First Impressions: The SCORES of 2023

[thestat 345]

11 hours ago, JNHFan2000 said:

And another one which doesn't fully click with me. Others might get angry with me, because I know a lot of people love this. But there's just something that doesn't work for me. I had the same problem with Fallen Order.

It's all exeptionally written, but I find it quite boring at times. The action music is strong and dense, but it doesn't really excite me. There is a lot of filler music and the more comedic parts just don't work for me.

Add to this, that I feel the album if waaay too long and that I personally (even with the help of threads) can't remember or really pick out strong themes.

Maybe it has too do with me not playing the games that I can't connect with it.

 

 

 

Totally this - love the enthusiasm and the massive orchestral forces that Barton and Haab unleash. I absolutely know I should love this but just struggle to connect. Instead, when I go to listen to some Jedi Survivor, I randomly see the below appear and when I play those 5 minutes they are just so much more specific, thematic, defined, dynamic:

 

I see I still have that edit quirk where anything I post is a random Zimmer/Dolan thing. Awesome

[Thor 7,465]

 

Don't know what it is. With the odd exception, I never really cared for Yared before. But in recent years, I've loved almost everything he's done -- very much my cup of tea now with melodic elegance, small ensembles, sophisticated orchestrations. Like the wonderful piano and woodwind flourishes in this. I think it may have something to do with his refusal to adher to various contemporary tropes, and just do his thing. Refreshingly and uncompromisingly retro. 

[GerateWohl 4,337]

35 minutes ago, Thor said:

 

Don't know what it is. With the odd exception, I never really cared for Yared before. But in recent years, I've loved almost everything he's done -- very much my cup of tea now with melodic elegance, small ensembles, sophisticated orchestrations. Like the wonderful piano and woodwind flourishes in this. I think it may have something to do with his refusal to adher to various contemporary tropes, and just do his thing. Refreshingly and uncompromisingly retro. 

Hm. The same thing that you praise here for Yared you judged as "limitation" for Philippe Rombi while admitting that he does it well.

[Thor 7,465]

1 hour ago, GerateWohl said:

Hm. The same thing that you praise here for Yared you judged as "limitation" for Philippe Rombi while admitting that he does it well.

 

Did I? Could be, and I'd agree with that. Rombi is a more limited composer than Yared.

[GerateWohl 4,337]

59 minutes ago, Thor said:

 

Did I? Could be, and I'd agree with that. Rombi is a more limited composer than Yared.

Might be. But yet I didn't manage to find a Yared score that didn't bore me. But I wasn't searching intensively.

[Jurassic Shark 12,030]

9 minutes ago, GerateWohl said:

Might be. But yet I didn't manage to find a Yared score that didn't bore me. But I wasn't searching intensively.

 

It's great for sleeping.

[crocodile 7,984]

On 24/05/2023 at 11:23 AM, Tom Guernsey said:

The Little Mermaid - Alan Menken (possibly mild spoilers... although let's face it, it's a remake of a film from - checks notes - 34 years ago, do you feel old yet?).

 

I'm contractually obliged to start with a complaint - 40 bloody minutes?! Seriously Disney?! You cheap bastards* - this is shorter than the already fairly short OST for the original movie. So yeah, if you're in it for Alan Menken's underscore, you're largely out of luck (4ish scores tracks - some of which are fragments/reprises of songs mixed with score), although they suggest quite a decent "reimagining" (to use the current favourite term for remakes) of the original. To be fair, the original score always sounded a bit thin (not sure if it was a very small orchestra) so it'll be nice to (hopefully) hear some of it fleshed out a bit more for the remake.

 

The new versions of the songs are largely great, Halle Bailey is superb as Ariel, belting it out rather mot than Jodi Benson's slightly gentler take, but her version of Part of Your World is terrific. Under the Sea is broadly the same as the original, just a slightly updated arrangement, but all the marvellously silly fish/music puns are all present and correct. Melissa McCarthy doesn't quite have the same Bea Arthur after a packet of fags (American: cigarettes) voice as Pat Carroll, but her take on Poor Unfortunate Souls is delicious.

 

Of the original songs, the slightly silly Daughters of Triton has been ditched (not a great loss in fairness) but there's a trio of new songs. Wild Uncharted Waters is for Prince Eric and gives him his own yearning song to match Part of Your World and For the First Time as Ariel adjusts to life on land is a lot of fun, even if sounds a bit like an amalgam of a few Menken songs (a hint of some second songs from BATB, the tone of Tangled and a swaying motif from That's How You Know from Enchanted). The Scuttlebutt will probably be the most divisive as it's the most obviously Lin-Manual Miranda influenced, even though he's only on lyrics duties. I doubt this song would exist in remotely this form had anyone else written the new lyrics. Basically it's fun, kid friendly rapping, so Menken is more or less reduced to a couple of musical hooks and the rest is pure LMM and doesn't really fit tonally with the rest of the songs.

 

I mean, it's as unnecessary as the other live action remakes, but 2 of the 3 new songs fit easily alongside the originals and the versions of the original songs are great. This now means we now have 3 Menken musicals with an original animated version, a stage version many new songs and a live action remake with different new songs. Nice to have a choice, huh?!

 

*there appears to be some kind of special edition pending, but contents as yet unknown. Here's hoping it contains the balance of the underscore like the Beauty and the Beast remake special edition.

The deluxe edition drops tomorrow and adds these score tracks into the mix:

 

Quote

16. Opening Title (0:59)
17. Eric’s Ship (1:30)
18. Shipwreck Graveyard (1:52)
19. Shark Attack (1:32)
20. Dinglehopper (1:36)
21. Ursula’s Reveal (1:29)
22. Ariel’s Grotto (0:44)
23. Shipwreck (3:31)
24. The Rescue (1:06)
25. Triton’s Fury (2:31)
26. Journey to Ursula (1:54)
27. Ursula’s Lair (1:52)
28. Eric’s Library (1:23)
29. Carriage Ride (2:35)
30. Marketplace (1:42)
31. Ursula’s Potion (1:31)
32. Ariel Regains Her Voice (1:38)
33. The Sun Sets (1:13)
34. Ursula Battle (4:26)
35. Metamorphosis (1:01)
36. The Kiss (0:53)
37. Ariel’s Goodbye (1:21)

 

Karol

[Tom Guernsey 2,280]

51 minutes ago, crocodile said:

The deluxe edition drops tomorrow and adds these score tracks into the mix:

 

 

Karol

Hurrah. Looking forward to hearing how he reworks the score here. 

[Thor 7,465]

11 hours ago, GerateWohl said:

Might be. But yet I didn't manage to find a Yared score that didn't bore me. But I wasn't searching intensively.

 

Back in the day, Yared tended to bore me too (as I said, with some exceptions). But starting in 2017 with THE PROMISE, I've loved a lot of the stuff since. In particular JUDY, THE LIFE AHEAD, BROKEN KEYS, L'ENVOL and now L'AMOUR ET LES FORETS. It can have something to do with my change in taste or a landscape that doesn't offer up such oldfashioned scores anymore, so they feel refreshing. Or a combination of those.

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

On 13/05/2023 at 5:49 PM, filmmusic said:

 I had been disappointed by the Oscar winner Shakespeare in Love, and I haven't heard anything else from this composer, except Captain Corelli's mandolin, which I liked better if I remember correctly.

A facebook friend of mine, ardent film music fan, said this is the best film score of 2023 so far, so I've decided to listen to it.

I'm not sure about that statement, since I haven't heard many 2023 scores, but I found it quite good.

I agree, it is quite good. I was pleasantly surprised. It's the best score of the year.

But I love the elegance the whole thing has and with just under 45 minutes it's the perfect length

[Thor 7,465]

1 hour ago, JNHFan2000 said:

I agree, it is quite good. I was pleasantly surprised. It's the best score of the year.

But I love the elegance the whole thing has and with just under 45 minutes it's the perfect length

 

I really wanted to like that, but alas  -- as with so many Warbecks -- it's a lot of pretty window dressing with little actual movement underneath.

[Knight of Ren 785]

The latest collaboration between Iglesias and director Pedro Almodovar is a short one, and as such the album feels a bit underdeveloped in its ideas. There some more atmospheric passages which are not that interesting, but I quite like the lyrical, melodic stuff that opens and closes the album. It has a sort of western vibe but with some unexpected touches like the presence of a choir. And as a short album, it doesn't outsay its welcome.

 

The last track pretty much sums up the best this score has to offer.

 

[Thor 7,465]

1 minute ago, Knight of Ren said:

The last collaboration between Iglesias and director Pedro Almodovar is a short one

 

The LAST?!? What have I missed? Or do you mean the latest?

[Knight of Ren 785]

2 hours ago, Thor said:

 

The LAST?!? What have I missed? Or do you mean the latest?

Yeah, my bad, I meant the latest. Already corrected my post. I think as long as one of them is alive, they will keep working together!

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

This is a fun little 20 minute comedy score. It's nothing special really. I'm just glad to hear something different from Economou than her game score. Which I always feel are too loud and don't really work for me.

She is scoring the new Dreamworks featyre which releases next month. I'm looming forward to hear what she does with that.

 

 

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

22 hours ago, Knight of Ren said:

The latest collaboration between Iglesias and director Pedro Almodovar is a short one, and as such the album feels a bit underdeveloped in its ideas. There some more atmospheric passages which are not that interesting, but I quite like the lyrical, melodic stuff that opens and closes the album. It has a sort of western vibe but with some unexpected touches like the presence of a choir. And as a short album, it doesn't outsay its welcome.

 

The last track pretty much sums up the best this score has to offer.

 

I've never really been a fan of Iglesias' work. I enjoyed this more than his other work. But it's still a score which I completely forget after the final note is played.

[Knight of Ren 785]

2 hours ago, JNHFan2000 said:

I've never really been a fan of Iglesias' work. I enjoyed this more than his other work. But it's still a score which I completely forget after the final note is played.

Yeah, I'm not always a fan of his style, but what I really like is his versatility for different types of movies, which sometimes leads to interesting touches in orchestration or melody.

 

For example, his score for Madres Paralelas is a great showcase of his unusual instrumentations and melody writing with the main theme

 

which has nothing to do with, for example, his apporach to a more standard drama like in the score for a spanish film called Maixabel, from that same year

 

and those two are entirely different from some of his more mainstream works, like what he did for Ridley Scott's Exodus

 

[Brónach 1,301]

Oh I missed Maixabel and then forgot about it

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

Thought this was really beautiful.

Some of it reminded me of Thomas Newman. The piano, synth textures.

It's really beautiful. 

 

Great 50 minute album.

 

[Thor 7,465]

1 hour ago, JNHFan2000 said:

Thought this was really beautiful.

Some of it reminded me of Thomas Newman. The piano, synth textures.

It's really beautiful. 

 

Great 50 minute album.

 

Sampled it awhile back. Really like the first track, or the main theme, but then it kinda wanders into less interesting territory after that.

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

Shooting Stars - Mark Isham

 

It's short. It's light. It doesn't really stick in the brain. But it's one of the more interesting things Isham has written in years after all those horrible generic action scores.

 

 

El Poderoso Victoria - Fernando Velázquez

 

I really enjoyed this. Velázquez almost always is a win with me and this is no different. It has a gorgeous main theme, some comedy writing+ some quite aggresive action writing towards the end.

There's some tension and thriller stuff which is less interesting and it drags the album a bit. I would cut about 20 to 25 minutes from the album.

But besides this, it always stays playful and fun. I thought this was a wonderful album. 

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

I saw the film during the weekend (which is a ton of fun) and one of the things that I really liked was the score.

The album is 40 minutes long and is also a ton of fun. There's some more contemporary synths and action stuff, which is composed very well, but is a bit less interesting.

The interesting parts are the more caper like cues. It reminds me a lot of Pemberton's Ocean's 8 (a score I love) during some cues. It's just so much fun.

 

Howe is a really strong composer and I'm excited for him to get bigger projects in the future.

 

[Brónach 1,301]

 

[Jay 37,287]

Lena Raine - Harmony: The Fall Of Reverie

 

Another nice, pleasant score from Raine, full of all her unique sounds she's been using since Celeste.  And one melody is even very close to a Celeste melody.  I'm actually glad I listened to it twice before posting about it, because I wasn't too impressed on first listen (I think my expectations were too high).  On second listen, I found it quite enjoyable.  It's a nice quiet morning type of score.  Before you really launch into the day

[LSH 968]

 

Love it. Love it. Love it.

 

After finding out that it had a South Asian twang to it, I was excited. And it has not disappointed me in the slightest.

 

For the most part, it really is a vibrant extension of Newman's other scores inspired by the same geographical region. I fucking love it.

 

The production is great. The layering of the percussion, synth, vocals, Indian solo instruments, (and a little orchestra) is perfect. Just a great vibe.

 

However, like a lot of Newman's work... 

 

It needs a theme!!! Something to unify the entire thing. It's quite infuriating actually. The music is so fucking good... but it feels too 'loose' and sporadic. And it's more infuriating knowing that the guy has the talent and CAN actually do it.

[Edmilson 7,392]

 

I had a really negative first impression of it when I listened to "Sounds About Right, Bruce" and I thought it was going to be one of those awful Fury Road-like scores with drums, violins and the obligatory horn of doom. Thankfully, I was wrong.

 

This is a very fun score, just balls-to-the-wall and overblown. There's a great deal of chaotic action music for orchestra, choir and synths, and it's far from subtle but still very entertaining. Parts of it remind me of Don Davis' Matrix scores (which I think is a pretty obvious blueprint to showcase the Flash's speed powers) and others of John Powell.

 

Also, it has some great orchestrations and recording. I love the clarity of the different sections of the orchestra. This isn't the first Wallfisch score to have this amazingly clear recording (Shazam and It 1 and 2 also had it), but it's still impressive nonetheless.

 

Overall, it's a more consistently entertaining score than Shazam (which had a good main theme, but the overall score was very dull).

[Thor 7,465]

 

The film came out in 2023, but apparently production goes back to at least 2016. That's why Badalamenti is involved, before he got properly ill. Carrie Fisher too. Anyways, very nice to have a "new" theme from him, post-mortem, that is kinda in his STRAIGHT STORY style -- but with a gorgeous woodwind line. Ross's score is appropriately classy most of the time, but sadly touches on a few contemporary tropes here and there.

[Knight of Ren 785]

We're halfway through 2023 and I thought it would be nice to share some of our favorite scores from the first half of the year. I'll start in no particular order

 

The Super Mario Bros. Movie - Brian Tyler

The Mandalorian Season 3 - Joseph Shirley

Across the Spider-Verse - Daniel Pemberton

Dial of Destiny - John Williams

Creed III - Joseph Shirley

Irati - Aránzazu Calleja & Maite Arroitajauregui

Dungeons & Dragons - Lorne Balfe

Peter Pan & Wendy - Daniel Hart

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - John Murphy

Star Trek Picard Season 3 - Stephen Barton & Frederik Wiedmann

Rise of the Beasts - Jongnic Bontemps

The Flash - Benjamin Wallfisch

 

Notable mentions: Fast X (Brian Tyler), Tetris (Lorne Balfe), Quantumania (Christophe Beck), Libres (Oscar Martín Leanizbarrutia), The Little Mermaid (Alan Menken)

 

Also, wanted to add a couple of great scores from the often forgotten field of videogames and anime:

 

VIDEOGAMES

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor - Stephen Barton, Gordy Haab

The Mageseeker - Gareth Coker

 

ANIME

Demon Slayer: Swordsmith Village - Go Shiina, Yuki Kajiura

Kaina of the Great Snow Sea - Hiroyuki Sawano, Kotha Yamamoto

Kin no Kuni Mizo no Kuni - Evan Call

 

I hope this can be of use to people looking for recommendations of great scores from this year. If anyone's interested, I can provide some pieces of each score for reference. Feel free to share your own lists / rankings!

[Thor 7,465]

1 minute ago, Knight of Ren said:

I hope this can be of use to people looking for recommendations of great scores from this year. If anyone's interested, I can provide some pieces of each score for reference. Feel free to share your own lists / rankings!

 

Your list is a bit too heavy on the superhero/mainstream/action stuff for my taste, but kudos for the shout-outs to Japanese animé. I always find that a jungle to navigate.

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

Some of my favorites so far:

 

Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse - Daniel Pemberton

Succession: Season 4 - Nicholas Britell

The Mandalorian: Season 3 - Joseph Shirley

The Super Mario Bros. Movie - Brian Tyler

Scream VI - Brian Tyler & Sven Faulconer

Fast X - Brian Tyler

Mon Crime - Phillipe Rombi

Creed III - Joseph Shirley

Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny - John Williams

La Guerre Des Lulus - Mathieau Lamboley

Wild Isles - George Fenton

 

 

And the scores for the rest of the year I'm most looking forward to:

 

Oppenheimer - Ludwig Göransson

The Last Voyage Of The Demeter - Bear McCreary

All The Light We Cannot See - James Newton Howard

Dune: Part Two - Hans Zimmer

Chicken Run 2 - Harry Gregson-Williams

Migration - John Powell

[Courtney Sees Ghosts 269]

A score from this year I recommend people check out is Nicholas Britell's score for Carmen. More people should listen to it fr.

[Jurassic Shark 12,030]

2 minutes ago, Courtney said:

A score for this year I recommend people check out is Nicholas Britell's score for Carmen. More people should listen to it fr.

 

Highlights?

[Knight of Ren 785]

6 hours ago, Thor said:

Your list is a bit too heavy on the superhero/mainstream/action stuff for my taste, but kudos for the shout-outs to Japanese animé. I always find that a jungle to navigate.

That is the stuff I usually tend to listen to more, melodic, orchestral and multi-thematic scores. It's also true that those are the ones more well-known, and I tend to discover some less mainstream stuff towards the end of the year, so the lest tends to be a bit more balanced between mainstream and lesser known works. Any great scores from the first half of the year that are a bit less "mainstream" that you would recommend?

 

As for anime, I agree that sometimes it's a bit hard to sort through, mainly because of the quantity and variety, but I have come to realize that they usually give a huge importance to the music, with some really high quality stuff released each year!

[JTN 2,002]

On 18/6/2023 at 5:12 PM, Edmilson said:

Overall, it's a more consistently entertaining score than Shazam (which had a good main theme, but the overall score was very dull).

My thoughts exactly about the  Shazam! score, so you officially got me interested in this score. 

[Thor 7,465]

 

Very nice compilation/concert recording that showcases Wiseman's great grasp of the lyrical.

 

10 hours ago, Courtney said:

A score for this year I recommend people check out is Nicholas Britell's score for Carmen. More people should listen to it fr.

 

Yeah, I posted about it earlier in the thread. Pretty good stuff.

 

9 hours ago, Knight of Ren said:

Any great scores from the first half of the year that are a bit less "mainstream" that you would recommend?

 

I've posted about them in this thread, but a quick rundown of some great titles:

 

L'Uomo Che Disegnó Dio - Giuliano Taviani & Carmelo Travia
L'Envol - Gabriel Yared
Fire of Love - Nicolas Godin
Touch of Crude - Cliff Martinez
Zodi et Téhu: Frères du Désert - Mika
Rain Dogs - Alex Baranowski
Tetris - Lorne Balfe
Der Fuchs/The Fox - Arash Safaian
Supercell - Corey Wallace
A Thousand and One - Gary Gunn
Tron: Identity - Dan Le Sac
Boy from Heaven - Krister Linder
Carmen - Nicholas Britell
The Last Kingdom: Destiny is ALl - John Lunn, Eivør & Danny Saul
Christmas Bloody Christmas - Steve Moore
Maestro in Blue - Kostas Christides
Libres - Oscar M. Leanizbarrutia
Le Cours de la Vie - Vladimir Cosma
L'Amour et les Forets - Gabriel Yared
Barracuda Queens - Joakim Åklund
Wonderwell - William Ross & Angelo Badalamenti

[Knight of Ren 785]

That's a great list! I will try to check some of these. Thanks!

[Knight of Ren 785]

 

I followed one of @Thor's recommendation, and listened to the two Last Kingdom albums by John Lunn. Great stuff! I love the mood it conveys, and the use of Eivør's vocals is excellent throughout. It's never boring or dull, and the overall style is captivating, with some unusual but pretty efective touches like for example in Blues for Halig with its unexpected jazz/blues touches. What I'm missing is a strong main identity that carries the album as a whole, but I didn't mind it that much, because it's so consistently engaging. Actually, it reminded me of parts of The Mageseeker by Gareth Coker, which I recommended above!

 

Also listened to Supercell by Corey Wallace, but on a first listen apart from a nice main theme in the opening track, it sadly didn't do much for me...

[Thor 7,465]

 

To most of us, Pook is synonymous with one thing -- her score for EYES WIDE SHUT, and that high-pitched piano chord throughout that was deliberately unsettling. But of course, she can compose more elaborate things as well. This new score is a mysterious little gem -- love those lullaby-ish female voices and woodwinds. It certainly has experimental elements, but not as wild as in EYES WIDE SHUT. Intriguing.

[Jurassic Shark 12,030]

Is that Aurora?

[Thor 7,465]

No, but I'm pretty sure that's how she looked like 15 years ago.

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

This was quite the interesting score. I wouldn't say I loved it, but I like it for what it is.

 

It's 22 minutes of small choral pieces, some bubling electronics and a few hoboe? & sax solos (the one in the final cue is a bit over the top for me).

I liked the choral cues the most. Very serene.

 

[Knight of Ren 785]

What I like about Christophe Beck as a composer is the clear narrative in his scores, and this is no different, with 3 clearly enunciated themes that are developed well through the short album and which receive three suites that help identify the themes, and overall provide a fun listening experience. It suffers a bit from some anonymous passages in the underscore, and the main themes can be a bit reminiscent of some other scores. Nothing groundbreaking, but quite fun and beautiful in parts, especially in the use of vocals for Nimona's theme!

 

Beautiful score. Soft, melodic and reflexive. The best parts are when the score is focused on the lyrical melodies that appear in cues like Resting and The Letter, and when it goes into darker territories it's a bit less interesting for me, but I really like the emotions it conveys!

[iamleyeti 114]

On 04/07/2023 at 4:14 PM, Knight of Ren said:

 

I followed one of @Thor's recommendation, and listened to the two Last Kingdom albums by John Lunn. Great stuff! I love the mood it conveys, and the use of Eivør's vocals is excellent throughout. It's never boring or dull, and the overall style is captivating, with some unusual but pretty efective touches like for example in Blues for Halig with its unexpected jazz/blues touches. What I'm missing is a strong main identity that carries the album as a whole, but I didn't mind it that much, because it's so consistently engaging. Actually, it reminded me of parts of The Mageseeker by Gareth Coker, which I recommended above!

 

Also listened to Supercell by Corey Wallace, but on a first listen apart from a nice main theme in the opening track, it sadly didn't do much for me...

Absolutely love Lunn's work on the series. The long tracks, filled with contrasted energies and emotions, the lovely orchestrations… Really superb work.

[Knight of Ren 785]

Followed the suggestion to listen to Nicholas Britell's Carmen and I really enjoyed it. At first I wasn't really feeling it, and the songs tend to disrupt the flow a bit, even if they fit nicely into the rest of the score. But I was slowly captivated by the prominent use of the choir and I really like the ominous and tragic atmosphere the composer creates towards the end. I think the album is a tad too long for my taste, but I think I will enjoy it even more in repeated listens. Britell is certainly a unique composer and I really like him when he does this kind of alternative projects that allow him to showcase his versatility.

 

 Also, I found this track by Christopher Willis, and I don't know if it's like a preview track of a more complete soundtrack coming soon or something like that but I really liked it! It reminded me a bit of Abel Korzeniowski's style, with the lush orchestrations and elegant themes. Really beautiful! 

[iamleyeti 114]

20 hours ago, Knight of Ren said:

Beautiful score. Soft, melodic and reflexive. The best parts are when the score is focused on the lyrical melodies that appear in cues like Resting and The Letter, and when it goes into darker territories it's a bit less interesting for me, but I really like the emotions it conveys!

Thank you for the rec! It's effectively gorgeous.

[Thor 7,465]

 

Nice! I was hoping for Haslinger do another score with some of his TD trademarks more prominently featured (like HALT AND CATCH FIRE), and this has potential to that effect. I suppose films about technology get that out of him.

 

On 05/07/2023 at 5:14 PM, JNHFan2000 said:

This was quite the interesting score. I wouldn't say I loved it, but I like it for what it is.

 

It's 22 minutes of small choral pieces, some bubling electronics and a few hoboe? & sax solos (the one in the final cue is a bit over the top for me).

I liked the choral cues the most. Very serene.

 

 

This was very nice indeed. Right up my alley! Thanks for the recommendation, JNH2000. I also love Méchaly's SWOON from before.

[KK 3,307]

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny by John Williams

Helena's Theme is a nice addition to the franchise's musical canon and the rest is more or less inconsequential. But it's hard not to find it all endearing. It very much serves as functional orchestral film music, barely rising above archetypal music gestures or offering anything truly distinct or remarkable and yet you can't deny this is still very well-written film music, the caliber of which we will not really see again for some time.

 

Asteroid City by Alexandre Desplat

Lol. I understand that Desplat scores for Wes films now operate entirely in the realm of self-parody and it's not worth expecting anything more from them...but why put any of this out at all? It's the same track times times six. Could have sufficed with just releasing a "single".

 

Strange Way of Life by Alberto Iglesias

Like others have expressed here, I also have mixed feelings about Iglesias' work, which often gets lost in its own anonymity. But he definitely has chops, and this concise album is a nice showcase of his chamber writing.

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

7 hours ago, Thor said:

 

Nice! I was hoping for Haslinger do another score with some of his TD trademarks more prominently featured (like HALT AND CATCH FIRE), and this has potential to that effect. I suppose films about technology get that out of him.

 

 

This was very nice indeed. Right up my alley! Thanks for the recommendation, JNH2000. I also love Méchaly's SWOON from before.

 

You're welcome.

 

And I was gonna recommend Haslinger's score, but you found it yourself. It's wonderful.

[Matt C 452]

The Flash - Benjamin Wallfisch

 

This is Wallfisch's best comic book film score -- yes, beating out Shazam! -- and he really poured a lot of love and effort into it. The overall quality of the score, the performance by The Chamber Orchestra of London and the emotional undercurrent of Nora's and Supergirl's themes (especially the soaring "I've Got You") overcome Wallfisch's underdeveloped theme for the titular hero. He embraces the Zimmer tones established for MOS and BvS while deftly balancing it with the vintage sound established by Danny Elfman. He plays around with Elfman's Batman theme in different arrangements and fragments, as well as in its original splendor, as well as one reverential quote of Williams' Superman theme for good measure. 

 

The way Wallfisch wholeheartedly embraced Elfman's theme here is a big 180 from Michael Giacchino's Spider-Man No Way Home score. Giacchino was too reluctant to parade Elfman and Horner's themes the way Wallfisch does in The Flash, which was the wrong approach.

[Jurassic Shark 12,030]

Lorne Balfe - MI Dead Reckoning Part I

 

The score starts similarly to how the  previous score ended, which is not a good sign. Still, I hope it improves.