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

[Naïve Old Fart 9,544]

DRACULA (1979)

Oh, wow! What a powerhouse of a score!

It's true to say, dear JWfaner, that in July of '79, and coming on the heels of the superb 2-LP set of SUPERMAN, DRACULA was a bit of a letdown. Also, it's a stone cold fact that the vinyl album sounded utter shite.

Not so, the new (ish) release. It really brings out hidden depths of the score, and the C&C presentation puts so much more meat on the musical bones.

JW can write great soaring scores, and he can write chamber piece scores, but it's his dark, angry music that sets him apart from the rest of the herd. His work on DRACULA, THE FURY, and, to an extent, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND has almost no equal. Only Jerry's THE OMEN trilogy and Kilar's BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA, imo, compare favourably.

A truly underrated work, that deserves to be heard by as many people as possible.

[GerateWohl 4,370]

Wuthering Heights - Ryuichi Sakamoto

 

A really beautiful score with a fine striking longlined love theme that seems to be repeated about a hundred times. But when the album is over you just want to start again from the beginning. 

 

[crocodile 8,017]

 Aliens. This a music from a man who is at the brink of murdering his director.

 

Karol

[GerateWohl 4,370]

19 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Only Jerry's THE OMEN trilogy and Kilar's BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA, imo, compare favourably.

When it comes to dark angry music Chris Young might have a word.

And Goldsmith's scores for Alien and Poltergeist don't have to hide behind those mentioned by you. 

[Edmilson 7,466]

Anyone else like Jerry's Poltergeist II? Sure, the weird 80s synths can be annoying, but the choir parts reminded me of his Omen scores.

[GerateWohl 4,370]

20 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Anyone else like Jerry's Poltergeist II? Sure, the weird 80s synths can be annoying, but the choir parts reminded me of his Omen scores.

I love the opening track but for the rest I am not so passionate. 

 

But in general, the movie is an underrated sequel.

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

49 minutes ago, GerateWohl said:

Wuthering Heights - Ryuichi Sakamoto

 

A really beautiful score with a fine striking longlined love theme that seems to be repeated about a hundred times. But when the album is over you just want to start again from the beginning. 

 

 

I've got that! Didn't do much for me on first listening, though. 

[Thor 7,512]

54 minutes ago, crocodile said:

 Aliens. This a music from a man who is at the brink of murdering his director.

 

Karol

 

He, he. I dared to bring it up in my interview with him in 2013. From 30:20 here:

 

https://celluloidtunes.no/celluloid-tunes-08-james-horner-in-vienna-2nd-international-edition/

[JNHFan2000 2,966]

Signs - James Newton Howard

 

One of the best thriller scores of this century.

The 3 repeating notes are so simple, but are able to convey so much!

Still sad Howard isn't writing for Shyamalan anymore. The scores for his films were truly something special.

Each very distinct, but all fantastic!

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

2 hours ago, GerateWohl said:

When it comes to dark angry music Chris Young might have a word.

And Goldsmith's scores for Alien and Poltergeist don't have to hide behind those mentioned by you. 

 

And if Kilar's Dracula counts, then so does his Ninth Gate.

 

2 hours ago, Edmilson said:

Anyone else like Jerry's Poltergeist II?

 

Many do, but so far it mostly eludes me.

[JNHFan2000 2,966]

Far From Heaven - Elmer Bernstein

 

What a gem of a score. I could listen to the main theme for hours

[Andy 4,138]

2 hours ago, Edmilson said:

Anyone else like Jerry's Poltergeist II? Sure, the weird 80s synths can be annoying, but the choir parts reminded me of his Omen scores.

I love it. It’s daring to be different than the first score.   I think the (admittedly hokey) Native American motifs are lovely, and the action music with choir is pretty thrilling.  Some powerful writing for trombone in the climax. 

[GerateWohl 4,370]

Speaking of dark and angry music...

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=bMrrS9EHSV4&si=VYnj5BYhGWoaEXkc 

 

2 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

I've got that! Didn't do much for me on first listening, though. 

It just got me in the right mood.

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

10 minutes ago, GerateWohl said:

It just got me in the right mood.

 

For what? 

[GerateWohl 4,370]

For these longlined pleasant haunting melodies.

[Edmilson 7,466]

John Powell - The Adventures of Pluto Nash & Gigli

 

 

 

Two decades ago, John Powell scored what are considered two of the worst movies of all time. Their reception with the critics and the box office was so atrocious that I'm not even sure if their scores were officially released (the Gigli one I'm sure it's a bootleg).

 

Because of the movies's poor reputation I never gave much thought to their scores, even after I became a Powell fan. It was a mistake: despite the awfulness of the movies, their scores are great!

 

Pluto Nash is superbly entertaining. It's a direct cousin to Agent Cody Banks (another JP hidden gem I only got to know a few months ago): both are comedic action scores mixing Powell's energic and extremely fun orchestral writing with synths, electronic beats, drums and guitar. This promo album is only 35 minutes long but it doesn't contain a single boring moment and if you like Powell's energetic action writing and powerful brass from stuff like Evolution and Paycheck you'll enjoy this. One of the themes is quite similar to the Building the Crate theme from Chicken Run though...

 

Gigli is less action and more similar to his rom-com music. It's mostly synths and guitar plus strings performing charming, lovely romance music. Some moments are indeed touching. Quite a nice surprise.

[Andy 4,138]

 

Live and Let Die - George Martin.
 

Utterly fantastic!  I was never impressed with George Martin’s Yellow Submarine score, but this is actually quite eclectic, and never ever a dull moment.  Some of the baroque funk grooves reminded me of The Omega Man in a good way.  And of course he give the James Bond Theme and the LALD theme some really nice workouts.  Love the Fillet of Soul version. 
 

 

Meteor - Lawrence Rosenthal

 

Good, but I was expecting the Blaster Beam to be more prominent and in your face.  I need another listen, because for some reason I was expecting a little more.  Reminded me a little of John Scott’s Final Countdown.   Does anyone know if the later Intrada release improves on sound quality over the LLL?

 

 

Le Chat / Le Train - Philippe Sarde

 

I expected to like Le Train more, thinking I’d get something more literal with propulsive, rhythmic orchestrations.  But Le Chat was more enjoyable. The theme immediately caught me with familiarity. Then of course! I figured it out. It’s the theme from Sarde’s later Ghost Story.  No matter. It’s really enjoyable so I can see why he’d use it again. 
 

Im having fun exploring Sarde. I really hope Quartet or Music Box Records releases his Quest for Fire score. Seems like a natural title for them. 

[Thor 7,512]

13 minutes ago, Andy said:

I expected to like Le Train more, thinking I’d get something more literal with propulsive, rhythmic orchestrations.  But Le Chat was more enjoyable. The theme immediately caught me with familiarity. Then of course! I figured it out. It’s the theme from Sarde’s later Ghost Story.  No matter. It’s really enjoyable so I can see why he’d use it again. 

 

Yeah, I warned you about the re-use. I, too, consider THE CHAT superior to LE TRAIN.

 

By the way, as far as George Martin is concerned, I really recommend his compilation from a few years back, that includes both film and non-film work.

[Andy 4,138]

I actually don't mind Sarde's re-use, simply because I don't have a horse in the race for the films.  I haven't seen them, I'm not attached to them.  (Well, I guess I saw Ghost Story years ago) But if the themes slide from movie to movie, it feels less egregious than when Horner does it.

[Smaug The Iron 516]

[Thor 7,512]

Is now the time I admit that I'm not THAT big a fan of those scores? I mean, they're fine, but I'm content with my 38-minute playlist of HTTYD 2, the superior of the scores. There, I've said it. Shoot me! Throw tomatos! Do what you wish!

[Holko 9,529]

Quote

In slang, a troll is a person who posts deliberately offensive or provocative messages online(...) The methods and motivations of trolls can range from benign to sadistic. These messages can be inflammatory, insincere, digressive, extraneous, or off-topic, and may have the intent of provoking others into displaying emotional responses, or manipulating others' perception, thus acting as a bully or a provocateur. The behavior is typically for the troll's amusement, or to achieve a specific result such as disrupting a rival's online activities or purposefully causing confusion or harm to other people.

Just gonna leave this here...

[Thor 7,512]

Trolls 4-ever!

[crocodile 8,017]

 Travelling this morning and listening to John Williams' pastoral trilogy (of sorts): Heidi, Jane Eyre and The River. All quite lovely, I might add, but you all already knew that.

 

Also listened to @Taikomochi's excellent edit of Dial of Destiny. 

 

Karol

[Jay 37,369]

Michael Giacchino - Spider-man: Homecoming (LP program)

 

I hadn't listened to this score in a while, and I kind of appreciate its smaller scope compared to the two sequel scores.  Strangely Vulture's theme is more over the top and overbearing than any of the sequel scores' villain themes, yet overall the score is more focused on Peter and his struggles, since the film is (as opposed to the more cosmic consequences of the sequels).  I also like that the LP program really sums up everything in 40 minutes without feeling like its missing anything

[Tom Guernsey 2,286]

Il Postino - Luis Bacalov or "the score that somehow beat two of James Horner's best scores to the Oscar" (hint... it probably split the vote and if he'd just been nominated for one or other, most likely would have walked it...) In fairness, Bacalov's score is absolutely charming, almost entirely based on variations on its charming main theme. Having said that... I'm sure the theme sounds like something else, kinda Ennio in Cinema Paradiso mode (but I don't think that's it). Is it just me or is it just one of those timeless themes that makes you think it's from something else?!

[Thor 7,512]

 

For waltz buffs! (seriously, a great and lush score that perhaps just needs a little whittling here and there).

[GerateWohl 4,370]

On 25/03/2024 at 9:38 PM, Andy said:

I wonder if this is a good entry level purchase?

 

Philippe Sarde Box Set

I have that box set now and I really love it. It provides a cronological walk through Sarde's career from 1969 until 2021 on six CDs with exactly one track per film. For me it's like a miniature of these Ecoutez le Cinemà boxsets. Wish that would exist for Sarde, too.

10 hours ago, Thor said:

For waltz buffs!

That's me!

[Holko 9,529]

So, since I bought Zorro, which is now the latest Horner score I own, and I was planning on relistening to a few of his scores anyway, I decided to just make it an all-out Horner marathon, going through all his scores I own!

 

Wrath of Khan (+ my Search for Spock suite) - It really already has it all, doesn't it? Gentle emotional stuff, TOS-esque underscore, Danger Motif and experimentation for Khan, and awesome action that really draws you in with its consistent tempo but changing emphasised beats, kickass theme usage, back and forth good guy/bad guy music, satisfyingly timed hits...

 

Krull - and here of course he just turns it all up to 11. "I have pretty much free reign and the LSO? Cool. Let's see how good they really are. I will break them." Thankfully they can keep up with the insane barrage of high-octane action, lush love theme and long-lined Korngoldian fanfares thrown out left and right! Man, I can't imagine what it must've been like to see this wunderkind come out of nowhere and immediately come to such career peaks in only a handful of years!

 

Cocoon - I adore the arc of this score, how all the hinted at themes come into their own and the sound grows from gentle beginnings to a tragic midpoint, a resolved heroic third act and a bittersweet farewell finale.

 

Aliens - It's Aliens. What else is there to say?

 

Willow - Again I love the arc of the score, the orchestral writing and also all the weird other sounds it incorporates.

 

Sneakers - Holy shit why am I not listening to this more? Wonderful minimalistic texturework, breezy fun and just enough tension.

 

Jumanji - Again I just love his creativity with textures and ability to create flow and tension even while somewhat restraindely underplaying the mayhem onscreen.

 

Titanic - What stood out to me this time was how much I now like all the deliberately used synth textures!

[Jay 37,369]

Most of those are in my Horner top 10!

 

I'd say The Rocketeer, Apollo 13, and Glory should be the ones you check out next!

[Holko 9,529]

48 minutes ago, Jay said:

Apollo 13

Works great in the film, doesn't do much for me on its own.

 

48 minutes ago, Jay said:

The Rocketeer

Tried to try it multiple times but it hasn't clicked/unlocked for me yet. Maybe next time it's rerereissued I'll try watching the movie and really listening to it all from start to finish. (No, don't link things to me now, I'll just be annoyed that it's OOP )

 

48 minutes ago, Jay said:

Glory

Based just on the samples it's not for me, this slow sanctimonious Americana war epic is not my thing (with rare exceptions maybe), I didn't buy SPR either.

 

The labels need to get to the good stuff already! Brainstorm would be an instabuy, based on at-work OST streaming I really liked Perfect Storm, kinda liked Bicentennial Man and Beautiful Mind too...

[GerateWohl 4,370]

@Holko Maybe you try "Casper". That's in my top 5 Horner scores.

[Holko 9,529]

I did try the OST once but it only really grabbed me when it was reprising Cocoon.

[GerateWohl 4,370]

14 minutes ago, Holko said:

I did try the OST once but it only really grabbed me when it was reprising Cocoon.

Understand. That's a little bit like I feel about Aliens. Before Aliens I just knew Krull from Horner. And I remember, after watching Aliens that this was for me one of the greatest action scores. Then I heard Wolfen and Patriot Games and Gorki Park. And suddely Aliens had lost its charm because it just sounded plugged togeher from elements and ideas from these scores.

[Jay 37,369]

1 hour ago, Holko said:

Tried to try it multiple times but it hasn't clicked/unlocked for me yet. Maybe next time it's rerereissued I'll try watching the movie and really listening to it all from start to finish. (No, don't link things to me now, I'll just be annoyed that it's OOP )

 

The Flying Circus is jut an all-time great film cue

[Andy 4,138]

@Holko Journey of Natty Gann.  Hopefully it’s for a reissue. 
 

I agree with Jay. Rocketeer was Horner putting everything he had into it.  No doubt the film’s themes of pilots and aviation sparked something in him.  And the Love Theme for Jennifer Connelly is gorgeously lush.
 

Top 2 Horner for me. 
 

As great as the expansion is, the original Hollywood Records disc sounds great and is a very satisfying program. I’d recommend it. 

[Tallguy 3,398]

9 hours ago, Holko said:

Sneakers - Holy shit why am I not listening to this more? Wonderful minimalistic texturework, breezy fun and just enough tension.

 

This!

[Faleel 5,356]

1 hour ago, Andy said:

@Holko Rocketeer the Love Theme for Jennifer Connelly is gorgeously lush.
 

 

Lushly vapid.

[Andy 4,138]

No way! The concert piece is amazing, especially when the Rocketeer theme plays counterpoint.  It’s also a strong enough theme on which Horner hangs a lot of the dramatic scoring of the climactic Zeppelin sequence.  It’s sweeping and appropriately romantic for the material. I mean, it is a love letter to stuff like Commando Cody / King of the Rocket Men.  

[Faleel 5,356]

9 minutes ago, Andy said:

No way! The concert piece is amazing, especially when the Rocketeer theme plays counterpoint.  It’s also a strong enough theme on which Horner hangs a lot of the dramatic scoring of the climactic Zeppelin sequence.  It’s sweeping and appropriately romantic for the material. I mean, it is a love letter to stuff like Commando Cody / King of the Rocket Men.  

To quote Robert Wise:

 

"Where's the theme?"

[Andy 4,138]

It's long lined.

[Tallguy 3,398]

19 minutes ago, Faleel said:

To quote Robert Wise:

 

"Where's the theme?"

 

"Take away this pudding! It has no theme!"

 

But... We're talking about Jenny's theme, right? The one that I'm humming right now? How is that not a theme?

 

It's enough of a theme that this is kind of his third go at it. (Battle Beyond the Stars and Krull being the other two.)

[Faleel 5,356]

Just now, Tallguy said:

 

"Take away this pudding! It has no theme!"

 

But... We're talking about Jenny's theme, right? The one that I'm humming right now? How is that not a theme?

Because I can't hum it.

10 minutes ago, Andy said:

It's long lined.

It's no lined.

[Andy 4,138]

7 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

 

But... We're talking about Jenny's theme, right? The one that I'm humming right now? How is that not a theme?

 

 

Right, it is very hummable.  And it truly is long lined, I wasn't being sarcastic.   It has two repeating phrases, an ascending middle that rises to a crescendo and then comes all the way back down to the beginning.  Then its midsection plays counterpoint with the Rocketeer theme.   It's gorgeous.

 

 

Oh and Robert Wise was wrong about Jerry's first Star Trek theme too.  It's lovely.  I'm glad he rejected it because the second theme is better, and now we have both.  But how could Wise not hear the theme?

[Faleel 5,356]

7 minutes ago, Andy said:

 

 

Oh and Robert Wise was wrong about Jerry's first Star Trek theme too.  It's lovely.  I'm glad he rejected it because the second theme is better

Is it?

[Andy 4,138]

I think so.  It’s more accessible, I’ll put it that way.  I also think it resolves in a more satisfying way.   It’s safer, and stays within the box a little more, but I think that’s to its advantage. 
 

We’ve always had a remnant of the first theme in the final version of The Enterprise, and it always seemed like a nice variation of the final theme (which at the time, we had no knowledge was a re-write). But it never surpassed the BAM of the Enterprise theme kicking in with the money shot of ship. 
 

Anyways, Jenny’s theme from the Rocketeer is melodic, hummable, emotionally satisfying, and thematically practical.  Horner did well. 

[Faleel 5,356]

4 minutes ago, Andy said:

I think so.  It’s more accessible, I’ll put it that way.  I also think it resolves in a more satisfying way.
 

 

 

Raid on Paradise.

4 minutes ago, Andy said:

Anyways, Jenny’s theme from the Rocketeer is an unmemorable, unemotional, meandering mess.

 

Horner struck out this time.

Fixed.

[Andy 4,138]

 

14 minutes ago, Faleel said:

Raid on Paradise.

 

Ah another good example I’d forgotten. 
 

Just got back from walking the dog and had the Rocketeer’s themes swirling in my mind. .. the themes of both Jenny and the Rocketeer are so interconnected and intertwined, to suggest it’s not much of a theme is to say the same of the Rocketeer theme itself.  They’re sort of the same thematic coin. 

[Tallguy 3,398]

The second TMP theme (the one used in the film) is mostly an extension of the first. So when it turns up in Ilia's theme or The Enterprise it sounds like a nod to the finished theme rather than "an unfinished theme we don't hear anyplace else".

 

I'm sure there are Jerry scholars who can put this better, but the two themes really feel like a crossing from 60's and 70's Jerry to later day Jerry.

 

As for The Rocketeer's theme that is heard in Jenny's theme, it's also a variation of the main theme rather than a straightforward statement. I love it! I love when two character's themes can play together like that. Like how Short Round's theme harmonizes with both Indy's theme and the Children's Crusade.

[Andy 4,138]

27 minutes ago, Faleel said:

Anyways, Jenny’s theme from the Rocketeer is an unmemorable, unemotional, meandering mess.

 

Horner struck out this time.

That earned you a Rock-a-Facepalm.