What Is The Last Score You Listened To? (2025 Scores)

[Stark 872]

This new musical Juliet & Romeo has a wonderful score (released separately) by two guys I've never heard of, Justin Gray and Evan Bogart. Like a slightly more modern John Powell.

[Under-Terrestrial 99]

https://music.apple.com/us/album/elio-original-motion-picture-soundtrack/1819131838

 

 

My first impression after seeing ELIO yesterday was that the score was pretty translucent in the fabric of the film, but a solo listen has vaulted it up! It feels like it has one foot in the cosmic vibey-ness of Rob Simonsen's score for FAST COLOR (that film and score are really good!), and the other in the Powell-influenced blend of percussion and woodwinds in Kris Bower's The Wild Robot score (and the wind writing in Henry Jackman's Disney Animation scores). "The Communiverse" / "Debris Field" are particularly listenable.

 

So far, this and MICKEY 17, SINNERS, THE ACTOR, and THE LEGEND OF OCHI are my favorite [primarily original] scores of 2025 (with an honorable mention to PRESENCE). Lots of good stuff!

[Jay 45,124]

Michael Giacchino - Exotic Themes for the Silver Screen Volume 2

 

Not as good as Vol 1 from last year.  This is primarily because it covers a less creative period in Giacchino's career, but also because it short-changes some of hte scores it does cover.  John Carter and Tomorrowland are full of huge, memorable, awesome themes, but this album gives them very short tracks.  Meanwhile we get 3 (!) tracks dedicated to Coco, a score I don't remember at all.  And that's the thing, a lot of the selections on Vol 1 were scores I had played countless times, so it was exciting to hear new spins on that great material.  Here I don't know a lot of these scores as well, and the new arrangements weren't enough to win me over on them.  The Marvel Studios Fanfare track is still a banger though

[HunterTech 1,643]

[Kasey Kockroach 2,640]

9 minutes ago, HunterTech said:

Did you hack something, because it’s not up for me yet! 

[The Score Cleaner 9,505]

34 minutes ago, Kasey Kockroach said:

Did you hack something, because it’s not up for me yet! 

[filmmusic 3,007]

Some truly masterful tracks, but the score is "all over" with classical, pop, baroque, romantic, jazz etc. genres.

 

 

[tomsmoviemadness 4,627]

Towerborne - Austin Wintory

 

I haven't listened to any of Wintory's music before, but if this is any indication of his work I need to change that quickly.

 

This is fantastic! Big orchestral sweeping music. Absolutely love it!

[Holko 11,892]

16 minutes ago, tomsmoviemadness said:

I haven't listened to any of Wintory's music before, but if this is any indication of his work I need to change that quickly.

Oh hell yeah. Start with Journey (and/or Traveller) and the Banner Saga trilogy!

[Knight of Ren 1,431]

ABZU is also brilliant. His best score alongside Journey imo. The Banner Saga has some really great stuff and I also enjoyed The Pathless a lot.

[tomsmoviemadness 4,627]

Thanks guys! That gives me something to explore.

[Tom Guernsey 3,584]

5 hours ago, Holko said:

Oh hell yeah. Start with Journey (and/or Traveller) and the Banner Saga trilogy!

I listened to both of the former today and they are indeed terrific. I'll have to give ABZU another listen and look out for the Banner Saga.

 

At the risk of detracting from his own work, this gives me another chance to post his superb Jerry Goldsmith medley which definitely needs a proper recording once day...

 

 

[bollemanneke 4,279]

Just finished How to Train Your Dragon.

 

Powell is the master of variations. I don’t think anyone has ever done it like him. The way he twists themes into major and minor keys, whether they’re meant for it or not, is just awe-inspiring. He should give classes. That’s one thing I often don’t like about Williams: he is the master of themes, but refuses to play with them enough.

 

Having said that, some of the cues, particularly my favourite ones from the original, interestingly, just feel needlessly redone. The end of New Tail, for instance. Why? Don’t touch the original classic, it was perfect, leave it alone. The recording quality is also meh. Test Drive, for instance. You canNOT surpass that glorious whistle from the original one.

 

I did like the harp thing near the end of We Have Dragos, though. Is that a new theme?

[The Score Cleaner 9,505]

2 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

That’s one thing I often don’t like about Williams: he is the master of themes, but refuses to play with them enough.

Lol k

[Tom Guernsey 3,584]

10 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

Just finished How to Train Your Dragon.

 

Powell is the master of variations. I don’t think anyone has ever done it like him. The way he twists themes into major and minor keys, whether they’re meant for it or not, is just awe-inspiring. He should give classes. That’s one thing I often don’t like about Williams: he is the master of themes, but refuses to play with them enough.

 

Having said that, some of the cues, particularly my favourite ones from the original, interestingly, just feel needlessly redone. The end of New Tail, for instance. Why? Don’t touch the original classic, it was perfect, leave it alone. The recording quality is also meh. Test Drive, for instance. You canNOT surpass that glorious whistle from the original one.

 

I did like the harp thing near the end of We Have Dragos, though. Is that a new theme?

 

8 minutes ago, Meredith McKay said:

Lol k

I know that seems like a controversial take, but there have been a few occasions where other composers have used his themes in substantially different ways (Don Davis in Jurassic World III as a prime example and, JP's own Solo, to some extent) that go in directions that I can't imagine JW himself taking them. Obviously JW is still masterful in his use of themes, but there's a lot to be said for how others have used and altered theme in effective ways.

[bollemanneke 4,279]

17 minutes ago, Tom Guernsey said:

 

I know that seems like a controversial take, but there have been a few occasions where other composers have used his themes in substantially different ways (Don Davis in Jurassic World III as a prime example and, JP's own Solo, to some extent) that go in directions that I can't imagine JW himself taking them. Obviously JW is still masterful in his use of themes, but there's a lot to be said for how others have used and altered theme in effective ways.

It's sad that we have to say this is a controversial take. It's objective.

[Edmilson 11,597]

24 minutes ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Don Davis in Jurassic World III

It's Jurassic Park 3 actually. The actual Jurassic World III was scored by Capuccino . 

 

The producers should give another movie from this franchise to Davis though.

[Tom Guernsey 3,584]

45 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

It's sad that we have to say this is a controversial take. It's objective.

Yes that’s fair. 
 

36 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

It's Jurassic Park 3 actually. The actual Jurassic World III was scored by Capuccino . 

 

The producers should give another movie from this franchise to Davis though.

What a mistake to make! But yes totally agreed. He did a great job and deserves some more decent and high profile movies. 

[tomsmoviemadness 4,627]

Yesterday and today I've listened to, what are in my opinion, the top scores for the summer movie season this year.

 

How To Train Your Dragon - John Powell

F1 - Hans Zimmer

Jurassic World Rebirth - Alexandre Desplat

The Fantastic Four: First Steps - Michael Giacchino

 

Of course, all 4 are very different, but I love all 4 a lot! Each has their own strong points and listening to them back to back is really so much fun!

 

I'm hoping Pemberton's The Bad Guys 2 can live up to the first score, because that would 100% mean these are probably my Top 5 scores of the year!!

[Jay 45,124]

Does that mean you like all 4 of those more than Sinners?

[Edmilson 11,597]

I watched Sinners a few days ago, and didn't notice the score too much. 

[tomsmoviemadness 4,627]

Movie wise, not. Sinners is for me the best.

 

Score wise, maybe yes. But I've not listened to Sinners for quite a while.

So it could be recency bias for the other 4 right now and that Sinners will get in there.

 

We still have 5.5 months to go, so a lot can change this year.

[Jay 45,124]

17 minutes ago, tomsmoviemadness said:

a lot can chance this year.

 

change

[Erik Woods 828]

I'm on listen number 7!

 

[crocodile 9,516]

56 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

I watched Sinners a few days ago, and didn't notice the score too much. 

It's not for everyone. But I like how cleverly crafted it is. Songs and score being intertwined like this. Still the best of 2025 for me. It's far removed from my usual taste but the emotion and earnestness just get me, if that makes sense.

 

Karol

[Knight of Ren 1,431]

Sinners is my top film score of the year, and that one alongside F1 and Fantastic Four are perhaps my top 3 if we're talking about movie scores. Dragons was great but too reliant on what already worked on the animated film, and Desplat's JW is solid and fun, but not quite on the same level as the others.

 

Outside of that, my main pick would be the score for the videogame Clair Obscur. The 8-hour album may be daunting but it's totally worth it. One of the best scores of the last couple of years for sure.

[Erik Woods 828]

56 minutes ago, Knight of Ren said:

Outside of that, my main pick would be the score for the videogame Clair Obscur. The 8-hour album may be daunting but it's totally worth it. One of the best scores of the last couple of years for sure.

I tried... trust me, I tried to get through this but it was a slog. Lovely music, no doubt but an 8-hour album is utterly ridiculous. I'd love for someone to pare this down to a more digestible 60 minutes for me. 

-Erik-

BTW, have you heard Asterix & Obelix: Le Combat des Chefs by Mathieu Alvado? I had a brief chat with him recently and he's just a lovely person who desperately wants the classic traditional film score to return to the mainstream! He's super happy to read all the praise he is getting from film score fans for his effort on this film. 
 

 

[tomsmoviemadness 4,627]

3 minutes ago, Erik Woods said:

BTW, have you heard Asterix & Obelix: Le Combat des Chefs by Mathieu Alvado? I had a brief chat with him recently and he's just a lovely person who desperately wants the classic traditional film score to return to the mainstream! He's super happy to read all the praise he is getting from film score fans for his effort on this film. 
 

 

 

Of course, indeed this was great! Also a lot of fun!!!

[Knight of Ren 1,431]

7 minutes ago, Erik Woods said:

I tried... trust me, I tried to get through this but it was a slog. Lovely music, no doubt but an 8-hour album is utterly ridiculous. I'd love for someone to pare this down to a more digestible 60 minutes for me

I was actually working on a shorter playlist to listen more frequently so I can share when I'm done. I think it will be a bit longer than 60 minutes, but I agree that 8 hours can be too much.

[tomsmoviemadness 4,627]

 

This is pretty great!

I know the two composers because they wrote the music for one of the SW: Visions episodes in 2021, The Ninth Jedi. Which was excellent.

 

This is sort of cut from the same cloth. The main theme is strong and there's some strong action music throughout the album. I did cut the album down to about 50 minutes of their music.

 

And I've kept the tracks written by Joe Hisaishi. Which are sort of typical Hiasiashic, but fit nicely with the rest.

 

Recommended.

[Jay 45,124]

There's several shortened playlists of Clair Obscur on Spotify already

 

1 hour 26 minutes best of

 

 

1 hour 46 minutes best of

 

3 hour 15 minutes best of

 

3 hour 16 minutes best of

 

 

2 hour 14 mins battle music only

 

2 hour 59 minutes peaceful music only

 

Etc

[tomsmoviemadness 4,627]

Today the final part of Season 2 of The Sandman releases on Netflix and I just want to take a moment to praise David Buckley's score. Whatever anyone's thoughts are on the show and all the stuff with Gaiman, I think the music is fantastic.

I really liked his music for S1, but I feel he has gone above and beyond in the 2nd season. It's truly some of my favorite fantasy music written for TV in the past few years.

 

The great thing for me actually is, is that there's pretty much no action music. The whole thing is almost a bit melancholic, but it somehow really speaks to me.

He has written some beautiful themes, both this season and last season and I feel he uses them expertly.

 

For me, the standout track from both seasons, and one of my favorite tracks this year is "I Should've Died Long Ago". It's just stunning!

 

Hope he gets more projects like this in the feature, because he's clearly very talented when given the right opportunity.

 

 

 

[Knight of Ren 1,431]

Only recently did I listen to Buckley's score for the first season and I really liked it. Haunting and melancholic and with a memorable main theme. Curious to hear how S2 turns out and I'm even interested in watching the show to hear how it works in context!

[Jay 45,124]

Alexadre Desplat - Jurassic World Rebirth

 

Haven't shared my thoughts here yet.  I like it, but I don't love it.  At times, I am blown away by fantastic orchestration (It really feels like throughout he album, he eventually gives every instrument some kind of solo or chance to shine), and/or a nice catchy melody, and I picked up on some nice recurring themes.  But there are sections of the album where I really just tune out, and kind of tread water until something interesting happens again.  Maybe this will go away if I get to know it all more, and/or see the film, but for now, I think a shortened playlist would do this film a huge favor.

 

Michael Giacchino - Fantastic Four

 

Haven't shared my thoughts on this one yet here either.  On first listen, I loved it!  So much fun, optimistic music.  Even the bad guy music was less evil than a lot of his blockbuster score bad guy music.  After the main score wraps up there's a bunch of bonus tracks that are hit and miss, but the main score is fantastic and I betcha there's even more cool music in the movie that didn't make the album.  Can't wait to see it and find out

[filmmusic 3,007]

 

Romantic minimalism. (Isn't that the main trend for dramatic scores nowadays?)

Didn't do much for me though beautiful to listen to..

[Jay 45,124]

Interesting, I was curious about that one.  Have you listened to the other Frank Ilfman score that Intrada released, A Mistake?

[filmmusic 3,007]

9 minutes ago, Jay said:

Have you listened to the other Frank Ilfman score that Intrada released, A Mistake?

Nope. I will, now that you mentioned it...

[filmmusic 3,007]

9 hours ago, Jay said:

Have you listened to the other Frank Ilfman score that Intrada released, A Mistake?

Just finished it. Same vein.

The problem with these scores though (without so characteristic themes), is that you don't know which is which...

[Knight of Ren 1,431]

This score from the composers of the first season of The Witcher and Netflix's live action adaptation of One Piece was just released. The movie looks pretty bad but the score is a lot of fun with a really memorable main theme, some bombastic action passages and great use of vocals and nordic instruments. It's very close to their sound in the Witcher so if you liked that one, I think you'll definitely like this one. And for once, their album arrangement actually works great as a listening experience, as opposed to both thr album presentations of The Witcher and One Piece!

[Under-Terrestrial 99]

Two brand new score previews available today!

 

HONEY DON'T! --- Carter Burwell

https://www.carterburwell.com/projects/Honey_Dont.shtml

 

This is the score for the 2nd film in Ethan Coen's "lesbian b-movie trilogy" following DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS (or D*KES if you prefer). Burwell's still in "caper" mode like he was for the prior entry (more electric guitar). Not too distinctive from his past work, but he's one of those consistent composers for me. I look forward to an in-context listen.

 

HIGHEST 2 LOWEST --- Howard Dressin

https://music.apple.com/nz/album/highest-2-lowest-original-score/1830291408

 

Even with Terence Blanchard's frequent orchestrator taking over composing duties, and even while knowing Spike Lee's inclination toward brazenly symphonic scores, I'm pleasantly surprised that the score for this supposedly pop-music-centric take on Kurasowa's HIGH AND LOW is refreshingly melodramatic! I find these samples lacking just 3% of the umph Blanchard typically delivers for Lee, but it's clear that Dressin is a good student of Blanchard. "We Got This" (Stony Gate 2)" and "The Chase" are the highlights (the contribution of the Scottish Fergus McCreadie Trio keep the chase music fun and light on its feet. Especially can't wait to see this one!

[filmmusic 3,007]

Nothing extraordinary, nothing bad either...

 

 

[Thor 9,334]

Catching up on some releases, for anyone interested:

 

https://celluloidtunes.no/f1-dracula-outlander-and-more/

F1: THE MOVIE (Zimmer)
DRACULA (Elfman)
OUTLANDER: BLOOD OF MY BLOOD (McCreary)
FOUR LETTERS OF LOVE (Nikitin)
WHEEL WORLD (Jewel et.al.)
AUX ARMES, CITOYENNES! (Pansanel-Garric)
PAR OÙ T'ES RENTRÉ? ON T'A PAS VU SORTIR (Silvestri)

[GerateWohl 6,395]

1 hour ago, Thor said:

Catching up on some releases, for anyone interested:

 

https://celluloidtunes.no/f1-dracula-outlander-and-more/

F1: THE MOVIE (Zimmer)
DRACULA (Elfman)
OUTLANDER: BLOOD OF MY BLOOD (McCreary)
FOUR LETTERS OF LOVE (Nikitin)
WHEEL WORLD (Jewel et.al.)
AUX ARMES, CITOYENNES! (Pansanel-Garric)
PAR OÙ T'ES RENTRÉ? ON T'A PAS VU SORTIR (Silvestri)

 

You are far too merciful with Elfman.

 

[Jurassic Shark 16,042]

This is so cool.

 

 

[Jay 45,124]

Wrong thread?

[filmmusic 3,007]

 

 

Is it my notion only or Hisaishi has entered a minimalistic period in his composing life within these last years?

Too sparse texturally. Not necessarily bad, but not great either..

[tomsmoviemadness 4,627]

So now that the summer movie season is over, we have 3 months left with releases.

What scores (movies/series) is everyone most looking forward too in the remaining months of 2025.

 

The ones I'm most looking forward to, or are curious about, are:

 

Marvel Zombies - Laura Karpman

Play Dirty - Alan Silvestri

Frankenstein - Alexandre Desplat

Only Murders In The Building: Season 5 - Siddhartha Khosla

Chad Powers - Natalie Holt

Nuremberg - Brian Tyler

Now You See Me: Now You Don't - Brian Tyler

Eternity - David Fleming

Jay Kelly - Nicholas Britell

Wicked: For Good - John Powell

Zootopia 2 - Michael Giacchino

Wake Up Dead Man - Nathan Johnson

Hamnet - Max Richter

Avatar: Fire & Ash - Simon Franglen

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: Season 2 - Bear McCreary & Co.

It: Welcome To Derry - Benjamin Wallfisch

Palm Royale: Season 2 - Jeff Toyne

[Knight of Ren 1,431]

Nice picks! Particularly looking forward to Frankenstein, Wicked, Avatar 3, Now You See Me 3 and Percy Jackson S2

 

I would also add a couple more:

-Ghost of Yotei - Toma Otowa

-One Battle After Another - Jonny Greenwood

-Predator: Badlands

-Scarlet

[Jay 45,124]

We don't know who's scoring Predator Badlands yet right?  Sarah Schachner scored Prey but then Benjamin Wallfisch scored Killer of Killers so who knows

 

Mostly just NYMS3 for me.  Hopefully Zootopia 2 is good but I frankly don't listen to Zootopia 1 all that much.  Maybe I should rectify that...

[Edmilson 11,597]

Just Wicked 2 for me. It's John Powell in fantasy mode, and the first score really grew on me since it was released. I crave this kind of Powell goodness.

 

I'm also interested in Avatar 3. I took a while to warm up to TWOW, but now, firmly established as someone who liked it, I'll be going to F&A expecting the best.