JWFan James Horner Listening Party

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

The synth throbbing bass from Titanic was used in Apollo 13. But no synth choir

[Jay 37,346]

The Journey of Natty Gann

Another film I've never seen.... but I actually have heard this OST before. A few times actually; I heard the boot before the Intrada version came out, and have heard the Intrada a few times before now. I kinda like that instead of a C&C release, they used Horner's unreleased intended album, and then added some more cues at the end. Since this is long OOP now, I'm hoping they can do a new version that is complete and chronological.

This is a fun score, with a nice main theme and some good action cues. I never would have heard of this film if Horner hadn't scored it

[BloodBoal 7,538]

Oh, Natty Gan!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

The Name Of The Rose

Very unique in that it's almost devoid of the familiar stylistic or thematic elements that can be found in most Horner scores.

It always reminds me more of Morricone at his most dark and liturgical for some reason.

Dark and brooding, throbbing synths supported by a variety of ethic or vintage instruments create a dark and opressive mood which is just right for this film (which captures the dark part of the Dark Ages like few films ever did)

While there are a few themes in the score, it's aim is mostly atmospheric. And the darkness is only occasionally lifted by angelic latin voices and a slightly more optimistic tone near the end.

Not the easiest of listen, certainly not on a bright summers day, but an impressive and rather unique work in the composers portfolio.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Big fan of that one. It was one of my first Horner experiences.

[Uni 306]

The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper - Strange that no one's listed this in their top 10 yet. . . .

I'd almost forgotten I had this one tucked away among my LP set. The album features only three Horner pieces, and all three are pretty much exactly the same: pure, unadulterated bluegrass romp. From James Horner. (I know, right?) At least this is one score where he can't be accused of the slightest bit of self-plagiarism, either before or after. (And there are no synth voices to be found!)

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Commando

Testosterone driven, hard as nails score with synths, drum machine, steeld drums, panpipes, a cool sax and some of that vintage harsh 80's Horner brass.

Excellent, if essentially nothing more then a harder, more extreme version of 48 Hours (both the steel drume theme as the one on brass are virtually identical)

Bit of Aliens in the final cue too.

Incredibly derivative, but fun.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I'm listening to it right now. Never fails to put a smile on my face.

[Uni 306]

At 9:30 PDT—the two-week mark—I put on "Re-Entry and Splashdown" (and followed through with the "End Credits") from Apollo 13. I wanted to recognize the occasion with something a little more uplifting and hopeful . . . although I have to confess that when the music reached the point where Tom Hanks says, "This is Apollo 13, signing off," I got a little misty-eyed.

And now it's time to lift the moratorium on scores by other composers. Two weeks is a fine way to honor a great composer, but I need to get back to some of the stuff I was working through before the news struck (starting with A.I., now that it's here!).

[DreamTheater 131]

Commando

Testosterone driven, hard as nails score with synths, drum machine, steeld drums, panpipes, a cool sax and some of that vintage harsh 80's Horner brass.

Excellent, if essentially nothing more then a harder, more extreme version of 48 Hours (both the steel drume theme as the one on brass are virtually identical)

Bit of Aliens in the final cue too.

Incredibly derivative, but fun.

For about 20 years I thought this was pretty awful Horner and I refused to buy it in any form, however I've turned around on this since buying the recent Lalaland reissue.

Not great, but fun, more fun than modern film scores, that's for sure.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Braveheart

Still brilliant in every way!

Krull

Very good 80's Horner score. Very typical of his early style. Also a lot to take in in one listen. The full 90 minutes experience is a bit much to take in since it has the subtety of a brick.

[DreamTheater 131]

The full 90 minutes is the only way Krull should be listened to !

[Jay 37,346]

The Rocketeer

I had listened to the OST already recently (I've been listening to it regularly since I got it, anyway); This time I decided to listen to this ancient boot I have of the extra music in the film, ripped from the old DVD. I hadn't really listened to this more than once or twice before; I guess I thought there wasn't that much special here at the time; Boy was I wrong! I was quite impressed this time by how great the unreleased cues are; And how much there are!

There's about 25 minutes or so of unreleased music in the film, and none of it is is filler; It's all worthwhile! A lot of the little melodies that appear on the soundtrack once actually appear in other unreleased cues in new variations, and there's a lot of really fun and uniquely orchestrated moments in these cues. Intrada MUST make an expanded release of this happen! Please, Intrada!

[Uni 306]

I was just as surprised by that. Usually unreleased cues are wandering, fill-in-the-gaps pieces that were kept off the OST for good reason. But the Rocketeer unreleased pieces were like smaller parts of the bigger whole—full of same sorts of theme and melody featured in the rest of the score, like he painted the whole picture (even the lesser details) with the same brush. It really is an amazing piece of work.

[Jay 37,346]

Yea, its solidified now as my favorite Horner score, for sure.

[Uni 306]

It'll definitely be on my Top 10 (as soon as I can figure out which one will get that coveted last spot. . . .)

[DreamTheater 131]

Well, you have sparked my interest in wanting The Rocketeer complete now more than ever before Jay and Uni.

If this comes out and 2016 (25th) and Willow in 2018 (30th), I can look forward to 2 great Horner must-haves in the coming years.

Here's hoping.

[Jay 37,346]

Please Intrada, release the krakken!

Actually, I'm sure Intrada would be delighted to do both; Please Disney, let Intrada do it!

[bruckhorn 105]

Last year, when I saw that Hallmark had a Rocketeer Christmas ornament, I thought it was weird and hoped that it was part of a campaign by Disney to reintroduce the film. It turns out it was some little oddity.

Hope Intrada gets a chance to do an expanded release of this score; the vocal tracks are not required for us devotees.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Never heard The Rocketeer.

The Wrath Of Khan and The Search For Spock. These are not as good as I remember them.

[Wojo 2,453]

Right.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Never heard The Rocketeer.

The Wrath Of Khan and The Search For Spock. These are not as good as I remember them.

Oh, come on!

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Maybe it's because I was doing other stuff and not paying close attention, but I used to like them a lot more not too long ago. Oh well, on to Zorro!

[Jay 37,346]

Zorro's great; The Rocketeer is like a perfect entry in the late 70s to early 90s orchestral melodic action scores

[Jay 37,346]

Star Trek 3: The Search For Spock

I have always liked this score, but never liked it as much as TWOK; I always considered it to be a good and worthy followup, but never thought it had the extra "something" that makes TWOK a freaking masterpiece. I actually really love Horner's approach of using the same main themes as the previous score... the only real difference is swapping out the Khan material for Klingon material for the bad guys. But it never feels lazy, or that he's retreading. In fact it in many ways feels like a continuation of the first score much more than a separate sequel score. I think another reason I never loved it so much is that for me, the Klingon material is a retread of Aliens' military theme. Yes, I obviously know that TSFS came first, but in my world I had and loved Aliens for years before I ever got TWOK, so when I heard it I was disappointed in the "repeated" theme. Heh, this might have been my first awareness of Horner's re-use ways

I listened to the FSM CD (minus that bonus source track at the end). Apart from missing the violins at the start of Stealing The Enterprise, I loved the versions of all the music here. The program flows really well, and unlike TWOK I don't think while listening "Oh, this was on the OST, oh, this was previously unreleased"... it's just a super strong program from start to finish. Man, I love those high strings in A Fighting Chance to Live! Lots of great music here throughout. I think there's a good chance when I post my top 10 Horner list soon, this will take spot #5 (my top 4 Horners have been locked for years, its 5-10 that I haven't been able to settle on).

Shame Horner didn't "complete the trilogy" by scoring Star Trek 4. That would have been really neat. Unlike what he did here, I don't think a ST4 score by him would have re-used a lot of ST2 and 3 material. I think it would have a been a fun 80s comedy/sci-fi/adventure score with his main theme used in the right spots. Oh well. Maybe in an alternate universe...

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

In my alternate universe, Richard Donner finished Superman II in 1980 and it had a John Williams score!

[Jay 37,346]

Yea that'd be awesome!

[DreamTheater 131]

Trek II is of course great but Trek III is fantastic, an hour of superb Horner sci-fi scoring, a bit more fleshed out and mature and emotional. In the years before the expansion's release, I had actually ripped the dvd audio to get those unreleased cues without dialogue but sound effects present. It was most certainly a holy grail for me and I was beyond ecstatic when it was finally released, moreso than for the second.

And yes that source cue is atrocious, I doubt it even plays for two minutes in the film...

The disco version of the theme is better, but not by much.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I love that disco version.

[Jay 37,346]

Braveheart

Wow. Wow wow wow. I had not listened to this in ages, and I have no idea why. This was FANTASTIC. What an album! The love theme is great, the action music is great, everything is great. Yes the love theme is used A LOT, but it never gets tiring, to me. That track "Revenge" is an awesome Horner action/suspense cue! "For The Love of a Princess" is easily a top 10 Horner piece as well. And then, the final 3 tracks of the album make a super strong ending. Horner excels and ending his scores and this is one of the best. "End Credits" is just beautiful!

Damn, I've been missing out by now including this in my rotation over the years! Won't make that mistake again! This score instantly earned a place in my top 10 list!

[DreamTheater 131]

It's my personal favourite and I listen to my own playlist with the More Music cues added in there on a yearly basis.

At times I'm sobbing throughout the entire score. The most emotional Horner has ever been IMO.

[Jay 37,346]

I don't own the More Music CD; Maybe I'll check it out on Spotify. The original OST is great, really. Do the extra cues really make a big difference?

[BloodBoal 7,538]

Most of it is traditional Scottish music that has nothing to do with the film (apart from the Scotland connection), dialogue-only tracks and music found on the original release but this time with dialogue on it. There are only about 5 minutes of music from the film not found on the OST, and nothing really essential (from what I remember).

[DreamTheater 131]

I don't own the More Music CD; Maybe I'll check it out on Spotify. The original OST is great, really. Do the extra cues really make a big difference?

Prima Noctes is essential ! It's gorgeous.

And the film version of the main title is great too, but the dialogue ruins it.

Yes, what BB said, there's only about 7-8 minutes new material on there. Not worth it, but I'll send you something now.

[Jay 37,346]

Sounds about right. I found this chrono order in the chrono film score thread

MMF 01 Prologue /

OST 01 Main Title (3:32)

OST 02 A Gift of a Thistle (1:37)

MMF 02 Outlawed Tunes on Outlawed Pipes (2:03)

MMF 03 The Royal Wedding (1:38)

MMF 05 Scottish Wedding Music (1:14)

MMF 06 Prima Noctes (1:46)

OST 03 Wallace Courts Murron (4:25)

OST 04 The Secret Wedding (6:32)

OST 05 Attack on Murron (2:59)

OST 06 Revenge (6:24)

OST 07 Murron's Burial (2:12)

OST 08 Making Plans / Gathering the Clans (1:53)

OST 09 "Sons of Scotland" (6:18)

OST 10 The Battle of Stirling (5:57)

MMF 13 Vision of Murron (1:45)

OST 12 Falkirk (4:04)

OST 13 Betrayal & Desolation (7:47)

OST 14 Mornay's Dream (1:16)

OST 15 The Legend Spreads (1:08)

OST 11 For the Love of a Princess (4:04)

OST 16 The Princess Pleads for Wallace's Life (3:36)

OST 17 "Freedom" / The Execution / Bannockburn (7:21)

OST 18 End Credits (7:15)

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

One of those clowns on the shrine did a good complete edit. That's what I have.

[Jay 37,346]

Yea the post indicated its easy to remove the dialogue portion of the relevant cues

[DreamTheater 131]

The Scottish Wedding Music is Horner's? Because I didn't include it in my playlist. Or maybe because I didn't like it, can't remember.

[Jay 37,346]

Hmm I dunno. The Amazon listing is a bit confusing

http://www.amazon.com/More-Music-Braveheart-1995-Film/dp/B0000041NZ/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1436285347&sr=1-1

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

The Scottish Wedding music isnt by Horner apparently.

Bear McCreary used it recently in Outlander.

[Jay 37,346]

Deep Impact

Well, this didn't make much of an impression on me. A subdued score, rarely popping out to grab your attention. Really only the Apollo 13-esque bit about 6 minutes into the penultimate track was it. I did like the track "The Wedding", though.

[DreamTheater 131]

It has always been a gem for me since 1998. Spot on for the film too, which is a more dramatic and realistic Armageddon.

[Uni 306]

It was definitely better than Armageddon. And for some reason, the piece that's gone through my head the most over the last couple of weeks (when I haven't actually been listening to JH) has been "Goodbye and Godspeed"—especially the section during the end credits with the chorus. It's a very solid bit of Horner scoring but not one that has any chance of making my top-10 list (either one).

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Listening to The Land Before Time.

In addition to being a damn fine score, the album presentation is magnificent. The dynamic range of this CD is powerful, with crystal clarity in its upper range and earth shattering crashes in the lower end.

Really one to show off to someone who might just be becoming interested in film music because of its thematic diversity and exhilarating emotional impact.

I got the Japanese press of this recently from a seller on eBay, along with obi. And it was actually cheaper than all of the American sellers!

[Balto's Claws 2]

The Land Before Time was my first introduction to film music as well as Mr. Horner. The music for the film is so emotional, especially when Littlefoot's mother dies, you forget this score is really for a kid's film. I'm surprised Universal didn't bother to reprint copies of the CD given its popularity among fans. You have to pay a pretty penny to get a copy today in CD form, though it finally has a digital release. The dynamic range is huge compared to just about any other score I own. It drives me bananas having a playlist of film scores and when something from Land Before Time comes up its about 20db less than what was previously on. Blast your ears or speakers out.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Goes to show that there's no excuse to have a poorly mastered CD these days with all that awful brickwalled, compressed noise that's been the rage for the last 20 years. Some of Brian Tyler's scores have been the worst offenders.

When the audio is mastered correctly, the CD demonstrates that it's a medium that's capable of tremendous range and clarity. If you have a decent hi-fi set up, The Land Before Time is a great demo disc.

Veering off the chronological marathon momentarily.

~~~

Now listening to The New World since I just got it in the mail today.

Very pretty theme and loaded with Horner's rolling piano mannerisms that characterised much of his melodramatic output in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

I've never heard it all the way through until now but it's always been a curiosity for me ever since the Interview of Doom where Horner vented about Malick's chaotic working style in the film's post production.

I'd love to hear that interview again. It was the one where he had a go at Wolfgang Petersen and said Gabriel Yared's Troy sounded like a 1950s Hercules movie.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I think Horner was the only composer to ever get pissed at Malick for throwing out his score.

[Jay 37,346]

Jumanji

Great! Loved the suspense music, the ethnic-instrument-based action music, the main theme, the quiet moments, the music for the hunter, the circus music for the monkeys... what a fun score!

[DreamTheater 131]

The dynamic range is huge compared to just about any other score I own. It drives me bananas having a playlist of film scores and when something from Land Before Time comes up its about 20db less than what was previously on. Blast your ears or speakers out.

You should hear Kunzel / Cincinatti Pops re-recordings. Especially the SACD's. The dynamic range is off the charts. It's frickin' awesome !

Jumanji

Great! Loved the suspense music, the ethnic-instrument-based action music, the main theme, the quiet moments, the music for the hunter, the circus music for the monkeys... what a fun score!

Granted, it has come a long way from being the mediocre tired Horner I once thought it was, but it's definitely his least fun for a Johnston movie. It has its moments, but I wouldn't call it good.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

The dynamic range is huge compared to just about any other score I own. It drives me bananas having a playlist of film scores and when something from Land Before Time comes up its about 20db less than what was previously on. Blast your ears or speakers out.

You should hear Kunzel / Cincinatti Pops re-recordings. Especially the SACD's. The dynamic range is off the charts. It's frickin' awesome !

I have most of the 80s ones on regular CD. Speaker killers!