James Newton Howard - NIGHT AFTER NIGHT

[Edmilson 7,466]

JNH is apparently releasing an album featuring his music from Shyamalan movies. He posted this on his Facebook:

 

 

And this was his lastest release on Spotify:

 

 

[Jay 37,369]

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1446267599252618

 

https://open.spotify.com/album/2DWJtnvhMCL49fvWBfyt27?si=lXLmNeerS0aGaN-LvaxEjg

 

 

 

Physical CD:

 

1     Signs: The Cornfield
2     Signs: After You Were Born
3     Signs: Hand of Fate
4     The Village: Morning - James Newton Howard, Hilary Hahn, Jean-Yves Thibaudet
5     The Village: Noah Visits - James Newton Howard, Hilary Hahn, Jean-Yves Thibaudet
6     The Village: Ivy Saves Lucius - James Newton Howard, Hilary Hahn, Jean-Yves Thibaudet
7     The Sixth Sense: Lonely Boy
8     The Sixth Sense: Ghost in the House
9     The Sixth Sense: Acceptance
10     Lady in the Water: Prologue
11     Lady in the Water: Charades
12     Lady in the Water: Story
13     Lady in the Water: Return to the Blue World
14     Unbreakable: Survivor
15     Unbreakable: Destiny
16     The Last Airbender
17     The Happening: An Event - James Newton Howard, Maya Beiser, Jean-Yves Thibaudet
18     The Happening: Harbinger - James Newton Howard, Maya Beiser, Jean-Yves Thibaudet
19     The Happening: Aftermath - James Newton Howard, Maya Beiser, Jean-Yves Thibaudet
20     After Earth
21     Flow Like Water

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CG1XXMM2

[mrbellamy 6,287]

Very cool

 

Now do another one together

[Naïve Old Fart 9,542]

Ooh, yes please!

The "End Title" from GRAND CANYON would sound great.

[leeallen01 2,136]

Oh my god! -

 

"An all-new recording of music for M. Night Shyamalan’s most acclaimed films. For this album, James Newton Howard created eight suites that are piano centric and include new and original material."

 

 

 

 

This is going to be special.

 

 

 

Tears streaming down my face. It's like I'm listening to the first piece in a new score for the sequel to the Village. 

 

Holy shit this album is going to destroy me.

 

 

 

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

This looks very interesting. I've long felt that JNH's music is often very much compromised in his soundtracks - great ideas and sections, but very often with sudden transitions to entirely different and often less interesting underscore material. Very little form. Certainly partly influenced by the hectic schedule of modern day film making, although I feel that JNH's scores are more affected by it than those of other composers (or at least of other composers who, like him, do still write longer, substantially developed cues).

 

His violin concerto shows that JNH can write a full concert piece without lots of sudden filler, so I have quite high hopes for this.

[Richard Penna 3,694]

That Village piece is really nice - look forward to the rest!

[Bespin 8,483]

Instant buy!

[Knight of Ren 789]

Brilliant! James Newton Howard is one of my favorite composers ever, and I absolutely love all of his work with Shyamalan, so this should be a fantastic album by all accounts. That first The Village track is stunning. It really feels like a proper extension from the score, which now makes me wish they would release it in a more complete form soon!

 

Anyway, this looks promising. Cannot wait!

[LSH 969]

9 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

I’ve long felt that JNH's music is often very much compromised in his soundtracks - great ideas and sections, but very often with sudden transitions to entirely different and often less interesting underscore material. Very little form.

I’m a life-long JNH enthusiast and I have to regrettably agree with that sentiment entirely. 
 

I always connected with Howard because he creates great ‘moments’. While there are countless great scores and cues, I could list a hundred 5 second -bits- that I often repeat. He has a knack for that. A perfect film composer really. 
 

edit: I just realise that wasn’t what you were talking about. The sentiment remains however.

 

I’m drunk. I don’t know what I’m talking about.

9 hours ago, leeallen01 said:

Oh my god! -

 

"An all-new recording of music for M. Night Shyamalan’s most acclaimed films. For this album, James Newton Howard created eight suites that are piano centric and include new and original material."

 

 

 

 

This is going to be special.

 

 

 

Tears streaming down my face. It's like I'm listening to the first piece in a new score for the sequel to the Village. 

 

Holy shit this album is going to destroy me.

 

 

 

Get all this in a concert and let me buy a ticket. Please.

[JNHFan2000 2,966]

I saw JNH concert a few years ago.

 

It was such a great concert! And I remember that the suite he played of M. Night's film was incredible. So this is a must buy!!

[Bespin 8,483]

It's great that younger composers (like Newton Howard, who is 72, haha) are finally getting some recognition by having their works re-recorded like that!

[LSH 969]

20 hours ago, leeallen01 said:

 

 

 

 

 
That’s gorgeous. I know the violin is the star of the show in this score but when that piano joins in…. 

[Stark 316]

Wow, this sounds very interesting.

[Thor 7,511]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that -- with the exception of THE VILLAGE (which is a masterpiece, as another person said above) -- I've never been too thrilled with JNH's Shyamalan scores. Yeah, I know, enormously controversial, but it's not my favourite kind of JNH. But that puny gripe aside, I love the fact that an album like this is coming out. Will definitely check it out.

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

13 minutes ago, Thor said:

I've never been too thrilled with JNH's Shyamalan scores.

 

Except Signs, right?

[Thor 7,511]

45 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

Except Signs, right?

It’s OK. Accessible minimalism. But can’t hold a candle to THE VILLAGE.

[crocodile 8,017]

Pre-ordered. These are my favourite scores from JNH so no reason to even contemplate this.

 

Karol

[leeallen01 2,136]

4 hours ago, Thor said:

It’s OK. Accessible minimalism. But can’t hold a candle to THE VILLAGE.

 

Erm...okay.

 

 

His Shyamalan scores are his finest works of art.

 

Masterpieces -

Unbreakable

Signs

The Village

Lady in the Water

Last Airbender.

 

Great Scores - 

Sixth Sense

The Happening

 

Phoning it in for a horseshit film -

After Earth

 

 

[Drawgoon 100]

Awesome! Can't wait!

Curious if he employed a real choir for the two Airbender pieces!!

 

This compilation wouldn't have surprised me had it come during the time he was still working with M. Night, or if these cues were included along with suites of his from his works for other directors.

 

But an album dedicated solely to his collaborations with M. Night, all of a sudden, and a decade after their last collaboration?

 

Is someone holding out an olive branch?

 

I mean, these two haven't worked together since After Earth - something might have happened between them during that one.

[Yavar Moradi 2,599]

4 hours ago, leeallen01 said:

His Shyamalan scores are his finest works of art.

 

Masterpieces -

Unbreakable

Signs

The Village

Lady in the Water

Last Airbender.

 

Great Scores - 

Sixth Sense

The Happening

 

Phoning it in for a horseshit film -

After Earth

I agree with this except I’d move The Happening up one tier into “Masterpiece” status too. (And I actually like the film and think it’s misunderstood.) What’s surprising is that he didn’t phone it in for the horseshit films that were Lady in the Water and The Last Airbender.  

 

Yavar

[JTN 2,030]

Naturally this album is a must-have.

I wish JNH’s excellent animated movie scores were released as expanded editions. 

[GerateWohl 4,370]

2 hours ago, Drawgoon said:

 

I mean, these two haven't worked together since After Earth - something might have happened between them during that one.

I guess, M. Night, meanwhile rather a b-movie director, simply can't affort anymore the services of a high profile composer like JNH. But Shyamalan obviously inspired JNH to his best works. I am sure, both are missing that time.

[Pawel P. 738]

Six years ago I asked JNH about this in an interview:

 

You have collaborated with M. Night Shyamalan eight times , including on "The Sixth Sense" , "Unbreakable" , " Signs " , "The Village". However, you no longer worked on his last two films, "The Visit" and "Split". Have you gone separate ways?

 

Absolutely not. We are still very good friends. "The Visit" was a production that didn't need music, and with "Split" I simply had other obligations. I think it's a great and crazy movie with a great soundtrack. If you like soundtracks, its ending should surprise you very positively.

 

I love working with M. Night Shyamalan, he always inspires me a lot. We met recently and I can tell you that it's quite possible that there will be a sequel to "Unbreakable."

 

Full interview (translated from Polish by Google Translate):

https://kultura-onet-pl.translate.goog/wywiady-i-artykuly/james-newton-howard-geniusz-z-przypadku/h5er1cc?_x_tr_sl=pl&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=pl&_x_tr_pto=wapp

 

 

 

 

 

[JNHFan2000 2,966]

That sequel to Unbreakable was Glass and was scored by someone else.

 

It would be really cool for them to work together again, but the last few Shyamalan films have had such different score than JNH's earlier ones. It's all mostly sound design. If JNH were to do that, it would be a waste of talents

[GerateWohl 4,370]

8 minutes ago, JNHFan2000 said:

That sequel to U breakable was Glass and was scored by someone else.

And it was terrible. 

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

The Philip Glass biopic?

[GerateWohl 4,370]

I hope not.

[Richard Penna 3,694]

Once we got to Last Airbender, the scoring requirements just weren't the same as they were before. Th JNH who gave us The Village and Signs is still there, but he's being asked for standard sci-fi scoring, whereas everything up to the Happening was basically a large chamber score with no sustained action material.

 

5 hours ago, Yavar Moradi said:

I agree with this except I’d move The Happening up one tier into “Masterpiece” status too. (And I actually like the film and think it’s misunderstood.) What’s surprising is that he didn’t phone it in for the horseshit films that were Lady in the Water and The Last Airbender.  

 

Yavar

 

I don't know - Lady still has a reasonable amount of character bits with all the fairytale nonsense. I can see how JNH would find energy and material to make a score.

 

We'll never know at what point (if any) JNH's attraction to these films started to turn, but I think it's important not to project our own feelings for a film onto the composer's mindset as if we want to protect our idols from having to score rubbish. JNH has commented several times on movies that either the audience or he thought were terrible movies, but that he still enjoyed his job as trying to help them out with music.

[mrbellamy 6,287]

I bet there are things about scoring bad movies that are more fun than good ones. And it's probably not that different to some degree. Like, the moment in "The Great Eatlon" when Giamatti realizes the guy with one buff arm is The Guardian, that's just a great setup for music whether you think it's actually a good scene or not. And on the flipside great art probably just feels like footage after awhile. 

[leeallen01 2,136]

49 minutes ago, mrbellamy said:

I bet there are things about scoring bad movies that are more fun than good ones. And it's probably not that different to some degree. Like, the moment in "The Great Eatlon" when Giamatti realizes the guy with one buff arm is The Guardian, that's just a great setup for music whether you think it's actually a good scene or not. And on the flipside great art probably just feels like footage after awhile. 

 

Interesting perspective. I agree. There are some highly artistic and important films that I would imagine would be boring for a composer. On the other hand, bad movies (as long as they have passion) can be a dream to score because of their big swings and misses creating a big open space for fun score writing.

[Tom Guernsey 2,286]

7 hours ago, leeallen01 said:

 

Interesting perspective. I agree. There are some highly artistic and important films that I would imagine would be boring for a composer. On the other hand, bad movies (as long as they have passion) can be a dream to score because of their big swings and misses creating a big open space for fun score writing.

Well on a big important film there’s the risk of screwing it up (JW’s “they’re all dead” Schindler’s List comment is essentially saying as much) but a big cheesy film can probably withstand more.

 

Looking forward to this album though. Chamber JNH. Nice. 

[Richard Penna 3,694]

Also, composers know they are being 'judged' on the score release so it's not like they can just phone in a quick autopilot score for a bad film and just move on. It's added to their pantheon of work so they have some significant motivation to do their best.

 

It's also their job and they're being paid handsomly for it. Hence if they look at a film and really think it's either not for them, or that it's so bad that they would have a horrible time, they just shouldn't accept the assignment.

[Mr. Who 919]

I don't remember who it was, maybe HZ or JNH, but he said that sometimes you sign on to a movie and it turns out it's not good in the process and that in those cases you need to find a way to find enjoyment in the work and just doing as good a score as possible even though you know the movie won't do well.

[Richard Penna 3,694]

JNH has definitely said something like that in interviews, when knows he's on a movie that sucks but he knows his job is to try to help it and basically be a professional. He once mentioned The Postman as a 'terrible movie', but when someone mentioned Mumford as a bad movie, JNH defended it. It's probably very difficult to tell when a composer really enjoyed the process, and when they were just doing their best under the circumstances.

 

Ultimately, whenever a composer scores a film they're spending months writing music for a film that in some cases three people will see, and the only life their music is going to have is soundtrack collectors.

 

But that's the life of a film composer - their music could be heard by millions and the money's good, but at some point they're going to spend months writing for some absolute POS.

[GerateWohl 4,370]

I think, it isn't reality of a film music composer, thinking everytime, if the next movie he or she scores willl go down in movie history as a masterpiece. First of all it is a business where you get a job from a company and it might be a good and fruitful collaboration or not. Result can be a bad movie, but it still might have been an interesting and inspiring working process for the composer.

[Mr. Who 919]

Some terrible movies feature some of my favorite scores!

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

2 hours ago, Mr. Who said:

Some terrible movies feature some of my favorite scores!

 

What's more, I imagine some of them might have lesser scores if the films were better. Ultimately the film that we get is what informed the score, so I think sometimes we can be thankful for bad films.

[Bayesian 1,363]

10 hours ago, Mr. Who said:

Some terrible movies feature some of my favorite scores!

Said every Goldsmith fan ever, amirite??

 

Trenchant japes aside, this announcement is really exciting. I have all of the JNH/Shyamalan scores on CD, having collected them several years ago with the sense that there was something special about their collaboration (and that there wouldn't be any more of it forthcoming). 

 

There's something nostalgic too about their collaboration that, for me, represents one of the best things from the aughts decade. I don't really know how to put words to it, but I know I'm very much looking forward to this CD.

[GerateWohl 4,370]

I skipped The Last Airbender and After Earth (also as movies). The rest I have. 

[leeallen01 2,136]

His Airbender score is phenomenal.

[Edmilson 7,466]

Not only TLA is a good score, but also, like many JNH/MNS scores, some of the best cues are still unreleased. This, for example, is just gorgeous:

 

 

[JNHFan2000 2,966]

27 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Not only TLA is a good score, but also, like many JNH/MNS scores, some of the best cues are still unreleased. This, for example, is just gorgeous:

 

 

 

That's such a typical JNH cue, I love it!

[Edmilson 7,466]

Yeah, it's a great cue that, like "Edward Confesses" from The Village, was inexplicably left off the OST.

 

Still, being released in 2004, The Village has a bigger chance of being expanded one day than 2010's TLA.

[Richard Penna 3,694]

The Village is completely out of character for JNH as an album. He usually makes such representative albums and rarely commits such epic vandalism on his scores as JW does, but this time he went for a concept tone poem and got a lot of it wrong, imo. There's too much focus on some of the horror aspects and not enough on the personal drama cues such as Edward Confesses and similar cues which would offer a bit of variety and colour.

[LSH 969]

4 hours ago, Edmilson said:

Not only TLA is a good score, but also, like many JNH/MNS scores, some of the best cues are still unreleased. This, for example, is just gorgeous:

 

 

 

Lovely stuff, I'd never heard that. It's the sort of quintessential JNH 'underscore' (though I hate the term) that populates a lot of his scores... and you never get to hear!

[JNHFan2000 2,966]

 

[Tom Guernsey 2,286]

16 hours ago, JNHFan2000 said:

 

Cool. I think assumed it was a chamber album but this appears not to be the case. 

[LSH 969]

18 hours ago, JNHFan2000 said:

 

This is most evidently a must-hear. Good to see JNH and M. Night are still friends - hopefully we’re still yet to enjoy another collaboration at some point. 

[mrbellamy 6,287]

On 18/09/2023 at 8:26 AM, Marian Schedenig said:

What's more, I imagine some of them might have lesser scores if the films were better. Ultimately the film that we get is what informed the score, so I think sometimes we can be thankful for bad films.

 

Yeah, in the sense that any film just is what it is, the score would be different if the movie was different. But dramatic arcs and editing rhythms aside, ultimately the composer deserves all the credit for expressing a film's particular musicality, which is infinitely variable and doesn't really exist except in their mind. 

 

It seems the hardest thing about bad movies would be just having nothing to work with and stretching to make something interesting. Christophe Beck once told a funny story about a director asking him to score the change in an actor's face which was just a blank stare no matter how hard he looked.