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What's your opinion on "Images"?


Josh500

Rate the score to "Images"!  

37 members have voted

  1. 1. Rate the score to "Images"!

    • 5 stars
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    • 3,5 stars
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    • 2 stars
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    • I don't know (own) this score.


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I don't know this score.

 

I was wondering whether I should get this (yes, I'm at that used record shop again!!)... ;)

 

I saw it today, used, in very good condition, around 20 bucks.

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Go for it Josh!

 

One of Williams's really experimental scores (has a similarly strong central musical concept as his other Altman collaboration The Long Goodbye even if stylistically miles away from it) that combines the strange and avant garde with his lyric melodism. It is a haunting piece in more ways than one.

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It's a masterpiece and one to throw in the face of those who think Williams is only about late romantic stylings. A clear 5-star and must-have for every serious Williams fan -- even if it's a challenging listen.

 

It's a brilliant film too (photograped by the late Vilmos Zsigmond), and to hear the score in context is quite a marvel.

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Altough it may be a well executed exercice in style ("expertimental" as they say), the soundtrack taked out of the context of the movie may have aged badly.

 

For my part, just for the breathings in the music, I can't listen to that... And i'm not really into violent percussive music...

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6 minutes ago, Bespin said:

Altough it may be a well executed exercice in style ("expertimental" as they say), the soundtrack taked out of the context of the movie may have aged badly.

 

How has it "aged badly"? Is there something distinctly 1970s that's made it obsolete?

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4 minutes ago, Drax said:

 

How has it "aged badly"? Is there something distinctly 1970s that's made it obsolete?

 

Yes, a heavy breathing of a sexual maniac on an instrumental track of the 1970s, that's f*** obsolete. :P

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It was reissued for digital download in 2012, don't know if the sound has been improved. Maybe the breathing is more clear. Ha ha.

 

p_jw12.jpg

 

Images [The Original Sound Track Recording] (1972, Hemdale Music, JW 1/2, Promo)

In Search Of Unicorns; The House; Dogs, Ponies & Old Ruins; Visitations; Reflections; The Killing Of Marcel; The Love Montage; Blood Moon; Land Of The Ums; Nightwatch Rise; The Waterfall And The Final Chapter.

 

p_pcd163.jpg

 

(Reissued in 2007, Prometheus/Belgium, PCD163)

 

p_images2012.jpg

 

(Reissued for digital download in 2012, BSX Records)

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The avant gard stuff is unique for Williams, but the rest is very typical for the JW of that time, and film music of that time. Light classically inspired music. Along the lines of those gentle Love Story melodies that audiences loved back in the day.

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The "Blood Moon" theme and the more romantic parts of the score are SUPPOSED to be "light" or "pastiche", as they represent Cathryn's imagined fantasy world. The harsh atonality initially represents the "threat of reality" intruding on her fantasy world. Eventually, however, the two musical worlds collide and merge, just as Cathryn's own perception of the world around her does the same.

 

This is one of the scores that is more interesting to decipher in context with the film, in relation with the images (no pun intended). But if I'm in the mood for it, I also love to get totally lost in the music itself, a constant battle between two musical forces.

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7 hours ago, Jay said:

Every John Williams score is worth getting!

 

This. John Williams speaks for himself. If it was composed by John Williams, it is worth adding to your collection.

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All right, thanks for your input. I'm getting it... :D

 

Really, I don't know why I hesitated in the first place. At this point, owning approximately 95% of JW releases, it'd be weird if I didn't buy it...

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On 1/10/2016 at 4:21 PM, Zaralyth said:

 

This. John Williams speaks for himself. If it was composed by John Williams, it is worth adding to your collection.

 

I don't know if I'd agree with that, but Images is definitely worth getting.

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5 hours ago, Gnome in Plaid said:

 

Almost every Williams score is worth owning.  I could easily do without Rosewood or the early 60s scores.

 

ROSEWOOD is fantastic (although the film leaves something to be desired). And the early 60s scores is what I'm MOST interested in these days --  some great stuff there. If you're a proper Williams fan, you'd want to explore ALL his periods and styles and scores; from the late 50s to present day. I've never understood how some people manage to put a "stop" in their Williams interest after the obligatory STAR WARSes and HARRY POTTERs and INDIANA JONESes. 

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Early 60's is Johnny Williams, not John Williams.

 

That stuff is certainly interesting. But doesn't represent his best period. It's like the origin story. Steve Rogers before he became Captain America. Kind, gentle, earnest and hardworking.

 

But you wouldn't trust him to save America.

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Maybe not "best" period, but I've always been endlessly fascinated by career beginnings (whether composers, directors or other artists) -- finding the seeds of what he or she will become. In fact, I'm more interested in that these days than harping on endlessly about the 'true and tired' classics. I would think this is a normal curiousity once you've found a composer you like, but I'm continually surprised by how easily Williams "fans" ignore particular aspects of his career, just because it sounds different in some way. Incidentally, there are several things in this part of his career that have many of his more later, classical stylings. It's not all jazz.

 

Some of the same applies to IMAGES too. Even if the music or film is not your preferred style, one should be fascinated by the many musical faces of John Williams, at the very least.

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38 minutes ago, Thor said:

Maybe not "best" period, but I've always been endlessly fascinated by career beginnings (whether composers, directors or other artists) -- finding the seeds of what he or she will become.

 

That's what I said.

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6 hours ago, Stefancos said:

That stuff is certainly interesting. But doesn't represent his best period. It's like the origin story. Steve Rogers before he became Captain America. Kind, gentle, earnest and hardworking.

 

But in the Superman score, that's the best part.

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  • 1 year later...

Oh, I'd rank it high above '20' in Williams' canon. The film is also in my Top 10 of JW-scored movies. At least. It's the only proper "artfilm" on his resume, and I can't help but wonder what would have come of the Altman collaboration, had it been allowed to continue.

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