Which Do You Prefer (A Pointless Poll)?

[Lurker 5]

Real simple, what do you like to listen to more. Note this poll is about album presentations and not usage in the actual films.

I choose the Harry Potter scores.

Neil

[nja 0]

SW's

[Guest]

Star Wars.

[A24 4,327]

Hahaha, just made it even again.

A simple poll, yes, but a commercial one, at this MB! (HP & SW :roll: )

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Alex Cremers

[Elmo Lewis 6]

I don't find this poll pointless at all.

Anyway, I voted for Harry Potter. For some reason there's more to listen to in those scores (well, perhaps just the first one) than in the new Star Wars movies, where half the fun is seeing the links of the original trilogy scores, although one could argue that half the fun in HP is seeing the links to the Hook score.

[Mari 279]

Although there is some great music in both Star Wars scores, overall, as a pure listening experience, they don't capture my interest as much as the Harry Potter scores.

~Mari

[Justin 2]

Man this is a tricky one. I probably listen to them about the same actually...I don't really prefer either one...but I'll vote for Star Wars because it'll probably be behind.

Justin

[King Mark 3,626]

Short of complete releases,the 2 HP albums are very well put together for listening purpose(especially CoS).And the two compliment each other very well,regardless how the music appears in the films.In other words,the combined music of the 2 HP albums make a good representation of the HP music across the 2 films.

K.M.

[Joel 0]

Harry Potter scores easily, although i love TPM score, i got bored with AOTC rather quickly. I listened to AOTC before i saw the film and i found that i needed the pictures in my mind before i could really enjoy the score. Its the only JW score in my memory which that has happened to me. I listened to CoS well before the i saw the movie and i didn't find it boring at all, i also love the first films score more then any of the prequel scores and CoS. HP gets my vote for sure.

[Melange 446]

Harry Potter scores by far. Although i occasionally play my Phantom Menace score (very occasionally), i never play the AOTC simply because i never bought the soundtrack. I picked up a copy in Thailand for $2 to give it a chance after being unimpresed by it in the movie, yet was still very unimpressed. So i did'nt buy it. HP, I like Sorcerers stone much more than the COS, and although i still play COS now and again (certain sections) i rate the 1st much higher as a very well put together album indeed.

[ocelot 508]

Harry Potter scores!!! Although I do love TPM.

[Albaicin 0]

The Harry Potter Scores. I hardly listen to AOTC, and I find it particularly weak and uninspired. Maybe it was because the picture was uninspiring for the composer to come up with somehing so rich in themes and motives as in HP. And though I like TPM, I don't listen to it so often because of the length (I have the Ultimate Edition).

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

I like TPM pretty well as a score, though I only really like a couple parts of AOTC (the love theme, arena, and finale come to mind), and I love both Potter scores, so they get my vote.

Ray Barnsbury-anticipating the PoA score more than Episode III

[King Mark 3,626]

Ray Barnsbury-anticipating the PoA score more than Episode III

No!!!!!!while I agree 100% with the rest of your post,I really believe Williams will go all out on Episode 3 regardlessly how the movie turns out to be.Musically,he has probably been waiting 25 years to write it,and I see it as the potential culmination of his career.To me this is the most anticipated of all his scores...ever.My #1 worry about John Williams is that he dies before writing and recording Ep.3!

HP3 will be good,but it will just be just another Potter score,and I don't expect it to be better or worse than the other ones

BTW TPM is great because it shows Williams really worked very hard on every single cue,including the dialogue parts(like Talk of Podracing and Anakin is Free are very inspired pieces of music for the badly acted scenes the accompany)

K.M.

[Yoda Longbottom 0]

STAR WARS, by a long shot.

[Yoda Longbottom 0]

Harry Potter scores!!!  Although I do love TPM.

Taken to the extreme, I think the TPM is the best score of the four featured in this poll. Just my opinion.

[Joel 0]

In regards to what King Mark said, i have to say that i think Episode 3 will be the best of the prequels and will most likely have a very good score. But the thing is that the possiblities are high that Lucas will edit/tamper with the score again. There have been no signs to suggest that he won't because he did it in TPM and he did it even more in AOTC. But i am greatly anticipating this score none the less.

But i am anticipating POA more, simply because i have loved both of the previous HP scores and POA has the best material (thus far) to make a movie out of. I think it will rock because POA has the potential for much more inspirering material then the first 2. PS and COS were much more blockbuster-esque (COS more so then PS), POA on the other hand is much more character driven and much more powerful and effective. I think it will be an excellent score and its my most anticipated score at the moment.

[A24 4,327]

The HP scores are merely rehashes of older scores which is fine if you're new to Williams. The good thing about them is that they seem to recrute a new generation of fans but the truth is that they don't explore anything new. I really can't enjoy the albums. I was shocked when I heard how familiar everything was. There was no surprise other than, hey, I know this already. If this was the work of another composer I would've crushed or burned them. To me they sound like good Williams clones. Of all upcoming work the HP scores are the ones I anticipate the very least. It sad that he took on the Rowling's films instead of, let's say, the LotR movies (not that it was an option, of course).

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Alex Cremers-still waiting for Sony to release the SE version of Episode II, butchered or not.

[Melange 446]

The HP scores are merely rehashes of older scores which is fine if you're new to Williams. The good thing about them is that they seem to recrute a new generation of fans but the truth is that they don't explore anything new. I really can't enjoy the albums. I was shocked when I heard how familiar everything was. There was no surprise other than, hey, I know this already. If this was the work of another composer I would've crushed or burned them. To me they sound like good Williams clones. Of all upcoming work the HP scores are the ones I anticipate the very least. It sad that he took on the Rowling's films instead of, let's say, the LotR movies (not that it was an option, of course).

Hmm. Each to their own opinion of course. But i think that's a very disrespectfull opinion of Johnny's work, to say that you could possibly of burnt or crushed such music if it had been anyone else. The first HP score in particular is a lovely score, which yes certainly re-uses familiar structures from previous works. But those formulas are ones that Johnny knows work well and obviously chose them for a reason. I am a fan of his older works like CEO3K but still enjoy HP very much. So i hardly call it one for the "newbies".

[Hlao-roo 389]

TPM is the best score of the four featured in this poll.

Far and away, although the 2CD chronological album makes for a rather ungainly listen (especially with the hack 'n patch toward the end), and some of the ambient passages underscoring dialogue and the like are beginning to sound rather dry after myriad spins. The preponderance of Home Alone-style Jar Jar music is wearisome, too.

On the otherhand, despite some direct JP lifts in some of the action music ('Sith Spacecraft'), the action music still sounds relatively fresh, if annoyingly bouncy in some places, evoking Indy romp more than palpable danger when the latter might, perhaps, have been more fitting.

[MrScratch 294]

I'm just getting power back after losing it Thursday night because of the hurricane. Its good to be back... Anyway, I had to go on a drive last night, half hour each way. So I took with me the two Harry Potter scores to listen to, one on the way up and one on the way back. On my way home as I had 'The Quidditch Match' blasting from my car stereo on the interstate I began comparing the two HP scores and the two SW prequel scores. Strange coincidence to find this poll here the next day.

Its HP by a long shot for me. The SW prequel scores are lacking a "Main Theme" in a way. I mean, yes the Main Title from the classic trilogy is used but aside from the opening text, he barely uses the Star Wars Theme. And as much as I love the SW Main Title, when I first bought the TPM CD back in '99 I couldn't wait for the familiar SW Theme to conclude and to let the new music begin. I think thats the general feeling of the prequel scores for me... I feel there isn't enough new thematic material and yet at the same time there isn't enough use of classic trilogy material either. Harry Potter, on the other hand, is still a fresh new score and it is still new to me with so many great themes.

Arrival of Baby Harry

[Trumpeteer 302]

I listen to "Sorcerer's Stone" about three times a month, but don't listen to "Chamber" more than maybe once every other month.

I listen to "AOTC" a lot, as it wakes me up on my morning commute ("Chase Through Coruscant" is great driving music). And "TPM" has a great beginning and ending, worthy of John Williams.

So I voted for Star Wars.

Jeff -- looking forward to Star Wars Ep. 3, not Harry Potter Ep. 3

[MrScratch 294]

AOTC is hit or miss for me, I love about 50% of the tracks, the other 50% never get played. Yoda and the Younglings = Hatching Baby Raptor. The first 4 and a half minutes of the Coruscant Chase are pretty good, after that it gets redundant and boring. The Main and End Titles are fantastic, as is the Tatooine music. And of course, Across The Stars is superb.

[Lurker 5]

On my way home as I had 'The Quidditch Match' blasting from my car stereo on the interstate I began comparing the two HP scores and the two SW prequel scores.  Strange coincidence to find this poll here the next day.

I was listening to "Fawkes the Phoenix" and realizing how much more I enjoyed it than anything on AOTC when I thought of the poll.

Neil

[ridan 0]

i like them both, but i would have to say HP. i don't know what it is, but, when i listen to aotc, i find myself becoming bored, but when i listen to HP:COS, i find myself being extremely interested.

TPM is great for duel of the fates and the droid march, while HP:SS is great altogether, although Nimbus 2000 stands out near the top.

[UCFKevin 0]

Well, since I don't own either HP soundtracks, nor will I, I had to go with SW by default.

[King Mark 3,626]

l'll add this,while the music on AotC is sub-par by Williams standard(IMO),the construction of the c.d. album itself is as good as it gets for a 1 c.d. score release(74 minutes long,the most important parts of the score are there without leaving out one of the movie's climatic scenes*,most cues are unedited,chronolocal,and no repetitions of music cues,End Credits are not the same as the concert versions edited togheter ).The score presentation on the c.d. outshines the score in the film.Much better prresentation of the music than the TPM O.S.T.

That's what I'm sort of hoping for with Ep3,only with much better music hopefully.

*TPM O.S.T. and PS O.S.T. are missing Anakin Destroys the Federation Ship and The House Cup respectivelly( )

K.M.Who thiks it's *possible* to make excellent 1 c.d. releases even if the score is longer.

[Melange 446]

In the end, i would always choose HP_1 and TPM as my favourites out of the 4 choices. I just love HP for the variety of themes and that Edward Scissorhands style. And TPM has some wonderful moments. Oddly enough, i'm a fan of certain obscure sections in TPM, like the wonderful cue of Jabba the Hutt entering the games and the entire section after the main Star Wars theme, where the 2 Jedi arrive at the ship. I love that mysterious and foreboding sound, and the atmos when the C3PO type servant is talking to them. But as many have said, the 2CD Disc edition is a very long trek. Very rarely i'd listen to the 2CD's in their entirety in one listening. In that regard, the first release is a more pleasant "listening experience", but of course missing some wonderful bits that i like from the 2CD.

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

No!!!!!!while I agree 100% with the rest of your post,I really believe Williams will go all out on Episode 3 regardlessly how the movie turns out to be.Musically,he has probably been waiting 25 years to write it,and I see it as the potential culmination of his career.To me this is the most anticipated of all his scores...ever.My #1 worry about John Williams is that he dies before writing and recording Ep.3!  

HP3 will be good,but it will just be just another Potter score,and I don't expect it to be better or worse than the other ones  

Sorry, KM! I really do have high hopes for SW III, being the culmination of the films and all that, but HP just has a special place in my heart. The subject matter is just much dearer to me than SW is, though I love both . . . I know it will be 'just another Potter score,' while Episode III is a grand event, but I guess the whimsy and emotion of the Potter music gets to me more than SW.

Ray Barnsbury

[Melange 446]

Musically,he has probably been waiting 25 years to write it,and I see it as the potential culmination of his career

Hmm. Maybe. Perhaps he fooled us all with AOTC as he wanted to save the best for last, and downplayed AOTC. But i personally dont think he's been waiting for this glorious moment. I'm one of those who thinks he's bored with Star Wars and is just going through the motions. I look at this up and coming SW score less dramatically. I think he had some fun with TPM, but with Aotc i dont think his heart was really in it (then again, who am i to say what he was thinking or feeling?). I think EP3 will certainly be quite good, and no doubt will bring in familiar themes from the later movies to link it all up. In that sense, i think it might be quite a stunning score. But i dont think he will see this as any Zenith of his career or anything. He's much prouder of some of his other works like Close Encounters and Schindlers.

[MSM 126]

Harry Potter scores!!!  Although I do love TPM.

I just copy.

[MrScratch 294]

I was listening to "Fawkes the Phoenix" and realizing how much more I enjoyed it than anything on AOTC when I thought of the poll.  

Neil

I never thought JW could match Yoda's Theme but I think he has done it. Fawkes Theme is just as good. I look forward to hearing more of Fawkes theme in future scores.

[King Mark 3,626]

I'm one of those who thinks he's bored with Star Wars and is just going through the motions. I look at this up and coming SW score less dramatically. I think he had some fun with TPM, but with Aotc i dont think his heart was really in it (then again, who am i to say what he was thinking or feeling?).

I think that last year he took on too many projects at the same time,or didn't forsee Spielberg would do 2 films so closely. While he came up with great musical moments,the overall quality suffered,and AotC and CoS have that incomplete and hurried kind of feel.Maybe Williams used to be able to score 4 pictures in a year ,but he's getting older.Maybe he'll know better now.

I just hope that Terminal thing that popped up sooner than expected doesn't make HP3 suffer.I don't like when Spielberg suddenly announces a project right when Williams is commited to scoring something else that's important at the same time.

k.M.Looking forward more to SW3 than HP3,but HP3 more than Terminal.

[Chris ChrusherComix 46]

Easy for The Chrusha'!

1. TPM

2. AOTC

3. ....

3???

okay, ok... distant behind...

3. SS

4. COS

Okay, I listen to the Potter scores a little bit. Not very often though. Maybe almost a year for SS and several months for COS, while AOTC and TPM just last month. Lately I've been on a HUGE Jaws and Jaws 2 kick. For a couple months now. Old and new releases.

I've said before, I'm one of the only ones here who openly admits not being a Potter fan, and feels that the music is maybe the most overrated of Williams career. I haven't even seen COS yet, and neither score bit me. I should get the DVD, but if I do, I'll wait for it to be on sale or get it used cheap or something.

[Chris ChrusherComix 46]

PS_ I agree with KM. I think he's been brewing some stuff for Episode 3. This may be the one we're waiting for even if Lucas drops the ball.

TPM is by FAR the best score of the 4 IMO. It is so rich and lush and complex. I'll admit, AOTC is NOT like this, it is a LOT thinner and not as thematic, by far the weakest Star Wars score. Buiut, a weak Star Wars film and score still does alot more for me than most. Especially Potter. The Fawkes theme is the only thing I even remember from COS! LOL I need to watch it to see if I change my mind after I see (but somehow I doubt it).

[King Mark 3,626]

! LOL I need to watch it to see if I change my mind after I see (but somehow I doubt it).

You won't.Stick with the album.

K.M.Who thinks both Potter movies are mediocre,and the first one better than the second.

[Chris ChrusherComix 46]

Yikes... not better than the 1st? I've read some reviews that say the same thing.

I've seen the HP1 a handful of times and try to figure out what's all the excitement about it? If 2 isn't as good, I'll really start to bash the series.

Heheh....

[MSM 126]

I'll really start to bash the series.

Then tell me how you call what you did up to know Chris...

MSM - who thinks HP 1 is among Williams' best

[diskobolus 3]

Yikes... not better than the 1st? I've read some reviews that say the same thing.

I've seen the HP1 a handful of times and try to figure out what's all the excitement about it? If 2 isn't as good, I'll really start to bash the series.

Heheh....

Have you read the books? Because if not, you're getting the wrong idea about what the series is about it. Personally I can't appreciate a score fully if I haven't seen the film for which it was scored.

[King Mark 3,626]

Yes,the books are good...but only once you get to the third one(CoS had me deadlocked for a year before I decided to skip it).But before I read them,I would tend agree with Crusher.

K.M.

[Adam 1]

One problem with the JW is too busy thesis is that, by his own admission, JW is writing music all of the time. If its not film scores, its concert music of some kind. I thought 1989-90 were great scores, even though he did 6 or 7 in two years. I suppose sometimes he's relatively more busy with conducting but, in general, if his writing workload was a problem, he would have burned out a long time ago. HPCOS was a rare exception where he was literally effected by the time constraint and the result was less original underscore.

I think JW was at a disadvantage with AOTC in that a) the movie had a lot of boring dialog that doesn't provide much opportunity for compelling underscore B) the climatic battle sequence is largely unscored so what might have been the highlight of the album is missing c) the love story was the only major new aspect of the movie, so that we get only one major new theme and some smaller themes (mostly surrounding the mystery aspect of the story) that don't leave much of an impact.

I'm open to the possibility that he put forth a weaker effort but that's not really what I observe of it. AOTC is roughly equal to TPM for me, having weaker and stronger aspects based on the differences in the movie. For example, I prefer the darker tone, overall, with AOTC and the beauty of the love theme. TPM, though, is more varied and fast moving (for the most part) among other things.

As for the poll, I think I listen to the SW prequel scores slightly more, though its a close call.

- Adam

[Melange 446]

TPM is by FAR the best score of the 4 IMO.

8O No comment. (just emoticons) 8O

[Luke Skywalker 1,793]

As many have said, TPM is the best score of the four. Regarding the 'true scores' not albums or 'as presented in the movie'. In the latter i think HP wins though i have never seen the movies, but in quality SW wins, IMO.

I dont find the HP scores very original, specially COS but i enjoy hearing them nevertheless

[Hlao-roo 389]

if his writing workload was a problem, he would have burned out a long time ago.

Everyone has his limit or breaking point.

[Adam 1]

if his writing workload was a problem, he would have burned out a long time ago.

Everyone has his limit or breaking point.

My point is that he has had an intense writing schedule most his adult life and yet some feel that scoring 4 movies in 2002 represents a problem. One would expect CMIYC to be the worst of the year since this was his final film of the year and the first, AOTC, presumably would be the most inspired - except that's the one that many are complaining about.

Has he reached his "limit or breaking point", now after all of these years of intense writing? You're presumably coming from the point of view of someone who is disappointed by recent scores, but given that so many people still enjoy them and aren't disappointed, I'm skeptical when anyone tries to establish trends in his level of effort, inspiration, ability, etc. It often strikes me as a more personal thing having to do with someone's preferences and expectations in what they want to hear. But without further elaboration of what you mean, I guess I'll leave it at that.

- Adam

[Trumpeteer 302]

It's a dead heat, folks!

Jeff -- intrigued

[MrScratch 294]

Jeff -- intrigued

So am I.... there has to be more HP fans out there! I've actually been listening to AOTC lately because of this post. Its a pretty good score, albeit not up to Star Wars standards. Everyone keeps saying how Williams composed 4 scores in one year... but taking into 2001, he composed 6 scores in just 18 months. I think its nothing short of remarkable what he churned out in that year and a half.

Gilderoy Lockart from COS (Love that harpsichord!)

[Yoda Longbottom 0]

Well, I favor Star Wars over Harry Potter scores, which I had also sealed with my vote, but I would have never cogitated over which is better hadn't Indy run such poll. In a way, it's pointless and somewhat unjust. They were never meant to compete these two scores. Star Wars has grounds to beat Harry Potter, musically speaking, the grounds that Williams built up early back in 1977 through his hard-worked thematical kneading, but then again, Harry is completely another brand of a musical journey, a lighter one, perhaps a little less appealing, but what a journey it is! Afterall, Williams needed to do such kind of scores as Harry Potter once again. And, honestly, are't Hedwig's and Fawkes' themes just plain brilliant?

Roman.-)

[King Mark 3,626]

I would have never cogitated over which is better hadn't Indy run such poll. In a way, it's pointless and somewhat unjust. They were never meant to compete these two scores.

hey,that's what we do here.

K.M.Who knows were probably the only select few to ask ourselves these questions

[Yoda Longbottom 0]

I know, I know, I only imagined Hook vs Harry Potter would be easier to cross-compare. 8O

Only, I noticed belatedly Indy wasn't asking to know "which is better", but which we like to listen to more. Still, it's Star Wars.

I realized I only listen to Harry Potter scores in the evenings or at nights, simply when all's quiet and darkened, while I play Star Wars scores extremely loud during a daylight. The Phantom Menace received the highest playing volume of all scores I own. It would normally be original Star Wars, but the sound quality doesn't allow for an extremely loud playing.

Hmm, I must have never listened to Angela's Ashes in the morning or afternoon. This and a couple others are pure fall/winter afternoon/evening breeds of scores. Generally, I never listen to music in the morning.