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

[crocodile 8,020]

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Living in the Age of Airplanes

Karol

[Jurassic Shark 12,094]

9 minutes ago, crocodile said:

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Living in the Age of Airplanes

Karol

 

What's your verdict on these?

[crocodile 8,020]

2 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

What's your verdict on these?

They are both pleasant scores, much lighter than your usual Horner. Boy in particular is among my favourites. I like how Horner chooses to strip it down to bare necessities and avoid any ethnic cliches. It might be still be a bit twee for the subject matter but as an album it's very enjoyable. I'm so glad this one got an overdue CD release.

 

Karol

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Titanic

Batman

[crocodile 8,020]

Happy 60th birthday Vertigo! 

 

 

Karol

[John 2,032]

Avengers: Infinity War, by Alan Silvestri

 

Pretty good! A solid score with plenty of excellent action and emotional cues.

 

**** out of *****

[Naïve Old Fart 9,556]

3 hours ago, crocodile said:

Happy 60th birthday Vertigo! 

 

 

Karol

An island of class, in a sea of detritus.

[crocodile 8,020]

 King Kong - celebrating Max Steiner's 130th birthday

 

 

Karol

[crocodile 8,020]

 The Spiderwick Chronicles by Jimmy Horner. A weird throwback for him at that stage of his career. His final children fantasy work as well as the last score ever to be recorded at Todd-AO stage. Somewhat themeless but otherwise really pleasing album. One of those that actually transports you somewhere. 

 

Karol

[publicist 4,643]

It's really too bad that all the orchestrational ingredients are there but the only theme of note is one of those anodyne, shapeless americana hymns á la Spitfire Grill. I counter with

 

 

It may have been a team effort by Horner and a handful of orchestrators but at some point someone on the production (Spielberg?) must have said 'Let's make this a varied, sophisticated adventure score of the highest order' - there is no other explanation for the sheer harmonic and instrumental richness that elevates 'A Far Off Place' above virtually every other Horner from the early to mid 90's, at least in regards to orchestral depth. The Main Title alone runs the gamut from peaceful tin whistle setting against light ethnic percussion before being interrupted by a brutal modernistic attack that finally leads, by way of one of those characteristic piano clusters vs. held horn chord, into the glorious Horneresque main theme. The cue alone is more sophisticated than many other typical genre score, let alone by Disney/Amblin. The other highlights include the above linked 'Sandstorm', 'Attacked from the Air' and several of the gentle readings of the main theme. Of course, the film sank like a stone, so the score was lost in the shuffle - it probably was too good for the movie - but it's a holy duty for Horner fans to snag this up from Intrada in the new-ish complete edition.

[crocodile 8,020]

It has been out of print for quite some time now. Not many people bought it, I think.

 

Karol

[publicist 4,643]

I did!

[crocodile 8,020]

I did too. It's great but doesn't sound like Horner at all.

 

Karol

[Marian Schedenig 8,211]

I did, too. I can't remember a single thing from it, though; perhaps I should give it a spin soon.

[raider 8]

Return of the Jedi

[crocodile 8,020]

1 hour ago, Marian Schedenig said:

I did, too. I can't remember a single thing from it, though; perhaps I should give it a spin soon.

I think it deserves at least this much.

 

Karol

[publicist 4,643]

5 hours ago, crocodile said:

I did too. It's great but doesn't sound like Horner at all.

 

In spots it doesn't but, and that's the catch, it doesn't sound like typical Hollywood 'orchestrator' music, either. It's a really unusual depth for this kind of studio fodder - the movie is rather bad - and sadly Intrada never even acknowledges that, probably because of the ghost writing issue.

[crocodile 8,020]

Is it actually known to be a ghost writing affair or is it something we just assume?

 

Karol

[publicist 4,643]

I think it's one of those open secrets, FSM alluded to it quite openly and it is from a year where Horner worked on 10 movies simultaneously, which adds fuel to the fire (many of them big, colourful things). Don Davis and others ghostwrote parts of 'Pagemaster', 'Balto' and so forth, so it's rather a question what ghostwriter means in this case, because i guess Horner still was the boss and going by Davis' interviews on the subject, Horner's tips and tricks helped him immensely on his own endeavours.

[bollemanneke 3,352]

I've just discovered the most disgusting film cue I've ever heard in my entire life. The Spartacus overture by Alex North. URGH! Beyond horrible and movie-inappropriate.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

2 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

I've just discovered the most disgusting film cue I've ever heard in my entire life. The Spartacus overture by Alex North. URGH! Beyond horrible and movie-inappropriate.

 

Alex North is a hero to Mr. John Williams, who particularly loves North's score for Spartacus

 

 

[Jurassic Shark 12,094]

15 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

I've just discovered the most disgusting film cue I've ever heard in my entire life. The Spartacus overture by Alex North. URGH! Beyond horrible and movie-inappropriate.

 

Why in particular were you so infuriated by it?

[bollemanneke 3,352]

The incredibly atrocious brass/woodwind chords in particular.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Only on JWFan.  A new low.

[Marian Schedenig 8,211]

56 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

I've just discovered the most disgusting film cue I've ever heard in my entire life. The Spartacus overture by Alex North. URGH! Beyond horrible and movie-inappropriate.

 

(Greek statue facepalm)

[Faleel 5,365]

Bolle, is blind, and therefore is more prone to be annoyed by dissonant or repetitive works due to his ears having to do the heavy lifting in his life.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

I don't think being blind predisposes someone to dislike atonality or dissonance.  If anything, I'd think it could theoretically make them more appreciative of the harmonic complexities.  Like it's already music that can be a bit polarizing for the general population, I'd bet that would hold true for those who can't see.  I guess my point is that I don't think bolle's experience of listening to music is any more representative of how all blind people experience music than mine is representative of all seeing people.

 

He's certainly free to like or dislike whatever he chooses.

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

Chancellor Stu, North Haters are our specialty!

 

[crocodile 8,020]

 

Karol

[Disco Stu 15,495]

After bringing it up earlier, I had to listen to Operation Dumbo Drop by David Newman.  It's definitely my favorite of his scores.

 

A rousing, emotional score that's very pleasant in that 90s family film way.

 

The main theme just hits my buttons, a simple pentatonic melody that he gets so much great emotion out of!

 

 

[John 2,032]

2 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

I've just discovered the most disgusting film cue I've ever heard in my entire life. The Spartacus overture by Alex North. URGH! Beyond horrible and movie-inappropriate.

 

1 hour ago, bollemanneke said:

The incredibly atrocious brass/woodwind chords in particular.

 

[bollemanneke 3,352]

I have no idea whether being blind might influence my musical preferences or not. Someone should look into that one day. I do know that I generally appreciate 'complex' music more than the sighted people I know. For instance, I noticed and liked the intricate viola and violin writing in Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas while others didn't notice it and I recently started loving Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones just because it contains some intelligent guitar writing (our radio stations are full of auto-tuned, suicidal voices, thumping basses etc.) But all this mightjust be because I like music in which lots of things happen and because John Williams made me pay attention to music more than anyone else.

 

Having said all that, I just finished the new ROTJ OST and am so surprised to find that these scores are growing on me. The OSTs were much, much more enjoyable for me than the Special Editions. Absolutely LOVED that Ewok finale. Time to revisit the prequels!

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

15 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

I have no idea whether being blind might influence my musical preferences or not. Someone should look into that one day. I do know that I generally appreciate 'complex' music more than the sighted people I know.

 

That's surprising, because North's music is among the most complex ever written for motion pictures. He had an incredible command of counterpoint, both of the traditional linear, melodic variety of Bach and Hindemith, but also the French technique of harmonic counterpoint, developed and refined through composers like Milhaud, Casella, Honegger and Koechlin. He introduced the symphonic jazz and swing of Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn and Benny Goodman to American concert-goers and film audiences alike, and wedded it to the nationalistic optimism of Prokofiev, Martinu, Shostakovich, Revueltas and Copland.

 

Alex North has so many riches to offer, it'd be silly to dismiss his music entirely off the basis of a single cue. I hated North once too, and look at me now! You've just got give it time.

 

 

[Loert 2,515]

 

I actually listen to this on loop to help me study. It's not tonal enough that I get distracted by it but it's not illogical enough for me to be disturbed by it.

 

(Actually this is very similar to Hindemith isn't it?)

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Yes you really should listen to the interview with Williams about North that I posted bolle.  It might give you a new perspective. 

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

3 hours ago, TGP said:

Only on JWFan.  A new low.

 

To be fair, I've seen much worse North-bashing on Youtube.

 

I once duked it out with some prick who called him a hack that couldn't write a hummable tune to save his live. When I told him Jerry and John were fans, they couldn't be counted on as credible as they were friends with North, and apparently neither could Miles Davis as he was a heroin addict.

 

Wackos. They're all wackos.

 

[Faleel 5,365]

I liked North's Spartacus immediately BTW.

I mean, yeah the guy's stuff can be grating at times, but for the most part it's very good.

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

 

One of North's most beautiful themes, IMO.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

I listened to North for the first time as a senior in high school about 7 years ago...it was A Streetcar Named Desire,  and immediately I had chills, and counted myself a fan. I actually wrote his estate a letter asking sbout releasing his scores so that they could be more accessible to the public, but I never got a response.

 

While he was very much in that generation where modern orchestral and film music collided in prolific and sometimes obnoxious ways (not a fan of Rosenman for example), North had a way about him that for me transcends that period and possesses a uniquely lyrical and rich touch.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

52 minutes ago, Sharky said:

 

 

I once duked it out with some prick who called him a hack that couldn't write a hummable tune to save his live.

 

 

I'd like to see this person discover North's responsibility for one of the most wildly popular, most recorded, and most covered songs in the world. 

[Kasey Kockroach 2,344]

Get with the times, kid! The only composers you're allowed to hate in these hills are Giacchino and Zimmer! Ya ornery long-eared varmint! 

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

9 minutes ago, TGP said:

 

I'd like to see this person discover North's responsibility for one of the most wildly popular, most recorded, and most covered songs in the world. 

 

I mentioned Unchained Melody (and the Spartacus Love theme) and he paid no notice.

[Jay 37,375]

The first North album I listened to was rejected 2001, and I was instantly enthralled, it was so different from what I was used to, while still being film music. 

 

The second was when LLL released Dragon slayer, I didn't know what to expect but was blown away again. 

 

For whatever reason, I haven't continued to pursue a North education. I should change that 

[Disco Stu 15,495]

I would suggest watching Spartacus if you haven’t before.  North’s score is particularly marvelous in context

 

 

[Jay 37,375]

I've never seen any film he's scored (other than 2001)

[publicist 4,643]

Avoid 'Cleopatra'.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Even if Cleopatra isn't a particularly good movie, watch it anyway. It's not completely without merit.

[publicist 4,643]

Problem is not that it's not good but that it's four hours so static that you have to pinch yourself every 15 minutes before falling into deadly boredom. J. L. Mankiewicz may have been a great writer of caustic wit but how to make cinematic action he clearly had no idea about.

 

 

Another one from the dustbin (the official release is an atrocity with Elton John songs ripe for a trial in Den Haag), this Powell/Zimmer collaboration for an infamous Dreamworks animation flop is hardly essential, but still manages to generate some good will because it's so infectiously good-humoured in a latin way. In hindsight, it's rather easy to single out the cues Powell was responsible for (whatever required a longer symphonic form or the droll hispanic miniatures also found in later works like 'Ferdinand'), while Zimmer can be glanced in the pop-pish Dies Irae stuff and some moments clearly foreshadowing 'Pirates of The Caribbean', i. e. halfway through 'Storm Montage').

The rakish main theme may be a bit too on the nose to survive musical variation but i remember that back in 2000 i found it a hoot and still think so (whoever came up with it, though my money is on Powell), whereas you need a bit of a fondness for the Rio carneval world music stuff (i happen to enjoy it). 20 to 30 minutes can be excised from this for a pleasing, lively score in the tradition of (superior) 'Chicken Run' and (inferior) 'Shrek'.

[Kasey Kockroach 2,344]

Godzilla by Alexandre Goes SPLAT

Dinosaur by James Newton Howard

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

1 hour ago, publicist said:

Problem is not that it's not good but that it's four hours so static that you have to pinch yourself every 15 minutes before falling into deadly boredom. J. L. Mankiewicz may have been a great writer of caustic wit but how to make cinematic action he clearly had no idea about.

 

 

 

I don't necessarily disagree. Even I think All About Eve runs too damn long. There are many scenes so ridiculously extended that the film would have been significantly improved if Mank had the will to shave off bits and pieces, but he seemed too smitten with his own snappy dialogue. And its most interesting character almost disappears in the final act!