THE ADVENTURES OF HAN - 2018 John Williams theme for Solo: A Star Wars Story

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29 minutes ago, tmarps said:

Secondly, I don't think the score needed the added "21st century soundtrack" sounding percussion.

 

I would agree with this. Powell's writing on this score is insanely rich, without the need for repeating percussion overlays. I'd be curious to hear the score without it, or with the percussion applied more sparingly (you become numb to it when it's smothered over every action cue).

 

29 minutes ago, tmarps said:

Powell is not a disinteresting composer - not one of the greatest either though

 

I'd have to disagree with your second statement. Powell's easily one of the best in the business right now, doubly so when you consider the output of his contemporaries. Bit of an indictment on the industry that we have to celebrate a composer for using woodwinds, flutes and harps, but that's where we're at.

[Sunshine Reger 3,711]

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Well, most are

[Nick Parker 3,049]

I think this notion that drums are like some kind of makeup used by composers to camoflauge weaknesses is fundamentally flawed, gross, and frankly, it feels kind of Eurocentric to me.

[eitam 407]

56 minutes ago, Nick Parker said:

frankly, it feels kind of Eurocentric to me.

 

You say this as if it were a bad thing... 

[Nick Parker 3,049]

1 minute ago, eitam said:

 

You say this as if it were a bad thing... 

 

 

.....

[Evanus 427]

I remember Powell mentioning that Ron Howard suggested more percussion here and there. Doesn't really bother me though. Still a fantastic score, by two of the greatest composers alive.  

[hornist 1,242]

Eurocentric?? 

Yeah, boris/vladimir/donald ftw💪💪💪

 

Maybe the arcument that those stupid drums are there just to hide bad music was provocative but I think bad taste is better wording. 

[Nick Parker 3,049]

1 hour ago, moi said:

Eurocentric?? 

Yeah, boris/vladimir/donald ftw💪💪💪

 

Maybe the arcument that those stupid drums are there just to hide bad music was provocative but I think bad taste is better wording. 

 

Pasi, in a torrent of uncertainty and chaos, you are an unflinching rock of stability and constancy.

[Arpy 4,255]

Whatever you're sensibilities are regarding Michael Giacchino, I would put him alongside Powell as torch bearer for the symphonic film score tradition in a profession where 90% is dominated by Zimmer and Co.

[Disco Stu 15,517]

2 minutes ago, Arpy said:

Whatever you're sensibilities are regarding Michael Giacchino, I would put him alongside Powell as torch bearer for the symphonic film score tradition in a profession where 90% is dominated by Zimmer and Co.

 

Titles with Credits for Both Zimmer and Powell

 

I count 14 feature films in which they both have credits.  I know he's been his own entity for many years now, but there's no universe in which Powell is not reasonably included in the "and Co." of "Zimmer and Co."  Powell is a central figure in the legacy of Remote Control Productions.

[Romão 2,466]

Powell is a far more interesting and talented composer than Giacchino, though

[hornist 1,242]

Super 8 is more classy and has more heart and soul than anything Powell has written, even if its mostly JW's suburban themes. 

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21 minutes ago, moi said:

Super 8 is more classy and has more heart and soul than anything Powell has written, even if its mostly JW's suburban themes. 

 

Have you listened to his third HTTYD score? Or Call of the Wild?

 

The former, especially, is overflowing with heart and soul.

[Remco 697]

Preferences aside, Powell at least sounds like an educated composer. Giacchino’s amateurism can’t compare.

[Edmilson 12,032]

Powell always was a great composer, but he also managed to improve himself since 2014 with HTTYD 2. His last 3 scores, Solo, The Hidden World and Call of the Wild, are all stunning. JW mentoring him was really great for him to evolve as a composer.

 

To be fair with Giacchino, I do think he also managed to improve himself over the last few years. Fallen Kingdom is a more sophisticated score than the first JW, and the same for Far from Home and Homecoming.

[hornist 1,242]

Fallen kindom is a more sophisticated score than the first JW?? 

 

Anyway. At least Gia does not use that much generic drum... eh percussion. 

[Jay 45,630]

7 minutes ago, moi said:

Fallen kindom is a more sophisticated score than the first JW?? 

 

Easily, yes.

 

To be clear, we're comparing to Giacchino's first Jurassic World score, not comparing to JW's first Jurassic Park score.

[hornist 1,242]

Oh never noticed the same initials! 😜😜😜

[Jay 45,630]

It's a common mistake

[Disco Stu 15,517]

42 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Powell always was a great composer, but he also managed to improve himself since 2014 with HTTYD 2. His last 3 scores, Solo, The Hidden World and Call of the Wild, are all stunning. JW mentoring him was really great for him to evolve as a composer.

 

In my very personal opinion, Ferdinand is his best score of the last 10 years (and therefore his best score, period).  It might not be as grandly symphonic as the Dragons or echoing Williams like Solo, but in terms of eclecticism, fun, and telling a tenderly emotional narrative, that OST is just a perfect start to finish listen for me.

 

I never did talk quite as much as I wanted to about Ferdinand, I get overwhelmed on how to approach it, but you can find something of my feelings on it here:

 

 

and here

 

 

and here

 

 

[Nick Parker 3,049]

8 minutes ago, moi said:

Fallen kindom is a more sophisticated score than the first JW?? 

 

Anyway. At least Gia does not use that much generic drum... eh percussion. 

 

Yes, he uses generic violins, oboes, pianos, harps, French horns, .....

[mrbellamy 8,009]

Ferdinand definitely belongs in the discussion.

 

I wouldn't credit Williams much with Powell's recent developments as a composer...I don't think there's any evidence for that. I feel like if anything the bigger influence would be the Star Wars score study he mentioned doing for Solo. He said it was "devastating him hard" reading that music so closely

 

I think the fact that Powell started doing fewer movies may be one reason his music has gotten seemingly richer in recent years. It seems that he's also become more philosophical about the kinds of movies he chooses to do, giving his music a stronger point of view. For a long time he always struck me as a supreme work-for-hire talent but he's become more interesting lately, it feels like there's more authorship going on.

 

Also the more heartbreaking side of it which can be tasteless to speculate too much, but he did lose his wife to cancer in 2016. It's been noted here before that Williams lost Barbara Ruick in 1974, just before he began a remarkable creative period. Coincidence, maybe.

[Nick Parker 3,049]

1 minute ago, mrbellamy said:

Also the more heartbreaking side of it which can be tasteless to speculate too much, but he did lose his wife to cancer in 2016. It's been noted here before that Williams lost Barbara Ruick in 1974, just before he began a remarkable creative period. Coincidence, maybe.

 

We do know that the two men did bond over their experience.

[mrbellamy 8,009]

Oh is that true? I hadn't heard that.

[Nick Parker 3,049]

Just now, mrbellamy said:

Oh is that true? I hadn't heard that.

 

I seem to remember an interview with Powell where he talked about that. But then again, I also remember a video where Williams played Long Goodbye for Rian Johnson.

[Edmilson 12,032]

Me neither. So the fact that both men lost spouses has helped them become friends?

[Nick Parker 3,049]

Even if for some reason there wasn't official confirmation of this, it's hard to imagine the subject not coming up.

[mrbellamy 8,009]

Guess it depends on how much downtime those guys had. It's nice to think they'd go to dinner or whatever after recording/spotting.

[tmarps 218]

40 minutes ago, Nick Parker said:

 

I seem to remember an interview with Powell where he talked about that. But then again, I also remember a video where Williams played Long Goodbye for Rian Johnson.

There is one

[Disco Stu 15,517]

WHERE IS THE VIDEO

 

WHERE IS THE VIDEO

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In Rian Johnson's iCloud account.

[Disco Stu 15,517]

1 minute ago, crumbs said:

In Rian Johnson's iCloud account.

Let’s all tweet him until he releases it.  He responds well to Twitter campaigns I hear.

[Smeltington 1,878]

Quote

On that day that John sat down and played “The Long Goodbye” piano piece, Rian was so excited that he pulled out his iPhone and filmed the whole thing. John said, “Only for you, Rian, do I do this.” It was a very special moment.

 

I can't believe nobody here ripped the video off Twitter! Are we JWFans, or are we JWFans??? I checked my archives, and incomplete, they were. For TLJ I only have the 360 video and the score featurette.

[Disco Stu 15,517]

20 minutes ago, Smeltington said:

 

I can't believe nobody here ripped the video off Twitter! Are we JWFans, or are we JWFans??? I checked my archives, and incomplete, they were. For TLJ I only have the 360 video and the score featurette.

 

It was all a dream!

[Smeltington 1,878]

You used to read Jurassic Shark magazine?

[Jay 45,630]

 

 

[hornist 1,242]

Solo: A Star Wars Story

 

Pasi: A Hornist Story

 

I found on YouTube wonderful piece of music by John Fucking Williams, he had made few themes for the SW spin-off movie. Solo. 

 Oh God I loved the first track,  Adventures of Han, such a powerful youthful theme and it was and brilliantly structured, I didnt like the false ending but a brilliat piece for the brilliant decade. 

 

And

then

came

the 

second

track

Meet Han

 

My wife said she had never seen me more angry, more upset. This mediocre drum stuff for the SW universe, NOOOO

She didn't like it either. Hope the next tracks are better, we had to stop it there. 

[mrbellamy 8,009]

Lol so you've been crapping on Powell all this time when you only listened to "Meet Han," typical hornist!

 

I honestly doubt you'd care for the soundtrack as a whole since plenty of it is unorthodox even within a mostly traditional orchestral structure, but "Meet Han" isn't really an example of why people here love what Powell did. I think your stubbornness would have reached new bounds if you can't even respect "Mine Mission" and "Lando's Closet" at least...

 

 

 

[King Mark 3,912]

On 5/12/2020 at 12:04 PM, Nick Parker said:

I think this notion that drums are like some kind of makeup used by composers to camoflauge weaknesses is fundamentally flawed, gross, and frankly, it feels kind of Eurocentric to me.

  it depends what kind of drums. I  don't mean the ones Williams uses in cues like The Werewolf Scene of the beginning of Buckbeaks Flight, but I know cheap sounding drums when I hear them  and the ones in Solo sound cheap to me. Like the ones in Horner's Avatar.  And in Goldsmith's Hoosiers, they are so overwhelming they ruin the entire music.  I guess I don't like drums when they have a sort of  disco-ish, pop music rhythm going on.

[hornist 1,242]

14 minutes ago, King Mark said:

  it depends what kind of drums. I  don't mean the ones Williams uses in cues like The Werewolf Scene of the beginning of Buckbeaks Flight, but I know cheap sounding drums when I hear them  and the ones in Solo sound cheap to me. Like the ones in Horner's Avatar.  And in Goldsmith's Hoosiers, they are so overwhelming they ruin the entire music.  I guess I don't like drums when they have a sort of  disco-ish, pop music rhythm going on.

This exactly!! 

[Nick Parker 3,049]

3 hours ago, King Mark said:

it depends what kind of drums. I  don't mean the ones Williams uses in cues like The Werewolf Scene of the beginning of Buckbeaks Flight,

 

So basically any drums not conventionally in or adopted into the orchestral palette. Trust me, I knew exactly what all y'all were referring to.

[JohnnyD 1,812]

On 5/3/2020 at 2:07 AM, crumbs said:

Not sure if this nugget of information is previously known (it's news to me). In this recent podcast, Powell confirms that all the cues John sketched & orchestrated for Solo were recorded in LA. It wasn't just the concert suite which got recorded:
 

 

 

 

That is awesome; really cool!

 

On 5/3/2020 at 4:22 PM, King Mark said:

Seems the more we learn (JW's demos with several themes), the more it's likely Williams presence in this score is more imprinted than we think

 

I never doubted that, especially since John Williams was involved with Solo from the start, and John Powell was asked to compose and adapt the score, which he accepted simply because he was informed that the Maestro was involved. This was an amazing and outstanding collaboration between two composers.

[Rachael Foley 9,835]

3 hours ago, Nick Parker said:

 

So basically any drums not conventionally in or adopted into the orchestral palette. Trust me, I knew exactly what all y'all were referring to.

Funny, since they are the same drums.

[Disco Stu 15,517]

A year from now, the accepted wisdom at JWFan will be that Williams really wrote 90% of the score himself and Powell just came in after to overdub disco drums.

[Smeltington 1,878]

13 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

Williams really wrote 90% of the score himself and Powell just came in after to overdub disco drums.

 

Yes, this was my feeling as well. Nice to know others feel the same.

[Sunshine Reger 3,711]

.

[Disco Stu 15,517]

20 hours ago, moi said:

Solo: A Star Wars Story

 

Pasi: A Hornist Story

 

I found on YouTube wonderful piece of music by John Fucking Williams, he had made few themes for the SW spin-off movie. Solo. 

 Oh God I loved the first track,  Adventures of Han, such a powerful youthful theme and it was and brilliantly structured, I didnt like the false ending but a brilliat piece for the brilliant decade. 

 

And

then

came

the 

second

track

Meet Han

 

My wife said she had never seen me more angry, more upset. This mediocre drum stuff for the SW universe, NOOOO

She didn't like it either. Hope the next tracks are better, we had to stop it there. 

 

I now see that your new moniker "moi" is not the French word for "me" but an acronym for "Man of Intellect"

[Disco Stu 15,517]

7 hours ago, Smeltington said:

 

Yes, this was my feeling as well. Nice to know others feel the same.

 

[hornist 1,242]

3 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

 

I now see that your new moniker "moi" is not the French word for "me" but an acronym for "Man of Intellect"

 

Wow!! It was finally revealed!!! 

 

And by Travolta Stu