The Most Williams like Score by Another Composer?

[GerateWohl 6,395]

This is the complement to the "The Most UnWilliams like Piece/Score" thread.

I had the idea for this thread for some time listening to Bruce Broughton's "Young Sherlock Holmes".

Because that would be exactly my choice for the most Williams alike score.

If I didn't know it was Broughton I could easily mistake it for an early 80s Williams score.

Ok, Williams would never have ripped off to blandly Orff's Carmina Burana.

But apart from that it is a great "soundalike".

 

Other examples?

 

[Thor 9,334]

Thread's gotta be filled with loads of McNeely, Debney and Verta. I'll provide some specifics later, unless others beat me to it.

[GerateWohl 6,395]

As you are mentioning McNeely. I always found, that apart from the direct Williams quotes Shadows of the Empire doesn't sound that much like original Williams.

[Trope 1,369]

These are two I listened to recently that gave me a Williams vibe:

 

[Martinland 405]

What about Frédéric Talgorn?

 

He is amazingly close. There are instances when he is clearly sounding like Williams, not Broughton or McNeely. Especially without copying, like the latter; and Broughton, at least to my ears, has his own style.

 

I only know "The Race" by Mike Verta and that's a detailed exercise in emulating Williams...

[Thor 9,334]

5 minutes ago, GerateWohl said:

As you are mentioning McNeely. I always found, that apart from the direct Williams quotes Shadows of the Empire doesn't sound that much like original Williams.

 

Oh, I think scores like IRON WILL and YOUNG INDY stuff are very much in the Williams school. He can also do good Goldsmith, like in SOLDIER.

 

Other good examples are William Ross and Conrad Pope, who seem to have brought their "master's" voice into their own work. Over in Finland, Pessi Levanto delivered a Williams-esque score (Williams in softspoken drama mode) for the film SATTOKEIKKA a few years back.

[GerateWohl 6,395]

17 minutes ago, Martinland said:

What about Frédéric Talgorn?

 

He is amazingly close. There are instances when he is clearly sounding like Williams, not Broughton or McNeely. Especially without copying, like the latter; and Broughton, at least to my ears, has his own style.

 

I only know "The Race" by Mike Verta and that's a detailed exercise in emulating Williams...

Thanks. I am going to check out Talgorn and Verta.

 

20 minutes ago, Trope said:

These are two I listened to recently that gave me a Williams vibe:

Interesting. The Jackman score rather gave me Horner Vibes.

And the Walfish sounded to me more like Silvestri.

In my eyes both for Williams not sophisticated enough.

[Edmilson 11,597]

Kinda sounds like the prequels.

 

 

[Davis 3,957]

X-Men 3 by John Powell sounds like something JW could write. 

[Edmilson 11,597]

Yeah, X3 is another solid choice for this thread. 

 

I always thought that when he did X3 (his biggest movie by then), Powell was still early on his career (only nine years after his first solo project) so he had to rely on the what was popular at the time, namely Davis' The Matrix trilogy, Williams' SW Prequels and even some Shore's LOTR. These days, he has a much more established voice.

[Thor 9,334]

I could never hear anything remotely Williams-like in Powell's music, not even when he followed in his footsteps and used his theme in SOLO. He has a whole different approach to the use of orchestra. It's more Zimmer than Williams, even if he's using more orchestra upfront. Lots more simultaneous chord changes and that kind of stuff.

[Richard P 5,118]

Independence Day

Cutthroat Island

Sleepy Hollow

[GerateWohl 6,395]

1 minute ago, Richard Penna said:

Independence Day

Cutthroat Island

Sleepy Hollow

From these I just know Sleepy Hollow and, sorry, it is classic Elfman and doesn't sound like Williams at all.

[Thor 9,334]

I agree with that. SLEEPY HOLLOW is full on Elfman in dark gypsye style (sorry, know "gypsye" is not PC to say anymore, but I don't know the alternative, because I'm old and out of the loop). I can see an argument being made for CUTTHROAT and ID4, however, but more the former than the latter. ID4 just sounds quintessentially Arnold.

[Edmilson 11,597]

20 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

Independence Day

Cutthroat Island

Sleepy Hollow

I'm not sure... What Williams score does Sleepy Hollow is similar with? Maaaaaaaaaaaybe The Witches of Eastwick? And even that I think it would be a stretch. SH is quintessential Elfman in his spooky/scary mode.

 

Not sure about Cutthroat Island either. I think Debney was more inspired by the older Korngold pirate scores than anything, of course through a modern lense.

 

Independence Day may have some Star Wars stuff, but I dunno, it's been years since I heard it.

[The Score Cleaner 9,505]

[Jurassic Shark 16,042]

Superman IV.

[Damien F 1,995]

Back To The Future.

[Andy 7,129]

Bruce Broughton for me, often seems to capture a Williams like sound. Maybe not necessarily in composition, but in orchestration perhaps. 

[Davis 3,957]

53 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Superman IV.

Superman II & III

[Mr. Hooper 7,944]

1 hour ago, Presto said:

He was for sure whistling the Raiders March when he composed this.

[Datameister 2,559]

I thought Don Davis did a pretty great job of melding his style with JW's for JP III. It's a rare case where the direct quotes don't feel out of place to me, even if the work as a whole isn't indistinguishable from a genuine Williams score.

 

Shearmur's Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is also reminiscent.

 

I often get more JW vibes from works that inspired him than works inspired by him. I hear hints of him in Stravinsky, Holst, Vaughan Williams, Elgar, Steiner, Korngold, Tchaikovsky, Bartok, Prokofiev, and others.

[karelm 3,257]

Don't forget Gordy Haab. 

[Not Mr. Big 4,936]

I don't like most straight up pastiches of John Williams but Joel McNeely's A Million Ways to Die in the West is pretty good, mostly because it combines it with pastiches of classic western scores (the Shooting montage and Sheep to the Horizon are particular highlights).

 

There needs to be some kind of interesting "angle" to make it worth listening to for me (not just trying to be another E.T or Raiders) 

[MrJosh 1,183]

Cameron Moody comes to mind

[mrbellamy 7,882]

13 hours ago, Edmilson said:

Kinda sounds like the prequels.

 

 

 

This one gets thrown around a lot but I still feel like the similarities are kinda vague 

 

"Bathilda Bagshot" hits the mark more specifically for me, especially right here:

 

 

[GerateWohl 6,395]

From all the proposals here if I could chose who should score the next Star Wars movie, then it would be Mike Verta.

 

His sound for me comes closest to Williams in adventure mode.

 

Thanks to Thor for the proposal.

 

[Andy 7,129]

Mike Verta is a character. I used to interact with him long ago on the Replica Props Forum.  He was often very contrarian it seemed just for the sake of being so. Hooo boy did he give a rant when Giacchino’s Star Trek was released, and dropped a snarky recording of himself playing the theme ad museum on the piano to illustrate its repetitiveness. He was an interesting board member to follow, at the time he was getting married to actress Danica Mckellar.  He also was working on his own restoration of Star Wars 77.  Talented dude, there’s no denying that.  He has the chops to sound like Williams for sure. 

[MrJosh 1,183]

 

[Thor 9,334]

4 hours ago, Andy said:

Mike Verta is a character. I used to interact with him long ago on the Replica Props Forum.  He was often very contrarian it seemed just for the sake of being so. Hooo boy did he give a rant when Giacchino’s Star Trek was released, and dropped a snarky recording of himself playing the theme ad museum on the piano to illustrate its repetitiveness. He was an interesting board member to follow, at the time he was getting married to actress Danica Mckellar.  He also was working on his own restoration of Star Wars 77.  Talented dude, there’s no denying that.  He has the chops to sound like Williams for sure. 

 

I've never interacted with him, but he's a character, for sure. He does these great experiments where he studies, and comes pretty close to other composers' styles. My favourite work of his, in that regard, is the BATMAN: THE SIMULATOR RIDE thingie, which is the perfect blend of Elfman and Williams' style. This is maybe what Williams would have sounded like, if he'd scored BATMAN:

 

 

[Datameister 2,559]

That's the only work of his I'm familiar with. It is indeed a very impressive amalgam of Elfman's themes and Williams's sound.

[GerateWohl 6,395]

4 hours ago, MrJosh said:

Did he ever write a movie score?

[MrJosh 1,183]

9 minutes ago, GerateWohl said:

Did he ever write a movie score?

Mostly short films according to imdb. I havent heard any of them but ive been meaning to seek out some more of his music. Ive only listened to what is on his youtube channel.

[Jurassic Shark 16,042]

Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker. 

[Loert 3,089]

I always thought that Clint Bajakian's work on Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb (video game) totally captured the "feel" of Williams' Indy scores, particularly with regards to the brass writing:

 

 

 

 

[Tom 6,383]

Anything by Korngold. 

 

Ha, Ha, Ha, whatever. 

[ZackR 186]

Don Davis' Jurassic Park 3 is a favorite of mine. 

[karelm 3,257]

5 hours ago, GerateWohl said:

Did he ever write a movie score?

The guy is only 21 years old...give him some time.  He's very talented!

[BB-8 5,941]

During my first uninformed screening of Girl With A Pearl Earring, I found the opening theme very Williamsesque, almost like a plag.

 

 

[Dr. Know 474]

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RPZCSq7ghs

 

[GerateWohl 6,395]

18 minutes ago, BB-8 said:

I found the opening theme very Williamsesque, almost like a plag.

Because it is. It is very very similar to the theme from Seven Years in Tibet. 

[King Mark 3,907]

Joel Mc Neely is the most obvious but it's almost a copy of Williams tracks sometimes

 

I always thought the End Titles of Airport 77 sound like exactly like 70's Williams Disaster mode  and could even mistake it for him. Sounds like the End titles to Poseidon  Adventure, Earthquake or Towering Inferno

 

 

[GerateWohl 6,395]

2 minutes ago, King Mark said:

Bruce Broughton is a bit obvious.

That is exactly what I am talking about.

When I listen to Young Sherlock Holmes I also think, it is not just about orchestration or themes, but the way the whole score is so well ballanced between when do I use which and how many instruments. A lot of scores of Williams sound alikes tend to go often over the top and drown the pictures under musical sound. What I find so special about Williams scores, that he usually finds such a fine ballance of engery, tension and calmness across the whole runtime. That is something that Ialso see in the Young Sherlock Holmes score.

[King Mark 3,907]

I edited my post to Joel Mc.Neely but same for Broughton to a lesser degree because it sounds more original .

[Erik Woods 828]

Peter Boyer
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jermaine Stegall
 

 

More Verta... he even worked in some Superman into this piece.
 

 

[artguy360 2,167]

14 hours ago, BB-8 said:

During my first uninformed screening of Girl With A Pearl Earring, I found the opening theme very Williamsesque, almost like a plag.

 

 

The latter half around the 2 minute mark sounds a lot like Book Thief. In general this track is reminiscent of JW's drama film scoring style, stuff like Seven Years in Tibet, Book Thief, Angela's Ashes, etc. The main melody is knocking at the door of the Seven Years in Tibet theme.

[Davis 3,957]

Bill Conti's score to MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE is pretty much Conti's version of Star Wars. 

[Richard P 5,118]

Based on the responses so far, I may need some further guidance on what exactly makes a score Williams-like apart from being well orchestrated and traditional.

[Davis 3,957]

It has to contain a cue called "Something and End Titles" or "Something and Finale" and  "Scherzo for a Vehicle and Orchestra". 

[Richard P 5,118]

"The Something Scene" or no sale