Joni Wiljami 1,206 Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 This evening we had a concert with my orchestra and one of the pieces was Escapades for alto saxophone. Lovely Jess Gillam was the soloist. During the whole week I was thinking of Williams' output in 2002. It is just amazing, out of this world. I even think it is Williams' best ever... Any thoughts? .. and I do not want to hear anything about William Ross or that Ennio would have done it better😜😜😜 Incanus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurassic Shark 12,024 Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 It's good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joni Wiljami 1,206 Posted March 15, 2019 Author Share Posted March 15, 2019 Lame Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wojo 2,453 Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 Brobably. Not Mr. Big 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joni Wiljami 1,206 Posted March 15, 2019 Author Share Posted March 15, 2019 I wasn't the biggest fan of these scores back then but in the test of time they are all just wonderful. Surprisingly CMIYC and MR are better than the (also brilliant) others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smeltington 1,436 Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 AotC is great, especially expanded. Minority Report has slowly grown on me and I listen to it now more than ever. Fawkes' Theme is one of my all time favorites. Still need to spend more time with Catch Me if You Can. I agree that it feels like a better year in retrospect than it did at the time. For example, the similarities between some of the scores that year bugged me at first, but now it's sort of charming in a way. Joni Wiljami 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurassic Shark 12,024 Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 I particularly like the extended suite on the Lights, Camera, Music! album. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brundlefly 2,385 Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 1997 was better. JoeinAR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurassic Shark 12,024 Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 4 minutes ago, Brundlefly said: 1977 was better. Fixed. JoeinAR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joni Wiljami 1,206 Posted March 15, 2019 Author Share Posted March 15, 2019 1977 is a conterder but... Nothing from the 90's comes even close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Parker 3,040 Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 1 hour ago, hornist said: This evening we had a concert with my orchestra and one of the pieces was Escapades for alto saxophone. Lovely Jess Gillam was the soloist. During the whole week I was thinking of Williams' output in 2002. It is just amazing, out of this world. I even think it is Williams' best ever... Any thoughts? I actually agree with you here, Pasi, 2002 was an absolute hell of a year for Williams. Minority Report and Catch Me if You Can are full of juicy moments where Williams was able to deliver the meat, and was a great confluence of his film and concert writing, particularly Minority Report. I know it's an unpopular opinion, but Attack of the Clones is my favorite Star Wars prequel score: the music sounds so vibrant, and with the exception of a few dry cues, is brimming with richness and a strong, consistent, and pungent mood that I don't find in the other two prequel scores. It also has some of Williams' coolest action moments, with a distinct vibe and personality that a lot of his action music in the 2000's can't claim. Gotta admit I'm still not really familiar with Chamber of Secrets, so I won't speak on that one. Joni Wiljami 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488 Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 Good scores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurassic Shark 12,024 Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 14 minutes ago, hornist said: 1977 is a conterder but... Nothing from the 90's comes even close. 1993 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joni Wiljami 1,206 Posted March 15, 2019 Author Share Posted March 15, 2019 2 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said: 1993 Never. But I love both of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurassic Shark 12,024 Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 In my book, JP is better than everything he did in 2002. JoeinAR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 Worst year! Only one memorable Williams score, AOTC. Joni Wiljami 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joni Wiljami 1,206 Posted March 15, 2019 Author Share Posted March 15, 2019 25 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said: In my book, JP is better than everything he did in 2002. Every single score from 2002 is 124xbetter than JP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Penna 3,669 Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 I would also consider it his weakest multi-score year. CoS is the only score from that year that I truly enjoy. Bits of MR too. CMIYC is not to my tastes, and the less said about AotC the better. Joni Wiljami 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joni Wiljami 1,206 Posted March 15, 2019 Author Share Posted March 15, 2019 27 minutes ago, Stefancos said: Worst year! Only one memorable Williams score, AOTC. This is why I started this thread. So underrated year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not Mr. Big 4,639 Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 2002 was a good "mid-tier" Williams year. Very similar to 1997 in quality actually. Jurassic Shark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 7,463 Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 2002 was a good JW year, no doubt. But we all have our favourites. I'll never ceaze to be amazed by 1966, for example -- I even did a whole thread on it. If someone put a gun to my head and forced me to choose, I'd probably pick '93. Only two films, but what films (and scores). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Parker 3,040 Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 1 minute ago, Not Mr. Big said: 2002 was a good "mid-tier" Williams year. Very similar to 1997 in quality actually. Which is your favorite of the 2002 scores? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not Mr. Big 4,639 Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 3 minutes ago, Nick Parker said: Which is your favorite of the 2002 scores? Not too crazy about any of them so my favorite varies from time to time. Catch Me If You Can is probably the most well-rounded of the bunch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Parker 3,040 Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 3 minutes ago, Not Mr. Big said: Not too crazy about any of them so my favorite varies from time to time. Catch Me If You Can is probably the most well-rounded of the bunch. Hmmm...normally it's Attack of the Clones and sometimes Chamber of Secrets that are the punching bags. What is it that turns people off from Minority Report? That's one of my absolute favorites. Joni Wiljami 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not Mr. Big 4,639 Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 9 minutes ago, Nick Parker said: Hmmm...normally it's Attack of the Clones and sometimes Chamber of Secrets that are the punching bags. What is it that turns people off from Minority Report? That's one of my absolute favorites. It's a bit inconsistent overall (both on OST and in film). Some scenes JW absolutely nails (the Anne Lively music, the confrontation with Leo Crow, the finale) while others don't quite hit the mark (Eye-Dentiscan, the overally comedic tone of some of the action music). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Score 770 Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 2002 was surely a very good year, and I agree that Escapades is a fantastic suite (one of his best concert works). But, if I had to give relative marks to JW's scores, the 2000s would feature three 5/5 items in my book (AI, HP1 and HP3), and two of them were written in 2001. So, 2001 would be my choice for his best year in that decade. About 2002, well, Minority Report is surely one of those scores of which I am eagerly awaiting a Matessino expansion. I'm quite sure that would produce the "AI effect" (that is, it would be vastly superior to the OST presentation, and it would lead to a positive re-evaluation of the score). I'd like an expanded AOTC as well, please, together with the other prequels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Parker 3,040 Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 3 minutes ago, Score said: About 2002, well, Minority Report is surely one of those scores of which I am eagerly awaiting a Matessino expansion. I'm quite sure that would produce the "AI effect" (that is, it would be vastly superior to the OST presentation, and it would lead to a positive re-evaluation of the score). I'd like an expanded AOTC as well, please, together with the other prequels. I would _love_ an expanded Attack of the Clones, but the Minority Report OST captures the spirit of the score perfectly. I'm not one to campaign for the good old C and C, but I believe the album isn't missing much from the film score proper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brundlefly 2,385 Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 1 hour ago, hornist said: This is why I started this thread. So underrated year. Indeed. Attack of the Clones, The Chamber of Secrets and Minority Report are really underrated. But they cannot compete with The Lost World and Rosewood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joni Wiljami 1,206 Posted March 15, 2019 Author Share Posted March 15, 2019 8 minutes ago, Brundlefly said: Indeed. Attack of the Clones, The Chamber of Secrets and Minority Report are really underrated. But they cannot compete with The Lost World and Rosewood. Really? People's tastes are so different, those two are in the bottom of my list. But good I started this topic, cannot recall many of this wonderful year. Very surprised it so unliked. Also the idea that so many big scores that year, you cannot compare the 2 score years to this. So many so massive works there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brundlefly 2,385 Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 5 minutes ago, hornist said: Really? People's tastes are so different, those two are in the bottom of my list. These are among my personal favourites, but they're also objectively among Williams' best scores of the last 25 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeinAR 1,949 Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 Aotc was a bad score to a bad film .Minority Report is odd and weird. Catch Me is interesting but overall 2002 is not one of John's best year. Joni Wiljami and Not Mr. Big 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488 Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 I like 'em. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Nick Parker 3,040 Posted March 16, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted March 16, 2019 Any score that slams something like this down is okay in my book! (Sorry non-US people) Will, Dixon Hill and Joni Wiljami 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will 2,215 Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 Yeah that piece is stunning. Sean's theme at the beginning is of course great but I've always been drawn to the second half, e.g. (particularly in light of the scene it accompanies, which I found very moving): Draws from a similar vein as A.I. Dixon Hill 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Parker 3,040 Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 1 minute ago, Will said: Yeah that piece is stunning. Sean's theme at the beginning is of course great but I've always been drawn to the second half, e.g. (particularly in light of the scene it accompanies, which I found very moving): Draws from a similar vein as A.I. For sure! That's why I linked the video...it's just really difficult to do timestamps on a phone. Will 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arpy 4,145 Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 What's interesting about the 2002 scores is that you can hear Williams was in the same headspace, as each score shares similar DNA, yet displays Williams' versatility to shift to multiple genres. 1 hour ago, JoeinAR said: Aotc was a bad score to a bad film. AotC is underrated. Joni Wiljami and Gruesome Son of a Bitch 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Parker 3,040 Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 2 minutes ago, Arpy said: What's interesting about the 2002 scores is that you can hear Williams was in the same headspace, as each score shares similar DNA, yet displays Williams' versatility to shift to multiple genres. I would say the same of 2005, which just so happens to be another favorite year of mine, haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488 Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 Revenge of the Sith is one of his best scores. Will and Not Mr. Big 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Parker 3,040 Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 2 minutes ago, Ghostbusters II said: Revenge of the Sith is one of his best scores. I know you love the stuff in the later half, but how do you feel about the first half? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488 Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 I enjoy it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Parker 3,040 Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 Hell yeah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joni Wiljami 1,206 Posted March 16, 2019 Author Share Posted March 16, 2019 5 hours ago, Nick Parker said: Any score that slams something like this down is okay in my book! (Sorry non-US people) I do not understand why someone wouldn't love this. So beatiful😢😢 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Incanus 5,713 Posted March 16, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted March 16, 2019 Escapades is a wonderful concert suite, the second movement, Reflections, being my personal favourite with its smoky melancholy and its jazzy flavour is further enhanced by the lengthy double bass solo Williams added to the revised version of the suite. It is apparently also one of Williams most performed concert pieces these days around the world. The whole 1960's playful jazz atmosphere of the piece is just delicious. And 2002 was a very good and prolific year for Williams with interesting broadly stylistically similar elements in the four scores requiring extended suspense writing for mystery and thriller elements in each and Johnny managed to convey the same basic moods in a variety of ways although it has to be admitted they all share the same stylistic roots since we are talking about the same composer. At the same time the subject matter of each film was wildly different and thus allowed Williams a wide range of expression and development of his post-2000 style with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets being the most familiar and safe of the four while the other three flexed Johnny's writing muscles a bit more I feel. 2005 was equally interesting and prolific in my opinion with another batch of 4 very different and engaging scores. Smeltington, Joni Wiljami and Holko 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 7,463 Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 41 minutes ago, Incanus said: 2005 was equally interesting and prolific in my opinion with another batch of 4 very different and engaging scores. 2005 was fantastic. As I always say, the last time/year JW was on the level I usually associate with him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brundlefly 2,385 Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 57 minutes ago, Thor said: 2005 was fantastic. As I always say, the last time/year JW was on the level I usually associate with him. I must kinda agree. That year somehow put and end to an era of Williams and Spielberg that constantly reinvented themselves. After that it was just kind of a reprise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 7,463 Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 1 hour ago, Brundlefly said: I must kinda agree. That year somehow put and end to an era of Williams and Spielberg that constantly reinvented themselves. After that it was just kind of a reprise. Something "happened" in terms of thinking and approach in Williams' music in the film music gap between 2005 and 2008. More modular, less defined melody lines; as if he "lost" something in the interim. It's never been on the same quality level since, even if there's the odd hlghlight track here and there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not Mr. Big 4,639 Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 2005 was great. Munich and ROTS are two of my favorite John Williams scores and WotW and Memoirs are good too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurassic Shark 12,024 Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 The only great score of 2005 was Geisha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not Mr. Big 4,639 Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 18 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said: The only great score of 2005 was Geisha. Munich and ROTS have a much stronger emotional pull than that one though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brundlefly 2,385 Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 4 hours ago, Thor said: Something "happened" in terms of thinking and approach in Williams' music in the film music gap between 2005 and 2008. More modular, less defined melody lines; as if he "lost" something in the interim. It's never been on the same quality level since, even if there's the odd hlghlight track here and there. And at the same time Spielberg went backwards in time with his movies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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