Jump to content

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


Ollie

Recommended Posts

2 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

I honestly prefer Jarre's Doctor Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia (I don't know if these are included) and Jesus of Nazareth.


I posted the whole list in this thread : 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, and DOCTOR ZHIVAGO are, but as JESUS OF NAZARETH is a telly show, I guess it wouldn't be.

Could be wrong, though. It's been known before, right, kids? ;)

 

Epic movies, when you say "Epic".

 

I mean Epic from Epic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been listening to a lot of Shirley Walker's work on the animated Batman in the past couple of days, basically getting through the entirety of the 16+ hours of music released by LLL over the years (by that I mean three volumes of The Animated Series and Mask of the Phantasm) in 1- or 2-disc chunks. A lot of this stuff is really good and there are so many good themes for iconic villains and other characters (I always loved the Red Claw theme!). And what they can do with a small ensemble is nothing short of astonishing. This the sonic representation of Batman of my childhood and some of my earliest conscious memories of film music. It's so much fun!

 

I also listened to the Cloverfield trilogy: the Giacchino overture from the first film and the two Bear McCreary scores. Also had a great time!

 

Karol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well if nothing else Captain America: Brave New World has me digging back into the classic MCU. Just think. When Star Wars was as old as Thor, BATMAN was in the theaters!

 

Captain America: The Winter Soldier / Civil War - Henry Jackman. I still love Silvestri's score more and wish Jackman would have tried to do a 21st century update to the theme or something rather than just jettisoning it (a common problem in early MCU). But wow this score is a ride.

 

I love The Smithsonian. It's a little tongue in cheek, what if Captain America was Saving Private Ryan / Band of Brothers. But it's one of those "parodies" that is so close to the real thing that you love it all on its own.

 

I'm still not as into Civil War, but it's really good. It's just not as satisfying as a standalone listen as Winter Soldier, IMHO. I know it has its fans.

 

 

Thor - Patrick Doyle.

 

I LOVE THIS SCORE. Still one of my top 5 MCU. I gather there is music tracked from The Transformers. I don't care. I don't know Transformers. And The Compound is one of my favorite tracks. The ending as it goes from 21st century spy music to classic Doyle heartstrings kills me every time.

 

Consider this: A score this good is Doyle being HELD BACK.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. I was just finishing reading J.W. Rinzler's making of book last night and these two scores accompanied that nicely.

 

Also listened to Ant-Man scores yesterday. They get weaker with each entry but there's still enough fun stuff by the time the third one ends.

 

Karol 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 21/02/2025 at 4:12 PM, Tallguy said:

Well if nothing else Captain America: Brave New World has me digging back into the classic MCU. Just think. When Star Wars was as old as Thor, BATMAN was in the theaters!

 

Captain America: The Winter Soldier / Civil War - Henry Jackman. I still love Silvestri's score more and wish Jackman would have tried to do a 21st century update to the theme or something rather than just jettisoning it (a common problem in early MCU). But wow this score is a ride.

 

I love The Smithsonian. It's a little tongue in cheek, what if Captain America was Saving Private Ryan / Band of Brothers. But it's one of those "parodies" that is so close to the real thing that you love it all on its own.

 

I'm still not as into Civil War, but it's really good. It's just not as satisfying as a standalone listen as Winter Soldier, IMHO. I know it has its fans.

 

 

 

 

Love both these scores. I know a lot of people hated The Winter Soldier theme, but I think it's a very inventive and easily recognisable. Stands out among so many other things.

 

I think it was the negative reaction to TWS that made Jackman lose some of the cool orchestra and synth mash-up he's so good at. At least on official albums, because Civil War's score on album has almost no synths etc while the complete score does.

 

Both scores are better in their complete form I think.

The full Causeway battle cue from TWS is fantastic as is the extended opening fight in Civil War.

 

I've always liked Jackman's music, with stuff like his 2 Cap scores, Wreck-It Ralph, Big Hero 6, Strange World or Puss In Boots as my favorites.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, I'm a big fan of Jackman's Captain America's scores, particularly The Winter Soldier. It's very different from Silvestri's score, which I also really like, but it works for me. I've also been listening to some Jackman scores that I love, like Puss in Boots and his Kingsman scores, and I think he really shines when he gets to do this more thematic scores than when he does standard thriller stuff like Extraction or Captain Philipps.

 

Tangentially related, because he's been Jackman's collaborator from time to time, I just revisited Matthew Margeson's Eddie The Eagle and I love it! It has such a fun and lighthearted spirit, with its throwback sound and a really strong main theme. It's similar to some great sport classics like Days of Thunder and Hoosiers, or even the more recent Cobra Kai which is heavily inspired by those, and I just can't get enough of that sound. Anyone can recommend me some similar scores to this?

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Knight of Ren said:

Tangentially related, because he's been Jackman's collaborator from time to time, I just revisited Matthew Margeson's Eddie The Eagle and I love it! It has such a fun and lighthearted spirit, with its throwback sound and a really strong main theme. It's similar to some great sport classics like Days of Thunder and Hoosiers, or even the more recent Cobra Kai which is heavily inspired by those, and I just can't get enough of that sound. Anyone can recommend me some similar scores to this?

 

EDDIE THE EAGLE was a highlight score of 2016, for sure. You mentioned some obvious titles in the same category yourself. It's sort of a very specific sub category about sports films in the 80s and 90s that combine synth with orchestra in varying ways. Others would maybe be AMERICAN ANTHEM, ROCKY IV, TOP GUN, GROSSO GUAIO: ALL'ESQUILINO, INTERNATIONAL VELVET, OVER THE TOP, ENDURANCE, LIVE IS LIFE (has nothing to do with sports, but has some of that sound), BLOODSPORT, THE LAST KUMITE, THE NATURAL, AIRWOLF, HOT SHOTS. Some obviously more synth-heavy than others.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ab67616d0000b273e7f364320ea76d1becdcdf22

 

Kaczmarek was perhaps not the greatest tunesmith in the world, but he was always very great at creating these shimmering, sensous textures with the orchestra. This is a prime example thereof.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Thor said:

ab67616d0000b273e7f364320ea76d1becdcdf22

 

Kaczmarek was perhaps not the greatest tunesmith in the world, but he was always very great at creating these shimmering, sensous textures with the orchestra. This is a prime example thereof.

This was my first Kaczmarek score. And I confess, I just chose the CD by the beautiful cover. Had no idea who he is or what the movie is about. And I wasn't disappointed at all by what I heard.

That was a time where you could do such things without getting too disappointed. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There aren't enough knock off Jerry scores, but U-571  is surely one of the best... even though Jerry never scored a submarine movie (that I can think of). Never really understood the weird order on the album though, it works just great in chronological order.

 

image.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Did IN HARM'S WAY have any scenes set on submarines? 🤔

Funnily enough I listened to that a couple of days ago (enjoyable but the mixture of source type music and grittier war music is a bit incongruous) but I don't know much about the film. However, I'm pretty sure it's not a submarine movie in the sense of U-571, Hunt for Red October, Das Boot, Crimson Tide, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn etc...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Didn't Goldsmith do VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA? I haven't seen it (although I own the Irwin Allen box), but I'm pretty sure there are submarines in it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ab67616d0000b273a911893412148622d8874495

 

Cornish had a good streak there, about 10-15 years ago, but haven't really heard much from her since. Shame, because she's very good at these delicate orchestral scores. This 2011 effort remains her best, IMO - a replacement score for one written by Javier Navarrete (actually a new score for a re-cut of the film, I read now).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ab67616d0000b273712b0e49c68f2b6f06156859

 

Actually quite popular here in Norway at the time, same as MANON DES SOURCES, both from '86. I remember watching it, my first encounter with Depardieu. For some reason, I remember them being divided up into a mini series? Either way, beautiful, classical score by Petit. The harmonica-led main theme almost has a Nordic vibe, a bit like the theme from PINCHCLIFFE GRAND PRIX.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Thor said:

The harmonica-led main theme almost has a Nordic vibe, a bit like the theme from PINCHCLIFFE GRAND PRIX.

Well, that's not Petit's.

It's by Verdi, La Forza del Destino.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nosferatu by Robin Carolan

Legend by Jerry Goldsmith

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace by John Williams

Star Wars: Squadrons by Gordy Haab

 

And finished the last two disc of Batman: The Animated Series Vol. 2. Halfway there!

 

Karol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One-Day-in-Fall.jpg

 

Female film composers aren't dime a dozen, so I remember perking up when I discovered this score by Galatis back in 2013. Might seem stark at first listening, but it's actually a lovely example of the post-minimalist romanticism that was all the rage at the time (Richter, Korzeniowski, Desplat, Marianelli etc.). Pianos and strings that circle around you, but with supreme elegance. I remember thinking "this was one to watch". Alas, I haven't really found anything later on by her that I've latched on to.

 

ab67616d0000b27324a4fe067080ce5f5279fca5

 

Jeremy Villecourt and Florent Chronie-De Maria are two Frenchmen who have established themselves in Norway, and do a lot of interesting synth scores for Norwegian films and TV series. This is their best work, a weird 2022 comedy that opens up to these great, almost TD-like sequencers, and some quasi-classical bits.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I try and avoid "favourite" or "best" scores, and if faced with such choices would rather give a handful of favourites or bests than a single pinnacle... to that end, while I wouldn't say Fahrenheit 451 is my favourite Herrmann score, but it's easily up there amongst Vertigo, NBNW, 7th Voyage of Sinbad, 12 Mile Reef, Psycho... even if it weren't such a beautiful study in melancholy, the mixture of strings and tuned percussion is one I absolutely love. Given that Herrmann was known for being fiery and the film is literally about burning books, the score is pretty much the opposite in temperament, chilly and haunting. William Stromberg and the Moscow orchestra make the best case for the full score and, while it does get a bit repetitive at times, that bothers me not at all. I assume the original tapes are lost or in bad condition - but I can't imagine they would improve on this version. Obviously there is the 16/17 minute extended suite which presents all of the best material, but I'm more than content to enjoy it in its entirety.

 

image.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ab67616d0000b273691509fd97f2a94a39ed5ced

 

I regret selling this CD off, but I thankfully kept the files. Doesn't get more rambunctious cowboy music than this. A cornerstone of the western genre (I could be without the polka).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Last year, I randomly picked up a bunch of used OST albums from a music store in Concord, NH.  I finally listened to some this week

 

Jerry Goldsmith - Basic Instinct

 

For this score I had gone right into the Prometheus expansion, and then later got Neil's brilliant Quartet edition, which was the first time I heard the OST program.  This is a score where I think the score plays great in complete form, so I only really enjoyed the OST program as a curiosity, and went back to the first disc whenever I wanted to listen to that score. So, this was my first time hearing the actual OST mastering with its errant tone issue that Neil fixed for this rebuild of it.  Anyway, this first listen to that program in a while didn't change my opinion on it; It mostly made me want to dig out the complete version and listen to that when it was over!  That being said, you can't deny that all the highlights are here, and the program zips along very nicely.  It's one of those scores that is just great and works either way.

 

 

Ilan Eshkeri - Stardust


I picked this one up on a whim.  I've seen the movie (twice) and LOVE it, but neither viewing compelled me to want to check out the score album, really.  In fact, the main motivating factor was @BloodBoal's admiration for the score, I remember him writing enthusiastically about it band breaking down the whole thing.  Unfortunately, I didn't find a whole lot here that really wowwed me, but I also haven't seen the movie in quite some time now so don't remember much context.  I need to revisit the film and then revisit this.  I'm actually hoping that the reason Eshkeri was on Roger's composer list was because they're doing a complete version of this one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Recently, I listened to some OST albums on Spotify

 

Michael Giacchino - John Carter

 

I forgot how much I loved the highlights of this.  The whole opening up through Sab Than Pursues The Princess is so good!  I sort of found my interest waning at times after that, though it ends strongly with the finale and end credits cue.  Listening to this made me want to revisit the complete score; I wish those pesky AFM fees weren't preventing an Intrada expansion :(

 

Michael Giacchino - Mission: Impossible III

 

This is a score I had not listened to in QUITE some time.  I've listened to Elfman and Kraemer's scores SO MUCH over the past 10 (!) years, Giacchino's two somewhat fell through the cracks.  I liked this, but didn't love it.  The action music is fun, as is the way he interpolates the main MI theme and The Plot.  The LOST-esque track "Reparations" made me chuckle at how LOST-y it was.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Jay said:

Last year, I randomly picked up a bunch of used OST albums from a music store in Concord, NH.  I finally listened to some this week

 

Jerry Goldsmith - Basic Instinct

 

For this score I had gone right into the Prometheus expansion, and then later got Neil's brilliant Quartet edition, which was the first time I heard the OST program.  This is a score where I think the score plays great in complete form, so I only really enjoyed the OST program as a curiosity, and went back to the first disc whenever I wanted to listen to that score. So, this was my first time hearing the actual OST mastering with its errant tone issue that Neil fixed for this rebuild of it.  Anyway, this first listen to that program in a while didn't change my opinion on it; It mostly made me want to dig out the complete version and listen to that when it was over!  That being said, you can't deny that all the highlights are here, and the program zips along very nicely.  It's one of those scores that is just great and works either way.

 

Don't you have the expansion that contains the ost?

If yes, why did you buy the ost?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

Don't you have the expansion that contains the ost?

 

Yes, I do.  It's one of the best albums in my entire collection.

 

23 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

If yes, why did you buy the ost?

 

Because they were $2 each.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interestingly, I had a Jeff Beal yesterday too (how often does it happen that two people have a Jeff Beal day more or less simultaneously?), with his (IMO) two best scores - WILDE SALOMÉ and TIBET - CRY OF THE SNOW LION.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting that Herrmann collaborated with Truffaut twice. The first is a classic and the second is barely remembered. Apparently Herrmann and Truffaut got on famously for F451 but less well for The Bride Wore Black. It’s not quite top tier Herrmann and the various bridal march quotes rather stick out against Herrmann’s own music. Still, if you want a Hitchcockian style score it’s a great addition. I can’t remember what the complaints were about the orchestra or conductor but it sounds great to me.

 

 

IMG_9034.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Funny, I remember the song better than the score!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like how Arnold finds new ways to adapt Bond sound in this one. His brass writing feels darker due to his use of the lower registers. It works very well with his electronics, way subtler than the last two Brosnan movies. Shame he didn't get to develop that further as this is the best balance between modern thriller sound and vintage snazziness. I like this one.

 

Karol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Guidelines.