What's So Great About Michael Giacchino?

[robthehand 3]

Can someone explain why everyone likes his music so much?

OK - I haven't heard much of it - but from what I have heard, it's nothing special.

[Hitch 57]

And so say all of us.

[Adoy 1]

I think his work on the TV show "Lost" is really good, very creepy for the most part. I'm not too familiar with any of his other work.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Lost is great, as is The Incredibles. The small bits I've heard of other stuff like Flying High and his video game work, didn't do a whole lot for me, though.

[LongTallJodie 59]

The Incredibles was a really fun score. And Medal of Honor was great. Haven't heard much else, really, but he is a quality artist.

[Hlao-roo 389]

His music for the silver screen has so far been stiflingly derivative (The Incredibles) or generic (Sky High).

[Incanus 5,714]

I have heard much of his game material and I like it a lot. In the Medal of Honor scores his style is close to the old JW sound of late eighties and early nineties . I think he is innovative and promising young composer. He writes excellent action material and weaves solid themes in throughout. HIs grasp of orchestration os good enough and instrumentations interesting. Medal of Honor series is worth checking out. I have not heard much else from him than one quick listening of Incredibles, which was quite derivative work playing around with many different genres. I hope Giacchino would get a big break scoring something outside animation and games. An adventure movie or a drama perhaps.

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

First of all i must say that few people here really like his work. (He gots more bashes than praises)

Well, lets start.

Giacchino milestone was that he composed the 1st orchestral score for a videogame, with PSX The Lost World: Jurassic Park. He introduced orchestral scores in videogames, and now most videogames have more deph and quality in them.

Then he was pick up by Spielberg himself to score Spielberg's Medal of Honor, as he was prasied as a 'Young John Williams' by Mr Steven. He continued to make great work in the sequels. Another Great work of his is Secret Weapons Over Normandy, with a great theme and action music.

The Incredibles is a very fun score based on Barry´s Bond. Today, Giacchino can write Bond music, as oposed to Barry (said by himself). Yes it is based on him, but they asked barry first, and he diclined. They hired Giacchino and he did an excellent performance.

Many people dismiss Giacchino as not having a trademark sound or style. I have heard all his released soundtracks and i think that he has some, but i cant list them, for me its a feeling, the same with Williams (i can only point the boom-tzz) or Goldsmith, unless it is a similar composition you cannot note whose is the style, but feel it.

His next film asignment is Mission: Impossible 3, lets hope he returns musical dignity to that franchise.

[LinaraQ 0]

Just thought I would add to this growing list -- Giacchino also recently composed a new soundtrack for the Space Mountain ride at Disneyland, CA. The track sounds very similar to The Incredibles. Anyone here heard it yet?

[LongTallJodie 59]

I'm a big Disneyland fan, so yeah, I've heard it. The sound is very much in the vein of his Incredibles work, but is still a slightly different style. Very cool, though, in any case. Perfectly fitting for the ride.

[Olivier 5]

Giacchino milestone was that he composed the 1st orchestral score for a videogame, with PSX The Lost World: Jurassic Park.

Uh-uh.

The truly great and unfairly underused Bruce Broughton beat him to it.

From the Liner notes of Heart of Darkness:

"Recorded in 1990, the score to Heart of Darkness bears the distinction of being he first orchestral score ever produced for a CD-ROM game."

How about those Asian videogames, though? Final Fantasy, i think the title is. When did they start?

[Lurker 5]

What's So Great About Michael Giacchino?

Who?

Neil

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

We have a seperate thread dedicated to this composer, please move it to the correct location.

[robthehand 3]

We have a seperate thread dedicated to this composer, please move it to the correct location.

Where? I searched but nothing came up. Although I may have spelt his name wrong.

Giacchoni or something...

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

http://www.jwfan.net/index.php?name=PNphpB...iacchino+thread

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

I really dont see why this hostility towards him comes from.

How many composers have been named here as new John Williams, and i dont see them flamed on?

David Arnold for example.

'I must have hit her pretty close to the mark to get her all riled up like that, huh, kid?'

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

Oh, please. What's so great about any composer? It's all subjective. I just like his music.

Also, I think his work for Alias is unsurpassed, except for the excellent The Incredibles. His plate is also quite full at the moment, so I can't see him fizzling out any time soon.

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

No in this forums that is not ok.

Dont ask me why.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

THERE IS NOTHING GREAT ABOUT MICHAEL giacchino,

[robthehand 3]

Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying any of his work is bad, it just doesn't seem to warrant the amount of attention he's getting - everyone seems to want him to score the next Bond film. :?

[Hitch 57]

How many composers have been named here as new John Williams, and i dont see them flamed on?

David Arnold for example.

Never heard of this David Arnold. Is he any relation to Tom Arnold?

Hitch

[Ollie 1,059]

He is a breath of fresh air in a world of overrated composers such as Brian Tyler, David Arnold, John Powell etc etc etc

I find his music energetic and fresh and enjoy listening to his music as much as I do Williams, Goldsmith, Herrmann, Ifukube and Rozsa, to name a few.

Hopefully he will have a long and successful career and not end up being ignored like Bruce Broughton, Chris Young, and Basil Poledouris.

[robthehand 3]

He is a breath of fresh air in a world of overrated composers such as Brian Tyler, David Arnold, John Powell etc etc etc

I find his music energetic and fresh and enjoy listening to his music as much as I do Williams, Goldsmith, Herrmann, Ifukube and Rozsa, to name a few.

Hopefully he will have a long and successful career and not end up being ignored like Bruce Broughton, Chris Young, and Basil Poledouris.

That pretty much answers my question!

[Olivier 5]

Michael Giacchino writes great music indeed, but I find Tyler & Powell to have more personnality. Tyler's scores have characteristic heavy percussion; Powell's electronics manage to be different from the MC sound.

On the other hand, what I've heard by Giacchino, however finely composed, is mostly "in the manner" of: the MOH series is in Williams mode, The Incredibles in Barry mode, Alias is electronic/orchestral, Lost has a few nice moments, but I'm not sure how interesting on CD it can be, ...

The music is very good, no doubt about it. But I still can't identify anything as pure Giacchino.

[A24 4,333]

I think he's not the talent that is John Williams, Stravinsky or any other established composer. I have his notorious World War game music (something with fighting planes) on CD and even though I recognize "talent", there's still something missing.

[Erik Woods 555]

Giacchino milestone was that he composed the 1st orchestral score for a videogame, with PSX The Lost World: Jurassic Park.

Uh-uh.

The truly great and unfairly underused Bruce Broughton beat him to it.

From the Liner notes of Heart of Darkness:

"Recorded in 1990, the score to Heart of Darkness bears the distinction of being he first orchestral score ever produced for a CD-ROM game."

How about those Asian videogames, though? Final Fantasy, i think the title is. When did they start?

Michael wrote the first ever orchestral score for a console video game. Console is the key word.

-Erik-

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying any of his work is bad, it just doesn't seem to warrant the amount of attention he's getting - everyone seems to want him to score the next Bond film. :?

where? not here.

And well hearing his Incredibles, he does a better work doing a 'barry' than any composer who has scored a bond film (barry doesnt count). and i like Arnolds scores for the bond franchise.

I found this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_mu..._music_timeline

1997: The Lost World: Jurassic Park is released on Playstation with the first ever fully orchestral soundtrack in a video game. The first Sakura Taisen game featured some orchestra earlier, and Heart of Darkness was devloped earlier, but not released until later.

Heart of Darkness is a video game by Amazing Studios and released by Interplay for PC, PlayStation and Game Boy Advance. It is the first game to have its score recorded by an orchestra (though because of delays, it was NOT the first to be released with a full orchestral soundtrack.) It is noted by its exceptional FMV sequences that make this platform game an almost interactive film.

[robthehand 3]

where?

No, not here. James Bond sites, mainly.

[Adam 1]

I really dont see why this hostility towards him comes from.

How many composers have been named here as new John Williams, and i dont see them flamed on?

David Arnold for example.

'I must have hit her pretty close to the mark to get her all riled up like that, huh, kid?'

I think the whole debate about him being the next JW has been mostly nonexistent but perpetuated nonetheless by his detractrors. I’ve never actually seen anyone defend the idea that he is the next JW and when somebody researched it he found one example on this message board of somebody saying this and even he took it back.

But a lot of people enjoy his music. That can’t be argued so the subject gets changed to put his supporters on the defensive. He’s not one of the greats, he’s not JW, etc. Suddently even his biggest fan has to preface his comments by saying, “no he’s not the next Mozart” or whatever the case may be. At least that’s my impression. You try to portray people who like his music as naive followers of the next fad, so completely blinded by youthful enthusiasm they don’t realize they’re not listening to a modern-day Beethoven. Sometimes its as simple as what magical me said, many people like his music.

Another factor is that since a lot of people who like his music were introduced through videogames, he has a younger fan base and and so if there’s any generational antipathy, Giachinno can be a club with which to beat young people over the head with, for anyone who likes to do that kind of thing.

Some of the negative reviews, not just on this site, give the impression of a self-appointed priesthood trying to stamp out a heretic who hasn’t payed his dues in Hollywood yet. He’s relatively popular, it seems, but mostly outside the channels of conventional wisdom that we’re supposed to pay attention to. So to the extent people are hostile, it can be explained by these kinds of things, maybe, though I deliberatly paint a picture with a broad brush.

Some people aren’t hostile, they just don’t like what they’ve heard which is fine. There’s a lot of music I don’t like but I make a point to not care if others like it. So its right to ask what about Giachinno makes this seemingly harder to do for some.

- Adam

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

Michael Giacchino writes great music indeed, but I find Tyler & Powell to have more personnality. Tyler's scores have characteristic heavy percussion; Powell's electronics manage to be different from the MC sound.

On the other hand, what I've heard by Giacchino, however finely composed, is mostly "in the manner" of: the MOH series is in Williams mode, The Incredibles in Barry mode, Alias is electronic/orchestral, Lost has a few nice moments, but I'm not sure how interesting on CD it can be, ...

The music is very good, no doubt about it. But I still can't identify anything as pure Giacchino.

I'd say his Alias stuff is more orchestral than techno. His thematic work is beautiful (and plentiful, thankfully), and action quite jazzy. I reckon most people wanting him to do a Bond film would be judging from both Alias and Incredibles (after all, he was hired for the latter for his work on Alias). I'd say his style has already started evolving too; his string work in Lost and Alias shine through as the Giacchino sound.

[Morn 8]

I think he's not the talent that is John Williams, Stravinsky or any other established composer. I have his notorious World War game music (something with fighting planes) on CD and even though I recognize "talent", there's still something missing.

I know what you mean, so try listening to Call of duty rather than metal of honor, it has what metal of honor is missing. Metal of honor is a simple immature score, Call of Duty, Lost and Secret weapons over normandy, they are well done. I think Giacchino is more talented than most young composers around, really does anyone think that say Arnold or James Newton Howard compares to williams or stravinsky, we have a lack of genius's, Giacchion might develope into one with more experience, he's not quiet there yet.

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

I think he's not the talent that is John Williams, Stravinsky or any other established composer. I have his notorious World War game music (something with fighting planes) on CD and even though I recognize "talent", there's still something missing.

I know what you mean, so try listening to Call of duty rather than metal of honor, it has what metal of honor is missing. Metal of honor is a simple immature score, Call of Duty, Lost and Secret weapons over normandy, they are well done.

He has SWON...

[A24 4,333]

I know what you mean, so try listening to Call of duty rather than metal of honor, it has what metal of honor is missing. Metal of honor is a simple immature score, Call of Duty, Lost and Secret weapons over normandy, they are well done.

Well, I was actually referring to his Normandy music.

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

That´s what i said (SWON: Secret Weapons Over Normandy)

[A24 4,333]

That´s what i said (SWON: Secret Weapons Over Normandy)

Yes, Normandy. NORMANDY!

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

Take it easy, it's great but you dont have to shout it!

[A24 4,333]

Take it easy, it's great but you dont have to shout it!

Let me put it this way then:

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

I knew, no need to post it...

[A24 4,333]

I knew, no need to post it...

You are not the only one reading this thread, Luke.

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

Well, you know that composers' talents develop. He's not going to storm on to the scene with a materpiece left right and center, I don't see why people question others liking his music.

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

Michael Giacchino rivals James Newton Howard? LOL

Ray Barnsbury

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

But in any case, I quite enjoy his Medal of Honor: Frontline score. It's quite Williamsesque, and I don't question people being fans of his. To each his own, right?

Ray Barnsbury

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

THERE IS NOTHING GREAT ABOUT MICHAEL giacchino,

Well, at least, unlike Williams, he has not written the worst movie soundtrack ever...

[Olivier 5]

Michael wrote the first ever orchestral score for a console video game.  Console is the key word.

-Erik-

Thanks for the precision, Erick. Acknowledged.

Yet, I'm not too sure it makes that much of a difference-- no more than "the first score for Nintendo" as opposed to "the first score for Sega" settles the question: which was the the truly first orcehstral score for a video game (whatever format, brand, ...)? Was it Broughton's? Was it one of those many Japanese games?

Luke seems to have found an answer on Wikipedia. Any confirmation? (And I'd say the date of CD relaase is a moot point; only the date of composition & the date of the game's release matter)

[QMM 4]

got the Lost dvd set today and just got finished watching the first two episodes

Michael's done some great stuff

[Morn 8]

I know what you mean, so try listening to Call of duty rather than metal of honor, it has what metal of honor is missing. Metal of honor is a simple immature score, Call of Duty, Lost and Secret weapons over normandy, they are well done.

Well, I was actually referring to his Normandy music.

Well that's a good score but greatly inferior to call of duty, if you going to judge him you must hear that score!

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

got the Lost dvd set today and just got finished watching the first two episodes

Michael's done some great stuff

The cue in Walkabout of Locke on the beach after the crash is probably the most heart-tugging cue I've heard on a TV show.

[Morn 8]

[QMM 4]

got the Lost dvd set today and just got finished watching the first two episodes

Michael's done some great stuff

The cue in Walkabout of Locke on the beach after the crash is probably the most heart-tugging cue I've heard on a TV show.

if that's the cue on the first episode when you see the credits, then hell yes!

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

I mean the one where

Locke finds out he can walk after the plane has crashed.