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

[Brónach 490]

You got rid of these cues? But they give it colour! They make it better!

[Roll the Bones 2,967]

I bet you take out the Indian sounding cues from TOD, and the korgold sounding cues from Star Wars!

[Charlie Brigden 5]

THE EIGER SANCTION - I feel like an idiot for having this for so long and never listening to it before. Did so after reading Omen 2's great score analysis and loved it to bits, very, very good.

[Richard Penna 2,082]

You got rid of these cues? But they give it colour! They make it better!

I just don't like that wacky, european style of music. Maybe it takes something away from the album as a whole, but it was never the score I was looking forward to the most.

[Marian Schedenig 5,520]

European? Then what do you call Williams entire blockbuster output from the 70s and 80s?

[Hlao-roo 388]

European? Then what do you call Williams entire blockbuster output from the 70s and 80s?

As American as apple pie.

[Incanus 5,519]

I think Rich means that there was too damn much of accordion and saxophone, man!

[Richard Penna 2,082]

That's what I was getting at. I hate accordions, and generally dislike the sax (a few exceptions to that).

[Brónach 490]

Oh, I love the sax and accordion cues.

[Incanus 5,519]

Oh, I love the sax and accordion cues.

Yeah I have to say accordions have rarely sounded so good in a score as they do in Tintin to my ears. Williams uses both accordion and saxophone extensively in the music but for the most time he orchestrates saxophone, not as a solo instrument to evoke jazz or urban feel but rather as equal part of the woodwinds which is a brilliant stroke. It still adds a unique colour to the whole score while not making the idea of the saxophone to stand out too much. He also uses accordions in a very unusual way, more as a texture, supporting element, sometimes a nuanced rhythmic sound, sometimes a subtle drone instead of constantly making the instrument stand out or underline its rather humorous or ethnic feel (it still does have standout moments in the score though).

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,476]

I listened to 1941 again. So overly frenetic. As good as this score is, I maintain that it's one I really have to be in the mood for. It will wear you out.

I've got Midway going now. It will probably be a long time before I voluntarily play the Wentworth version. Then again, this isn't a score I was ever a major fan of. There are good themes in there, but the score as a whole doesn't grab me.

[Score_Fan 36]

Casino Royale By David Arnold

Goldeneye By Eric Serra....this score is a very very mixed bag for me. I do enjoy it for the most part, and I even think there are some GREAT cues here [run, shoot, jump] but overall...meh.

I still hate "a pleasant drive in st. petersburg" however.

[Incanus 5,519]

I've got Midway going now. It will probably be a long time before I voluntarily play the Wentworth version. Then again, this isn't a score I was ever a major fan of. There are good themes in there, but the score as a whole doesn't grab me.

It is the rather sparse spotting and short cues that hamper the development of the musical ideas that work against the score in re-recording or original recording form. It is surprising how little the thematic ideas, especially the popular and famous march, are used in the underscore making fleeting appearances here and there. Williams offers a few standout moments of establishing music and frenetic military action cues but alas they do not last long. The final thematic statements of both marches are a definite highlight. It feels almost like there should be another 30 minutes of music to really flesh out the themes and bolster up the dramatic arc.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,476]

It's a shame track 17, what's in my opinion the best material in the score outside tracks 18-20, should have such dubious sound quality here. These are standout action cues and some of the most important material presented here. Damn the requisite for monaural music stems.

Is there any explanation for the fade-out in the End Credits? I didn't keep up with discussion of this score.

[Koray Savas 2,095]

I hate accordions, and generally dislike the sax (a few exceptions to that).

For a split second I thought you said "sex"

[lonzoe 18]

Finished listening to Danny Elfman's Real Steel a few hours ago. What can I say. Another great Elfman score. I love Atom's theme. It still remains in my head after I'm long done. "Charlie Trains Atom", "Meet Atom",Safe With Me","Atom Versus Twin Cities", "Bonding", "Parkway Motel", "This Is A Brawl", "You Deserve Better", "Into The Ring""Final Round" (one of the best cues this year) and "People's Champion" are some of the highlights. But thw whole score is great. This is definitely one of the best scores this year. This score was definitely what this past summer was lacking, imo.

[crocodile 6,294]

Krull

Karol

[Roll the Bones 2,967]

The Poseidon Adventure

too short.

[Wojo 2,442]

Turn it over. It's better listened to upside-down.

[Incanus 5,519]

A Dangerous Method by Howard Shore (and Wagner): A highly classically influenced score where Shore mingles Wagner with his own music constantly as the composer's music figures prominently into the story. Even I with my rather limited knowledge of his operas and works can spot several ideas directly culled and quoted from him. The whole soundtrack has such a classical feel to it although in typical Shore/Cronenberg way the music is full of psychological underpinnings repeating a few musical ideas obsessively again and again. To complement the Wagnerian colour and the short 30 minute score is the 32 minute piano transcription of Wagner's Siegfried Idyll by Shore and performed by Lang-Lang. For me who heard it for the first time it was a pleasant if a bit overlong work (transcribed for piano especially) offering variety and shifts in energy only at few chosen points. With all this loyalty to the period, story and the maestro of grand operas the end result sounds more Wagner than Shore. I will have to see the film to be able to say whether this should be a compliment or a detriment.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,476]

Witches of Eastwick is going now. I love JW's zany use of synths in this one. In many instances I have no clue what the hell I'm listening to, but I like it. Ballroom scene is one of the greatest unused cues ever. I know many of us get frustrated when favorite moments are left off soundtrack albums, but here's a kind of reverse effect. We would never have known this thing existed if it hadn't been on the album.

[Brónach 490]

Back to the Future.

[Marian Schedenig 5,520]

Since I didn't get it before the end of last December, I'm listening to the LaLa release of Home Alone for the first time right now. Setting the Trap remains a mindbogglingly brilliant bit of music with its Carol of the Bells/Star of Bethlehem fugato.

[nightscape94 965]

With Christmas creeping closer, I think I'll spin McKenzie's Blizzard tomorrow.

[Brónach 490]

Ivanhoe, by Miklós Rósza.

Now this is a great score. I'll review it.

[Joe Brausam 203]

Ivanhoe is great! It was definitely a necessary step on the way to composing El Cid, as well.

Some of the battle music at the end is actually based on music from the burning of Rome sequence in Quo Vadis that was inaudible in the film.

[Brónach 490]

I loved the battle music. I still have to listen to Quo Vadis. (I think they were going to rerecord it, but I don't know what's actually going on).

[Joe Brausam 203]

Quo Vadis is awesome! Tadlow is officially doing it, as their last recording. It's scheduled to be recorded in May.

[Incanus 5,519]

Quo Vadis is awesome! Tadlow is officially doing it, as their last recording. It's scheduled to be recorded in May.

I have been out of the loop. Is Tadlow finished? How sad. Their work was truly excellent and I only regret that I could not afford to buy all their recordings.

[Joe Brausam 203]

Yeah, James Fitzpatrick basically said that he can't justify the expenses and losses anymore from recording classic scores. With Quo Vadis he says he is recording the last of his personal favorites that needed to be redone and he thinks that is a fitting way to end his label.

[Brónach 490]

I wanted more. (duh)

[Datameister 1,394]

My three latest purchases...an eclectic trio...

Mary Poppins. Practically perfect in every way. I've been a fan of the film and its music since I was a kid, but I never actually bought the soundtrack till now. I went for the 2-disc special edition, which includes some of Irwin Kostal's delightful underscore, and this purchase did not disappoint. It takes some real talent to write melodies that feel equally comfortable whether they are sung or played by the orchestra, and the Sherman Brothers achieved exactly that. Every song in this film has moments (sometimes many moments) in which it is showcased in a pure orchestral fashion, and the melodies sound perfectly natural without the cadence of the clever lyrics. The orchestration throughout the songs and score is charming 60s Disney awesomeness, through and through...every single track brings a smile to my face. ("Step In Time" goes on for a while and becomes a little fatiguing, but in the film, it works brilliantly.) I'm also quite pleased with the quality of this release itself - Randy Thornton did an excellent job of compiling the most important 80 minutes in a chronological fashion. And it truly is 80 minutes...the first disc concludes with just seconds to spare. The sound quality is quite good, too...I mean, there's only so much you can do with a recording from 1963, but I appreciate the judicious reverb and whatever other subtle tweaks they did to make the music shine. Really, the only parts where the sound quality dips is when bits of on-set dialogue (as opposed to lyrics recorded in the studio) are included in the songs. But those bits needed to be included, and I'm sure they did what they could to clean it up. Anyway, this gets a big fat A+ from me...no surprises there.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. Hmmmmmm. This score is rife with contradictions. Desplat's sound here is far more Williams-like than Doyle's and Hooper's, yet he also indulges in blatant Zimmerisms at times. It's also a surprisingly thematic score, with recurring melodies found in almost every cue, yet none of these themes are memorable or compelling enough to even compare with Doyle's and Hooper's, let alone Williams'. In short, this score has me scratching my head a little. I mean, when it's good, it's REALLY good. "Sky Battle" comes to mind. It's easily the best action scoring to come out of the Potter franchise since Williams left - exciting, variegated, emotionally powerful. It's like a Giacchino-Williams cocktail with a small, inoffensive dash of Zimmer here and there, and it was one of my main reasons for buying this album. In a totally different vein, "Destroying the Locket" has a kind of gruesome beauty to it that we never would have gotten from Doyle or Hooper. I'm also a fan of "Fireplaces Escape" and the endlessly bone-chilling "Bathilda Bagshot", too. But so much of this score is relatively bland...inoffensive, functional, not unintelligent, but not the sort of music that made me develop a passion for film scores. And the Zimmerisms in tracks like "The Obliviation" and "Snape to Malfoy Manor" feel uncomfortably out-of-place to me. All those choppy string ostinati have been sooooo overused in recent years that I really did not need to hear these in a Potter score. Fortunately, most of the score doesn't suffer from this affliction. Oh, and as for the album itself...I like that most of the score is included, chronologically and without pointless edits, and for some reason, I like the fact that many of the original cue titles were good enough to be used as-is for track titles.

TRON: Legacy. Now, this is NOT the sort of thing I normally listen to, but I really am enjoying this score. There are Zimmerlike touches here, too, but they work far better than in DH1, not to mention much of Zimmer's own work. Maybe it's because the delineation between orchestra and synth is kept relatively clear in this score. The orchestra sounds like a real orchestra, and the electronic stuff sounds electronic, which is just how I like it. And for obvious reasons, the electronic stuff makes perfect sense when you consider the film that this was written for, which can't always be said for this sort of scoring. That being said, I do find myself naturally gravitating toward the more orchestral tracks, which isn't surprising. Another thing that's great about this score is the main theme...it's quite simple, but very effective and very catchy, unlike the themes in DH1. It does a marvelous job of evoking a sense of awe at this digital world where the film takes place, and it sticks with you, like all good melodies do. Definitely a worthwhile purchase.

[Marian Schedenig 5,520]

I wanted more. (duh)

Yes, a real shame.

And I'm still waiting for any updates for the Morgan/Stromberg Adventures of Don Juan. That's months overdue. I'm getting concerned.

[indy4 152]

My three latest purchases...an eclectic trio...

Mary Poppins. Practically perfect in every way. I've been a fan of the film and its music since I was a kid, but I never actually bought the soundtrack till now. I went for the 2-disc special edition, which includes some of Irwin Kostal's delightful underscore, and this purchase did not disappoint. It takes some real talent to write melodies that feel equally comfortable whether they are sung or played by the orchestra, and the Sherman Brothers achieved exactly that. Every song in this film has moments (sometimes many moments) in which it is showcased in a pure orchestral fashion, and the melodies sound perfectly natural without the cadence of the clever lyrics. The orchestration throughout the songs and score is charming 60s Disney awesomeness, through and through...every single track brings a smile to my face. ("Step In Time" goes on for a while and becomes a little fatiguing, but in the film, it works brilliantly.) I'm also quite pleased with the quality of this release itself - Randy Thornton did an excellent job of compiling the most important 80 minutes in a chronological fashion. And it truly is 80 minutes...the first disc concludes with just seconds to spare. The sound quality is quite good, too...I mean, there's only so much you can do with a recording from 1963, but I appreciate the judicious reverb and whatever other subtle tweaks they did to make the music shine. Really, the only parts where the sound quality dips is when bits of on-set dialogue (as opposed to lyrics recorded in the studio) are included in the songs. But those bits needed to be included, and I'm sure they did what they could to clean it up. Anyway, this gets a big fat A+ from me...no surprises there.

It's a great score. Like you said, the songs can stand with or without lyrics, but I think this has some of the most enchanting, nostalgic lyrics of the musicals I've heard. "'tween pavement and stars is a chimney sweeps' world" for some reason gives me goosebumps.

I read a biography of Walt Disney, and it said that he especially appreciated the song "Feed the Birds." Near the end of his life he would come in to the Sherman brothers' office on a regular basis and say something like "play it." They would go to their piano (or maybe it was just a record player) and play him that song.

[Romão 1,931]

I wanted more. (duh)

Yes, a real shame.

And I'm still waiting for any updates for the Morgan/Stromberg Adventures of Don Juan. That's months overdue. I'm getting concerned.

They have already shown the cover for the Battle of Neretva, so Don Juan should be announced any time now

[Datameister 1,394]

It's a great score. Like you said, the songs can stand with or without lyrics, but I think this has some of the most enchanting, nostalgic lyrics of the musicals I've heard. "'tween pavement and stars is a chimney sweeps' world" for some reason gives me goosebumps.

Yeah, don't get me wrong, the lyrics are EXTREMELY well-written, and play no small part in my enjoyment of this score. And I agree...that particular moment is especially magical. Love it.

I read a biography of Walt Disney, and it said that he especially appreciated the song "Feed the Birds." Near the end of his life he would come in to the Sherman brothers' office on a regular basis and say something like "play it." They would go to their piano (or maybe it was just a record player) and play him that song.

Yep, it's been widely claimed that it was a favorite of his. I think the man had excellent taste.

[indy4 152]

Agreed! Wholeheartedly.

[Wojo 2,442]

I listened to Tron: Legacy the other night driving home after work, and the combination of urban scenery, darkness, and rain...that score seems to capture the emotion of that place quite well.

[Charlie Brigden 5]

GREMLINS (fsm) - It's beautiful, it's so great compared to that terrible boot, lovely for it to have a proper airing. Never realised there were so many electronic elements in the score proper, I thought they were mainly in the rag.

[Quintus 5,391]

Is Gremlins really that great as a standalone listen? I know it's cracking good fun in the movie, but I can't imagine it to be anything but kitsch novelty outside of it, which is something I have to be in the mood for. It doesn't strike me as a score with much depth.

[Charlie Brigden 5]

Yes, it's great. It's funny, it's like a cross between suburban Americana (almost as a pisstake of POLTERGEIST and E.T.) and Looney Tunes, with a healthy dose of Christmassy overtones.

You know that scene in GREMLINS 2 when they take over the film? Musically, it's almost like that at times. Great fun, with some real heart behind it and some great (and hilarious) writing.

[Quintus 5,391]

I'll have to have a look at getting it.

[Matt C 423]

Inception

I can't help thinking that Nolan really needs to find a new composer. Most of the score works effectively in the film, but I have mixed feelings about the score. Zimmer is capable of doing so much more than generating ambient music for a good filmmaker, and the orchestration is just lousy. "Dream is Collapsing" and "Time" is great, even more so if it was mixed by someone other than Alan Meyerson.

[crocodile 6,294]

Hugo by Howard Shore

Quite surprisingly, for me at least, we've got one of the better soundtrack albums of 2011 in here. It's essentially an Alexandre Desplat type of thing, filtered through Howard Shore's more complex and dense approach to scoring films. Murky and moody side of the composer is not to be found here, which I welcome with open hands (not that there is something wrong with that, in a proper context). The whole thing is very playful and colourful with a touch of nostalgia. Might be his most accessible work and yet as intelligent as ever. Recommended!

Karol

[Koray Savas 2,095]

Iris: Cirque De Soleil by Danny Elfman

I recall reading back when news of this popped up that Elfman had been working on it for three or four years. It shows, and it also could possibly explain why his film scores have been more on the average side lately. I don't consider many Elfman scores to be masterpieces, but this is one of them. It has the classic Elfman sound from his early Burton years, but it's much more mature and developed. I'd say "Scarlett Balancing" is today's equivalent of "Ice Dance." Just gorgeous writing. Highly recommended.

[crocodile 6,294]

Yeah and it's a fantastic album too. Scarlett Balancing is indeed one of my favourite tracks.

Karol

[crocodile 6,294]

The Great Miracle by Mark McKenzie.

It's a very solid music, but a tad too conventional for my tastes to deserve all that hype and praise. There's definitely something missing from it. The religious music requires certain skill to avoid cheesiness and this one isn't entirely successful at that. You can see Horner's fingerprints all over it, for some reason. Still, very enjoyable album. Some nice choral passages in there.

Now listening (and enjoying tremendously) to War Horse, which arrived earlier today, finally.

Karol

[Richard Penna 2,082]

Pan's Labyrinth.

I saw the blu-ray at the weekend and the music opened right up. I've always liked the lullaby but the rest of the score had been a bit 'meh' until now. I think that the more towards the extremes a score is (either old school or RCP), the harder it is for me to appreciate out of context.

I particularly like how the lullaby

stops suddenly as if the hummer is breaking into tears at the end of A Princess, as I think that's when Ofelia finally dies and we get the beautiful overhead shot

. I can't remember if it's like that in the film, but it's so effective musically.

[indy4 152]

Iris: Cirque De Soleil by Danny Elfman

I recall reading back when news of this popped up that Elfman had been working on it for three or four years. It shows, and it also could possibly explain why his film scores have been more on the average side lately. I don't consider many Elfman scores to be masterpieces, but this is one of them. It has the classic Elfman sound from his early Burton years, but it's much more mature and developed. I'd say "Scarlett Balancing" is today's equivalent of "Ice Dance." Just gorgeous writing. Highly recommended.

I love the main theme that was heard in one of the trailer. I'm glad they streamed it online. Now that I've heard it, I definitely want to get my hands on it at some point.

[lonzoe 18]

Iris: Cirque De Soleil by Danny Elfman

I recall reading back when news of this popped up that Elfman had been working on it for three or four years. It shows, and it also could possibly explain why his film scores have been more on the average side lately. I don't consider many Elfman scores to be masterpieces, but this is one of them. It has the classic Elfman sound from his early Burton years, but it's much more mature and developed. I'd say "Scarlett Balancing" is today's equivalent of "Ice Dance." Just gorgeous writing. Highly recommended.

The Wolfman (2010), Alice In Wonderland (2010), The Next Three Days, and Real Steel were far from average scores, imo. But to each his own. I can't wait for Iris myself. Hopefully I'll be able to pick it up this weekend.