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


Ollie

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It makes snoozing a very real possibility. 

 

On 19/01/2016 at 7:50 PM, publicist said:

 

 

JOHN WILLIAMS - Born on the Fourth of July

 

Many an eyebrow is raised around here when this score is placed among the composer's very best efforts - sadly, one may say, as per swarm intelligence there seem never to be enough derivative Star Wars, Indiana Jones or Harry Potter sequels to take these high honours.

 

Especially noteworthy as it is one of the select few collaborations with oddball director Oliver Stone, who may not be Robert Altman but whose gripping and polarizing style seems to have rejuvenated the old 70's juices in Williams like the older Altman once did. And just about the right time: in 1989, success already had embalmed the composer in a precious layer of nostalgia-thick vaseline, made of wistful reminiscences of a golden past (all the Lucas and Spielberg blockbusters) and pompous proclamations of an indeed bright american present (literally hundreds of jubilee fanfares for all kind of festive occasions).

 

The academic gusto with which Williams attacks Stone's wistful, pathetic and angry Vietnam recount seen through the eyes of a returning vet, Ron Kovic, makes it abundantly clear that intellectually he was more than up for such task (one wonders how he must have languished in the putrid ponds of, say, 'Always', 'Amazing Stories' and 'Spacecamp').

 

A static trumpet lament opens the score, an eulogy for the dead, and it's one of those classic Williams ideas that sound as if they must have been around forever but also immediately establishes a powerful spell over the whole score, which formal brilliance lies in the treatment of the disparate elements: the solo trumpet, the earthy string orchestra for the yearning look back (another classic theme) and the avantgardist tableaus of the battlefield flashbacks are all rigorously interwoven in aid of Stone's storytelling to which Williams not acts as mere illustrator but indeed a loud musical messenger.

 

And while the thematic material by design doesn't shy away from big pathos, Williams carefully avoids toppling over by juxtaposing the melodramatic moments with either the dreadful stillness of his dirge-like trumpet call or even brutal Ligeti-inspired dissonances (note the ghostly whispers in the latter half of 'Cua Viet River' and the uncompromising atonality of 'The Shooting of Wilson'). This is brilliant stuff and it bears mention that it neither is the norm for the typical end-of-the-year Oscar bait nor indeed for Williams himself.

 

The final apotheosis, the aptly titled credit sequence 'Born on the Fourth of July' dashingly summarizes the whole score and movie in what is one of Williams' most formally ripe cues (he would later expand on the academic air, unusual for film music anyway, and expand it for some of his 90's and 00's scores, mostly in tandem with various solo artists). The MCA crossover album, usually a case for grave concern, is equally conceptually satisfying: there's no dead air, no material simply aiding some movie sequences, the 25 minutes are a perfect summation and while i probably would buy a complete score for archival reasons, this album (or at least all the Williams cues) should have a place in every self-respecting Williams collection.

 

 

Fuck, this is much more like it. I'm playing this next. 

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26 minutes ago, E.T. and Elliot said:

 

I love that version!

 

The Close Encounters segment is well performed. And the Cantina Band is great.

 

21 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

The two of you should get married.

 

I'd like you to be my Best Man, since you are my brother.

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6 hours ago, Quintus said:

 

"Depressingly simple"? Really? You sound a bit drama queenish here tbh pub. How does a score from twenty odd years ago make you feel so depressed in the here and now?

 

Because i listened to it here and now and remember the movie, which i was forced to endure in class.

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King Kong 1976 OST on Spotify

 

It's my favorite Barry and a good album, but I feel like the OST program is heavier on the romantic and action music, and all the eerie moodier material that he excelled at and I adored most got left out, so I do favor the complete score. This one is like a dreary Sunday morning curled up in bed in musical form.

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This morning I listened to Space Camp OST.

 

I think I never saw the movie again since it came out.

 

An essential CD to add to my collection?

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23 minutes ago, Bespin said:

This morning I listened to Space Camp OST.

 

I think I never saw the movie again since it came out.

 

An essential CD to add to my collection?

 

Not really. Decent if nothing special. Especially for 80's Williams.

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On 1/20/2016 at 0:33 AM, Drax said:

I think TAOT and Continuum were each limited to 1,500 copies, and were snapped up by fans at the time.

 

Joel signed my Continuum booklet.

 

I managed to find a copy of Continuum on Movie Music (as well as Varese's Atlantis release) two years ago, but TAOT was hard to find even then.

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John Williams and the Boston Pops - Out of This World

 

This might be my favorite JW/BP album and, yes, I even love the slow rendition of the ST:TMP theme. That remains one of the coolest things in existence just because. But it's an otherwise solid album with awesome selection of music that anyone into sci-fi from that era would appreciate. Plus, it has the definitive Williams recording of the Jabba the Hutt concert theme, which only appeared as an excerpt on the Jedi OST. That makes this album essential to a Williams/Star Wars music fan. So, I hope you have it.

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John Williams - The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration

John Williams - Williams on Williams: The Classic Spielberg Scores

 

I actually made a spotify playlist that combined these two releases together, but re-arranged everything in the order that the films came out.  It ends up being a pretty freaking sweet ride, starting with Sugarland Express and Jaws and ending with Schindler's List.  Oh, how I wish the series had kept going for the next half of their collaborations!

 

Highlights include some new arrangements that hadn't been heard before, like The Battle for Hollywood from 1941, both Empire of the Sun pieces, and the Hook suite.  It's also great to hear a bunch of Jaws music performed and recorded well, and with Williams at the baton.  I think both these CDs are must-haves!

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12 minutes ago, E.T. and Elliot said:

John Williams and the Boston Pops - Out of This World

 

This might be my favorite JW/BP album and, yes, I even love the slow rendition of the ST:TMP theme. That remains one of the coolest things in existence just because. But it's an otherwise solid album with awesome selection of music that anyone into sci-fi from that era would appreciate. Plus, it has the definitive Williams recording of the Jabba the Hutt concert theme, which only appeared as an excerpt on the Jedi OST. That makes this album essential to a Williams/Star Wars music fan. So, I hope you have it.

 

The best jabba Concert theme recording is on Star Wars Trilogy DDD recording.

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2 minutes ago, E.T. and Elliot said:

What's the DDD?

 

Digitally recorded, edited, and mastered.  He's talking about this CD:

 

MI0000927542.jpg (400×392)

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I like the Gerhardt and Kojian versions and the Skywalker Symphony version is actually really good, but the Out of This World version sounds right when I program it alongside the ROTJ score or OST. The others don't.

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26 minutes ago, Jay said:

Here's my playlist of the two Spielberg/Williams / Boston Pops CDs if anyone wants to check it out

 

 

 

 

 

That remembers me the playlist (boxset) I proposed for all JW recordings of his own music with the BPO:
 

John Williams Plays John Williams - A Boston Pops Anthology

CD 1 - Pops in Space (59:22)

- Star Wars: Main Theme (from Pops in Space)
- Star Wars: Princess Leia (from Pops in Space)

- TESB: The Asteroid Field (from Pops in Space)
- TESB: Yoda's Theme (from Pops in Space)
- TESB: The Imperial March (from Pops in Space)

- ROTJ: Parade Of The Ewoks (from Out of this World)

- ROTJ: Luke & Leia (from Out of this World)

- ROTJ: Jabba The Hutt (from Out of this World)
- ROTJ: The Forest Battle (from Out of this World)

- E.T.: The Flying Theme (from Aisle Seat)

- E.T.: Adventures On Earth (from Out of this World)
- Close Encounters Of The Third Kind: Suite (from Pops in Space)
 

CD 2 - Music and other adventures (49:20)

- Olympic Fanfare and Theme (from By Request)

- The Cowboys Overture (from Digital Overtures)

- Yes, Giorgio: If we were in love (from Aisle Seat)
- Raiders Of The Lost Ark: Raiders Of The Lost Ark March (from Aisle Seat)
- Superman: March (from Pops in Space)
- Superman: Love Theme (from Pops in Space)

- Jaws: Theme (from By Request)

- Midway (from Pops on the March)

- 1941: March (from By Request)

- 1941: Swing, Swing, Swing (from Swing, Swing, Swing)

 

CD 3 - Time and Memory (64:27)

- Jane Eyre: At Lowood (from Pops Britannia)
- Jane Eyre: To Thornfield (from Pops Britannia)
- Jane Eyre: The Return (from Pops Britannia)

- Witches of Eastwick: Balloon Sequence (from Salute to Hollywood)

- Witches of Eastwick: Devil's Dance (from Salute to Hollywood)

- Born on the Fourth of July: Suite (from Music from Stage and Screen)

- Home Alone: Somewhere in My Memory (from Joy to the World)
- Home Alone: Holiday Flight (from Joy to the World)

- Home Alone: Star of Bethlehem (from Joy to the World)
- The Reivers (from Music from Stage and Screen)

 

CD 4 - America's Composer (54:55)

- Summon the Heroes (from Summon the Heroes)

- Bugler's Dream and Olympic Fanfare Medley (from Summon the Heroes)

- Pops on the March (from I Love a Parade)

- Midway March (from I Love a Parade)

- America, The Dream Goes On (from America, The Dream Goes On)

- Mission Theme: Theme For NBC News (from By Request)

- Liberty Fanfare (from By Request)
- The Olympic Spirit (from Summon the Heroes)

- Oboe Concerto (w Keisuke Wakao)
 

CD 5 - The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration, vol. 1 (69:16)

- Sugarland Express: Theme (from The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration)

- Jaws: Theme (from The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration)
- Jaws: Out To Sea / The Shark Cage Fugue (from The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration)

- Jaws: The Barrel Chase (from Williams on Williams - The Classic Spielberg Scores)

- Close Encounters Of The Third Kind: The Dialogue (from Williams on Williams - The Classic Spielberg Scores)

- Close Encounters Of The Third Kind: Excerpts (from The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration)

- 1941: March (from The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration)

- 1941: The Battle For Hollywood (from Williams on Williams - The Classic Spielberg Scores)

- Raiders Of The Lost Ark: The Raiders March (from The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration)

- Raiders Of The Lost Ark: The Basket Chase (from Williams on Williams - The Classic Spielberg Scores)

- E. T.: Flying (from Williams on Williams - The Classic Spielberg Scores)

- E. T.: Over The Moon (from The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration)

- E. T.: Adventures On Earth (from The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration)
- Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom: Parade Of The Slave Children (from The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration)

 

CD 6 - The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration, vol. 2 (65:35)

- Empire Of The Sun: Jim's New Life (from Williams on Williams - The Classic Spielberg Scores)

- Empire Of The Sun: Cadillac Of The Skies (from The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration)

- Empire Of The Sun: Exsultate Justi (from The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration)

- Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade: Scherzo For Motorcycle And Orchestra (from The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration)

- Always: Theme (from The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration)
- Hook: Flight To Neverland (from Williams on Williams - The Classic Spielberg Scores)
- Hook: The Lost Boys' Ballet (from Williams on Williams - The Classic Spielberg Scores)
- Hook: The Face Of Pan (from Williams on Williams - The Classic Spielberg Scores)

- Hook: Smee's Plan (from Williams on Williams - The Classic Spielberg Scores)
- Hook: The Banquet (from Williams on Williams - The Classic Spielberg Scores)
- Jurassic Park:Theme (from Williams on Williams - The Classic Spielberg Scores)
- Jurassic Park: My Friend, The Brachiosaurus (from Williams on Williams - The Classic Spielberg Scores)
- Schindler's List: Theme (from Williams on Williams - The Classic Spielberg Scores)

- Schindler's List: Remembrances (from Williams on Williams - The Classic Spielberg Scores)


http://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?/topic/23625-a-guide-to-the-jw-boston-pops-discography/#comment-949819

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I'm listening to Braveheart.  The last minute and a half of Betrayal & Desolation makes it clear that writing music is the best way to ensure one's immortality.  Horner Lives.

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Ennio Morricone - La Corrispondenza

 

Expanding on my initial thoughts when this unexpectedly popped up shortly after the much more publicized 'Hateful Eight' i will say that it's a happy continuation of the 86-year old composer's journey through his very own terra musica.

 

It's of much less formal academic rigour than his last collaboration with Tornatore, 'Il Miglio Offerta' ('The Best Offer'), a point of criticism for some, but that such a carefree musical fresco still is part of Morricone's musical grammar is a wonderful thing.

 

It's a collection of musical moods, thematically built on a simple longing 4-note piano theme, but diverging in all kinds of directions, a bit of Chopin, a bit of Pink Floyd (behaved PF, though, not really as wild as that stuff was once in the 70's), a lot of simple, flowering romanticism - though thankfully it's far removed from Morricone's own tired nostalgic melos of recent years - and it seems that even more freed from any visuals than usual, the composer came up with a bouquet of stuff at Tornatore's disposal and it makes for a spellbinding listen.

 

It may not be for everyone - you must have a certain tolerance for repetition - but as collection of Morricone's unending musical resources, it's quite a fine little souvenir. It's what you would expect from his upcoming score for Malick though knowing this dreaded filmmaker's capacity for mucking up his film music, this here may be as good as it gets.

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