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

[Delorean90 42]

Don't know Small Soldiers, but I would totally buy The Shadow. Great stuff.

[publicist 4,643]

Don't know Small Soldiers, but I would totally buy The Shadow. Great stuff.

THE SHADOW will come in due time, most likely from Intrada.

[Incanus 5,715]

The Wolfman by Danny Elfman: Marvellous monster score.

EDIT: Review/analysis on the Reviews section of the MB.

[Wojo 2,453]

I admit that I skipped the soundtrack because I didn't want to see the movie, and I haven't found much contemporary Elfman to sink my fangs into. But if you managed to laud it with that many paragraphs, I'll keep an eye out for it, hopefully by the next full moon.

[Incanus 5,715]

I admit that I skipped the soundtrack because I didn't want to see the movie, and I haven't found much contemporary Elfman to sink my fangs into. But if you managed to laud it with that many paragraphs, I'll keep an eye out for it, hopefully by the next full moon.

It is suitably serious Elfman for my tastes at least. I honestly do not care so much for his Burton wackiness.

[Kevin 22]

Apt Pupil - John Ottman

Lovely dramatic score with definite Ottman tendencies. It's like a darker/more menacing/horror-ish 'The Usual Suspects' with a memorable main theme. The album is not too long either at a well rounded 45 minutes.

[Trent Hoyt 13]

I've been listening to a lot of Ron Jones' Star Trek music. I've been listening and reading along with the liner notes. I am only up to disc 6 so far. "Q Who" is a highlight so far.

[Incanus 5,715]

Space Camp by John Williams

The Last Airbender by James Newton Howard

[publicist 4,643]

James Newton Howard

After LARGO WINCH 2, another album which could've used intense trimming. There are some good ideas in the first half, especially the airy-fairy 'wonder of circus' cues which sound like the BENJAMIN BUTTON cue sheets were proof-corrected by Goldsmith or Horner in the mid-90's. That and a few livelier cues let the expectations soar, only to be soured by long (and trite) drama cues, which dominate the rest of the album apart from some 20's jazz standards and typical Newton Howard in-between romantic scoring until the Hornerish THE STAMPEDE/I'M COMING HOME closes the album with a long satsifying sweep - although this also sounds rather generic Hollywood-like, though the charming ideas from the beginning return for a reprise.

Newton Howard still lacks Horner's flair for more charging melodical commitment to make a bit more out of those routine assignments, but it's pleasant enough. Just don't forget to shorten it to 20 minutes.

[Datameister 2,043]

Not a film score, but I'm listening to John Debney's score for the Phantom Manor attraction at Disneyland Paris, as heard on the Haunted Mansion 40th Anniversary album. This is an enormously frustrating presentation of the score, because on the one hand, the sound quality is fantastic - utterly incomparable to the sound quality of the medley presented on the previous Haunted Mansion soundtrack. But on the other hand, I'm not so fond of a lot of the choices they made with which cues were included or not, as well as which ones were mixed with each other and with what timing. I mean, frankly, I was just really used to the presentation on the first album, and I even would have been fine with a new edit that replicated the same sequencing with the improved sound quality.

Oh well. Still a most elegantly eerie score by Mr. Debney, and one I hope to someday experience in its native environment. The way he reinterprets Buddy Baker's original "Grim Grinning Ghosts" melody with orchestra, organ, piano, honky tonk piano, soprano soloist, boys' choir, jazz ensembles, and even a vocal track from the original Haunted Mansion is really stunning. I can't say I've heard too many Debney film scores, but I can easily say I enjoy this more than the ones I've heard, including the popular CutThroat Island. Now, if only I could just listen to every single cue by itself in amazing sound quality and then edit them all together as I saw fit...

Granted, most of you will have no idea what I'm talking about. But that's okay.

[crocodile 8,016]

Medal of Honor: Rising Sun by Christopher Lennertz

This one is more impressive and imaginative than his other two. That much is certain.

Karol

[Koray Savas 2,251]

"Jungle Swarm" is fantastic.

[Jim Ware 526]

Return of the King - Complete Recordings

Um, wow, let down a little bit. I get the impression Howard Shore, in scoring this film, thought,"this will go on the album and this won't, so I don't need to try so hard on that." A lot of it sounds really uninspired, and the contrast between this and the amazing moments I am familiar with from the original album is hard to ignore. I dunno... It's a good score. I just don't like listening to the whole thing and not just because it's 4 hours. I find the CR for FOTR much more listenable despite the fact that score never soars as high as this one.

ROTK has a certain roughness to it in parts, probably due to the chaotic post-production and the fact that much of the music was written and re-written repeatedly at speed. I suspect that Shore didn't have time to think about assembling an album when he was so busy writing, orchestrating and conducting the thing!

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Kevin 22]

The Terminal - John Williams

A wonderful romantic comedy/drama score, one of Williams's better scores of the 2000s.

Neverwas - Philip Glass

Imagine Jan A.P. Kaczmarek's Finding Neverland, but written by Philip Glass and that's what you get. Good score.

Vampires Suck - Christopher Lennertz

A well thought out parody score, surpassing Desplat's New Moon in quality for the serious vampire movies.

[Incanus 5,715]

James Newton Howard

After LARGO WINCH 2, another album which could've used intense trimming. There are some good ideas in the first half, especially the airy-fairy 'wonder of circus' cues which sound like the BENJAMIN BUTTON cue sheets were proof-corrected by Goldsmith or Horner in the mid-90's. That and a few livelier cues let the expectations soar, only to be soured by long (and trite) drama cues, which dominate the rest of the album apart from some 20's jazz standards and typical Newton Howard in-between romantic scoring until the Hornerish THE STAMPEDE/I'M COMING HOME closes the album with a long satsifying sweep - although this also sounds rather generic Hollywood-like, though the charming ideas from the beginning return for a reprise.

Newton Howard still lacks Horner's flair for more charging melodical commitment to make a bit more out of those routine assignments, but it's pleasant enough. Just don't forget to shorten it to 20 minutes.

My first impression of this music is that the score sounds like a hybrid of Thomas Newman and Alexandre Desplat with very little traces of JNH's own style thrown into the mix. I almost had a feeling that both of the above composers must have said no to the film makers before they decided to hire the next best thing, a man who can imitate both. I hope subsequent listens can lessen the feeling of borrowed styles a bit.

[publicist 4,643]

My first impression of this music is that the score sounds like a hybrid of Thomas Newman and Alexandre Desplat with very little traces of JNH's own style thrown into the mix.

Never mind hybrids, there just isn't happening much for long stretches. It's perfectly subservient film music, for sure, but i hoped for a more substantial development of the musical ideas. JNH seems to be really dependent on a strong hand guiding him to the well of musical goods, as Shymalayan or Lawrence Kasdan have done repeatedly. Those hack-directed studio films don't demand more and it shows.

Horner, for all of his faults and mushy inflections, can find a strong musical identity even in mundane stories and develop it in a musical way. With Newton Howard, it all kind of just lays there and doesn't come off particularly well in independent score releases.

[Incanus 5,715]

My first impression of this music is that the score sounds like a hybrid of Thomas Newman and Alexandre Desplat with very little traces of JNH's own style thrown into the mix.

Never mind hybrids, there just isn't happening much for long stretches. It's perfectly subservient film music, for sure, but i hoped for a more substantial development of the musical ideas. JNH seems to be really dependent on a strong hand guiding him to the well of musical goods, as Shymalayan or Lawrence Kasdan have done repeatedly. Those hack-directed studio films don't demand more and it shows.

Horner, for all of his faults and mushy inflections, can find a strong musical identity even in mundane stories and develop it in a musical way. With Newton Howard, it all kind of just lays there and doesn't come off particularly well in independent score releases.

True. JNH noodles with practically nothing happening for long stretches as you say. He seems to be just creating a pleasant atmosphere.

[crocodile 8,016]

Planet of the Apes by Danny Elfman

For an entire decade I discarded this work for being dull and uninteresting, but just recently I decided to revisit it... and I love it! There is much more to it than it might seem after first listen. Despite lifting his main title theme from Mission: Impossible it is a very interesting piece of music. Very different from Goldsmiths and yet really memorable after 10 years. I want the expanded set!

Karol

[Richard Penna 3,690]

Listened to Water for Elephants last night and discarding the songs, or the jazzy sections, I like it - sounds pure JNH to me without the Zimmer-esque crap we've heard in the last few years.

It's a nice blend of his general dramatic music (not quite to M. Night levels which are usually more serious) with a romantic tinge, and a little bit of the Thomas Newman sound he's emulated in a few projects.

[crocodile 8,016]

I need the check this one out.

Pan's Labyrinth by Javier Navarrete

I'm a bit on a fence when it comes to this score. Most of it is a real beauty, but, I think the long album is a bit too much. Some cues push it too far into pure melodrama. It's not that there is something wrong with the music, but, from a dramatic perspective, it is a bit heavy and in-your-face. The film didn't need to punctuate every single thing in it. But then a lot of this stuff is dropped. But still this another score that proves the best music these days is written outside of the Hollywood system.

Brothers Grimm by Dario Marianelli

Another fine example. It is over the top and some elements remind of some other composers, but I'd like the composer to do something like this again. I know he can channel Beethoven very well and stuff like that, but I wish he did something bigger once in a while. Even it is as headache-inducing as this score.

Karol

[Incanus 5,715]

I need the check this one out.

Pan's Labyrinth by Javier Navarrete

I'm a bit on a fence when it comes to this score. Most of it is a real beauty, but, I think the long album is a bit too much. Some cues push it too far into pure melodrama. It's not that there is something wrong with the music, but, from a dramatic perspective, it is a bit on the nose. The film didn't need to punctuate every single thing in it. But then a lot of this stuff is dropped. But still this another score that proves the best music these days is written outside of the Hollywood.

Karol

I like this score very much and feel it has some excellent passages and great orchestrations. The album includes the complete score which is a nice surprise but this is also a bit of a weakness. Coupled with the lengthy running time I feel the music suffers a bit from its monothematic nature, which makes it perhaps too single minded. DelToro's mandate of central dominating musical idea is at once brilliant and restricting. The melancholy inherent in the lullaby melody saturates much of the atmosphere of the music and it can become a bit oppressive at times.

Despite this largely monothematic approach Navarrete includes a subtle secondary theme for the quests the main character goes through (best heard in the lenghty development in The Moribund Tree and the Toad) and to his credit the composer has varied the main thematic idea enough to keep it continually interesting.

[Kevin 22]

Addicted to Love by Rachel Portman

Trademark romantic comedy score by her.

[Datameister 2,043]

Planet of the Apes by Danny Elfman

For an entire decade I discarded this work for being dull and uninteresting, but just recently I decided to revisit it... and I love it! There is much more to it than it might seem after first listen. Despite lifting his main title theme from Mission: Impossible it is a very interesting piece of music. Very different from Goldsmiths and yet really memorable after 10 years. I want the expanded set!

Karol

I quite like this score, too. All the percussion is pretty interesting.

[Kevin 22]

All The Pretty Horses - Marty Stuart & Co

One of my favourite scores ever.

[OneBuckFilms 319]

Source Code by Chris Bacon

A little old-school in many ways (the way I like it, no Media Ventures in there).

Very good score.

Film is also great, IMHO (saw it tonight).

[Charlie Brigden 7]

'Thor'

I enjoyed it a lot, some great moments. Tim mentioned the score was thrilling, and that's certainly a good word to describe it. It certainly has certain modern influences, mostly in the heavy percussion, but it's suitably epic, and the 'Sons of Odin' theme (is this Thor's theme?) is wonderfully heroic. I need to give it another listen to pay more attention to the album's balance, but a

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Is it already out across the sea?

Comes out May 3rd here.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

Yeah, it came out today. I bought on Amazon.co.uk MP3, not sure if other countries can do that.

[Kevin 22]

K2 by Hans Zimmer

One of Hans's best scores of the 1990s. Electric guitar, synthesizers, dramatic themes and brooding orchestration mix in together wonderfully.

[Matt C 454]

The Spiderwick Chronicles - James Horner

It's derivative Horner, but no one can really write long-lined music like he can. It's enjoyable, even though Horner not only regurgitates Casper but portions of Something Wicked This Way Comes (you hear a fragment of the latter around 3:50 in "End Credits").

Still, it's quite enjoyable and beautifully orchestrated.

[Kevin 22]

Meet Joe Black - Thomas Newman

I like this score although there is one big weakness to it. The problem is that the highlights (Whisper of a Thrill, Someone Else, That Next Place) are surrounded by short, average cues. The album isn't even that long really. The themes are really nice though.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I think most of it is very good. Heartfelt, deeply moving. Big payoff at the end.

[Admiral Holdo 16]

The Spiderwick Chronicles - James Horner

It's derivative Horner, but no one can really write long-lined music like he can. It's enjoyable, even though Horner not only regurgitates Casper but portions of Something Wicked This Way Comes (you hear a fragment of the latter around 3:50 in "End Credits").

Still, it's quite enjoyable and beautifully orchestrated.

I know what you're talking about; one of the themes is literally a hybrid of Jumanji and Something Wicked This Way Comes. It's a little disappointing to be sure, but the great thing about Horner - on any given score's own merits (i.e., when you're not comparing it to something else), it's usually a five-star effort.

[Matt C 454]

Rudy - Jerry Goldsmith

Sometimes, reuse fees and union limits are a very good thing. This album is the perfect length at 37 minutes and it doesn't wear out its welcome. Had this been a 2000s-era Varese release, a 60-73 minute long album would've been overkill. That said, "Tryouts" is one of Goldsmith's best cues ever.

[Datameister 2,043]

I think the Rudy OST definitely presents enough material, although the complete score isn't too much longer, I don't think. My one beef with the OST is that it's not in chronological order - not inherently a bad thing for album presentation, but in this case, I think chronological order flows better. Specifically, I don't like hearing the melodic material from "Tryouts" (which I agree is one of Goldsmith's best, and pretty much the main reason I bought the OST) being introduced in other cues first. In chronological order, none of that material comes into play till "Tryouts", I believe.

I've posted a link to this before, but here's how I was introduced to "Tryouts":

I never saw the film, but that's a pretty amazing trailer, due in no small part to Goldsmith. I actually think the music fits better in this context than on the football field. Goldsmith + American natural vistas = win.

[Ollie 1,059]

Wow, I've never seen the trailer with Goldsmith's music. Too bad Jerry couldn't have scored the actual film, his music puts too shame whoever ended scoring it. Actually wasn't it Zimmer?

"The Final Game" is my favorite cue from Rudy.

LaLaLand's First Knight - Apparently some are complaining at FSM about the sound, it sounds fine to me. I don't hear any of the problems they are talking about.

The Shadow

[Joe Brausam 214]

People are constantly looking for problems, aren't they? I haven't listened to my copy of it yet but I'm sure it's fine.

[Trent B 337]

LaLaLand's First Knight - Apparently some are complaining at FSM about the sound, it sounds fine to me. I don't hear any of the problems they are talking about.

People are constantly looking for problems, aren't they? I haven't listened to my copy of it yet but I'm sure it's fine.

I tend to think the same thing Joey. I think too a lot of them aren't ripping CD's right or are listening to the music at extreme high volumes, in order to hear these "problems". I've sampled a few of the LLL tracks and compared them to the "Camelot" boot. It sounds identical, if anything LLL's is a lot better in terms of quality to the boot because it came from the first generation master tapes from Botnick.

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

LaLaLand's First Knight - Apparently some are complaining at FSM about the sound, it sounds fine to me. I don't hear any of the problems they are talking about.

What's supposed to be the problem?

Mine shipped yesterday, so I might have it in two weeks.

[Ollie 1,059]

There is a claim of a digital pop in the Boat Trip cue, and some of the tracks begin with either noise or sound muffled. I don't hear any of that.

Of course one poster seems to have a personal grievance with Bruce Botnick, because he claims LaLaLand's ST:V sounds bad. I disagree, since Botnick became Goldsmith's right hand man, most of Jerry's scores have sounded superb from a recording standpoint.

Anyhoo, I wanted to listen to Slipstream last night, but decided to listen to the MOH set. Starting with Giacchino's first score.

[Incanus 5,715]

Medal of Honor

Medal of Honor Underground

Medal of Honor Frontline

Medal of Honor Allied Assault

all by Michael Giacchino: Superb music all around.

Medal of Honor Pacific Assault

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I listened to MOH last night and am now on Underground.

[Trent B 337]

The complete scores for Back To The Future Parts 2 and 3, still love em'.

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

Of course one poster seems to have a personal grievance with Bruce Botnick, because he claims LaLaLand's ST:V sounds bad. I disagree, since Botnick became Goldsmith's right hand man, most of Jerry's scores have sounded superb from a recording standpoint.

The remastered STV is one of the best sounding scores I've heard.

[Score_Fan 36]

Jumanji - James Horner

[Incanus 5,715]

Medal of Honor Airborne by Michael Giacchino: Thrilling and edgy new MOH music. A great reinvention and evolution of the sound of MOH scores.

Medal of Honor by Ramin Djawadi: Not surprisingly this music was worlds away from the sound of the series and not in a good way.

Lost Season 5 by Michael Giacchino

[Jim Ware 526]

The Tree of Life - Alexandre Desplat

[Charlie Brigden 7]

The Tree of Life - Alexandre Desplat

How is it?

[Jim Ware 526]

The Tree of Life - Alexandre Desplat

How is it?

Gorgeous. Not as cold and emotionless as Benjamin Button. Unfortunately the album lacks an ending and just...stops.