Anyone else think James Horner is better than John Williams?

[mstrox 7,281]

Randy Newman on the same tier as Rozsa?  You do you, Disco Stu!

[Disco Stu 15,514]

Randy Newman is an actual-no-hyperbole genius songwriter and just a really good film composer!  So yeah if we're talking just film scores "The Newmans" would be Alfred and Thomas.

[mstrox 7,281]

I agree, AND was just joshin ya Stuart.

[Disco Stu 15,514]

Anyone else think Bernard Herrmann is better than John Williams???

 

[Xander Harris 8,496]

9 hours ago, Wojism said:

Who's the better airplane pilot? 

 

I told Steven, you need a better pilot for this aircraft. He said, I know, but they're all dead.

[Disco Stu 15,514]

3 minutes ago, Batman's Diet Coke said:

 

I told Steven, you need a better pilot for this aircraft. He said, I know, but they're all dead.

 

I can finally break out this GIF for the first time since taking on my new title/avatar!

 

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,360]

Horner>Williams?

 

Mutiny!

 

Take it to JH Fan!

[Bilbo 4,049]

47 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

 

I can finally break out this GIF for the first time since taking on my new title/avatar!

 

 

That’s from Amadeus, yeah?

[Disco Stu 15,514]

1 minute ago, Bilbo said:

 

That’s from Amadeus, yeah?

 

Amadeus is better than everything!

[KK 3,310]

No.

 

2 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

Amadeus is better than everything!

Yes.

[Disco Stu 15,514]

1 minute ago, KK said:

 

Yes.

 

Brother!  Welcome back!

[Bilbo 4,049]

Amadeus is great!

[SteveMc 2,679]

9 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

 

Brother!  Welcome back!

Hear, hear!  Good to see you 'round, @KK!

[Code 000. Destruct. 0. 4,261]

Alex North is better than everything

[Brundlefly 2,400]

3 hours ago, publicist said:

This.

This.

[Disco Stu 15,514]

7 minutes ago, TGP said:

Alex North is better than everything

 

Xander South is my porn persona

[Naïve Old Fart 12,155]

5 hours ago, Jerry said:

Horner>Williams?

 

Mutiny!

 

Take it to JH Fan!

 

Is there a JH Fan? I suppose there must be...somewhere, out there.

[Kasey Kockroach 2,598]

It's odd, though hardly surprising, that John Williams is the only composer with a forum to his name.

[Disco Stu 15,514]

31 minutes ago, kaseykockroach said:

It's odd, though hardly surprising, that John Williams is the only composer with a forum to his name.

 

I always thought it was weird that the main Horner fan site

 

http://jameshorner-filmmusic.com/

 

doesn't have a forum.  They do have user generated stuff, like reviews and comments, though.

[karelm 3,236]

I love Horner and it is possible to have multiple favorites.  I can't say he is better than JW because there are so many factors at play.  For example, JW had the luck of getting teamed up with Spielberg and Lucas in their prime which afforded him these operatic moments whereas Horner was sort of a discount Goldsmith in the 1980's so the comparison isn't really fair.  All I can say is that Horner is a damn fine composer and really moved me when he was at his most inspired.  Horner definitely had the chops but maybe didn't have all the sources of inspiration that JW had.  One thing I am certain of is that when a great composer passes, one reevaluates any  initial dismissal  of their music and cherishes it as uniquely their own valuable creation.  I am sure the same will be the case with JW in that I will re-evaluate his corpus callosum understanding their shall be no more and what I once trivialized should be reevaluated. 

[Xander Harris 8,496]

There used to be Horner Shrine.

[publicist 4,649]

9 hours ago, kaseykockroach said:

It's odd, though hardly surprising, that John Williams is the only composer with a forum to his name.

 

#Star Wars #Indiana Jones and and and. It figures that Zimmer is the only other composer with an active forum.

[Kasey Kockroach 2,598]

But what about Goldsmith? Surely Rambo, Star Trek, Gremlins or Alien have active fandoms.

Though I suppose it's not the same since he's not makin' new music anymore. Being dead probably didn't help.

I would ponder why Giacchino doesn't have a forum since he does actually have a following, but that's neither here nor there. 

[Lady Dimitrescu 10,262]

Is Jerry Goldsmith Online still around?

[NL197 648]

9 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

 

I always thought it was weird that the main Horner fan site

 

http://jameshorner-filmmusic.com/

 

doesn't have a forum.  They do have user generated stuff, like reviews and comments, though.

 

That's because the site was an outgrowth of the old "Hornershrine" forums I used to co-run. The discussion fell silent for the most part, and one of the key members of the boards started up the new site, gathered several of us to help make it more accessible to non-French and Spanish speaking readers, and we've been off and running ever since. The main reason the boards were shut down was that at the time, forums were less of a place to discuss compared to Facebook pages beyond here, FSM and Filmtracks' looney tunes scoreboard. 

 

(edited to add)

I can also say that James Horner himself was both aware of the site and allowed the use of his name as the domain. His one stipulation was that the site use "film music" so no one would confuse it was some personal site of his. Sort of 'officially unofficial', and when he died, thankfully members of his team and his own family continue to support our efforts. 

[Naïve Old Fart 12,155]

4 hours ago, Margo Channing said:

Is Jerry Goldsmith Online still around?

Very much so.

 

I've just clicked on Stu's link.

As much as I love his music, there's something about that smug, self-satisfied, oh-so-superior smirk, on his boat-race, that makes me want punch Horner's lights out.

He composed great music, but he came across as an arrogant prick.

[crocodile 9,352]

3 hours ago, Richard said:

Very much so.

 

I've just clicked on Stu's link.

As much as I love his music, there's something about that smug, self-satisfied, oh-so-superior smirk, on his boat-race, that makes me want punch Horner's lights out.

He composed great music, but he came across as an arrogant prick.

True, but so was Herrmann. Why does it matter anyway?

 

Karol

[Lady Dimitrescu 10,262]

Because film composers have to be our bar buddies too.

[karelm 3,236]

3 minutes ago, crocodile said:

True, but so was Herrmann. Why does it matter anyway?

 

Karol

It doesn't matter at all...or shouldn't at least since the question is concerning the quality of their music.

1 minute ago, Margo Channing said:

Because film composers have to be our bar buddies too.

Maybe they can still be bar buddies like they have in Ireland where they get in fist fights because you sat next to them at a bar but the next day are buddies.

[Disco Stu 15,514]

8 hours ago, NL197 said:

Filmtracks' looney tunes scoreboard.

 

Heh.  Accurate.

[SteveMc 2,679]

10 hours ago, publicist said:

 

#Star Wars #Indiana Jones and and and. It figures that Zimmer is the only other composer with an active forum.

Zimmer has a forum?

[Disco Stu 15,514]

2 minutes ago, Steve McQueen said:

Zimmer has a forum?

 

I assumed he was referring to this:

 

https://vi-control.net/community/

 

Which is not a forum dedicated to Zimmer, but a forum in which Zimmer himself has actively participated in the past.

 

But maybe pub is aware of a forum that I am not.

[Naïve Old Fart 12,155]

2 hours ago, crocodile said:

True, but so was Herrmann. Why does it matter anyway?

 

Karol

It matters, because no-one should bite the hands that feeds them.

[Lady Dimitrescu 10,262]

Anyone else get ringing ears from Horner's metal clangs?

[crocodile 9,352]

2 minutes ago, Richard said:

It matters, because no-one should bite the hands that feeds them.

Couldn't tell you, I never had a chance to feed James Horner.

 

Karol

[KK 3,310]

21 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

 

I assumed he was referring to this:

 

https://vi-control.net/community/

 

Which is not a forum dedicated to Zimmer, but a forum in which Zimmer himself has actively participated in the past.

 

But maybe pub is aware of a forum that I am not.

 

I believe he was referring to this: http://hans-zimmer.com/

 

Not a forum, but it has extensive comments sections where insider information is occasionally shared.

 

Though Zimmer has made some interesting posts in the forum you linked above.

[publicist 4,649]

23 minutes ago, KK said:

 

I believe he was referring to this: http://hans-zimmer.com/

 

Yup.

[Kasey Kockroach 2,598]

1 hour ago, crocodile said:

Couldn't tell you, I never had a chance to feed James Horner.

 

Karol

That sounds...kinky.

[NL197 648]

7 hours ago, Richard said:

Very much so.

 

I've just clicked on Stu's link.

As much as I love his music, there's something about that smug, self-satisfied, oh-so-superior smirk, on his boat-race, that makes me want punch Horner's lights out.

He composed great music, but he came across as an arrogant prick.

 

It’s funny, because I’ve come to find over the last few years (sadly not first hand as I couldn’t meets him myself) that he and I shared a very similar personality and I despise arrogant people. It’s actually one word I would not use to describe him because a lot of what he had to say was born out of both a sense of keeping himself as vague and distant from others as possible, and being frustrated enough to just tell it like it is when having to talk about dealing with other people. He was not a social person and had trouble connecting to others, and as someone very much like that I could see where he came from. If you ever met me in person you would probably get a similar impression and I’m not a world famous composer. 

 

More than half the things people say about these guys in places like this goes far beyond “arrogant prick” but no one cares because no one here is a public figure. No anonymity for these guys whose work and sometimes lives are torn apart and dissected and bitched about  online. 

[Xander Harris 8,496]

Horner's life was really, uh, complex. You know how a normal person wakes up and goes downstairs, and eats breakfast, and kisses somebody goodbye, and goes to a job and...you know! Nice place he had there. Lots of space. Where did he get those wonderful toys?

[Naïve Old Fart 12,155]

1 minute ago, Batman's Diet Coke said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bespin Copilot 10,062]

He was better only one time... in 1997.  😘

 

 

[gkgyver 1,647]

On 6. Juli 2018 at 3:36 PM, publicist said:

Horner was not really a hack, but obviously suffered from some unfortunate character traits that made him look worse than he was. I mean, just one note at a cd back or end credits roll that says 'Hey, i took my cues from Khatchaturian here' would have made a whole difference.

 

Then you can rename Star Wars "The Planets Suite Revisited" while you're at it.

[Disco Stu 15,514]

3 hours ago, Horner's Dynamic Range said:

Horner's life was really, uh, complex. You know how a normal person wakes up and goes downstairs, and eats breakfast, and kisses somebody goodbye, and goes to a job and...you know! Nice place he had there. Lots of space. Where did he get those wonderful toys?

 

Aw.  The Batman VHS Diet Coke commercial was my favorite persona you’ve ever had.  Oh well, all good things...

[Brundlefly 2,400]

3 hours ago, Bespin said:

He was better only one time... in 1997.  😘

 

Nope, that was the year, when he was clearly not better than Williams.

[Lady Dimitrescu 10,262]

Titanic is all the proof you need that Horner is better than Williams.

[Alex 2,983]

I don’t think we’ll ever know. JW wrote some of his best works in his 60s and 70s, it’s sad that we’ll never get to hear what Horner could have written at those ages.

[Kasey Kockroach 2,598]

Nothing in the Williams library sends me on the escalator to heaven like Land Before Time does. 

[publicist 4,649]

15 minutes ago, Cherry Pie That'll Kill Ya said:

Titanic is all the proof you need that Horner is better than Williams.

 

You are an evil person.

[SteveMc 2,679]

1 hour ago, kaseykockroach said:

Nothing in the Williams library sends me on the escalator to heaven like Land Before Time does. 

CE3K does.