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


Ollie

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2 hours ago, Thor said:

 

Ooooh, nice. Goldstein is really an unheralded composer, even within our small niche. Not familiar with that one, but SHOCKER is probably his most famous score. I also have fond memories of his wacky, eclectic music for UP THE CREEK with Tim Matheson. One of those random VHSes we sometimes rented as a kid.

This is a great score with one of Basil Poledouris' best themes. I think Goldstein did the score and Basil the themes. This one is very close to Les Miserables: 

 

Been on a Barry kick recently with all the Bond talk. Not a Barry Bond fan (outside of The Living Daylights which I adore). Barry's muscular large-scale early 1990s sound is very under-appreciated. Folks compare some of his early 90s works like The Specialist to Bond - The Specialist is, pardon the very appropriate pun, much more special than Octopussy or A View to A Kill:

 

The only aspect that takes this down is the bond-ian music, especially that terrible action riff that pauses to take a breath half-way through the action music - about 9:20 in the above - not very impressive. 

 

The themes and the sound is massive and expansive, and the jazz stuff is just brilliantly beautiful.

 

Another Barry gem from that era is The Scarlet Letter which has some amazing choral stuff and perhaps the best Barry theme of all time, repeated (unsurprisingly) to no end even in the muscular stuff:

 

 

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Well, fuck. Nazis are not allowed.

 

Chris Gordon full on Don Davis style hard core orchestral mayhem? Don Davis?

 

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Wow, I just remembered I tried to watch this movie twice about 15 years ago on DVD and on both occasions I fell asleep.

 

26 minutes ago, thestat said:

Chris Gordon full on Don Davis style hard core orchestral mayhem? Don Davis?

I liked your description. Will look for this score.

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41 minutes ago, Edmilson said:
1 hour ago, thestat said:

Chris Gordon full on Don Davis style hard core orchestral mayhem? Don Davis?

I liked your description. Will look for this score.

 

Davis Style (or rather, Matrix style) isn't wrong; it was also my first initial when I first heard it years ago.

 

30 minutes ago, thestat said:

Eh, Chris Gordon - so fucking good:

Let the music play out. Gordon is a symphonist

 

Aside from the Goldenthal horns and maybe even traces of the old Sainton score in this cue, Moby Dick is also clearly influenced by Bax's gorgeous Tintagel:

 

 

 

Pay special attention to the horn melody at 1:25 in the Bax piece.

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7 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

Aside from the Goldenthal horns and maybe even traces of the old Sainton score in this cue, Moby Dick is also clearly influenced by Bax's gorgeous Tintagel:

 

 

 

Pay special attention to the horn melody at 1:25 in the Bax piece.

I was a bit disappointed when I first discovered this the rest of the score is still pretty great. But it’s a pretty obvious rip if you know the Bax (especially as it’s probably Bax’s best known work).

 

8 hours ago, thestat said:

 

Well, fuck. Nazis are not allowed.

 

Chris Gordon full on Don Davis style hard core orchestral mayhem? Don Davis?

This happened to appear in my playlist the other day and I forgot how great it was. Much more listenable than you’d expect from a film of that type. 

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21 hours ago, Thor said:

You and your everyday binges. You gotta leave something for the weekend!

 

This WAS my weekend. I don't work Mon-Fri 9-5. :beerchug:

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8 minutes ago, crocodile said:

I am feeling Young today:

 

Nosferatu

The Core

The Monkey King

The Monkey King 2

The Piper

 

Karol

 

You should go raise hell.

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On 08/01/2025 at 8:57 AM, Tom Guernsey said:

I was a bit disappointed when I first discovered this the rest of the score is still pretty great. But it’s a pretty obvious rip if you know the Bax (especially as it’s probably Bax’s best known work).

 

This happened to appear in my playlist the other day and I forgot how great it was. Much more listenable than you’d expect from a film of that type. 

But for someone of Gordon's stature in the classical world in Australia, is this a bit of a Williams/Holst scenario or a Bill Conti/Holst bit? To me, this seems very much an acknowledged influence. And just showcases Gordon's orchestrational capabilities, especially as the Bax is okay as such, but it is so, so tedious. The Gordon kicks arse!

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Hey, the Bax is wonderful! I've known the Gordon for about 20 years longer than the Bax, and it's not the entire score that's lifted from/strongly influenced by Bax, but I can imagine someone being bothered by it if they're familiar with the Bax and have freshly discovered the Gordon.

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But for someone of Gordon's stature in the classical world in Australia, is this a bit of a Williams/Holst scenario (ie. Mars is an influence) or a Bill Conti/Holst bit (Mars is the score)?

 

To me, this seems very much an acknowledged influence if anything. And just showcases Gordon's orchestrational capabilities, especially as the Bax is okay as such, but it is not as impressive as the the Gordon kicking arse and taking names bit!

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There is no rule stating that we must always begin a score from the first track, so...

  • Artificial Intelligence - Starting the expanded score with "Abandoned in the woods"
  • Hook - Starting the expanded score it with "The face of Pan"
  • HP and the whatever stone - Starting the expanded score with "Christmas Morning and The Invisibility Cloak"

image.jpeg

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I still think sometimes of he situation with Kraemer happened with another composer.

 

Kraemer was working for quite a few years and then ends up writing the best score of his career with M:I. After that, McQuarrie chooses another composer for the next films and Kraemer seemingly isn't able to get any more work after that.

 

Has it ever happened with another composer that after their biggest and most succesful score, they basically disappear after that.

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14 minutes ago, tomsmoviemadness said:

Has it ever happened with another composer that after their biggest and most succesful score, they basically disappear after that.

Cliff Eidleman comes to mind.

STAR TREK VI is a great score. He was on the cusp of something big, and then...

Don Davis is another, and Craig Safan.

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I am NOT listening to The Dark Crystal. (My "once I order a new version I don't listen anymore until the new discs arrive" ritual. I swear, Star Trek: The Motion Picture was tough.)

 

Labyrinth - Trevor Jones (1986)

 

 

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42 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

LABYRINTH is a decent score, although not as good as THE DARK CRYSTAL.

 

Overall this is obviously true. But I'll put Sarah and Hallucination against anything in Crystal.

 

40 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

That's not hard when you haven't got the discs yet. 

 

But I have a previous version.

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3 hours ago, Tallguy said:

I am NOT listening to The Dark Crystal. (My "once I order a new version I don't listen anymore until the new discs arrive" ritual. I swear, Star Trek: The Motion Picture was tough.)

 

Labyrinth - Trevor Jones (1986)

 

 

I'll have to give Labyrinth another listen as I have the same "not gonna listen until I get the new release" rule (unless my willpower fails me utterly...).

 

However, LTK has royally fucked up my chronological listen of the ("official"/EON) Bond scores which I started a few weeks ago (except Dr No which I don't own but maybe should?! I remember it being crap).

 

Today I got to AVTAK, so after TLD I will have to wait until I get LTK. I mean... seriously?! Typical. DAMN YOU LLL! DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL! THIS HAS RUINED MY LIIIIIIIFE!*

 

*This is clearly a joke (but if it's not clearly a joke to you, then this is to inform you that it is, in fact... a joke. I am super excited for LTK and thank LLL for bringing us more Bondian goodness).

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18 minutes ago, Tom Guernsey said:

I remember it being crap

 

It is crap.

 

19 minutes ago, Tom Guernsey said:

*This is clearly a joke (but if it's not clearly a joke to you, then this is to inform you that it is, in fact... a joke. I am super excited for LTK and thank LLL for bringing us more Bondian goodness).

 

Thank you for the clarity. :)

 

I vote that you should wait. I'm not super familiar with the film (I had it on DVD, I watched it so I could say "I have seen all of the Bonds"). But there was nothing in the score that I said "Hey, the CD is MISSING that!" But the amount of score on the CD is laughable. So, even if you caved can you really say that you "listened" to it? Really, your timing is excellent, isn't it?

 

I don't know where you stand on the "Goldeneye is genius / Goldeneye is crap" divide, so why be in such a hurry? :D

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I am waiting for proper expansions to dive into the music of the prequel trilogy.

 

Will I have to wait 20 more years? I can do it.

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On 9/1/2025 at 10:49 AM, Thor said:

You and your everyday binges. You gotta leave something for the weekend!

Says the guy who listens to 10 soundtracks every day before breakfast. ;) 
 

 

36 minutes ago, Jay said:

John Williams - Revenge of the Sith

 

OMG.  I get it.  It took me 20 years, but I finally love this score.  It really never clicked with me in all this time.  I don't know why.   Maybe because of my general dislike for the prequels films, and this one in general that cemented for me that the whole prequel thing was a massive failure.

 

But now, with all the great fan edits out there that let you actually hear the whole score instead of just the OST album's selections... it finally clicked for me.  There's SO MUCH good stuff in this score.  I really like the tragic moments.

I get what you mean. The only prequel score I frequently listen to is TPM. I dislike the prequels so much that I’ve never got to love the scores, which is a shame because if the OT scores didn’t exist, these would be JW’s masterpieces. 

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2 hours ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Dr No .......I remember it being crap

 

I've not heard it.  The tracklist looks like mostly source music.  Accurate?

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1 hour ago, Tallguy said:

It is crap.

I feel I ought to have it to complete the collection but I'll live. However, listening to its immediate successor and always kinda forgetting that Lionel Bart wrote the song, From Russia With Love, it made me realise how little his contribution to the tone of Bond songs is recognised. It certainly doesn't sound out of place alongside Barry's songs.

 

1 hour ago, Tallguy said:

Thank you for the clarity. :)

Welcome. I would hate for there to be any misunderstanding.

 

1 hour ago, Tallguy said:

I vote that you should wait. I'm not super familiar with the film (I had it on DVD, I watched it so I could say "I have seen all of the Bonds"). But there was nothing in the score that I said "Hey, the CD is MISSING that!" But the amount of score on the CD is laughable. So, even if you caved can you really say that you "listened" to it? Really, your timing is excellent, isn't it?

 

I don't know where you stand on the "Goldeneye is genius / Goldeneye is crap" divide, so why be in such a hurry? :D

 

1 hour ago, Tallguy said:

 

Good man. We Share the Same Passions is so perfect.

I will wait. I can start again with LTK and listen right through to NTTD. Although I may cheat and listen to the surprisingly decent videogame scores in the interim. I also have to now listen to Live and Let Die out of order as I managed to skip it (largely because I was relying on the track listing from the two "Bond: Back in Action" albums to guide me through the listen, but they don't include anything from LALD for some reason so I totally skipped it).

 

However, I cannot share your enthusiasm for Goldeneye... sorry. I will listen to it again, just in case. I don't hate it, but if it weren't for a Bond film, I doubt I'd own it (although as I don't have Dr No that means I dislike it less than Dr No... somehow). I like some other Serra scores, but European synth pop (or whatever it is) isn't really my bag.

 

Currently listening to Labyrinth... I forgot how much this is totally the opposite to the Dark Crystal and is all synthy. Think I prefer the songs (which is something I never thought I'd say).

2 minutes ago, Andy said:

 

I've not heard it.  The tracklist looks like mostly source music.  Accurate?

Yes, I believe so...

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Papillon is top 10 Goldsmith for me. Maybe top 5.

 

1 hour ago, filmmusic said:

Prayer_for_the_dying_QR162.jpg

 

Quite interesting score with good themes.

Oh well, much better than most scores of today, that's for sure.

Is that Jim from The Office on the cover?

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