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

[Edmilson 9,819]

I don't like Our Best Hope, 13 minutes developing an idea that isn't that good, but I love the more melancholic and romantic cues of the score: The Long Return Home, the end titles, fan favorite The Wedding...

 

I may be more forgiving of these "cute" late 90s/early 2000s Horner scores (Searching Bobby Fischer, Casper, Deep Impact, Bicentennial Man, A Beautiful Mind), but I like DI (and the others) more than, for example, Titanic and Avatar.

[publicist 4,647]

That's because they are better, as in more suited to Horner's talents.

[Tydirium 1,427]

2 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Lots of harmonic and melodic details.

 

Eh. That's not really a rip-off. The same is said all the time of JW. Just because ANGEL is written in a style akin to Rachmaninoff is not the same as straight-up lifting things from him.

[Jurassic Shark 14,229]

Let's call it a collage then.

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,357]

Rabbit and Rogue by Danny Elfman

Eleven Eleven by Danny Elfman

Hubris: Choral Works by John Powell

 

Seeing as current Hollywood doesn't offer much that is becoming of Elfman's style, I'd be content if he focused his efforts on writing more concert works at this point in his career. His latest film scores, with a few pleasant exceptions, seem to muffle his talents in favour of a more restrained (?) sound, which is antithetical to his musical coinage in the first place. His concert works are a great opportunity for him to be his best, which is more fun for everyone. Loved taking in the ballet and violin concerto this latest listen.

 

As for Powell, I would certainly like to see him try to hit the concert hall over the big screen in the next few years. Hubris is legendary beyond words!!! Probably my most played album of the past year.

[KK 3,310]

I found Elfman's violin concerto derivative and middling. But Rabbit and Rogue is pretty great. I agree that film clearly isn't a very creatively challenging medium for him anymore.

 

Powell should definitely write more concert work!

[crocodile 8,863]

On 2/7/2020 at 8:31 PM, KK said:

I found Elfman's violin concerto derivative and middling.

That's really harsh.

 

A.I. Artificial Intelligence

Minority Report

War of the Worlds

 

Karol

[Edmilson 9,819]

I've been listening to some classic Horners from the 90s, specifically 95, lol.

 

Apollo 13

 

Pure perfection. I can listen to this score for the umpteenth time and still be amazed. One of my favorite scores from all time.

 

Casper

 

Good mix of comedy slapstick and sweetness, like Carl Stalling and Scott Bradley mixed with Elfman's Edward Scissorhands, by the way of Horner. Casper's Lullaby is a pretty good, touching theme, clearly inspired by Elfman on the temp track, but with Horner's own sensibility. It's a reminder of when he used to have fun scoring movies, before turning on the 2000s to dark, depressing independent dramas (House of Sand and Fog, The Boy in Stripped Pajamas, The Life Before Her Eyes, Southpaw) and epic war movies with lots of wailing people on the score (Windtalkers, Troy, Avatar).

 

Balto

 

One of his best scores for kid animations. It's really pretty good - although some cues almost identical to Randy Newman's first Toy Story and The Matrix were very off putting. Don Davis worked as orchestrator on Balto and Toy Story and main composer on The Matrix, so this is really odd. Horner had a very busy year in 95, but I'm not comfortable saying that Davis ghost wrote parts of Balto, because much of Matrix's fast brass comes from Horner's own Aliens in 86.

[Maglorfin 208]

Honoring  on his 91st birthday with:

 

- Total Recall

- First Blood

- Executive Decision

- Supergirl

- Alien

- Star Trek

- The Omen

- Air Force One

 

Love how both Alien and Total Recall have a cue named A New Face 

[Naïve Old Fart 11,038]

Love how both Planet Of The Apes and The Final Conflict have a cue named THE HUNT...and they are both f***ing brilliant!

[Kasey Kockroach 2,373]

AND The Lost World!

[Romão 2,360]

And Lady Jane.

 

All 4 are particularly great tracks, actually

[crocodile 8,863]

 Dolores Claiborne by Danny Elfman. I don't necessarily think this score requires a 90-minute album, mostly due to its lack of pronounced thematic material. but it is nevertheless a damn fine an elegant work. A rather morbid and anxious listen and not something you'd enjoy on a regular basis. Now, imagine if Elfman were to tackle a film like, say, Joker in this type of a style...One can dream...

 

Karol

[Not Mr. Big 4,781]

The Desolation of Smaug 

Solid.  Very Williams-like.  Barrels Out of Bond & The Forest River sounds like a late-era Williams set-piece. 

 

The musical material for Tauriel is the highlight of the trilogy (Feast of Starlight, Tauriel's Theme)

[Holko 11,075]

Beyond the Forest

[Disco Stu 15,507]

Film music has fallen so far down my interests, I just listened to a soundtrack album in full for the first time in 2020.

[Jurassic Shark 14,229]

There's not much to enjoy among new scores.

[Disco Stu 15,507]

1 minute ago, Jurassic Shark said:

There's not much to enjoy among new scores.

 

That's certainly true, but I meant including old soundtracks.  The first time I've listened to a soundtrack album of any release date in 2020.  I'll circle back around to being interested in film music again I'm sure.

[Holko 11,075]

Call of the Wild is out in a few days for one thing.

[crocodile 8,863]

2 hours ago, Not Mr. Big said:

The Desolation of Smaug 

Solid.  Very Williams-like.  Barrels Out of Bond & The Forest River sounds like a late-era Williams set-piece. 

 

The musical material for Tauriel is the highlight of the trilogy (Feast of Starlight, Tauriel's Theme)

 

1 hour ago, Holko said:

Beyond the Forest

With tracks like Mirkwood, Flies and Spiders, Feast of Starlight, The Forest River, The High Fells, Thrice Welcome, Girion, Lord of Dale, In the Shadow of the Mountain, On the Doorstep, Inside Information.... and all the climax... Yeah, this is definitely the most enjoyable and fully realised of the three. And it has an unique quality that only Fellowship has... The score gives you a sense of geography of Middle-earth. As we move musically from one location to another you can clearly tell the musical language is changing. I love this.

 

Karol

[Jurassic Shark 14,229]

7 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

 

That's certainly true, but I meant including old soundtracks.  The first time I've listened to a soundtrack album of any release date in 2020.  I'll circle back around to being interested in film music again I'm sure.

 

I understood what you meant, and I also often (unconsciously) take long breaks from soundtracks - there's just too much of other great music to explore!

[Holko 11,075]

3 minutes ago, crocodile said:

 

With tracks like Mirkwood, Flies and Spiders, Feast of Starlight, The Forest River, The High Fells, Thrice Welcome, Girion, Lord of Dale, In the Shadow of the Mountain, On the Doorstep, Inside Information.... and all the climax... Yeah, this is definitely the most enjoyable and fully realised of the three. And it has an unique quality that only Fellowship has... The score gives you a sense of geography of Middle-earth. As we move musically from one location to another you can clearly tell the musical language is changing. I love this.

 

Karol

If only we got a complete release with better mixing!

[KK 3,310]

4 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

I understood what you meant, and I also often (unconsciously) take long breaks from soundtracks - there's just too much of other great music to explore!

Ditto.

[Disco Stu 15,507]

7 minutes ago, Holko said:

Call of the Wild is out in a few days for one thing.

 

This I am definitely going to listen to!

[Jay 41,295]

12 minutes ago, crocodile said:

And it has an unique quality that only Fellowship has... The score gives you a sense of geography of Middle-earth. As we move musically from one location to another you can clearly tell the musical language is changing. I love this.

 

I agree that's a great aspect of the Desolation score, but disagree that Desolation and Fellowship are the only two of the six that do this

[crocodile 8,863]

3 minutes ago, Jay said:

 

I agree that's a great aspect of the Desolation score, but disagree that Desolation and Fellowship are the only two of the six that do this

That's true, but they do it best. TTT and ROTK start to interconnect ideas more and stuff whereas FOTR presents them in isolation. AUJ does it too but it's too similar to FOTR and BOTFA takes place in one location.

 

Karol

[Jay 41,295]

I agree FOTR and Desolation do it best.  TTT is pretty close though.  The major difference between FOTR and TTT is FOTR is a strict narrative where all the characters go together from place to place, while TTT they characters are split and have their own adventures in their own locations . But you can listen to TTT on shuffle and still know instantly what location every cue is taking place in

[crocodile 8,863]

1 minute ago, Jay said:

I agree FOTR and Desolation do it best.  TTT is pretty close though.  The major difference between FOTR and TTT is FOTR is a strict narrative where all the characters go together from place to place, while TTT they characters are split and have their own adventures in their own locations . But you can listen to TTT on shuffle and still know instantly what location every cue is taking place in

I'm not disagreeing with you.

 

 Alive by James Newton Howard. Hey, I might have another score to add to "good JNH" list. This is most enjoyable.

 

Karol

[Romão 2,360]

On 2/7/2020 at 8:26 PM, The Illustrious Jerry said:

Rabbit and Rogue by Danny Elfman

Eleven Eleven by Danny Elfman

Hubris: Choral Works by John Powell

 

Seeing as current Hollywood doesn't offer much that is becoming of Elfman's style, I'd be content if he focused his efforts on writing more concert works at this point in his career. His latest film scores, with a few pleasant exceptions, seem to muffle his talents in favour of a more restrained (?) sound, which is antithetical to his musical coinage in the first place. His concert works are a great opportunity for him to be his best, which is more fun for everyone. Loved taking in the ballet and violin concerto this latest listen.

 

As as for Powell, I would certainly like to see him try to hit the concert hall over the big screen in the next few years. Hubris is legendary beyond words!!! Probably my most played album of the past year.

 

 

Well, this post made listen to Hubris for the first time. It is a rather good album, isn't it?

[crocodile 8,863]

Just now, Romão said:

 

 

Well, this post made listen to Hubris for the first time. It is a rather good album, isn't it?

It is terrific. Makes me wish for more John Powell concert works.

 

Karol

[Tydirium 1,427]

Just listened to Desplat's THE PAINTED VEIL for the first time. Definitely deserves more than the 3 stars it got over at Filmtracks. Probably a 4-star score, with some really really standout tracks. "Colony Club" and the two "River Waltz" tracks (which share a theme with "Colony Club") come to mind as instant favorites. I'm also surprised it's taken this long to realize that Desplat is probably "The Waltz King" of [at least modern] cinema; he really shines in this medium.

[TheUlyssesian 2,590]

8 hours ago, Tydirium said:

Just listened to Desplat's THE PAINTED VEIL for the first time. Definitely deserves more than the 3 stars it got over at Filmtracks. Probably a 4-star score, with some really really standout tracks. "Colony Club" and the two "River Waltz" tracks (which share a theme with "Colony Club") come to mind as instant favorites. I'm also surprised it's taken this long to realize that Desplat is probably "The Waltz King" of [at least modern] cinema; he really shines in this medium.

 

It's always been a favorite of mine. One of his better scores. Main theme is good too. And it works well in the film too. The theme are somewhat memorable. River Waltz is a nice theme.

[Maglorfin 208]

- Jurassic Park

- Empire of the Sun

- Close Encounters of the Third Kind

- Dances With Wolves

- Aliens

[redishere 698]

Contact (Complete) — Alan Silvestri

One of my favorite movies: its score brings back so many memories, and makes me quite emotional.
 

[crocodile 8,863]

 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (OST+FYC chronological combo).

 

You know what? I really do love this score. On the first glance it might seem like a bit of a letdown, especially if you listen to the official album. I suppose with SW comes a special level of expectations where everything needs to be better and more spectacular than everything else. And it must be quite difficult for an 87-year old man to fulfil all those expectations while fighting a losing battle against temp track and post-production madness of modern blockbusters. I doubt any of his older colleagues would bother to deal with this shit. Given what we already know about the process, I am surprised the score turned out as well as it did (even in the film). Yeah, I wish they didn't re-use some bits verbatim and this and that. But it does work and subsequent listens reveal new details. There's nothing really wrong with the official album as such. I get why Williams picked these pieces and even putting them into this specific order makes some musical sense as well. But 77 minutes is simply not enough to do this score justice. If you arrange all OST tracks into chronological order and add fill in some of the blanks with FYC tracks it really does make a big difference. You instantly get a sense there is a shape to the score...even when you know there's tons missing.

 

The Force Awakens was the only score in the new trilogy that actually had a really good album (mostly thanks to the wealth of superb new thematic material) that I often listen to without the need hear the expansion which doesn't flow as well musically due to the brevity of many cues (it's a very "start and stop"). The following two scores are more satisfying in expanded form. The Last Jedi doesn't offer that much new thematic material but it flows extremely well from start to finish (something you can't get from the album). It also has the best climactic final act out of all three. The Rise of Skywalker might not quite reach those level excellence in terms of narrative flow but it offers more development in terms of thematic material and is quite an emotional score as well. It also feels the most intricate in terms of orchestration. So each one of those has different strength and weaknesses and that's why I put them all on about the same level. What is interesting is that this is probably the most coherent of all the SW trilogies - themes are established, used consistently and sometimes even reach resolution of some kind or evolve into something else (Rey/Victory theme).

 

Anthem of Evil is actually my favourite "evil" theme from this trilogy. I was always disappointed a bit with Kylo Ren themes. My initial reaction was petty much exactly "is that it?" They do the job well but feel too simple. WIlliams also rarely did anything interesting with them (not counting the march-like statement in the previous film and the heroic Ben version in the latest one). But Anthem receives quite a treatment, and cues like Join Me , FYC's Prologue or the end credits show the malleable theme off in amazing ways. It is also a more interesting slithering melodic line that seems to express so many ideas at once --- the ghostly fleet, the dagger mystery, Rey/Kylo prophecy, Palpatine threat... It just seems to encapsulate so much musically. We Go Together theme is probably my favourite new addition as a pure melodic line but Victory theme takes a cake in terms of emotion and satisfying conclusion. If you think about it, Williams never actually had a chance to write a proper climax to any of the previous trilogies and the two new themes give him an opportunity to give his saga a proper "fairy tale" ending. And very Disney-sounding too!

 

Now... why don't they just expand all nine already! Now is the best time. 

 

Karol

[KK 3,310]

I clearly need to listen to the "complete score", because TLJ really tested my patience, and RoS was really only a mild improvement for me.

 

Nothing quite recaptured the excellence of TFA for me.

[JoeinAR 1,953]

On 12/20/2019 at 3:35 AM, crocodile said:

 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Finally!

 

Karol

I WAS/am so disappointed. 

Jaws was my last score. I needed to hear something beyond great and JAWS filled the bill.

[crocodile 8,863]

45 minutes ago, KK said:

I clearly need to listen to the "complete score", because TLJ really tested my patience, and RoS was really only a mild improvement for me.

 

Nothing quite recaptured the excellence of TFA for me.

 

28 minutes ago, JoeinAR said:

I WAS/am so disappointed. 

Jaws was my last score. I needed to hear something beyond great and JAWS filled the bill.

 

Karol

[JoeinAR 1,953]

The worst acting ever.

[crocodile 8,863]

Only a Stephen King fan would say such a thing!

 

Karol

[publicist 4,647]

 

[Maglorfin 208]

- Wyatt Earp

- Terminator 2: Judgment Day

- The Spy Who Loved Me

- Mission: Impossible - the TV scores

[Jules 59]

 

[Kühni 484]

 

[KK 3,310]

A Ghost Story by Daniel Hart

Munich by John Williams

Angela's Ashes by John Williams

[HunterTech 1,411]

Sherlock Holmes (2009) - Hans Zimmer & Lorne Balfe

 

Well that was interesting. I applaud it for being one of Zimmer's most recent works to try and have a distinct identity. The very off kilter style and instrumentation really helps personify this particular iteration of the character. That being said: besides a couple of standout cues, there isn't much strength in terms of the underscore. Like HZ had all these great ideas, but didn't get to quite fine tune them by the time he wrote the proper tracks. That isn't to say it ever gets boring or that the wackiness wears thin after a while, but there isn't really a solid core here to really gravitate towards. I also couldn't help notice parts that I'd hear again in later works (particularly POTC4 and Dark Phoenix). From what I remember of the sequel, it did a much better job of fleshing out the general concept, while being able to be fresh in its own way. Despite all that, I do think there's definitely moments here that are worth seeking out. I'm told the OST is fairly well put together, so maybe go for that. Do also include the Dredger material, since it's the best stuff here. A bit of a mixed bag, but I don't mind revisiting it down the road.

[crocodile 8,863]

 Dial M for Murder (Intrada) by Dimitri Tiomkin.

 

Karol

[Holko 11,075]

For the new semester I somehow gravitated to the roots (-ish, don't get picky/dicky).

King Kong 

 

The Adventures of Robin Hood 

I love it more with every listen after a little more than lukewarm very first one.

 

The Thief of Bagdad 

Why the hell don't I listen to this one more often? I love how even the throwaway stuff like Horseman's Fanfare get a lot more development/fleshing out than you'd expect at first and I always forget how lovely Sultan's Toys/Miniature Acrobats is. Happy 80th!

[Naïve Old Fart 11,038]

Three scores, by composers at the very top of their game.

[Maglorfin 208]

- Moonraker

- Twin Peaks

- Conan the Barbarian (the 2010 Prometheus recording)