Beowulf 4 Posted March 29, 2004 Share Posted March 29, 2004 After John Williams, Danny Elfman is definitely one of my favorite film composers and as such it was a tough decision to pick my absolute favorite score from him - but in the end I had to go with "Batman Returns". It's got everything about the Elfman style that I love - wordless choir, bombastic brass, and idiosyncratic strings (Selina's theme). "Edward Scissorhands" was a close second and "Nightmare Before Christmas" is surely one of his best (and quirky!) works to date.And although Elfman has been going through a synth phase as of late - Planet of the Apes, Spiderman, etc - with such recent non-synth scores such as "Big Fish" and "Sleepy Hollow", I still think Elfman has some surprises and masterpeices left in store for us. I eagerly await to hear what he's going to produce on the upcoming Burton "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" remake.So what's your favorite score from this highly talented composer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morlock 11 Posted March 29, 2004 Share Posted March 29, 2004 If I had to pick one complete score, it would probably be Black Beauty. But All in all, I love individual pieces from Batman, Edward Scissorands, Nightmare Before Christmas, Batman Returns and Red Dragon just as well, and I love one or two tracks from several more like To Die For, Dolores Clairborne, Good Will Hunting, Men In Black, Sommersby, Planet of The Apes. Just add the Simpsons, and that basicaly sums up my feelings on Elfman. But I just got Big Fish and Sleepy Hollow, and will most probably love stuff from them too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 29, 2004 Share Posted March 29, 2004 I know I'm going to get it for this, but what about Pee-Wee's Big Adventure? I'm probably the only person who still likes PW after all the scandals with Paul Reubens in the past 10-15 years, but hey...the movies and the show are still pretty decent forms of entertainment. The score's pretty cool too. It has its slow spots and it's strong spots, kinda like the movie. Just remember it's a Tim Burton movie and everything'll be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unlucky Bastard 7,782 Posted March 29, 2004 Share Posted March 29, 2004 Danny Elfman is my top favourite composer along with John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith. I can't seem to pick a favourite between these three guys.I have sixteen of Elfman's soundtracks, and my absolute favourite and the one I listen to the most is Batman Returns. It's got everything an Elfman fan could ask for in terms of style and thematic integrity - it's so much more developed than the original Batman score. It's the score that I seem to expect him to live up to whenever I hear a new score that he's done. However, Sommersby and Black Beauty aren't too far behind on my list of favourite Elfman scores though.A few other honourable mentions would be Edward Scissorhands, Dick Tracy, Men In Black, Planet of the Apes, Spider-Man, Red Dragon and Hulk. Better stop there, or I'll end up listing his entire resumé. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixie_twinkle 48 Posted March 29, 2004 Share Posted March 29, 2004 Pee Wee's Big Adventure. Great quirky score to a great quirky film! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morlock 11 Posted March 29, 2004 Share Posted March 29, 2004 I always equate Pee Wee with some perverted sex shop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,326 Posted March 29, 2004 Share Posted March 29, 2004 He only did one good thing and that's the main theme of the The Simpsons. All his other work sounds very fabricated and forced to me. When I first heard Black Beauty I thought it was good, so I bought the album. I listened to the CD, heard the music for the second time and was dissapointed already. I'm picky! Williams is definitely a stand-out composer. I shall never understand how one can be fan of both Williams and Elfman.----------------Alex Cremers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSM 126 Posted March 29, 2004 Share Posted March 29, 2004 I regard Elfman as a good composer for parodistic movies. His themes for Men in Black and Mars Attacks are exactly as they should be. However I'm a bigger fan of real symphonic music like Williams'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morlock 11 Posted March 29, 2004 Share Posted March 29, 2004 He only did one good thing and that's the main theme of the The Simpsons. All his other work sounds very fabricated and forced to me. When I first heard Black Beauty I thought it was good, so I bought the album. I listened to the CD, heard the music for the second time and was dissapointed already. I'm picky! Williams is definitely a stand-out composer. I shall never understand how one can be fan of both Williams and Elfman.----------------Alex Cremers Actually, one of the things I love about film music is that you could be a fan of everybody at the same time. I don't want just one style or one sound. And Elfman swings for the fence more than most composers IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin 2 Posted March 29, 2004 Share Posted March 29, 2004 Batman. Justin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Breathmask 555 Posted March 29, 2004 Share Posted March 29, 2004 I only have one of his scores on CD: Batman, which is great, but I loved The Nightmare Before Christmas, both the music and the film. It's the perfect holiday musical.- Marc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,326 Posted March 29, 2004 Share Posted March 29, 2004 I don't want just one style or one sound.If you're going to talk about style then let me tell you that I listen to a great deal of different orchestral music: film music, 20th century modern or contemporary and classical music. Don't think I have a narrow mind when it comes to music. I just happen to think that most modern film music simply doesn't have what it takes to survive outside the medium they were created for. Film music is almost an insult to the term "orchestral" music. Most soundtracks are utterly boring and stay between the borders of what an average audience can cope with. It's called "playing it safe", let us not put too much burden on our poor untrained publics's ear, cause hey, we want them to stay indoors. Film music has so many restrictions that it has become almost a parody. It's usually too predictable, tame in nature, harmonically mostly uninteresting and it is overused in today's cinema. There are, of course, as always, a few exceptions.In the film music category Williams is a very gifted composer. He may not be a true innovator or a musical daredevil but his writings are so good and so amazingly skilled that no one can touch him. If I want to listen to other music that is equally as good I need to look elsewhere.----------------Alex Cremers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morlock 11 Posted March 29, 2004 Share Posted March 29, 2004 :roll: Whatever. I like Williams, I like Elfman, and dozens of other film composers, and all at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Awalt 0 Posted March 29, 2004 Share Posted March 29, 2004 Most soundtracks are utterly boring and stay between the borders of what an average audience can cope with. It's called "playing it safe", let us not put too much burden on our poor untrained publics's ear, cause hey, we want them to stay indoors. I think you just described the big reason Elfman has lost a lot of fanbase over the last decade or so. He certainly doesn't play it safe or play to audience (or film music fan) expectations, and that's one reason that his music is so much richer now. He also has one of the most unique voices ever to come out of film scoring in Hollywood, another reason he should be appreciated even if one doesn't care for his work (in this age of cookie-cutter MV scores, anyone with an original voice, even if repetitive on the occasion, should be canonized.)And if you haven't yet parted with your "Black Beauty" CD and are interested, Alex, I'm in the market That and "Midnight Run" are the only Elfman scores (officially released) I'm missing?I had them and they didn't survive a move a few years back :cry: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eplicon 53 Posted March 29, 2004 Share Posted March 29, 2004 I regard Elfman as a good composer for parodistic movies. His themes for Men in Black and Mars Attacks are exactly as they should be. However I'm a bigger fan of real symphonic music like Williams'.Elfman used to do straightforward symphonic scores, but it has been noticeably absent since he seems to enjoy performing the score (via his synths/samples/etc.) with the orchestra. He said on one of those behind-the-scenes things (Planet of the Apes?) that with his music, it was typically 60% orchestra and 40% him, but on POTA, it was the opposite. As much as I like Elfman, lately his main themes the past several years seem nearly interchangeable.My favorite Elfman score is probably Batman, although admittedly when the film came out, it took me awhile to warm up to him. When he was interviewed for Starlog in 1989, he mentioned how he hummed the music into a tape recorder, and I thought, what kind of a composer is that? It was really a poor choice of words on his part because many people, including me, thought he'd, for example, hum the melodies, and the rest of the material was orchestrated (i.e., the orchestrator would "fill in the blanks"). Elfman had to almost always defend himself on that, citing that despite his lack of formal training, he wrote everything himself, and it wasn't created by a musical assembly line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fommes 153 Posted March 29, 2004 Share Posted March 29, 2004 The Nightmare Before Christmas, most definitely.Mission: Impossible is one of my all-time favorites as well - I think it's the best music of all for these heist movies, television adaptations, etc. You only have to get used to the last two tracks, but it's still one of his greatest climaxes. My heart lept when I found this score in a store a few years ago.I only have one of his scores on CDMarc! To your local record store, immediately!A few scores I could recommend:Batman Returns, Dolores Claiborne (a copy of the promo would be best in this case), Dick Tracy, his rerecording of Psycho.with such recent non-synth scores such as "Big Fish" and "Sleepy Hollow"What do you mean? No synths in Sleepy Hollow? Are you sure?Cheers!Lotman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diskobolus 3 Posted March 29, 2004 Share Posted March 29, 2004 As a relatively new fan of the film score (no more than 6 years) I have never had the chance to own or listen to a complete Elfman score. Please guide me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Breathmask 555 Posted March 29, 2004 Share Posted March 29, 2004 Get Batman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morlock 11 Posted March 29, 2004 Share Posted March 29, 2004 I think it's a bit overrated. Brilliant theme, and half a dozen fantastic tracks (Especialy 'Descent into Mystery'), but Batman Returns is better IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrScratch 294 Posted March 29, 2004 Share Posted March 29, 2004 Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Barnsbury 8 Posted March 29, 2004 Share Posted March 29, 2004 Get Music For a Darkened Theatre, Volumes 1 and 2 (each are 2 disc sets of Elfman music) and go from there.Ray Barnsbury Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker 5 Posted March 29, 2004 Share Posted March 29, 2004 Get Music For a Darkened Theatre, Volumes 1 and 2 (each are 2 disc sets of Elfman music) and go from there.Volume One is a single disc.Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Barnsbury 8 Posted March 29, 2004 Share Posted March 29, 2004 Oh, my bad. I only have Vol. 2, I guess I just assumed Vol. 1 had 2 discs as well.Ray Barnsbury Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romão 2,274 Posted March 29, 2004 Share Posted March 29, 2004 Batman..it just left a very deep mark in my childhood. But Sleepy Hollow si the one I listen the most...I love the ambiance of that score. Edward Scissorhands is a real tearjerker. Those are my top 3 Elfman scores. I also love Batman Returns (which is superior in many ways to the original), Nightmare, Beetlejuice and Mars Attacks, which has a fun fun starighforwardly Elfmanesque theme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morlock 11 Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 I don't really think MFADT pt. 1 is very good, but part two is fantastic. Some really valuable tracks there. But Black Beauty realy blew me away first time I heard it. I love the theme and the 4 or 5 variations on it, and I think the End Credits are amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoda Longbottom 0 Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 Edward Scissorhands for me. I think Elfman can't do any better than that, at least he hasn't topped this score so far, in my opinion. The score to E.S. is so diverse, offering a great variety of styles and themes and is wonderfully constructed, too. I also hear a lot of similarities between Edward Scissorhands' intimateness and wizardry stuff in Harry Potter.For Elfman, though, Sommersby was the biggest project he ever did. I wonder why he never returned to that style that makes Sommersby such a great score.My third favorite of Elfman's is Sleepy Hollow. 'Nuff said, I have a special place in my collection for that. Anyway, I voted for Edward Scissorhands. Black Beauty has saddest themes I've heard from Elfman, but the score has too many too short and too repetitive cues. On this matter I will agree with those who would recommend getting Darkened Theatre Vol. 2 to get the best off of Black Beauty. No need for the full album, unlike is the case with E.S. or Sommersby, both of which appear on the mentioned compilation too.Roman.-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,326 Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 And if you haven't yet parted with your "Black Beauty" CD and are interested, Alex, I'm in the market That and "Midnight Run" are the only Elfman scores (officially released) I'm missing?I had them and they didn't survive a move a few years back :cry:Sorry Steven, I don't know how many years ago, but I sold Black Beauty along with a bunch of other soundtracks to a used CD store. So your quest isn't over but I'm sure you'll find it without trouble in your local second-hand CD shop. ----------------Alex Cremers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Mark 3,626 Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 Batman I guess,but i sort of like tracks here and there from different scores .The main titles from Mars Attacks and Nightbreed are pretty cool.K.M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unlucky Bastard 7,782 Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 I shall never understand how one can be fan of both Williams and Elfman.I am the proof that one can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morlock 11 Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 Edward Scissorhands for me. I think Elfman can't do any better than that, at least he hasn't topped this score so far, in my opinion. The score to E.S. is so diverse, offering a great variety of styles and themes and is wonderfully constructed, too. I also hear a lot of similarities between Edward Scissorhands' intimateness and wizardry stuff in Harry Potter. I Love 5 tracks from it, but I think you get enough with MFADT Pt. 2. I just saw the movie a few months ago, after buying the score, and was VERY dissapointed. I was hoping for something very poetic, but the grand finale of the movie is such a down fall compared to the CD. On the CD it's a beautiful, poetic, lyrical piece of music, but the last scene of the movie is none of those things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoda Longbottom 0 Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 I Love 5 tracks from it, but I think you get enough with MFADT Pt. 2.As hard as getting the MCA release of the score was, I was extremely happy to get it eventually (in January). Sure the score has stand-out tracks as well as the "filler" cues, but I presume the whole album, as it stands, will be treated not only by fans in a few decades from now, but possibly even by Danny himself. On the whole, the album is a very pleasurable listen with no "sleeper" and really boring tracks (save for end song), which I can't say about my two other favorite albums of Elfman's. On the compilation, the feeling the listener could be left with is that the whole score is extremely melodic and playful, yet centered around one or two themes repeated endlessly throughout, which it isn't. I could really do without the song, though.And I agree with you on the movie's finale matter.Roman.-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoda Longbottom 0 Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 And isn't it odd? So far, the Batman beats Batman Returns by miles! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarybunny 0 Posted March 31, 2004 Share Posted March 31, 2004 Hi All-Over all I'd have to go with Batman Returns. But I am partial to many of the themes over the years.The MFADT collections are great, Nightbreed and Beetlejuice are also awesome. I find myself not totally digging the newer work, like Big Fish. It didn't have the same 'Elfman feeling' for me, for some reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vysetheairpirate 0 Posted March 31, 2004 Share Posted March 31, 2004 well i said nightmare, just because i really liked the movie, although batman........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpigeon 3 Posted March 31, 2004 Share Posted March 31, 2004 My choice is Edward Scissorhands, by far. I love Batman and Batman Returns, but Edward Scissorhands is hands down one of the most emotionally rousing pieces of music I have ever heard. It's flat out one of the best pieces of music I've ever heard.Ted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beowulf 4 Posted March 31, 2004 Author Share Posted March 31, 2004 And isn't it odd? So far, the Batman beats Batman Returns by miles!Very odd YL.....I would have thought the opposite. But then I am kind of biased since I voted for Batman Returns myself.I think I definitely have to check out "Black Beauty" and "Sommersby" now after all the good press they've been getting here. Are they in the typical Elfman-esque style? (anyone else notice how recent commercials and other small works have been copying the Elfman Style?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morlock 11 Posted March 31, 2004 Share Posted March 31, 2004 They are in they're own category of Elfman style (together). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker 5 Posted April 1, 2004 Share Posted April 1, 2004 And isn't it odd? So far, the Batman beats Batman Returns by miles!Not at all. I can't even sit through the Batman Returns album. It juist keeps going on and on. Batman is juat as fresh as it was in 1989.Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eplicon 53 Posted April 1, 2004 Share Posted April 1, 2004 Batman Returns is dynamically richer and more complex in orchestration than its predecessor, but it's not one of his scores I listen to all the frequently. And it does utilize the leitmotif a bit more, too. His theme for Catwoman is quite good.One nitpick about the album is that individual cyes are spread over two tracks several times. I also remember how disappointed I was with the revamped main title theme when I saw the movie. He only quotes his Batman Theme for a bit before it dissolves alway totally into a rather low key flourish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Mark 3,626 Posted April 1, 2004 Share Posted April 1, 2004 The Main Titles is the best cue in BATMAN RETURNS imo.I bought the c.d. just for that.K.m. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Barnsbury 8 Posted April 1, 2004 Share Posted April 1, 2004 Agreed KM, that's one of my favorite tracks on MFADT 2. It's fun, chilling, mysterious . . . just great!Ray Barnsbury-who LOVES Elfman chorus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoda Longbottom 0 Posted April 1, 2004 Share Posted April 1, 2004 I think I definitely have to check out "Black Beauty" and "Sommersby" now after all the good press they've been getting here. Are they in the typical Elfman-esque style? (anyone else notice how recent commercials and other small works have been copying the Elfman Style?)Black Beauty is beautiful and sad (he loves to write sad stuff), but for my tastes a little too repetitive is the whole score on the album. Its repetitiveness is this time around more worrying than that of Portman's Cider House Rules, where it's really dull and boring. But it's perhaps the themes in Black Beauty that lift the score up highs above for me to call it a boredom. The album abides in short cues, something I'm used to hearing Thomas Newman do and James Horner** avoidSommersby? Go get it if you have a chance and then please send it to me. I'll pay as much as is in my valet. I can't seem to find the score online or in stores and the score stands -- in my opinion -- nothing like what you would have expected from fairy-tale Elfman. It's grand, sweeping, longing and intimate and it all on one short album. I think it's a must-have for any film-score fan and along with Scissorhands, two best shots by Elfman thus far, although I have to admit that Batman has something that makes it such an undeniable stand-out work.Generally, I'm against compilations of classical and film music, with a few exceptions among which Black Beauty belongs as I think the Darkened Theatre compilation did a good justice the the score, becomes sometimes you need to hear the whole works to fully appreciate their appeal and Sommersby and Scissorhands are both the prime example.** (James Horner has been becoming to have a strange predilection for composing film scores whose total running time fits almost precisely the 80-minute limit of CDs, which looks as if he was adjusting the scores' cues length to this limit rather than purposes of the movie.)Roman.-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ollie 1,059 Posted April 1, 2004 Share Posted April 1, 2004 Batman is tops, Edward Scissorhands would come in a close second in my book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morn 8 Posted April 4, 2004 Share Posted April 4, 2004 Eh I dunno, none of them are that special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morlock 11 Posted April 4, 2004 Share Posted April 4, 2004 It's ok, you're wrong. Black Beauty is great and special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morn 8 Posted April 4, 2004 Share Posted April 4, 2004 Lier! Me no Elfman fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker 5 Posted April 4, 2004 Share Posted April 4, 2004 It's ok, you're wrong. :roll: Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morlock 11 Posted April 4, 2004 Share Posted April 4, 2004 Tough crowd. I really must stop imitating other poeple's styles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morn 8 Posted April 5, 2004 Share Posted April 5, 2004 It's the supreme compliment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morlock 11 Posted April 5, 2004 Share Posted April 5, 2004 I don't think Joe would see it as such..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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