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

[crocodile 8,020]

 Lair by John Debney and Kevin Kaska. Always thought it was funny that the most entertaining action cues were composed by Kaska. But it doesn't mean that Debney's music is bad. Not at all.

 

Karol

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Kaska does a very good John Williams impersonation.

[crocodile 8,020]

Yeah, the woodwind and xylophone bits sounds very Williamsy to me.

 

Karol

[Jay 37,382]

Thomas Newman - The Shawshank Redemption (OST)

 

Lovely stuff here.  It's amazing that though I've never listened to this score before, I knew what scenes the music went too from seeing the film so many times

 

 

Thomas Newman - Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (OST)

 

Tommy doing his best Elfman impression.  Parts reminded me of his Six Feet Under main title, too.

 

 

Dan Redfeld - Across the Stars: The Music of John Williams For Solo Piano

 

Cool CD!  I wrote more about my listen here

[Gnome in Plaid 219]

4 hours ago, Stefancos said:

Kaska does a very good John Williams impersonation.

 

I think he's done some orchestration for Williams, but I can't tell you on what scores.  Check out The War of the Vendée, too: it's really good and quite Williamsesque.

[Loert 2,515]

8 hours ago, crocodile said:

Yeah, the woodwind and xylophone bits sounds very Williamsy to me.

 

Or, as a Youtuber succinctly put it :

 

"this sounds like star wars holy crap"

[Matt C 455]

Dragonheart 3 (Varese OST)

 

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Concord expanded)

 

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (OST)

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

TFA FYC

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

[Alex 2,835]

Bit random, but I find myself going back to David Newman's "Matilda" a lot. Brings back loads of childhood memories.

Not a huge fan of his work, but recently listened to "Puss in Boots" by Henry Jackman. A very enjoyable listening experience apart from the obvious Horner/Zorro inspiration 

[Gnome in Plaid 219]

Patton (Goldsmith) - There was a time in Middle School I listened to this nearly every day for several months, and it's still one of my all-time favorites (both film and score).  Revisiting it, it's remarkable how conservative the spotting was.  As much as I would love for there to be more Patton music, keeping it judiciously applied only to key moments makes the brilliance of the score all the more striking.  It's innovative as hell with the Echoplex and harmonium, has multiple themes that can get stuck in your head for days at a time, and is masterfully orchestrated.  There's really nothing at all to criticize here, just Goldsmith at his absolute best.  Best Tracks: fucking ALL of them.

 

Body of Lies (Streitenfeld) - I thought I'd give this one another try, and I'm very glad I did.  My impression hearing it initially was that it was quite well-thought-out, atmospherically, with pseudo-A-pop strings and a bevy of intentionally unspecific Middle Eastern-inspired textures that add to the willful uncertainty of the film, but that the lack of a memorable theme (as in American Gangster, a score that seems to belong to the school of thought regarding ensemble selection, but is primarily anchored by a brilliant theme) keeps it from being much more than a simple supporting role in the film.  I still stand by that on a certain level.  American Gangster was in many ways defined by its score, a murky soundscape formed of funk instrumentals, microtonality, and chromatic brass that all came together to make the Frank Lucas theme so effective.  There's no single musical idea in Body of Lies that can provide that same sort of unity, but after listening to it again, I think that's both intentional and a wise choice.  The film operates in a world of uncertainty; to go too melodic would be to give too much clarity to the proceedings.  If nothing else, go and listen to "Manchester Raid," especially the last minute or so.  Damn.

 

The Hours (Glass) - I find it very difficult to articulate why I love this one so much.  I don't generally care for Glass' film works, but I thought it was perfectly appropriate here.  I'll just quote the author from whose book the film was made.

Quote

I love Glass's music almost as much as I love Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, and for some of the same reasons. Glass, like Woolf, is more interested in that which continues than he is in that which begins, climaxes, and ends; he insists, as did Woolf, that beauty often resides more squarely in the present than it does in the present's relationship to past or future. Glass and Woolf have both broken out of the traditional realm of the story, whether literary or musical, in favor of something more meditative, less neatly delineated, and more true to life. For me, Glass can find in three repeated notes something of the strange rapture of sameness that Woolf discovered in a woman named Clarissa Dalloway doing errands on an ordinary summer morning. We are creatures who repeat ourselves, we humans, and if we refuse to embrace repetition — if we balk at art that seeks to praise its textures and rhythms, its endless subtle variations— we ignore much of what we mean by life itself.

Woolf and Glass just seem like a good fit.  It doesn't hurt that it's some of the strongest material he's written in his career, whether for the concert hall or the big screen.  "The Poet Acts," "Why Does Someone Have to Die?," and "The Hours" are sublime.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Nice to read some appreciation for Streitenfeld. "White Whale" is awesome.

[nightscape94 965]

Independence Day - David Arnold

 

Believe it or not, this is my first time listening to the score as a complete musical experience outside my general knowledge of it within the film.  I must say, it's fantastic.  More complex contrapuntally and harmonically than I was expecting.  I don't mean that as an insult, I'm just largely unfamiliar with Arnold's work.

 

The various themes are not only extremely well written and formed, but also well used and manipulated throughout the entire score.  Wonderful.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

A score so great, they might consider thinking about using some of his themes again in the second one!

[Jay 37,382]

9 hours ago, nightscape94 said:

Independence Day - David Arnold

 

Believe it or not, this is my first time listening to the score as a complete musical experience outside my general knowledge of it within the film.  I must say, it's fantastic.  More complex contrapuntally and harmonically than I was expecting.  I don't mean that as an insult, I'm just largely unfamiliar with Arnold's work.

 

The various themes are not only extremely well written and formed, but also well used and manipulated throughout the entire score.  Wonderful.

 

Why did you wait so long?                                                                                            

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Godzilla (1998)

 

Even better than ID4!

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Stargate

Last of the Dogmen

ID4

Tomorrow Never Dies

Godzilla

 

A quintet of sheer, awesome, divine magnificence. The End Titles to ID4 was so powerful, it gave my ex-girlfriend an orgasm when I played it for her.

 

I better call her before the GOP convention, even if she doesn't answer. Trump's win might make her think of me again....

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Titanic (stereo downmix of the SACD, reducing/elminating the synth in many tracks)

 

I like this score. I've listened to it several times. I think I must have had a love affair with it.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

No, no, no, no, no! Just with James Horner's piano solo. He was a one legged pedalist. See?

[nightscape94 965]

3 hours ago, Jay said:

Why did you wait so long?                                                                                            

 

I honestly have no idea.  Better late than never I suppose!

[Bespin 8,484]

John Williams - Cinderella Liberty

John Williams - Raiders of the Lost Ark (selections from the 2008 boxset)

 

I just realized that the original LP of Raiders is yet to be released on CD or for digital download, it can't be exactly reproduced using the actual CDs.

 

Is there a thread where the EDITS on this album are documented?

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

55 minutes ago, Shatner's Rug said:

No, no, no, no, no! Just with James Horner's piano solo. He was a one legged pedalist. See?

 

What are you, an artist or something?

 

[Jay 37,382]

16 minutes ago, Bespin said:

I just realized that the original LP of Raiders is yet to be released on CD or for digital download, it can't be exactly reproduced using the actual CDs.

 

You're wrong, the Raiders LP program was available on CD for years and years by Polydor.  

 

Here it is on Amazon for $8 used

 

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003QR657Q/

[Bespin 8,484]

Oh that sould be a very old CD! Thanks.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Very old?

[Jay 37,382]

Probably pressed in the 80s or early 90s, so within the first 10 years of CDs existing.

[nightscape94 965]

But, but...that means....I'm very old.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Me too!

[publicist 4,643]

 

Collateral, JNH, disappointing ALBUM release by Intrada. Atmospherical odds and ends, some more urgent, others more ambient, mostly very short, hardly memorable. Stuff like this, however well-crafted, just shouldn't be released separately as an album (a recurrent JNH problem, see also 'Parkland' etc.). 

 

Concussion, same composer and though the album, probably due to the more human problems at play, flows by like a breeze, the well-calibrated JNH mixture of electronics and orchestra - posh and fancy production values - it struggles mightily to distinguish itself thematically from similar efforts and, a bigger problem, millions of equally well-produced tv scores (say, 'House of Cards').

 

JNH here literally acts as musical stooge delivering impromptu rough sketches of what a 2015 drama might musically require without a solid base like a a theme or recurring idea.

 

 

 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,557]

I like this score, and the film. LA has never looked better, but what's all this "seed and bush" stuff. Honestly, I have no idea what the guy is going on about.

15 hours ago, Bespin said:

John Williams - Cinderella Liberty

John Williams - Raiders of the Lost Ark (selections from the 2008 boxset)

 

I just realized that the original LP of Raiders is yet to be released on CD or for digital download, it can't be exactly reproduced using the actual CDs.

 

Is there a thread where the EDITS on this album are documented?

 

What do you think of "Cinderella Liberty", Bes?

[Quintus 5,399]

On 07/05/2016 at 10:06 AM, publicist said:

Try this as rough idea of what NIMH sounds like:

 

 

 

Pretty nice. Can definitely tell it's an animation.

[Bespin 8,484]

1 hour ago, Richard said:

I like this score, and the film. LA has never looked better, but what's all this "seed and bush" stuff. Honestly, I have no idea what the guy is going on about.

 

What do you think of "Cinderella Liberty", Bes?

 

I like the ambiance of the CD... very jazzy and smooth.  It's rare... but it's a soundtrack I listen without never having seen the movie.

[Wojo 2,453]

And here we realize that Bessie is French, where a double negative reinforces the negative, while in English it cancels it. 

[Bespin 8,484]

Uh... without ever... :-P

[Not Mr. Big 4,643]

The Force Awakens 

It's still a masterpiece! 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,557]

23 hours ago, Bespin said:

 

I like the ambiance of the CD... very jazzy and smooth.  It's rare... but it's a soundtrack I listen without never having seen the movie.

 

I know what you mean. It's been one of my very favourite JW OSTs since I purchased a vinyl copy, back in 1975. It's also a very dry recording. Great!

21 hours ago, Woji said:

And here we realize that Bessie is French, where a double negative reinforces the negative, while in English it cancels it.

Bes, don't you pay any attention to this guy. Unlike you, he's not a New World Man, or even today's Tom Sawyer!

15 hours ago, Not Mr. Big said:

The Force Awakens 

It's still a masterpiece!

 

No it's not.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Twilight Zone: The Movie

Jurassic Park

The Lost World: Jurassic Park

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

The Empire Strikes Back (Charles Gerhardt)

[Incanus 5,716]

Star Wars Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith (some or other complete edit) by John Williams

 

The Patriot by John Williams

 

Black Sunday by John Williams

[Quintus 5,399]

I listened to the beginning of The Patriot album the other day. Sounded like Williams struggled for inspiration again there, settling in the end for a repurpose of Far & Away and old Olympic ceremony ideas cast-offs. 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Yes. The main theme is actually a warmed over and reworked version of a piece from The American Journey a few years earlier.

[Quintus 5,399]

It was quite surprising really. I know it was never really talked about here, but hey so are a lot of gems. The Patriot I sampled just sounded poor. 

[Jay 37,382]

Ramin Djawadi - Game Of Thrones Season 1 (OST)

Ramin Djawadi - Game Of Thrones Season 2 (OST)

Ramin Djawadi - Game Of Thrones Season 3 (OST)

Ramin Djawadi - Game Of Thrones Season 4 (OST)

Ramin Djawadi - Game Of Thrones Season 5 (OST)

 

Sigh.  I just don't understand what's going on with the music on this show.  There's some really nice passages, but then track after track of really bad synth work. I just don't get why, with all the money HBO spends on the show, they skimp out on the music budget and use synths instead of a real orchestra all the time.  Not only does it sound bad on its own, but within the show its bad to have synth sounds in a medieval fantasy world.

 

These OSTs are all too long and too boring.  There are some great tracks on the Season 3 OST (Dark Wings Dark Words, Mhysa, For The Realm) but other than that everything blends together as a bland blob.

Other than the brilliant main title theme and perfectly fine Lannister theme, I have never noticed a single other theme, neither while watching the show or listening to the OSTs.  I know there are themes for various houses but whatever they are they are simply not strong enough to be memorable like a good score should have.

 

The show is great, but the music is not.  Shame.

[crocodile 8,020]

Yeah, it makes it sound like some cheap 1990's fantasy show.

 

Karol

[Incanus 5,716]

And those ever present bland drums. Oh god no more of those strings and drums!

[Quintus 5,399]

So who's gonna be buying the eventual expanded releases of the scores anyway? 

[Jay 37,382]

I was actually surprised when listening to these OSTs by just HOW MUCH obvious synth work there was, it was even more than I recalled.  Especially in the earlier seasons.

[Not Mr. Big 4,643]

On 5/17/2016 at 6:43 AM, Richard said:

No it's not.

Yes it is.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Batman Returns

Batman Prince OST

Cinema Gala: Star Wars/Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Hook

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

[Bespin 8,484]

John Williams - The Phantom Menace OST

Latest JW Film's Night Playlist (using studio versions)

[Naïve Old Fart 9,557]

14 hours ago, Not Mr. Big said:

Yes it is.

 

 

No, it's not. What? You think you're some kind of Jedi, posting around like that? I'm a Toydarian! Posts don't work on me, only good scores.

[Incanus 5,716]

Kingdom of Heaven by Harry Gregson-Williams

 

Creation by Christopher Young

 

The Missing by James Horner

 

The Betrayal (Nerakhoon) by Howard Shore

 

Star Wars Episode VII The Force Awakens by John Williams

 

Minority Report by John Williams

 

Capricorn One by Jerry Goldsmith