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

[Andy 7,939]

It’s Summer in Upstate New York so I like to listen to Westerns. 
 

Bruce Broughton - Silverado OST

 

I usually play the complete score to this and find I it coming up short in holding my attention so today I played the OST and yeaaaahhh, that’s perfect.  A nicely curated program where even the darker sinister bad guy cues don’t wear out their welcome.  This is perfect.  There is nothing like that Riding as One arrangement with the counterpoint French horns galloping along with the trumpet melody.  So, so good. 

 

[CinderTech 1,828]

[A24 5,266]

 

 

A24 - He has the goods

[filmmusic 3,320]

 

Always refreshing to listen to a Mancini score that doesn't sound like "lounge" source music!

Not that I don't like that kind, but I have linked soundtracks with something more than that..

By the way, does this ring a bell?  (the film was released in 1974)

 

[Kasey Kockroach 2,769]

This has been a long time coming; back when John Powell had to separate any tracks that used choir to get around re-use fees. Now can finally merge them! No, Filmtracks or moviemusicuk, DotD did not actually have 40 something cues, you just had to merge them together.

Also did a little bit of trimming, though not much. 

DotD's really fun as it's the closest we'll get to Powell Jurassic. It even has a 'danger' motif that sounds like his equivalent to Williams' raptor motif!

 

[Kasey Kockroach 2,769]

[CinderTech 1,828]

 

Really good thing I haven't finalized the patch yet, cause I already found issues with one edit 

 

You'd think I'd have reached a point where this score has left me numb with the amount of time I've spent working on it, but the fact I can reach the end feeling the same emotions I felt back in 07 tells me that it'll never leave me tired

[Kasey Kockroach 2,769]

Another philosophical question; why did Goldsmith go to the national philharmonic orchestra for Link, but not Lionheart? 
I suspect ape bias.

[Johnnyecks 67]

Go check out the "Red Violin". At least the finale. in 20 years, that's one of the ones that has kept my attention   

[filmmusic 3,320]

42 minutes ago, Johnnyecks said:

Go check out the "Red Violin". At least the finale. in 20 years, that's one of the ones that has kept my attention   

I wanted to love this soundtrack, but for some reason I didn't!

[Johnnyecks 67]

You need too

 

[Jurassic Shark 16,578]

22 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

I wanted to love this soundtrack, but for some reason I didn't!

 

Clemmensen didn't either.

[filmmusic 3,320]

2 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

Clemmensen didn't either.

Who is he? 

[Jurassic Shark 16,578]

Just now, filmmusic said:

Who is he? 

 

The Filmtracks guy! And I agree with him here.

[filmmusic 3,320]

11 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

The Filmtracks guy! And I agree with him here.

https://www.filmtracks.com/titles/red_violin.html

I don't interpret 4 out of 5 stars, as he didn't like it! 

 

* * *

 

 

The dialogue in soundtracks, is getting on my nerves! 

Why on earth would I like to hear dialogue with the music?

If I wanted to, I would watch the film!

Really now!

Anyway, I'm in a Mancini mode lately. This is decent!

By the way, I've never seen a single W.C. Fields film in my life!

[Jurassic Shark 16,578]

9 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

https://www.filmtracks.com/titles/red_violin.html

I don't interpret 4 out of 5 stars, as he didn't like it! 

 

I meant he didn't think it's a masterpiece, like some do. Read the last sentences of the review.

[Tallguy 7,588]

1 hour ago, filmmusic said:

Why on earth would I like to hear dialogue with the music?

If I wanted to, I would watch the film!

 

Modern bias. The record was the piece of the film you could take home with you. Not my cup of tea, but not every movie was going to get a score AND a story record.

[Andy 7,939]

2 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

The Filmtracks guy! And I agree with him here.

I often agree with him.  Is that bad? 

[Jurassic Shark 16,578]

14 minutes ago, Andy said:

I often agree with him.  Is that bad? 

 

I do too, so then it cannot be bad.

[filmmusic 3,320]

18 minutes ago, Andy said:

I often agree with him.  Is that bad? 

 

3 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

I do too, so then it cannot be bad.

I'm curious, why do you read soundtrack reviews?

Is it beforehand, so you're reading them to decide with score you will listen to, or is it after the fact, to see if they agree with the opinion you had on first listen?

[Jurassic Shark 16,578]

2 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

 

I'm curious, why do you read soundtrack reviews?

Is it beforehand, so you're reading them to decide with score you will listen to, or is it after the fact, to see if they agree with the opinion you had on first listen?

 

Usually beforehand to see if they're worth checking out, like with most other reviews.

[Naïve Old Fart 13,245]

5 hours ago, filmmusic said:

... I've never seen a single W.C. Fields film in my life!

You need to watch MY LITTLE CHICKADEE.

[filmmusic 3,320]

5 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

You need to watch MY LITTLE CHICKADEE.

Ok, I will. I have to start somewhere.

Although that Mae West is also starring, that I cannot possibly stand!  

[Edmilson 12,621]

Return of the Jedi 

 

First time revisiting it in... I don't even know how many years. But I wasn't expecting to love it as much as I did this time.

 

Maybe because I could get the glimpses, seeds of what would flourish in JW's later days more here than in the previous (but nonetheless brilliant) OT scores: noble strings in the vein of The Face of Pan in The Death of Yoda, the theme from The Lost World in Alliance Assembly, some Jurassic Park/Lost World-ish writing in Shuttle Tydirium Approaches Endor. The final confrontation with Palpatine feels like it came out straight from Prisoner of Azkaban, or perhaps the climax of Philosopher's Stone. Also, I think the aforementioned Death of Yoda has a proto-Chamber of Secrets theme (that actually came out from Superman).

 

I loved how ferocious and violent the Den of Rancor music gets. And Sail Barge Assault is among the greatest pieces of Star Wars action music ever. Yeah, it's mostly derived from other stuff from the other movies, but Williams make it sound fresh and even more energetic.

 

Luke & Leia also must be mentioned among the greatest Star Wars themes of all time. The appearance in Light of the Force is tear inducing even if you aren't a Star Wars fan.

 

Two things hold this score back, though (four, actually, but I'm not gonna talk about the weird sound quality and the annoying source music). The Jabba theme and the Ewok theme. Don't get me wrong, they're perfectly tailored for these characters, and a theme can be great and fitting and yet still be annoying to listen to. I wonder how difficult it was for the LSO tuba player to make those Jabba sounds, though.

 

Anyway, hate the movie if you must (ROTJ is one of the two Star Wars movies that the entire internet says you must hate them, but I still like them), but John Williams was very inspired.

[crocodile 9,812]

Superman Returns. Despite being largely a hodgepodge of temp track influences and ...ekhm...far from ideal arrangements of classic themes, this is still a very admirable effort from Ottman. He clearly poured a lot of heart into what was a very undeserving film. I would say this was the best thing about it. It's not up there technically, of course, but makes up for it with infectious enthusiasm. I still have a soft spot for it.

 

Karol

[Tom Guernsey 3,908]

37 minutes ago, crocodile said:

Superman Returns. Despite being largely a hodgepodge of temp track influences and ...ekhm...far from ideal arrangements of classic themes, this is still a very admirable effort from Ottman. He clearly poured a lot of heart into what was a very undeserving film. I would say this was the best thing about it. It's not up there technically, of course, but makes up for it with infectious enthusiasm. I still have a soft spot for it.

 

Karol

When FSM did a podcast about Superman Returns their view was that Ottman’s ambition slightly exceeded his ability. I have to admit that it has slightly coloured my view on this score as I can’t help feel they are right. There are lots of great ideas but it doesn’t hang together as well as it should at times and is a bit clunky in places and re-harmonising the love theme is a crime against music although it makes it sounds less like Richard Strauss…they also pointed out that changing the harmony also means that it takes away the harmonic unity with the other themes that JW’s original has. They discussed one of the action cues and how it basically goes from one idea to another without the coherence you get from JW.

 

For all that, it’s an enjoyable score and his music for Lex Luthor is especially effective. Shame ottman seems to have totally withdrawn from scoring these days. 

[Tallguy 7,588]

8 hours ago, Edmilson said:

And Sail Barge Assault is among the greatest pieces of Star Wars action music ever. Yeah, it's mostly derived from other stuff from the other movies, but Williams make it sound fresh and even more energetic.

 

Sail Barge is the cue that I feel bad for loving as much as I do. It's so derivative. BUT IT'S PERFECT.

 

8 hours ago, Edmilson said:

Two things hold this score back, though (four, actually, but I'm not gonna talk about the weird sound quality and the annoying source music). The Jabba theme and the Ewok theme. Don't get me wrong, they're perfectly tailored for these characters, and a theme can be great and fitting and yet still be annoying to listen to. I wonder how difficult it was for the LSO tuba player to make those Jabba sounds, though.

 

The reason I think the complete RotJ is indispensable is the development of Jabba's theme. It's so on the nose, but it works so well. The music does a better job than the script or the film of asking "What if Sydney Greenstreet was a slug?"

 

And I can hate on Ewoks with the best of them, but when I heard a High School band play Forrest Battle the Ewok music gave me so much joy. OTOH, I think it's an indication of JW just not even pretending to take this stuff seriously anymore. I know, it's Ewoks, how seriously can he take it? How can I put this? The wink to the audience just became over the top. And you can hear the change in attitude in Last Crusade, Harry Potter, later Star Wars films. It went from childlike to childish. But it's Williams so it's a really sophisticated childish.

 

8 hours ago, Edmilson said:

Anyway, hate the movie if you must (ROTJ is one of the two Star Wars movies that the entire internet says you must hate them, but I still like them), but John Williams was very inspired.

 

I hope I don't have the reputation around these parts as a hater of Return of the Jedi. For all its faults it is the tail end of all of these creative forces at their peak. I don't love it anywhere near as much as the first two but it's still a banger. It has some Star Wars imagery that is as iconic (that word) as anything in the canon.

[crocodile 9,812]

The Cloverfield Paradox by Bear McCreary. A really good s-f score, probably one of my favourites from him. Yeah, I actually like it more than the previous (also great) entry.

 

Karol

[Kasey Kockroach 2,769]

Revisited and threw this together.

[A24 5,266]

 

Doesn't seem to reach the hights of the Bertolucci soundtracks (The Last Emperor, The Sheltering sky, Little Buddha). 

[Edmilson 12,621]

Enemy at the Gates by 

 

I love this score. It's one of my favorite Horners, and I might as well include it in my favorite scores ever. Almost all of the Hornersisms I love are in there, but what sells it for me is the sense of melodrama, the tragedy underlying the characters in the Battle of Stalingrad. The last three tracks on the album are some of the most emotionally impactful music from Horner that I ever listened to.

 

Troy by 

 

Another Horner that I love, but... the listening experience on the Intrada 2 CD is pretty weird. Lots of synth-only tracks, which are understandable given the hectic scoring conditions Horner was under, but the two missing tracks that Douglass Fake mentioned in his liner notes really make a difference in the listening experience, especially because one of them is the arrival of Paris and Hector in Troy, which was on the OST but weirdly missing from the expansion:

 

 

What are the other(s) track(s) missing from the Intrada expansion? Are they available somewhere? I might as well add the Troy track and whatever else is missing if they can be found somewhere to the Intrada set, because the way it is, the score feels like it's missing an important narrative beat. 

[badbu 199]

Trevor Rabins Deep Blue Sea  

All time classic! 

The brass, the strings, the choir! Love it!

 

[A24 5,266]

 

From my private collection ...

 

 

 

A long time ago, I remember playing this CD just for kicks, because the brass sounded so incredible on my then huge IMF transmission line speakers. (photo internet)

[Edmilson 12,621]

4 hours ago, A24 said:

IMF

Impossible Mission Force?

[A24 5,266]

13 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Impossible Mission Force?

 

Irving M. Fried

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_M._Fried#External_links

[Kasey Kockroach 2,769]

[Edmilson 12,621]

Not only I don't really care for this score (though I need to try it again), but the very title of the movie puts Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers' absurdly annoying song playing in my head, which is probably why I haven't listened to the score that often.

[filmmusic 3,320]

 

First of all: who thought that using this cover would be a good idea?

It's perhaps the worst Bond cover (edited from the word "score" I used by mistake) I've ever seen, and one of the worst covers for a film generally.

I see it's based on one of the original film posters, but I see others that were way better than this. Anyway.

I didn't know Kamen had written a Bond score. He seems really at home here (after all he had written some important action scores already), much more than Thomas Newman was in Spectre, that I listened to previously. (who thought of him being a fitting composer for a Bond score, given his usual style, I'll never know).

Still, when it ended, I didn't remember anything...

Oh, and in some parts, I don't know, I didn't like the synths used. Does any composer here remember soundfonts? It reminded me of those..

[Edmilson 12,621]

24 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

 

It's perhaps the worst Bond score I've ever seen

I didn't know you have synesthesia 

 

By the way, it's a bit hard to say Kamen (or Newman) wrote the worst Bond score when Eric Serra's Goldeneye exists.

 

26 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

much more than Thomas Newman was in Spectre, that I listened to previously. (who thought of him being a fitting composer for a Bond score, given his usual style, I'll never know).

That was probably because of Sam Mendes. He directed both Skyfall and Spectre, but before being hired for Bond, Newman had scored all of his movies.

 

Nowadays, after they did 1917 together, it seems that they had a falling out in recent years, as Mendes' last movie was scored by Trent Resznor and Atticuss Ross. But if they did, we won't know for a while, because his next movie is the four-part Beatles biography.

[filmmusic 3,320]

28 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

I didn't know you have synesthesia 

 

By the way, it's a bit hard to say Kamen (or Newman) wrote the worst Bond score when Eric Serra's Goldeneye exists.

Oops, sorry! I meant the worst cover, since I was talking about covers! I'll correct it!

28 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

That was probably because of Sam Mendes. He directed both Skyfall and Spectre, but before being hired for Bond, Newman had scored all of his movies.

I haven't heard Skyfall and I see it was nominated for an Oscar! I wonder if it deserved it...

[Naïve Old Fart 13,245]

LICENSE TO KILL is one of the better non-Barry/pre-Arnold Bond scores.

[Marian Schedenig 11,884]

9 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

LICENSE TO KILL is one of the better non-Barry/pre-Arnold Bond scores.

 

Just because Kamen was an American doesn't mean you have to go full Sorcerer's Stone and Americanise the whole film.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,724]

Just another Die Hard connection.

[Edmilson 12,621]

9 hours ago, filmmusic said:

I haven't heard Skyfall and I see it was nominated for an Oscar! I wonder if it deserved it...

Eh, not really... There were better scores that year. I personally would prefer if Howard Shore's An Unexpected Journey got the nom rather than Skyfall (or Dario Marianelli's Anna Karenina, which I also didn't care for).

 

 

I felt that Skyfall only entered the race because the Academy is contractually obligated to give Thomas Newman an Oscar nomination every single year (without awarding him) 

[filmmusic 3,320]

On 21/06/2026 at 3:09 AM, Kasey Kockroach said:

 

I just listened to this too, influenced by your post. 

I haven't seen the film (not the original 1963 one either).

Nothing wrong with the score, it was quite delightful, but there's always something missing from this composer (I can't put my finger on what), to make a score really great! (although, to be frank, I've only listened to 7 of his scores).

[filmmusic 3,320]

This won over The Hunchback of Notre Dame for an Oscar for best score?

Come on now!!

[Tom Guernsey 3,908]

1 hour ago, filmmusic said:

This won over The Hunchback of Notre Dame for an Oscar for best score?

Come on now!!

And Doyle’s Sense and Sensibility didn’t win despite being vastly better. Emma is a charming score but yeah… agreed!

[CinderTech 1,828]

[Naïve Old Fart 13,245]

That's better 

[filmmusic 3,320]

10 minutes ago, Tom Guernsey said:

And Doyle’s Sense and Sensibility didn’t win despite being vastly better. Emma is a charming score but yeah… agreed!

I've been thinking just that, that Sense and Sensibility is much better, and Emma is not even on that level to have won, but at that year (the year of Sense and Sensibility) I'd prefer Braveheart. I think it was the superior score of all 5 dramatic scores (yes, even Williams's own Nixon)