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I don't listen to John Williams anymore


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If I can reassure you, it's perfectly normal.

For me, it's working by phases. Currently I'm in a Classical music phase and I don't listen anything else, even Charles Aznavour (!).

I suspect your interest will return when The Force Awakens score will be out. :D

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You mean you listen to other film music but not Williams?

Because I don't listen to film music in general any more ..

When I listen to an ost, I want to be completely free of anything, lying in my couch and just listening to the music.

I can't listen to a soundtrack as a background to something I'm doing (either work, either browsing the internet).

I want the music to have 100% of my attention.

perhaps you have listened too much of him, and want to explore other composers?

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I've gone in and out of listening to John Williams loads of times over the years. Right now I'm barely listening to any film music whatsoever, but that's mainly because it's 99% shit.

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I have spurts of musical interest. It varies based on the time of year, weather, my mood, what's happening in life in general.... There are few things that are evergreen for me, and Williams isn't one of them.

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I'm in a phase at the moment where 90% of my listening is Lana Del Rey. I have listened to a few soundtracks - Desplat's recent material and Jurassic World to name a few. I'm also in a discovery phase; trying to find interesting new material, and most of it isn't scores.

It'll pass at some point, and I'll have a sudden urge to listen to some massively complex action cue out of the blue.

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I can sympathize. I have long periods where I don't listen to any Williams at all. Then I have periods when I only listen to the 60s stuff. Then when I only listen to the contemporary, but less known works. Then -- once in a while -- I tap into the famous titles that everyone loves (gotta spread it out, though, because I've listened to them so many times over the years that I don't want them to overstay their welcome). Then I even have periods where I ONLY want to listen to Williams, and start listening through all his scores chronologically.

So yeah -- as Bespin says, it's all perfectly normal. Even for Williams nutcases like us. It comes and goes, but always stays with you.

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It's important to explore other areas of music anyway! There are periods of months where I won't listen to a specific composer or style, but you cycle back around eventually. If you're listening to one composer several times a week for a long time and not giving that time to other types of music then you're just holding yourself back.

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Mine started when last weekend (Sunday maybe) I struggled to find any music which matched my mood and I got a bit frustrated.

Even when you have a huge collection, you can wear your ears out, I find. I just watch a movie or something, and it'll come back. Especially if it had a good soundtrack :)

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I'm convinced it's all brain-based. Your brain needs periods of time to go fallow. Then, like magic, it grows hungry for music again. It does for me at least. I go through podcast phases, where I just don't need music. Then, I get sick of hearing people talk, and I go back to film music.

Then summer comes along and I need to hear a little pop or oldies.

it's very seasonal for me.

Have you ever had a major label release a grail like score when you're just not in the mood for it? For me, that was A.I., which just isn't a Spring/Summer score.

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What can I say? It felt wrong to get a reflective, more contemplative score when the weather turns warm, school lets out, and the barbecues are firing up.

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Have you ever had a major label release a grail like score when you're just not in the mood for it? For me, that was A.I., which just isn't a Spring/Summer score.

Well, it was originally released Summer 2001 so technically it is :P

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You're right, I remember seeing the film then. But like Jay, it feels wintry, maybe because of the color palette, and also the scenes with the ice towards the finish.

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The emotional impact of a lot of pieces i love, say THE FURY's 'Epilogue' or BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY's 'The Early Days', is greatly reduced if i listen to them too often. At the moment, A. I. is a score that needs to be put away. For 3 or 4 months at the least.

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I don't much anymore either (this post notwithstanding http://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=25558)

When it comes to my own listening I've moved on to other things. Though I will occasionally pull a random Williams score off the shelf maybe 2-3 times a year and give it a thorough listen. It's refreshing to listen his music after not having heard it in a long time. I haven't listened to Close Encounters in years, that's one of the ones I'm going to revisit soon, and I'm really looking forward to it.

I still haven't listened to The Book Thief yet either. I will check that out at some point. I seem to remember it getting modest reviews.

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Right now I'm barely listening to any film music whatsoever, but that's mainly because it's 99% shit.

So, what's holding you from listening to old film music?

Repetition. I still listen to stuff in the car now and then, but my whole John Williams and film music as a hobby thing is long over.

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I listen to film music all the time on my hi-fi. And I'm mega impressed with a score if it has good dynamic range and hasn't been flattened in the mastering stage.

If I'm not listening to a Williams one day, it might be a Goldsmith, or a Horner, Silvestri, Barry, Arnold, Herrmann, Ifukube, Elfman, Young, whoever.

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I'm in an Andrew Lloyd Webber phase for the past few months. Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Sunset Boulevars are my trifecta right now

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Even I can skip JW for many weeks. I stick to other film music though

Bah! There are no other (interesting) film composers.

My orchestra started a new season with a free outdoor concert featuring the music of star wars. The audience went crazy, orchestra loved to play it and I had a boner. It's become a classic.

And this is only one side, one style of this chameleon, one of the most versatile composer.

If one only know/likes Johnnys 80' music (which I love) doesn't know this composer thoroughly. The 60's music, fanfares, 2000's gems, concertos etc...

I remember one comment about the Book Thief how boring it is.... Geez. I can find 15 adjectives to praise this score but not "boring"...

I just needed to write this, here and now, at the dark ages of JWFanNetwork.

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My film music dry period finally ended this weekend, when I watched Nightcrawler. Seems an odd score to reignite it (most of it is very low key), but the moment I heard The Shootout in context, it was like a switch turned in my head.

And to the original point - I hardly ever listen to Williams these days. Mainly because many other composers are very active right now, and Williams isn't.

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I don't know what happened. Suddenly, I had no interest in listening to the music of John Williams and it's continued for many weeks.

Very normal. I have not listened to anything by him for more than one month. There is a lot of music around us, not even John Williams would listen to his own scores every day!

Personally, I am now in a Sondheim + Prokofiev mood. In a few weeks, I expect the score of Willow to be released by Omni, and I am sure I will have a Horner period then.

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But.. but most of these very active composers now are also very uninteresting and generic...

And most of Williams' scores/other music are timeless, which you can revisit often...

Plenty of new interesting music being written. Not all of it is for films/TV/games.

I don't seem to have the call these days to listen to his older scores. Saturation I guess.

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