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

[Faleel 5,365]

All texture no substance.

[Tallguy 3,402]

24 minutes ago, Andy said:

That earned you a Rock-a-Facepalm. 

 

[Faleel 5,365]

In all seriousness, S'alright, but it wouldn't crack into my top 5 love themes, probably not even top 10.

 

For one, it's not in 3 time.

[Holko 9,532]

Listened to Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome again after finishing the (criminally forgotten) 2015 game. And I still love it, lots of interesting sounds, love the didgeridoo for the desert or the rock semi-source for the Bartertown underbelly or the choir+exotic percussion for the kids, or the distressed piano clanging in the final setpiece, some good theme variations, a nice arc overall. Pity it's OOP!

[Marian Schedenig 8,212]

4 minutes ago, Holko said:

Listened to Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome again after finishing the (criminally forgotten) 2015 game.

 

I should play that. I've only looked into it for 15 minutes so far and it looked promising.

[JNHFan2000 2,969]

In my opinion this is Hisaishi's very best. It really feels like a symphony. I love the themes he created and the Merry-Go-Round Of Life is his best theme I think.

 

But what I find so great about this score is the orchestration. He does so many incredible interestimg thimgs with the orchestra. One moment the woodwinds get a chance to shine, the next the brass is dominant while the piano slowly sneaks in to grab a hold of you for the strings then to break your heart in the best possible way.

 

Love it so much!!

 

 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,556]

Ooh! I have this on DVD ("... offering unparalleled sound and vision", it says 'ere).

I shall watch, asap, if only for the score.

I'm not a huge fan of Studio Ghibli, but I am partial to THE WIND RISES, so I look forward to hearing Hisaishi's music.

[crocodile 8,020]

11 hours ago, JNHFan2000 said:

In my opinion this is Hisaishi's very best. It really feels like a symphony. I love the themes he created and the Merry-Go-Round Of Life is his best theme I think.

 

But what I find so great about this score is the orchestration. He does so many incredible interestimg thimgs with the orchestra. One moment the woodwinds get a chance to shine, the next the brass is dominant while the piano slowly sneaks in to grab a hold of you for the strings then to break your heart in the best possible way.

 

Love it so much!!

 

 

I've never actually heard this score. Will listen later, thanks!

 

Karol

[Faleel 5,365]

Prisoner of Azkaban

 

Fantastic.

[GerateWohl 4,385]

On 05/04/2024 at 9:05 PM, JNHFan2000 said:

In my opinion this is Hisaishi's very best. It really feels like a symphony. I love the themes he created and the Merry-Go-Round Of Life is his best theme I think.

 

But what I find so great about this score is the orchestration. He does so many incredible interestimg thimgs with the orchestra. One moment the woodwinds get a chance to shine, the next the brass is dominant while the piano slowly sneaks in to grab a hold of you for the strings then to break your heart in the best possible way.

 

Love it so much!!

 

 

The Boy Who Swallowed A Star is the absolute highlight from this album. But even though I adore many tracks on the album I never found this a good album listening experience. Still, together with Mononoke and Hana-Bi my favourite Hisaishi score.

 

Still absolutely in music heaven with this boxset. 

 

6 disks, a hundred tracks and each one at least an 8 out of 10. As mentioned before, just one track per score.

During the week I dipped into some of the OSTs and it seems like they really managed to select my favourite track of each album for this.

And even though the order of the scores is chronological the albums flow surprisingly well.

[Smaug The Iron 516]

Williams and Spielberg, the best due there is! 

[GerateWohl 4,385]

4 minutes ago, Smaug The Iron said:

Williams and Spielberg, the best due there is! 

You missed the 1941 expansion?

[Smaug The Iron 516]

Just now, GerateWohl said:

You missed the 1941 expansion?

Unfortunately I did. I would like to have it, so if they reissue it again I would order it Immediately

[Edmilson 7,475]

Avatar (James Horner) - Complete

 

 

Found an edit of the complete score prioritizing the film versions - the other bootlegs containing the sessions have many alternates, inserts, etc. I only swapped The Battle Continues and Quaritch Down for those in the sessions, because the film replace much of these two cues for tracked material from elsewhere.

 

Anyway, it's not in my top 5 Horners but still pretty good. I miss this guy so much  

 

Avatar: The Way of Water (Simon Franglen)

 

 

I admit I was too hard on this score when it came out. However, since then I've been slowly warming up to it and now I can confidently say: I really like it!

 

The main theme was what I liked the most on release, but now I actually enjoy the other stuff as well. The mystical material for the water Na'Vi (I forgot the name of the tribe, lol) and their integration with the ocean is lovely, and the action music, which I was too hard on it on release, now I find it impressive. I love how dark and apocalyptic tracks like Bad Parents, Knife Fight and World Upside Down are, and I loved the choir acting as a Pandoran harbiger of doom into the douchebag humans in Train Attack and Na'Vi Attack. It all becomes more impressive when it finishes with From Darkness to the Light, which is lovely.

 

Anyway, would I prefer Horner didn't enter that stupid plane in June 2015 and scored this movie? Sure. But this by no means is Franglen's fault, who did a pretty good work with a score that is as good as (if not even better than) Horner's for the first movie. I'm pretty sure his master is prowd of his padawan wherever he is.

[GerateWohl 4,385]

 

1 hour ago, Smaug The Iron said:

Unfortunately I did. I would like to have it, so if they reissue it again I would order it Immediately

I also didn't buy it. I literally never listen to the OST and I am not a fan of the march. That's why. But I could imagine that that the expansion has a lot of interesting music to offer. 

Anyway, it is like it is.

 

 

 

37 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Anyway, would I prefer Horner didn't enter that stupid plane in June 2015 and scored this movie? Sure.

I guess, there would come 2 or 3 other things to mind what he could have done instead of entering that plane. Anyway, there is somehow no Horner score past Zorro, that triggered my interest. 

 

[Edmilson 7,475]

32 minutes ago, GerateWohl said:

I guess, there would come 2 or 3 other things to mind what he could have done instead of entering that plane. Anyway, there is somehow no Horner score past Zorro, that triggered my interest. 

 

He should have chosen a safer hobby than flying his own plane. Why not sudoku, Angry Birds, gardening, painting the fence, working out at the gym, birdwatching... 

[Andy 4,147]

11 hours ago, GerateWohl said:

 

Still absolutely in music heaven with this boxset. 

 

6 disks, a hundred tracks and each one at least an 8 out of 10. As mentioned before, just one track per score.

During the week I dipped into some of the OSTs and it seems like they really managed to select my favourite track of each album for this.

And even though the order of the scores is chronological the albums flow surprisingly well.

Something in the air. I’ve been taking a Sarde journey too. The box set is in my cart. 

[GerateWohl 4,385]

9 minutes ago, Andy said:

Something in the air. I’ve been taking a Sarde journey too. The box set is in my cart. 

When you got it, please tell me how you like it!

[Jay 37,379]

Nobuo Uematsu - Final Fantasy VII

 

I wanted to revisit the original score before the Rebirth OST album drops tomorrow.  Overall I still think its a great score full of great themes, but man the terrible samples ruin the potential these themes have.  I'm so happy the game was popular enough to get so many followups so the music could live on in so many great redone and orchestral arrangements over the years.  The Ever Crisis score is like the better version of the original score now, and Remake and Rebirth so has many great tracks that bring things more towards being like a film score than a game score.  But anyways, I find this 4-CD album opens and ends strong, and a lot of the poorer sounding tracks are more in the middle.  I was getting for a while in the middle that I'd be more soured on the original recording than I was expecting, but the whole finale sounds really great . Now bring on the Rebirth OST!

[Smaug The Iron 516]

My name is Bond,James Bond!

[Faleel 5,365]

7 minutes ago, Smaug The Iron said:

My name is Bond,James Bond!

How were they?

[Smaug The Iron 516]

6 minutes ago, Faleel said:

How were they?

I think they are great, the sound quality is very good overall and I think the albums flows very well. The only thing I don't like it that the OST is included. Both LALD and Octopussy would fit everything on 1 disk no problem so the OST is just there to make it a two CD set. 

[Jay 37,379]

15 minutes ago, Smaug The Iron said:

The only thing I don't like it that the OST is included. Both LALD and Octopussy would fit everything on 1 disk no problem so the OST is just there to make it a two CD set. 

 

That's not correct. 

 

 

Here is what producer Neil S. Bulk had to say about the Octopussy OST:

 

The album was included for a number of reasons. Most importantly, it was produced by John Barry. Also, the mixes are different, and we felt they should be included. Additionally, there are a number of cues that are edited differently than they are in the film (and on disc one) and we wanted those represented. Those cues are:

 

009 Gets The Knife And Gobinda Attacks
Yo-Yo Fight And Death Of Vijay
The Palace Fight

 

Additionally, the album take of "The Chase Bomb Theme" differs from the take used in the film and as heard on disc one. The only place we could locate it was on the album master. These four album tracks total over 13 minutes of music, so they wouldn't have fit on disc 1.

 

and

Neil, I have another "technical" question (if you'll see it and decide to answer of course)

Did you use "correct" takes of song on disc one? I mean, our beloved late Gergely said that on album Main Titles is actually version, which sounds during End Credits, and End Title is one, which actually sounds during opening titles...

The album mix differs from what's heard in the film. On the album a kick drum is mixed prominently starting around 10 seconds into the song, as the lyrics begin.

 

Both comments from: https://filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?forumID=1&threadID=153405&archive=0

 

And here is what he had to say about the Live and Let Die OST:

 

The OST for "Live And Let Die" has never been re-built to match the 1973 album. Lukas did a terrific job in 2003 with the expanded release, but despite the album sequencing, it wasn't really the original soundtrack album. Let me explain. Several cues were shortened on the 1973 album that were presented at full length in 2003. Those tracks are:

 

Bond Meets Solitaire
Snakes Alive
Bond Drops In (a combo of "Bond Drops In" and "On The Train")
Sacrifice
James Bond Theme

 

And then there's "Baron Samedi's Dance Of Death." In the film they used take 6 while the 1973 album used a shortened version of take 7. On the 2003 album only take 6 is presented and in full, so again, the album sequencing was maintained but it wasn't quite the album.

 

We felt this was a perfect opportunity to not only make fresh new mixes in the spirit of the 1973 album but also go back to those original edits. George Martin knew a thing or two about making a successful record.

 

From: https://filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=153406&forumID=1&archive=0

[Smaug The Iron 516]

Thanks, I did not know that.

[Thor 7,531]

 

Working with Madonna on this was not an easy task for Korzeniowski (or so he said), but it resulted in one of his finest scores. Gorgeous post-minimalist romanticism back when it was hot and fresh. This is a 17-track promo, so slightly different from the commercial release.

[thestat 348]

On 07/04/2024 at 5:34 PM, Edmilson said:

. I love how dark and apocalyptic tracks like Bad Parents, Knife Fight and World Upside Down are, and I loved the choir acting as a Pandoran harbiger of doom into the douchebag humans in Train Attack and Na'Vi Attack. It all becomes more impressive when it finishes with From Darkness to the Light, which is lovely.

 

Totally agree with EdMilson here - Franglen totally pulled this off. Yes, it's not Horner but then again what is? The end of Knife Fight is fantastic action music up there with James or Don Davis in their 1990s heyday with snares and pianos and all manner of mayhem and I am just glad that someone does this sort of work nowadays! 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,556]

Just a "heads up", y'all.

Next Saturday at 4pm BST, there will be an interview with Eliot Goldenthal, on BBC Radio 3's programme THE SOUND OF CINEMA.

[Thor 7,531]

3 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Just a "heads up", y'all.

Next Saturday at 4pm BST, there will be an interview with Eliot Goldenthal, on BBC Radio 3's programme THE SOUND OF CINEMA.

 

Nice! I've been wondering how he's doing these days.

[filmmusic 1,843]

 

How can an Oscar nominated composer and and Oscar winner composer collaborate and make this outcome, I will never understand...

[GerateWohl 4,385]

1 hour ago, filmmusic said:

 

How can an Oscar nominated composer and and Oscar winner composer collaborate and make this outcome, I will never understand...

Listened to a few tracks and to be honest, this score is exactly what I would have expected from these two artists as they are mostly known for composing minimalistic melodic sound design and less for composing music.

And as that it's not so bad. Just kind of time wasting.

[filmmusic 1,843]

47 minutes ago, GerateWohl said:

Listened to a few tracks and to be honest, this score is exactly what I would have expected from these two artists as they are mostly known for composing minimalistic melodic sound design and less for composing music.

Yeah, I guess you're right.

But somehow, I expected more for this kind of theme (although I haven't seen the film).

[bollemanneke 3,352]

I'm just starting to listen to the Hook Pre-Concorde bootleg, just to see how bad it is.

Violin totally botching Hook's March. Nice.

[Tallguy 3,402]

I see a loophole and I'm sailing right through it.

 

A new single in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust and Teen Cancer America. From the film Local Hero. And featuring... Pretty much everybody! Well, everybody from a guitar perspective anyway.

 

 

 

[filmmusic 1,843]

 

Very good theme for a religious TV film, by Frisina, and overall a quite good score.

 

 

[Thor 7,531]

Frisina is very uneven, IMO. I like some of his biblical output, but other things are too on-the-nose with little dynamic range. But he does know how to churn out a good theme or two.

[Edmilson 7,475]

Christopher Young - Hellraiser 2

 

 

In celebration of Young's very busy month, I went back to what is considered his best horror score. It's still great! Both the dark choral parts (even though the main theme is now somewhat an evergreen - kinda like a horror equivalent of the Star Wars Main Title) and the more abstract and sound design (I'm in the mood for some ambient horror music these days). However, I do need to point that some of the synths are still very "80s horror". I could almost picture Freddy Krueger or Michael Myers in VHS quality chasing some teens...

 

Tyler Bates - Watchmen

 

 

Back in 2009, Bates had become some kind of persona non grata among film music critics and fans due to the whole Goldenthal/300 disaster, and his score for this movie (Zack Snyder's best movie IMHO, alongside Dawn of the Dead - not a fan of 300) didn't help improve his reputation. 15 years later and I think it's kinda underrated. Some beautiful tragic moments in there and rather impressive choir material.

 

The only problem is... it doesn't have much of a personality. There isn't nothing particular to this score that makes people say "oh, these are the Watchmen!", unlike many superhero scores. If I didn't know from which movie this music was and you told me it's from a Punisher or a Batman movie I would've believed you. The music goes everywhere, from big choir and orchestra to dark ambient sound design, seemingly inspired by everyone from Hans Zimmer to Danny Elfman to Don Davis to Vangelis to prog rock, and yet nothing is unique to this particular superhero group. I guess it's hard when you're trying to compete with Snyder's songs and Phillip Glass needle drops.

 

Either way, as pure music itself, it's rather good and the fact that it's "everywhere" in terms of style wasn't a problem to me.

[Thor 7,531]

 

Top 10, maybe even top 5 Silvestri for me. Nobody could do glorious Synclavier stuff like he did! Film is also a huge nostalgic favourite, one of my earliest cinema memories (partly shot in Norway, no less!).

[Andy 4,147]

23 hours ago, Edmilson said:

Christopher Young - Hellraiser 2

 

 

In celebration of Young's very busy month, I went back to what is considered his best horror score. It's still great! Both the dark choral parts (even though the main theme is now somewhat an evergreen - kinda like a horror equivalent of the Star Wars Main Title) and the more abstract and sound design (I'm in the mood for some ambient horror music these days). However, I do need to point that some of the synths are still very "80s horror". I could almost picture Freddy Krueger or Michael Myers in VHS quality chasing some teens...

Does this cover you posted represent CD or LP?  I can’t find a listing for a 30th Anniversary Remaster on CD, only vinyl. 

[Edmilson 7,475]

I think it's the CD. I found the cover online lol

[crocodile 8,020]

There is no CD release for 2.

 

Karol

[Naïve Old Fart 9,556]

My 2-disc DVD of PATTON arrived, yesterday, so was listening to the score on disc 2.

It's so good, that I have listened to it twice, today.

How this meisterwerk lost the Oscar to LOVE STORY, I'll never know.

[Marian Schedenig 8,212]

48 minutes ago, crocodile said:

There is no CD release for 2.

 

Not of the anniversary remaster perhaps, but the original release was available on CD from GNP Crescendo:

https://www.soundtrackcollector.com/title/1808/Hellbound%3A+Hellraiser+II

[Naïve Old Fart 9,556]

Third listen to PATTON today. Hot damn, this score is good!

[filmmusic 1,843]

1 hour ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Third listen to PATTON today. Hot damn, this score is good!

I don't know, I haven't warmed up to it at all..

[Naïve Old Fart 9,556]

8 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

I don't know, I haven't warmed up to it at all..

 

I can dig that. It's not for everyone.

Most people think that SUPERGIRL, and LEGEND are masterpieces, but I'll take LINK and RUNAWAY over those two, any day.

Horses for courses, dear boy. Horses for courses 

[GerateWohl 4,385]

Le petit Garçon -Philippe Sarde 

 

That is a beautiful score. Impressionistic three piece chamber ensemble (piano, violin, clarinet) accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra. Lovely and never boring. 

[Tom Guernsey 2,287]

2 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

 

I can dig that. It's not for everyone.

Most people think that SUPERGIRL, and LEGEND are masterpieces, but I'll take LINK and RUNAWAY over those two, any day.

Horses for courses, dear boy. Horses for courses 

That’s the name I’m gonna give my French restaurant… 

 

But yes Patton is a terrific score although as a listening experience, I favour the original album re-recording. To me it’s performed and sounds better than the original film tracks and has a bit more edge than the RSNO version although I find much to enjoy in that recording. His lack of an Oscar is astonishing if not actually surprising. The plebs love a hit song and a doomed love story…

 

I’m currently devouring the JG book and his Oscar losses are carefully noted. Some are against fine competition where you can’t really fault the winner but several are clearly travesties. Patton, Chinatown and Papillon from that period of his career are film music milestones for highly respected movies. His judicious approach to spotting, artistry and depth is something some contemporary film makers and composers could do with taking on board. When the music appears in those films it’s meaningful but when it’s slathered over every scene like slurry on a field it just becomes wallpaper. I don’t mean to shit on Ludwig Goransson too much but his music in Oppenheimer barely says anything about anything. It just plays incessantly in almost every scene in a droning, vaguely doom laden way. Now he has more Oscars than Jerry, Elmer, Ennio, Alex North…  etc.

[Faleel 5,365]

The original film tracks sound better.

 

The OST sounds thin and lacks grit in comparison.

[Jurassic Shark 12,098]

On 26/09/2022 at 4:32 PM, Mr. Who said:

The English Patient (Yared) - A classic score. The Hungarian influence and the Bach influences work very well. I hope this score gets an expansion from one of the labels soon.

 

It already has. It's called the (complete) Goldberg variations. 

[Edmilson 7,475]

Wow, you really found that comment in the depths of this thread huh. Were you searching for reviews for Yared's The English Patient?