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

[Holko 9,521]

Just now, Andy said:

I’m weird, but it’s precisely that cavernous (good word!) sound that makes it appealing.  Like an echo from long ago. Or something.  It really nails the “fantasy” sound. 

Huh, that's a nice way of looking at it. The fights and podling parties and more tangible parts are more upfront but the mystics and romantic theme have that quality.

[Andy 4,122]

Here’s a fun double feature pairing:

 

The Dark Crystal / Dragonslayer

 

Two completely divergent takes on the fantasy genre from around the same era.  One with a lush, romantic and reverb-y recording. The other recorded with dry clarity and a modernist take.   Both with source cues to enhance the world building. 

 

 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,516]

9 minutes ago, Andy said:

 

The Dark Crystal / Dragonslayer

Ooh! I like it 

[Thor 7,494]

I've never cared much for Jones' THE DARK CRYSTAL score, I'm afraid. For some reason, those half notes in the theme grate on me. A bit like another "Crystal" score -- the skull theme from INDY 4. BUT....I absolutely LOVE the film. I saw it for the first time just a couple of years ago, and fell immediately in love. 5 of 5. AVATAR-like world building decades before the actual AVATAR. Also adored the television show.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,516]

I've always liked the film. I saw it when it reached my local flea-pit, in early '83. I saw it in the afternoon, went home, had something to eat, and went straight back to watch GANDHI.

Guess which film I enjoyed more...

[Raiders of the SoundtrArk 2,433]

A.I. Artificial Intelligence (LLL) by John Williams

Today I really wanted to revisit this score, what a treat. First disc is so great, I really love this sound of childhood Williams developed while already having some darker melodies in the second half. Disc 2 is simply perfect, it feels like one single track full of light and dream. Finally disc 3 is what could have been a very nice alternate to the original album, revisiting the whole score in shorten program. So glad to have 3 versions of Abandonned in the Wood which is probably my favourite cue with Where Dreams are Born

It's amazing how much this score as grown on me over the years, now it might even be in my top ten (if I consider the SW as only one work)

[GerateWohl 4,357]

2 hours ago, Thor said:

BUT....I absolutely LOVE the film. I saw it for the first time just a couple of years ago, and fell immediately in love. 5 of 5. AVATAR-like world building decades before the actual AVATAR. Also adored the television show.

Actually, when I thought about what I like about The Dark Crystal I remembered, what you said about Avatar and how you don't care much about the story but enjoy the world building. As much as we disagree there on Avatar (for that the movie is far to long and I am too anoyed by these Karl May native American clichés for the Navi) for Dark Crystal it was the same for me.

[Thor 7,494]

 

So great that Gerald Fried is still with us at age 94. I got this on CD-R from a US friend some 20 years ago, and I've loved it ever since. Swingin', cool, suave big band jazz.

[crocodile 8,006]

 10 Cloverfield Lane. My favourite score and album from Bear McCreary. It's very nicely thought out dramatically (probably even overdone in some respects) but it makes a rewarding listening experience. It's also fun to read very extensive "making of" liner notes in the CD booklet.

 

Karol

[Andy 4,122]

2 hours ago, May the Force be with You said:

A.I. Artificial Intelligence (LLL) by John Williams

Today I really wanted to revisit this score, what a treat. First disc is so great, I really love this sound of childhood Williams developed while already having some darker melodies in the second half. Disc 2 is simply perfect, it feels like one single track full of light and dream. Finally disc 3 is what could have been a very nice alternate to the original album, revisiting the whole score in shorten program. So glad to have 3 versions of Abandonned in the Wood which is probably my favourite cue with Where Dreams are Born

It's amazing how much this score as grown on me over the years, now it might even be in my top ten (if I consider the SW as only one work)

 

I listened through all 3 discs this week also.  

 

Stupid me from 20 years ago did NOT get this film, so I didn't give the score the attention it deserved.  Now, every listen is so compelling and captivating.  This score just gets better with age.   Consequently, I like the film a whole lot better than I did when it premiered.  

 

One of the aspects I find fascinating is "Monica's Theme" in The Reunion is played so straight, with so much tenderness.  Williams could've telegraphed that resurrected Monica was "artificial" herself, and suggested either discordant  or distant uncertainty into the music.  But no, this is the perfect musical blanket of love for David's perfect day.  (which is artificial).   Genius level. 

 

I am astonished that there isn't a concert suite making the rounds.

[bruce marshall 1,315]

3 hours ago, GerateWohl said:

Actually, when I thought about what I like about The Dark Crystal I remembered, what you said about Avatar and how you don't care much about the story but enjoy the world building. As much as we disagree there on Avatar (for that the movie is far to long and I am too anoyed by these Karl May native American clichés for the Navi) for Dark Crystal it was the same for me.

Karl May?!

Are you German by any chance?

😉😅😜😛

[Edmilson 7,436]

I thought he intended to say "Karl Marx", but either his phone autocorrect him or he didn't want to get banned by the censors... I mean, the moderators.

[JNHFan2000 2,959]

Dick Tracy - Danny Elfman

 

Good score with some amazing moments. I listened to it for the first time again in 8 years.

It was better than I remember. The action music is especially great.

[bruce marshall 1,315]

40 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

I thought he intended to say "Karl Marx", but either his phone autocorrect him or he didn't want to get banned by the censors..*

" May" was a German writer who wrote novels about the American West.

 

 

* right the first time😉

[Marian Schedenig 8,192]

2 hours ago, bruce marshall said:

" May" was a German writer who wrote novels about the American West.

 

…without ever having visited it himself.

[bruce marshall 1,315]

10 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

I've always liked the film. I saw it when it reached my local flea-pit, in early '83. I saw it in the afternoon, went home, had something to eat, and went straight back to watch GANDHI.

Guess which film I enjoyed more...

[crocodile 8,006]

The Cloverfield Paradox. Not quite as good as the previous one but still a very solid work. The album is probably a bit too long the final segments of it are worth the patience.

 

Empire of the Sun. One of the most peculiar scores and films in Williams' career. He managed to nevertheless navigate this situation with a wonderfully idiosyncratic work. Somewhere between fantasy and real life drama, it's an interesting precursor to A.I. and, oddly, Jurassic Park.

 

Cobb. One of Goldenthal's forgotten gems. Very much worth the time.

 

Karol

 

 

[bruce marshall 1,315]

More good bluesy jazz!

[Naïve Old Fart 9,516]

It's almost as good as BODY HEAT. Almost...

[bruce marshall 1,315]

BH is top five Barry and Top Forty ALL- TIME!

[Naïve Old Fart 9,516]

Yes. BODY HEAT is also in my top-5 Barry.

[bruce marshall 1,315]

DOLORES CLAIBORNE

OST

[Jurassic Shark 12,065]

7 hours ago, crocodile said:

Cobb. One of Goldenthal's forgotten gems. Very much worth the time.

 

Can't remember that one.

[Bespin 8,480]

James Horner - The Four Feathers OST

James Horner - Sneakers OST

James Horner - The Spitfire Grill OST
James Horner - The Perfect Storm OST

 

[bruce marshall 1,315]

16 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

Can't remember that one.

You think you're so funny!😙

[bruce marshall 1,315]

2 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

Can't remember that one.

 

[JNHFan2000 2,959]

Evil Dead - Roque Baños

 

This score is great! It's 70 minutes of full on horror, so it's not an easy listening but the things Baños does with the orchestra and choir are terrific.

And the use of the siren is genius. 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,516]

9 hours ago, Bespin said:

James Horner - The Four Feathers OST

James Horner - Sneakers OST

James Horner - The Spitfire Grill OST
James Horner - The Perfect Storm OST

One of those is brilliant.

[publicist 4,643]

12 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

One of those is brilliant.

 

And one is not brilliant but a much better listen.

[JNHFan2000 2,959]

Planes & Planes: Fire And Rescue - Mark Mancina

Don't know what it is, but I love these score. Just a lot of fun.

[Jay 37,351]

Those scores are great!

[Tallguy 3,385]

The scores are pretty good. The main titles are mind blowing!

 

For today's Jerry double feature:

 

 

 

Hoosiers - 1987 - Jerry Goldsmith (Intrada)

Rudy - 1993 - Jerry Goldsmith

 

Obviously these live in a similar space. I find Rudy to be more emotional, Hoosiers is more exciting. Of course Hoosiers is also emotional and Rudy is certainly exciting.

 

Both of these are kind of peak Goldsmith. Hoosiers is just electronic enough without going full Runaway. They both have great melodies. They're both very Goldsmith without being by the numbers. For comparison Forever Young is a great Goldsmith score that kind of falls outside of these lines.

 

Anyway, it was a wonderful morning. I should listen to Field of Dreams next. No, wait, I haven't played The Natural in forever!

[Naïve Old Fart 9,516]

RUDY is a fine score, and HOOSIERS is top-10 Jerry, for me.

[Tallguy 3,385]

I haven't seen either film in ages. I don't know how much of Rudy is missing (or if I want more).

[publicist 4,643]

9 hours ago, Tallguy said:

I haven't seen either film in ages. I don't know how much of Rudy is missing (or if I want more).

 

You don't, really, It's repetitive even on the album.

 

 

Cristiada aka For Greater Glory (after last week's Horner concert): Huge oratory-like score to a mexican revolutionary epos aka christian propaganda movie. Hard to love, like a christmas family vacation that runs too long, but you still wouldn't want to miss it. So it's like many of Horner's later career scores, you just have to suspend disbelief and ignore the hefty self-referencing and run with it, then it's suddenly one of the more memorable and lush epic scores of the last 15 years.

 

It features a magical hispanized main theme, taking a note or two from Lenny Bernstein's durable 'One Hand, one Heart' from 'West Side Story', to which Horner even contributed a short lyric (thankfully it only includes 'heart', but not 'hand'). On the downside, it's joined by tons of danger motif and the main theme from 'The Four Feathers', both so verbatim that it gives a bad name to verbatim. Also, i'm often in Mexico and i find it just weird that composers use a spanish idiom because it's geographically and ethnically wrong. It also features Shakuhachi, of course, but at least no bagpipes.

 

It's strong in the storyteller department, where Horner's undeniable talent always lay. Once you're past all the redundancies, Horner unfolds tons of long cues that span from inspirational to violent, with a painterly brush and a big tendency toward oratorio classical form. There's a huge religious edification drive to it - wouldn't you believe it with cue titles like "Men Will Fire Bullets, But God Decides Where They Land" - and imho it's a shame that Horner wasn't able to get past his obsession of re-using his old stuff (and not bettering it, exactly), which drags scores like this down a lot. Like the family statements in the Szczecin concert alluded to, his Asperger dysfunction probably played a strong hand in this. Miniscule changes in a horn phrase would mean all to him, whereas the listener just goes 'huh'? But it is as it is, and if 'For greater Glory' is your first Horner, you're in for a treat.

[bollemanneke 3,342]

Speed. What a main theme.

[Jurassic Shark 12,065]

What?

[Tom Guernsey 2,283]

Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones - Thought I should give it a listen given its two decade old status. Still a fine score, with a poignant, pleasingly over the top love theme, which manages to transcend the insipid romance on screen. The action writing is a bit more streamlined than in Phantom Menace (and further still from the original trilogy action writing), but still very enjoyable. I'm sure there are a couple of more interesting cues that could have gone instead of The Tusken Camp And The Homestead which, while important in a story context, isn't the most interesting music on the album.

 

I remember thinking how the finale felt like lots of bits bolted together and must have been some kind of medley unrelated to the film... but clearly it was basically written that way, but the transitions are more enjoyable from the eerie Count Dooku (or as I think of him, Count Duckula) music to the rousing blast of the Imperial March before the credits roll. It still doesn't have the expert end credits suite transitions of either the original trilogy or the sequel scores - only with Revenge of the Sith did he cobble something a bit more interesting together with a few very effective segues.

 

I never bothered with any of the re/demastered editions and so have the original release (with the fun, additional Conveyor belt track) but I always found the recording kinda wooly. Not to the extent that instruments are obscured as such, but if you listen to how (say) the original Star Wars was recorded, the brass positively blast through the orchestral texture but here it all feels a bit lacking in dynamism. I would hope that any expanded release (as if haha) of the prequels gives them a slightly dryer, crisper sound as all of the prequel scores have that kind of recording quality to a greater or lesser extent, although I think Clones probably comes off worst.

[Faleel 5,346]

He actually reworked the end credits several times, there are versions that haven't surfaced at all/were not recorded

[Tallguy 3,385]

To think, twenty years and two days ago I was listening to the Attack of the Clones score and I was super excited for the movie. 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,516]

Ok, so...who collected all four (?) covers?

[Bespin 8,480]

52 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Ok, so...who collected all four (?) covers?

 

I took the one with Anakin and Padmé (not the poster drawing)!

 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,516]

I bought the one with Yoda.

[LSH 968]

 

I have seen the film but this is my first listen of the score. One of those that slipped past me despite it being an Oscar winner.

 

Loyalty to Ang Lee aside, Danna's penchant for South Asian stylings made him a perfect candidate for this - I've always enjoyed his injection of that region in his music. Anyway, I love this; even at its most energetic it is full of whimsy and joy. But when it goes into that exotically soothing mode... with those haunting Indian woodwinds... it is heavenly. Crikey. 

 

Colour me a fan.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,516]

It's a good score. It's not his best, but it is good.

[LSH 968]

4 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

It's a good score. It's not his best, but it is good.

 

No, it's not his best, but I can see this hitting a very particular spot when I'm in the mood.

 

Oo-er missus.

[bruce marshall 1,315]

8 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Ok, so...who collected all four (?) covers?

Everyone on this site except YOU and ME!

[Naïve Old Fart 9,516]

We are the shame, Highlander. We are brothersh! 

[LSH 968]

 

It has taken some time to appreciate but I'm there.

 

This is truly gorgeous - and the Thomas Newman I want to hear more of in the future.

 

Somehow I didn't notice it first time but this score has a lot of the Newman trademarks that we all love. The deep yet subtle expertly layered strings, the haunting piano drops, the plucky adjuncts, the atmosphere.... and choir to boot! And while you might not call them 'themes', the many motifs in this work prove that Newman is still capable of smart leitmotif writing... even if the majority of his output is still comfortably in short-form, as he likes it. There are nine cues here that breach the two-minute mark!

 

I LOVE THIS. 

[Tallguy 3,385]

8 hours ago, bruce marshall said:

Everyone on this site except YOU and ME!

 

I don't believe I have ever bought multiple versions of a CD for covers. I haven't even bought multiple versions of a comic book for covers. (NO, all of my versions of Star Trek and Superman don't count!)