Harry Potter-----REVIVAL-------

[JoeinAR 1,949]

What is going on with this board lately. Its summer, Attack of the Clones and Minority Report are out, but few are talking about them. Not that I have a problem with that, understand.

I am just facinated by all the Harry Potter posts of late. Back at Christmas time all we heard here was how the Harry Potter soundtrack was nothing more that Williams by the numbers, a Hook ripoff. Its a nice score, not as good as A.I., nothing to brag about. Its too loud, too much Hedwigs theme, not very original.

Now people are talking about it more and more. Perhaps the score was more complex than originally thought. Perhaps it took the DVD release for people to hear and see the music interact with the movie. Maybe understanding is happening, I don't know, but is it my imagination or do people seem to take this score seriously for the first time. Now some people always have. Ren, Harry, and a few others, myself included have adored this score from the beginning.

Its possible that I am overstating this, if so please point it out to me. I tend to listen to music as I work everday, and I have a number of cd's at work. I listen to Jaws, Raiders, LW, Star Wars(the very original cd RSO release), Titanic, 1941, Jerry Goldsmith's Frontiers, and a few others. But I find myself mainly listening to 3 cd's. Raiders, LW, and Harry Potter of course. Harry gets played the most.

So the way I see it is Harry is finally starting to get the appreciation that is finally deserves. Maybe it took the William Ross news to finally make people see or hear just what we had. One of John's great efforts. A rich complex score full of hidden treasures, and moments of outstandning magic.

[David Vincent 8]

Perhaps it is because Harry Potter is available on DVD and that we can pay more attention to the soundtrack as we can play the movie again and again .

[Marian Schedenig 8,174]

Back at Christmas time all we heard here was how the Harry Potter soundtrack was nothing more that Williams by the numbers, a Hook ripoff.  Its a nice score, not as good as A.I., nothing to brag about.  Its too loud, too much Hedwigs theme, not very original.

Hey, I never said that! (I know many did, though).

Marian - who found the score nice at the beginning, but began to believe that it's one of Williams' best after a couple of days.

[Morn 8]

Williams by the numbers is true, not as good as A.I. is true, but it's also one of his most complex scores.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Williams by the numbers is true, not as good as A.I. is true, but it's also one of his most complex scores.

Exactly what I expected from you. Hardly Williams by the numbers(what the hell does that really mean anyway?). And some of us think its better than the score to A.I.

Joe, who want the JOHN WILLIAMS BY THE NUMBERS MAKE YOUR OWN SCORE SET, available at all WalMarts, Targets, and BestBuys.

[Morn 8]

Williams by the numbers equals not bad Williams, but ordinary Williams. In other words it's a Star Wars/Superman/Hook etc kind of score

And I think you'll find most think AI is better

[chs058 0]

I think HP is better and I think most people think HP is better.

Sorry Morn. What about a Poll?

[tpigeon 3]

though i love Harry Potter and will always wish for a complete score releases, i still think A.I. is a better score. i think it's one of Williams' best scores in years, and it should have won the Oscar by all means

[ocelot 508]

First of all I got Harry Potter before most here and I put up a review. I thought and still think that it is one of Williams' best scores. I thought it should have taken the oscar way more than AI. It's so much more complex and a much harder score to write.

[Guest]

Well DUH JOE! The DVD came out recently!

Anyway, I still think A.I. has a better and more innovative score. However, my appreciation for the Harry Potter score has increased since I saw the film. No surprise, really... that's usually the case with me. I still stand by my comments made back when I first got it. I still say it's Hook Meets E.T. with a bit of TPM thrown in, but hey that's great in my book those are 3 of Williams' best scores. My one complaint that is a little more minor now that I know more of the themes: Still too much Hedwig's theme.

And what IS Hedwig's theme anyway? Why call it that? It plays when Hedwig is not even BOUGHT yet. Why not call it Harry Potter's theme? It would be like calling the main E.T. theme "Gertie's Theme."

-Strilo, who is beginning to think the HPATSS score is among Williams best of the last 10 years

"The Chess Game" Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone

[Morn 8]

First of all I got Harry Potter before most here and I put up a review.  I thought and still think that it is one of Williams' best scores.  I thought it should have taken the oscar way more than AI.  It's so much more complex and a much harder score to write.

Complexity doesn't make a score better, it only helps.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Morn, I love how you characterize Star Wars, Hook, and Superman as by the number scores.

Since Star Wars wrote the book on blockbuster style scoring, I don't see how it is a by the numbers score. Superman, Hook, and Harry may follow that style but since each has it own distinctive voice. Does anything sound quite like the Superman love theme, or Hedwigs theme? How about the Prologue from Hook? No, they are all big, loud, brassy orchestrated scores, but they don't sound the same. They are unique.

Either way it is still a matter of personal preference. I don't have to like what you like, and vice-versa.

Joe, whose favorite score of the four 21st Century scores John Williams has done is Harry Potter, followed by Minority Report, A.I. and AOTC.

[Morn 8]

They are by the numbers for Williams, AI was more unusual

[Guest]

I agree. Those scores are a little more standard straightforward approach by Williams. Definately and distinctively his style and sound. A.I. is a total departure. I hear very little that sounds like Williams' style. Most of it is uncharacteristic and innovative for him.

[IrishCal24 0]

Morn, one could argue that AI is more "by the numbers" than HP, as it shares a closer resemblance to Williams' style of film scores throughout the '90s.

Harry Potter on the other hand recaptures that glory of the late 70s, and early 80's that made John Williams a household name, in my opinion at least. Not even TPM or AOTC quite reach that grand style of the previous Star Wars scores. It wouldn't surprise me one bit for the general public to be able to instantly recognize Hedwig's Theme twenty years from now, as they do with the Imperial March, or E.T.s flying them today.

[Morn 8]

Morn, one could argue that AI is more "by the numbers" than HP, as it shares a closer resemblance to Williams' style of film scores throughout the '90s.

One could also argue not as much as how HP is like Hook and ET etc

[Wickenstein 0]

Yes, Harry Potter is excellent! I've always had nothing but admiration for the score.

On a similar note, I'd like to voice how damn good The Patriot is. The Patriot was the first modern Williams score (besides TPM) that I'd ever bought. I was really dissapointed with it at first because I was expecting something like Starwars, Superman, Indy, ect. I'd always thought of it as the only Williams dud in my collection. Not so, I recently found out. I'd been avoiding listenning to the album for a long time, but I recently rediscovered it. I think it's great now! I guess my tastes have matured in the two years since it came out. Perhaps all the Harry Potter talk is because people have gotten over the initial shock that it wasn't the next E.T. or Hook. Harry Potter , like everything else Williams has written, is its own score.

NP: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

[Yoda Claus 0]

First of all I got Harry Potter before most here and I put up a review.  I thought and still think that it is one of Williams' best scores.  I thought it should have taken the oscar way more than AI.  It's so much more complex and a much harder score to write.

Im not sure why you think HP was a more difficult score to write. HP was more a 'traditional' Williams score than AI. AI was a more of an experiment, making more difficult. (Read: Doing things differently takes more time, energy, and effort) I can't and won't claim to know if one was more difficult to write than the other.

-St. Yodes

[Ollie 1,059]

Harry Potter is a good solid score from Williams. It does remind one of Hook but does not rip-off Hook as most people think. Potter does sound like a very complex score.

Now the movie on the other hand.......

What a disappointment.

The Patriot is indeed a good score.

[Ren 75]

i have to say, even though i liked the score from the beginning, I did not appreciate the full value of it until a couple of months ago. After repeated listening, I grew fonder and realized the true emotion coming out of the score.

[Romão 2,274]

Harry Potter is an absolute classic.

And in my opinion, track 19, hedwig's theme,is one of the greatest tracks EVER. And that final...WOW.