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

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[crocodile 7,998]

The Fly and Revolution

Karol

[KK 3,307]

The Book Thief by John Williams

[Jay 37,336]

Hey, that's also the last score I listened to!

It was nice.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Me too! Delightful score.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

It's aight.

[Matt C 452]

I listened to that suite of "Arn - The Knight Templar" alicebrallice posted earlier -- and I'm quite impressed. Absolutely beautiful.

Now, I'm listening to Ottman's Superman Returns score. This doesn't get enough love.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

You're Not One Of Them is a great cue. I also love the choral additions to Williams' Krypton theme.

[Incanus 5,714]

The Book Thief by John Williams (x 10): A pretty gorgeous score I say.

[publicist 4,643]

The Book Thief, too. As i suspected, i file it under 'nice listen', but it's really ANGELA'S ASHES light, without ever really developing its own signature. It is, in other words, pleasently boring.

In celebration of Morricone's 85th birthday, i also invested in BAARIA, a Tornatore epos that seems right up EM's alley. While it also heavily draws from prior triumphs, it has an engaging variety of styles and Morricone's great string sheen that make for a worthwile hour - though i also expected a wee bit more, given the Tornatore angle.

[crocodile 7,998]

I have not listened to The Book Thief yet, but, in a pre-Christmas mood, gave Gremlins and Home Alone 2 a spin.

Karol

[KK 3,307]

Angela's Ashes by John Williams

The clear superior to The Book Thief. Not to say that TBT is weak per se, but this distant cousin doesn't reach the quality of its predecessor. A sublime work.

[crocodile 7,998]

Angela's Ashes is in top 10 JW works for me. Didn't expect TBT to match it in terms of quality, you know.

Karol

[Incanus 5,714]

Angela's Ashes is in top 10 JW works for me. Didn't expect TBT to match it in terms of quality, you know.

Karol

Yeah it is in top 5 for me. A very tough one to beat. The Book Thief is a companion piece in terms of style, orchestrations and use of solo instruments though.

[KK 3,307]

I prefer Lincoln over The Book Thief.

Hopefully I'll be able to get a review out for the weekend.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Does TBT have anything like Angela's Prayer?

[Faleel 5,345]

No?

[KK 3,307]

Does TBT have anything like Angela's Prayer?

Nope.

[Incanus 5,714]

Does TBT have anything like Angela's Prayer?

Nope.

Well not exactly no. There is less religioso sound to the score than parts of Angela's Ashes. Something coming even close to that style would be perhaps that string theme found on The Visitor at Himmel Street track. But take a listen to judge for yourself whether or not it is good.

[KK 3,307]

Doubt by Howard Shore

Nice little score that sounds a lot like Thomas Newman in parts. I like some of the uplifting, choral passages. It's really just a pleasant, lightweight drama score, but not something I'd revisit often.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I forgot about that score. I remember it didn't have a release at the time the film premiered so by the time Shore got it out on his label it already faded from my memory. I should pick it up one of these days.

Life In A Day by Harry Gregson-Williams

This little bit of score is absolutely gorgeous. I can't believe I never sought it out earlier. It's Harry in full orchestral mode, channeling a little bit of Zimmer's minimalistic style from The Thin Red Line. "Dawn" is 6 minutes of bliss. I'm truly floored by this, it instantly ranks among his best works. I didn't even bother listening to the music by the other musician that worked on it.

[KK 3,307]

Is that the Youtube movie that was being hyped up some time ago?

I didn't know he scored that. I'll check it out.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Yeah, it was produced by Ridley and Tony Scott. The CD is way overpriced by the digital download suffices.

[crocodile 7,998]

The Hunt for Red October

Hey, this new expanded edition actually makes a hell of a difference. I used to dislike the original album for it's muffled sound quality and strange programme where all the climactic good stuff was placed at the start and the synth material at the end - creating an unbalanced and unsatisfying listening experience overall. The Intrada not only sounds better (not ideal, but much richer) but there is more of a balance between the synthetic sections and the gorgeous orchestra/chorus material and it all builds up towards the brilliant Nuclear Scam and the great end credits edit. Thanks to that the actual synthetic parts of the score actually feel like they're part of the design (even though, they exist only due to budget restrictions), representing the scary mechanical warfare, if you will. It all works great together. Not to mention the fact all the previously missing material adds some depth as well. It's like Star Trek V in this respect, where the original album presents you with what seems to be an underachieving and uneven score. while in reality it's all great. Highly recommended!

Karol - who also listened to Intrada's Cocoon today and is still wating for The Book Thief...

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Yeah, it was produced by Ridley and Tony Scott. The CD is way overpriced by the digital download suffices.

Hmmmmm this is awesome. Wish he got more intimate opportunities like this.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

It really is.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Star Trek: The Motion Picture - Jerry Goldsmith

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier - Jerry Goldsmith

Jurassic Park - John Williams

On the Threshold of Liberty - Mark Isham

The Prestige - David Julyan

Cloud Atlas - Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Howard Shore

[KK 3,307]

Yeah, it was produced by Ridley and Tony Scott. The CD is way overpriced by the digital download suffices.

Nice! It's a shame we don't hear from him as much anymore. I wonder what happened.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

He's still churning out about 3 scores a year, but like some other big composers from the 90s and early 00s, he's slowed down and dropped to the wayside a bit. He's scoring Antoine Fuqua's next film, coming out in 2014 (wonder why Mancina didn't return?) and he'll be back for Metal Gear Solid V.

[KK 3,307]

Never heard any of the Metal Gear Solid, but I'm not a fan of Williams in action-thriller/suspense mode. Give him projects like the stuff he got in the early 2000s or smaller scale stuff that allow him to write material like that last lovely cue you posted.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Kojima pretty much hired him to emulate his The Replacement Killers score. It's pure electronic Harry, so if you're not a fan of that style of his then I wouldn't recommend them.

I'm sure you know Kingdom Of Heaven, which I think is his best work. Veronica Guerin would follow after. Very underrated score, that sort of fits in that Irish Celtic sound that Newman did for Road To Perdition. There's even a small melody lifted note-for-note from it. Could either be temp track syndrome or possibly some traditional Irish song that both composers utilized.

"Bad News" is amazing. Harry found this little frail boy on the street in Dublin singing, and he taped it on some crappy recorder, cleaned it up, and wrote the music to it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ASuZmMIWtc&list=PLFF6DE7485244890E

His work for Ben Affleck is also really nice and low-key.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LkDJHCw15o

[KK 3,307]

Right, not a fan of electronic-Harry. And yes, KoH is basically what I consider his best work as well.

Never heard Veronica Guerin. "Bad News" sounds great (though the sound quality is admittedly distracting).

Not a fan of Narnia or Sinbad Koray?

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I like them, but I never really got into them like some other people. Narnia being a bit too New Age-y, and Sinbad a bit too orchestral bombast, not unlike Cutthroat Island.

[publicist 4,643]

COCOON - James Horner

Finally had time to unwrap this and give it a new listen: to my ears, it's the first 'real' James Horner score where everything that this composer does exceptionally well somehow came together: the painterly approach, flowing pieces that grow organically, a very lush/Hollywood-of-old sheen especially to the strings and a magic pot of great themes that often flow into another without effort. Sadly we all know how this talent deterioated over the decades (though his recent main themes for SPIDERMAN and even the nerve-wracking FOR GREATER GLORY prove me wrong), but in COCOON it first blossomed into a full-blown sentimental score full of delicate melancholy and glittering impressionism.

Horner did a great job of translating the movie's themes - life and death, essentially, though it waters them down to cheap pathos in the end - into several themes and motifs, chief among them an alluring flute call that to this day is unique to this score. The most obvious 80's reference, a bold Williams reference that plays all over THE ASCENSION, comes off as most forced element somehow at odds with the yearning horn and guitar treatment of the other thematic strains. The impressionistic approach of the first cue that is deepened in the wonderful THE LOVEMAKING (yearning horn alert!) and in MYSTERIOUS DIVE, now released for the first time, though the additions of Intrada's new release are really redundant and minor but don't bother too much, either. THE CHASE reminds us just in time that Horner can get fiercely aggressive if he wants and - Britten rip aside - it's just great and strident orchestral writing (it comes off as overdone in the film, though).

The short trio of FIRST TEARS, SAD GOODBYES and ROSE'S DEATH form the summation of Horner's most heartfelt material - where he really nails the human conditions at play in a few short strokes. In the end, this seems to be the material he felt the most and that he occasionally plundered after this score, of course for the rehash that is COCOON 2 but also AMERICAN TAIL, IN COUNTRY, CASPER, SPITFIRE GRILL and similar scores drew from it. Be it as it may, if you have any fleeting interest in Horner's brand of music, COCOON is a great way to start and into it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI-t27Eq-to

[crocodile 7,998]

Yes, as I said in the other thread it might be clearly one his very best works. Who knows, maybe even the best. Everything works in this one, even the Britten quote is somewhat altered and made more interesting than in most straightforward Wrath of Khan version. And the complete score clocks around 55 minutes which means the disc doesn't outstay its welcome. Fantastic album.

Karol - who finally got his The Book Thief CD (just now)

[publicist 4,643]

Please don't come round tomorrow blowing the 'it's the most enchanting and brilliant music that ever graced god's soil' horn..

[crocodile 7,998]

I want be blowing that horn, I promise.

Or Horner, for that matter.

Karol

[publicist 4,643]

OK, but then promise to give THIS a spin afterwards.

[crocodile 7,998]

That hack Chris Gordon?

Karol

[Incanus 5,714]

That hack Chris Gordon?

Karol

One splendid but underrated composer right there.

Chameleon (RTV Slovenija Symphony Orchestra, violin by Anja Bukovec): A showcase album of the violinist Anja Bukovec focusing on film music and containing a wide array of different composers' works arranged for orchestra and solo violin. Bukovec shows great skill and sensitivity and the orchestra performs with gusto. John Williams gets 4 selections with Devil's Dance from The Witches of Eastwick and 3 Pieces from Schindler's List. The former is a rather slow arrangement of the devilish jig, which features a prominent solo part as is to be expected but has sadly lost in translation a lot of the ever rollicking dexterity and mayhem that made the original piece so fun and exciting. The three pieces from Schindler's List are on the other hand superbly performed with emotion and artistry by Bukovec. Marc Shaiman's fun Tango from Addams Family 2 is a great opener and Christopher Gunning's Poirot Fantasy for orchestra and violin and the suite from his tender masterpiece Firelight form a definite highlight here. A surprise at the end is a suite from Hidalgo by James Newton Howard, which is actually a really wonderful way to round off this highly entertaining album.

[crocodile 7,998]

The Book Thief

I can see why the comparison to Desplat - the score has the same kind of sense of restraint. It's not John Williams of huge self-important themes and grand melodrama and, as such, it won't exactly appeal to everyone. There is a decidedly European feel to the music, something Desplat, Kilar, Iglesias or even Morricone would write for a film like this - it's less showy stylistically, emotionally (no matter what critics say) and ethnically, and yet able to conjure a specific time and place. Also, more contemplative than Hollywood-cathartic, less interested in developing leimotifs and more focused on tackling the subject in a broader sense. Reminds me of Presumed Innocent, of all things, with some slight touches straight out of Angela's Ashes. I really love The Train Station track - it's so elegant. And the woodwinds in the second Revealing the Secret are pure magic. Rudy is Taken and Finale are amazing too - only Williams can write things like that.

It's much better than Lincoln - richer emotionally and developed with greater detail. I am not surprised why so many people say "meh", but also disappointed there is no attempt to go beyond the superficial and boring "there's no hit theme here" accusations and go slightly deeper under the surface to hear all the subtle goodies Williams is leaving us to enjoy. To see him in a slightly different light, basically. I would like to believe that there is more discover in his music beyond great tunes.

Delicate and sensitive work and crafted with great care. I've listened to it twice in a row. Clearly up there with the best of 2013 and much better than I anticipated.

Karol

[KK 3,307]

It's much better than Lincoln - richer emotionally and developed with greater detail. I am not surprised why so many people say "meh", but also disappointed there is no attempt to go beyond the superficial and boring "there's no hit theme here" accusations and go slightly deeper under the surface to hear all the subtle goodies Williams is leaving us to enjoy. To see him in a slightly different light, basically. I would like to believe that there is more discover in his music beyond great tunes.

Interesting. I thought Lincoln was the clear superior, and I felt there were more riches in its subtlety than TBT had to offer.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

It's much better than Lincoln - richer emotionally and developed with greater detail. I am not surprised why so many people say "meh", but also disappointed there is no attempt to go beyond the superficial and boring "there's no hit theme here" accusations and go slightly deeper under the surface to hear all the subtle goodies Williams is leaving us to enjoy. To see him in a slightly different light, basically. I would like to believe that there is more discover in his music beyond great tunes.

Interesting. I thought Lincoln was the clear superior, and I felt there were more riches in its subtlety than TBT had to offer.

Agreed. Didn't Conrad Pope say something about Lincoln and how wonderfully crafted and carefully selected every single note was? TBT is a fine score, but it doesn't live up to that.

[publicist 4,643]

LINCOLN was more thematically rich and also felt more authoritative about what it wanted to convey. I must say that i find BOOK THIEF too uninteresting on its own, it's just a continuation of reliable standbys without really adding anything to the mix. There was a time when Horner did a middling action cue full of piano clusters in PELICAN BRIEF and then he recycled it for APOLLO 13 but did a better cue, so the cribbing was forgiven (easier, anyway). In the 2000's he started to just rehash prior material without adding enough new meat so it got stale and offensive at some point and while Williams never would steep to such lows, BOOK THIEF isn't giving exactly the impression of being that necessary, either.

Apart from one more dramatically developed cue ("The Secret revealed"), it's a bunch of vignettes either recalling ANGELA'S ASHES or STEPMOM (and three or four other works from the same genre) and i just don't see why we need another one of those. I got it and don't regret it (how many similar music i have horted by this point, anyhow), but i wouldn't think it needs to dominate any BEST-OF lists.

[KK 3,307]

It's much better than Lincoln - richer emotionally and developed with greater detail. I am not surprised why so many people say "meh", but also disappointed there is no attempt to go beyond the superficial and boring "there's no hit theme here" accusations and go slightly deeper under the surface to hear all the subtle goodies Williams is leaving us to enjoy. To see him in a slightly different light, basically. I would like to believe that there is more discover in his music beyond great tunes.

Interesting. I thought Lincoln was the clear superior, and I felt there were more riches in its subtlety than TBT had to offer.

Agreed. Didn't Conrad Pope say something about Lincoln and how wonderfully crafted and carefully selected every single note was? TBT is a fine score, but it doesn't live up to that.

TBT is a well-crafted score, but Lincoln feels special.

I often look at Lincoln as a fragile, but beautiful work of art. Every note has its own niche in a wonderful tapestry. This is Williams' subtlety at its finest. You can't but help appreciate every note on the page.

[crocodile 7,998]

We can discuss the merits of Williams' writing to no end. I think we can agree on the fact it's all crafted with great skill. I completely appreciate your tastes differering from mine - it happens all the time. But one thing bugs me here... Lincoln can be called many things, but subtle wouldn't be one of them. How is that exactly? Williams, while trying to be as restrained as possible, still paints him as a godlike entitty, Surely, with a hymn-like music such as this in the background he can't be wrong, can he? Too one-dimensional, too straightforward. For a fictional character you could have done that. But for a real-life figure it's just still... too much. Good music, but its intentions are quite, let's just say, to obvious for me to enjoy.

You see, pub. I've been reading all the opinions over the past few weeks and I have to say, apart from a few melodic connections, I can't really say The Book Thief repeats a whole lot. Those similarities seem quite unremarkable to me - kind of like saying El Cid borrowed from Ben-Hur. Not any more than any other work from Williams did in the past 15 years or so.

Karol

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

We can discuss the merits of Williams' writing to no end. I think we can agree on the fact it's all crafted with great skill. I completely appreciate your tastes differering from mine - it happens all the time. But one thing bugs me here... Lincoln can be called many things, but subtle wouldn't be one of them. How is that exactly? Williams, while trying to be as restrained as possible, still paints him as a godlike entitty, Surely, with a hymn-like music such as this in the background he can't be wrong, can he? Too one-dimensional, too straightforward. For a fictional character you could have done that. But for a real-life figure it's just still... too much. Good music, but its intentions are quite, let's just say, to straightforward for me to enjoy.

You see, pub. I've been reading all the opinions over the past few weeks and I have to say, apart from a few melodic connections, I can't really say The Book Thief repeats a whole lot. Those similarities seem quite unremarkable to me - kind of like saying El Cid borrowed from Ben-Hur. Not any more than any other work from Williams did in the past 15 years or so.

Karol

See, I disagree. What you call the hymn-like parts of the score are, to me, less about the man than the history, while something like With Malice Towards None in all its humble simplicity is more tied to Lincoln himself.

[crocodile 7,998]

It's exactly With Malice Towards None that I'm talking about here. It's too (I've used that word in the other thread) hagiographic.

karol

[KK 3,307]

Pub's point is that even when Williams "recycles" his past work, there's still new meat to bring to the table. All those scores you referred to in the other thread still bring something novel to picture which maes it entertaining enough. The Book Thief on other hand doesn't exactly offer anything as substantially new or superior to the predecessors it builds off of. And I agree to some degree.

[crocodile 7,998]

Pub's point is that even when Williams "recycles" his past work, there's still new meat to bring to the table. All those scores you referred to in the other thread still bring something novel to picture which maes it entertaining enough. The Book Thief on other hand doesn't exactly offer anything as substantially new or superior to the predecessors it builds off of. And I agree to some degree.

I think it brings restraint, something absent from those works. Williams has been rarely this understated and subtle.

Karol