that matches the imagery and all those stagey, declamatory performances. It’s all a bit “rock opera.”

 

As a listening experience in its own right, it’s not really for me, but it certainly does the job it’s supposed to do.

 

[KittBash 282]

It’s been awhile since this has been given a spin. Forgot how consistently good Bear can be. 
 

[Romão 2,274]

7 hours ago, Badzeee said:

 

On reflection, and after finding the time to watch Lynch’s movie for the first time in many years, I feel I may have been a little harsh in that initial (re)assessment. In context, the music works perfectly well. There’s a synthetic quality to it that matches the imagery and all those stagey, declamatory performances. It’s all a bit “rock opera.”

 

As a listening experience in its own right, it’s not really for me, but it certainly does the job it’s supposed to do.

 

 

The OST really is a poor representation of the score. Even the Main Title is a synth mock up. Listen to the expanded score if you can. It makes its operatic qualities much more apparent. 

 

I hope a new expanded and remastered edition is in the works

[Tallguy 3,398]

10 minutes ago, Romão said:

I hope a new expanded and remastered edition is in the works

 

I always figured a version of the Rankin / Bass Hobbit would have tried to ride on the coat tales of the Jackson fellow back in the day. Never happened.

[Faleel 5,355]

14 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

 

I always figured a version of the Rankin / Bass Hobbit would have tried to ride on the coat tales of the Jackson fellow back in the day. Never happened.

ROTK is what we really need.

[Thor 7,508]

Spoiler

 

Outside the tantalizing cover, a delightful sex comedy score that combines synths and orchestra in ways that only Donaggio can (and perhaps Francis Lai). Perhaps a melancholic piano or string line, with discrete, bubbly synths underneath. Also some delightful collision of styles, like the opening track "Mozartiana" - having Mozart's stylings (of the famous opera by the same name) collide with electric guitars, BEVERLY HILLS 91210-style. Love it!

[Badzeee 110]

7 hours ago, Romão said:

 

The OST really is a poor representation of the score. Even the Main Title is a synth mock up. Listen to the expanded score if you can. It makes its operatic qualities much more apparent. 

 

I hope a new expanded and remastered edition is in the works

 

Fair. I was wondering why it sounded so beefy and enormous on the film soundtrack and so flat on the OST I listened to. 

 

All things Dune are hot right now; a new presentation of archival stuff seems an entirely reasonable expectation. I watched the movie via the Arrow Films 4K blu-ray release that came out a couple of years ago synonymous with Villeneuve’s Dune Part 1. 

[JTN 2,030]

👍🏻

[Thor 7,508]

 

I feel like Caprioli is one of the more underrated of current Italian composers (he's 62, so not a youngling). Usually reverts back to the melodic elegance of his predecessors for his film and TV work, including this period piece.

[JTN 2,030]

@Thor What are 10 scores that in your opinion every film music aficionado should listen to?

[Thor 7,508]

4 minutes ago, JTN said:

@Thor What are 10 scores that in your opinion every film music aficionado should listen to?

 

My top 10 favourites? That would be JURASSIC PARK, JANE EYRE, RETURN OF THE JEDI, THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, BEYOND RANGOON, THE ABYSS, ALIEN 3, BLADE RUNNER and WATERWORLD. So nothing obscure there.

[Edmilson 7,466]

31 minutes ago, Thor said:

 

I feel like Caprioli is one of the more underrated of current Italian composers (he's 62, so not a youngling). Usually reverts back to the melodic elegance of his predecessors for his film and TV work, including this period piece.

Hey Thor (and the others who post on this thread), what do you think about putting the name of the score and the composer above the album cover? I really like this thing of putting the cover of the album you're reviewing, it made this thread (and other score threads) more colorful, but by adding the score and composer name you can make easier for people who use the search bar. Like, imagine someone in the future searching for comments on JWFan about Caprioli, Donnagio, Sarde or Goldsmith, so they'll find these reviews.

 

This is something I like to do myself, like this:

 

On 21/02/2024 at 12:01 AM, Edmilson said:

James Horner - House of Cards

 

 

Kinda like a shier cousin to Searching for Bobby Fischer, which came out on the same year. It's less overtly melodramatic than, say, Bobby Fischer or A Beautiful Mind, but it's a rewarding listen. Nice intimate moments and even some ethnic instruments mixed with synths, a Horner trope. An undiscovered gem in 's filmography.

 

Or this:

 

On 25/02/2024 at 8:56 PM, Edmilson said:

Danny Elfman - Hulk - Complete Score

 

 

One hugely underrated gem in Elfman's career, and especially among his superhero scores.

 

I like how his Hulk theme, a repeating figure for flutes and strings, is kinda like he's channeling his inner Herrmann and it's used to represent Banner's/Hulk's internal conflicts, as the movie is as much as an exploration of his psychology as a superhero monster movie (which made it be receive some harsh fan responses when it was released two decades ago). There's also another theme related to Bruce's mom and Betty which is more emotional, and the contrats between these two themes form a nice narrative arc.

 

I think that this score can be described as a darker take on his Spider-Man score (with some similar moments but without Spidey's whimsy) mixed with Red Dragon, both of which came out in the year before Hulk. 

 

Even the much-criticized Middle Eastern inspired material, with duduk and female moaning a la Lisa Gerrard, work to diferentiate this score from Spider-Man.

 

Now that his Batman scores, Spider-Man and Hellboy 2 were already expanded, I believe this one (as well as Spiderman 2, but that one may prove a little tricky) should get the expanded treatment as well.

 

[Thor 7,508]

It's a good point, but a little 'gild the lily' or 'butter your bacon', I think the English idiom is. That is doubling the information. I kinda like the simplicity of just the album cover and the brief text underneath. But your point about searchability is a good one. Not that I think anyone will do board-wide searches for most of my obscure selections, anyway.

[filmmusic 1,834]

On 04/03/2024 at 2:11 PM, Thor said:

 

This is a great one. Big, bold and religoso, with choir and operatic solo voices, among other things. True, some of those "contemporary ostinati" here and there aren't that interesting, but for the most part a very impressive work by Mr. Donaggio in the latter part of his career. (Sorry I didn't mention to it to you before, filmmusic, but I only just discovered it myself as I'm trying to build my Donaggio collection a little bit).

I just finished listening to it!

I agree with your assessment. I'm not familiar at all with Donaggio, but this was impressive indeed.

[Tom Guernsey 2,286]

4 hours ago, Edmilson said:

Hey Thor (and the others who post on this thread), what do you think about putting the name of the score and the composer above the album cover? I really like this thing of putting the cover of the album you're reviewing, it made this thread (and other score threads) more colorful, but by adding the score and composer name you can make easier for people who use the search bar. Like, imagine someone in the future searching for comments on JWFan about Caprioli, Donnagio, Sarde or Goldsmith, so they'll find these reviews.

 

This is something I like to do myself, like this:

 

 

Or this:

 

 

Agree. And also above YouTube clips so if it’s not available where someone is, you can at least look it up elsewhere. 

[Thor 7,508]

I always felt people could check out YouTube videos on their own if they were interested in something. The embeds here tend to clog up loading time for a page anyway (there are too many YouTube videos around here in general! I prefer it when people use WORDS). But that's me. People will do what they prefer, I suppose.

[crocodile 8,017]

A friend of mine, not from our community, recommended this score to me. It's quite pretty actually.

 

 

Karol

[Thor 7,508]

 

Great exotica score from Stu Phillips for this 1969 globetrotting surf documentary (not to be confused by the John Barry-scored FOLLOW ME! from 1972). Stu is still around, btw, and occasionally posting on FSM at age 94. 

[JTN 2,030]

8 hours ago, Thor said:

 

My top 10 favourites? That would be JURASSIC PARK, JANE EYRE, RETURN OF THE JEDI, THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, BEYOND RANGOON, THE ABYSS, ALIEN 3, BLADE RUNNER and WATERWORLD. So nothing obscure there.

Thanks, great list, these are some of my favourite scores as well.

But I'm not entirely sure that how I phrased it necessarily means one's favourite scores. It probably does, now that you answered like that, but for some reason that's not how I initially meant it. Like is there any score that isn't one of my favourite, but I would say everyone should listen to? Maybe, maybe not...

 

Speaking of your list, I'm surprised that 1., there are two Elfman scores on it, and 2., no Batman?

It's so great that Jedi is your favorite SW score. It's starting to become my favourite, too.

BLADE RUNNER is a no brainer for me, too. 

The Abyss and Alien 3 - masterpieces.

Waterworld I have to listen to again, because I don't know it that well, but now that I know that it's one of your all-time favourite scores, I have to give it a proper listen. 

I recently listened to BEYOND RANGOON on your recommendation and really liked it. 

[Faleel 5,355]

4 hours ago, Thor said:

I always felt people could check out YouTube videos on their own if they were interested in something. The embeds here tend to clog up loading time for a page anyway (there are too many YouTube videos around here in general! I prefer it when people use WORDS). But that's me. People will do what they prefer, I suppose.

 

[Thor 7,508]

 

An early Banos score, from 1999, but also one of his best. Classical pastiche, some Hispanic elements (castanettes). Yes, it also has a couple of aching Herrmann elements, like so much of Banos' output in those days, but smartly done. Film looks interesting -- cinematography by the great Storaro. Never seen it, though.

 

9 hours ago, JTN said:

Thanks, great list, these are some of my favourite scores as well.

But I'm not entirely sure that how I phrased it necessarily means one's favourite scores. It probably does, now that you answered like that, but for some reason that's not how I initially meant it. Like is there any score that isn't one of my favourite, but I would say everyone should listen to? Maybe, maybe not...

 

I'm not quite sure what you mean. If you don't mean 'favourite', then 10 underrated/obscure scores that everyone should hear?  Or 10 central and important film scores throughout history? The latter is a huge topic and perhaps better suited for another thread (I think we may have one already). I'm guessing it will amount to some 100 scores, at least. If I were to pick, say, 10 random titles out of those 100, maybe METROPOLIS, KING KONG, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY, STAR WARS, PIERROT LE FOU, THE ROCK, CHARIOTS OF FIRE, TITANIC, AMERICAN BEAUTY...

[JTN 2,030]

Yes, I guess that's what I meant, so thanks for the detailed answer.

5 hours ago, Thor said:

TITANIC

Why is it so special in your opinion?

[Thor 7,508]

1 hour ago, JTN said:

Why is it so special in your opinion?

 

I mean, I love it, but there isn't anything inherently special or influential about it. It just became a big hit & phenomenon, and hence a 'central/important' score throughout history. That encompasses a lot of things. DR. ZHIVAGO wasn't anything special either, but was hugely popular, and would be another one. And CONAN THE BARBARIAN, the film, never reached beyond cult status in normal circles, but in film music circles, the score is a cornerstone, rarely disliked by anyone. So many different parameters would be involved in naming something 'central' or 'important' throughout film history, and hence "scores that people should listen to".

[JTN 2,030]

4 minutes ago, Thor said:

DR. ZHIVAGO wasn't anything special either

I don’t agree with you there. It’s both an amazing film and score. Agree with everything else. 

 

 

[Thor 7,508]

14 minutes ago, JTN said:

I don’t agree with you there. It’s both an amazing film and score. Agree with everything else. 

 

Oh, I agree. Great score (although it repeats "Lara's Theme" just a little too often for my taste). I'm just saying it wasn't stylistically influential or anything like that. But its commercial success gives it a spot in this particular "central scores throughout history" list. LOVE STORY would be another in the same category.

[filmmusic 1,834]

37 minutes ago, Thor said:

It just became a big hit & phenomenon, and hence a 'central/important' score throughout history.

I used to love the score to TITANIC, but in later years I realized that it's not even among the best Horner scores. (in my opinion, that is , of course).

[Naïve Old Fart 9,539]

20 hours ago, Thor said:

 

If she looks like that, I'd follow her anywhere 

[bruce marshall 1,315]

[filmmusic 1,834]

 

I'm afraid it didn't do anything to me.

Maybe, besides some old scores that I love, I'm not that into big fantasy-adventure scores anymore...

[Faleel 5,355]

25 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

 

I'm afraid it didn't do anything to me.

Maybe, besides some old scores that I love, I'm not that into big fantasy-adventure scores anymore...

Miklos Rozsa would say you need to listen to it again.

[filmmusic 1,834]

2 minutes ago, Faleel said:

Miklos Rozsa would say you need to listen to it again.

You compare this to Rozsa?

[Faleel 5,355]

Just now, filmmusic said:

You compare this to Rozsa?

IIRC his book correctly, Rozsa said you have to listen to a work at least twice, so you can get the shape of it, before you can judge it fully.

[filmmusic 1,834]

Just now, Faleel said:

IIRC his book correctly, Rozsa said you have to listen to a work at least twice, so you can get the shape of it, before you can judge it fully.

Ah, I see! 

[Tallguy 3,398]

15 minutes ago, Faleel said:

Miklos Rozsa would say you need to listen to it again.

 

Outside of one track it took me YEARS to get into this score. And this is as a huge fan of the first two.

 

The Deluxe is sitting in front of me as of fifteen minutes ago. I already like the track titles better. By a bizarre twist of fate and finance this is the only one of the deluxe HTTYD that I have.

[Edmilson 7,466]

Weird. HTTYD 3 is my favorite of the trilogy, as well as my favorite score of 2019. I absolutely love the second one as well. The first one is great but as I said before I "struggle" with it a bit more than the other two... lol.

 

The whole trilogy has magnificent themes and wonderful action music.

[JTN 2,030]

On 5/3/2024 at 3:18 PM, Thor said:

 

My top 10 favourites? That would be JURASSIC PARK, JANE EYRE, RETURN OF THE JEDI, THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, BEYOND RANGOON, THE ABYSS, ALIEN 3, BLADE RUNNER and WATERWORLD. So nothing obscure there.

Would you write a few sentences about each of these scores, why you find them so special? 

[Thor 7,508]

 

Sadly, as a Roy Andersson fan, I haven't seen this 1970 film of his. But the soundtrack is great. Proto-prog á la Procol Harum with some folk elements thrown in, as always with Björn Isfält's achingly gorgeous, bittersweet orchestral backdrops and variations.

 

39 minutes ago, JTN said:

Would you write a few sentences about each of these scores, why you find them so special? 

 

I did so in my very first episode of Celluloid Tunes in 2013, but that's in Norwegian, so useless in this context. I think also I did in a previous thread on the subject here on the board. I'll check.

[JTN 2,030]

1 hour ago, Thor said:

I think also I did in a previous thread on the subject here on the board. I'll check.

Just one or two sentences per score would suffice. 

[crocodile 8,017]

 Mimic. Marco Beltrami is a composer whose output I find all over the place. But when he's good, he's really good. There are some scores of his that are absolutely essential and this is definitely one of them. Elegant and seductive horror score.

 

Karol

[Bespin 8,483]

Birthday setup.

 

- Close Encounters of the Third Kind (40th)
- E.T. (35th)

- Amistad (25th)

- Hook (2023)

[Jay 37,369]

Four of the best scores ever written