BRIAN TYLER

Again, we go back to the point of taking what we like and extracting it into a shorter playlist. Sure, it's a little work but at least YOU dictate what YOU want to hear instead of a producer dictating what you hear going by his or her preferences. I like having that choice.

-Erik-

thanks erik for clearing that up i'm much obliged to ya!

You know what i mean Michael, It's been ages since i last heard something in the league of ROAD TO PERDITION, AMERICAN BEAUTY or MEET JOE BLACK just to name a few. With the exception of (some parts, imo) of the Good German, the rest bears only a few highlights in each score which are then heavily buried in tons of fragmented underscore on Cd.

Actually, it's quite simple. You just have to get the right combination of smilies.

(for example, that meant - I know better than you, but I'm only joking, lols, and have a beer to make up for it.)

There are lot of variables in play in such a discussion, and we'd be better to do it in the Thomas Newman thread. In essence though, I think he's as strong as he ever was. I remember JARHEAD had me a bit worried (ironically, one of his favourites among his own works), but everything since has impressed me. He's not always doing films that call for the warm orchestral Americana that made him popular (e.g. MEET JOE BLACK and SHAWSHANK), and I think it's just as well that that's the case, as I think CINDERELLA MAN showed that he can only do so much of that style before starting to sound a little too much like himself. Variety is the grist of a good film composer's mill, and among Americans, Thomas Newman is one of the greats.

But Tyler doesn't use those progressions. I think the key of Tyler's popularity lies in the RHYTHM anyway, not the guitar solos themselves. He does seem at times to be a modernized and better orchestrated version of the MV style, but the dense arrangements and complexity ALSO may come from metal music, which is instrumentally often very complex.

Makes sence.

I'm still amazed to see these looooooong threads on composers like Tyler, Powell, Giacchino etc. here, with bustling activity each day. Don't get me wrong, I like much of their work too and I'm one of the biggest proponents of contemporary film music, it's just interesting to note the proportionally little activity on the oldtimers. I wonder if there are members here who listen to music composed before 1977?

Is this Thor or Tom speaking?

-Erik-

You're just 5 years older than me and i don't feel the slightest an old-timer

Actually this is a forum of young (or very young) people, I mean people in his early twenties - early forties aprox. So as much as a lot of the members love the pre 1977 music, we tend to focus our attention to the 70´s, 80´s, 90´s and post 2000 film composers. But I´ve seen long posts related to the Golden Age composers; not so many weeks ago, there was a great debate regarding the new "El Cid" release for example.
You are right though, 80% of the time we are talking of more modern film composers. Quoting Demetris, "New times belong to the new timers".

I actually do listen to pre-1977 stuff myself.

I can talk about my own experience with Golden Age and one of our reviewers'. I was born in 1984, Marek is two-three years younger.

In my case it was accidentally getting Ben Hur and liking it, then I kinda neglected Golden Age, until I discovered Bernard Herrmann (mostly in context, then amazed by his complexity on album) and one Alfred Newman (though post Golden-Age score).

Marek hooked up thanks to hearing El Cid's Love Theme (I think it was that piece, I am sure that it was this score) on an internet radio, which was an amazing experience to him and had a lot of importance to his tastes as a listener and reviewer.

Yes, Golden Age may be appealing even to modern music fans, example of which would be me and Jordi (he loves Herrmann!). Also there are still some old-fashioned scores, which do update the sound in some way (mostly rhythmic).

I guess that it has to be also never forgotten that Williams' most popular scores in the post-1977 years and the 1980s are VERY inspired by Golden Age, namely Star Wars and the Indiana Jones trilogies (all of them owing a lot to swashbuckling sound of Korngold and sometimes Alfred Newman in the more religious sound). Never going to direct rip-offs, but still the influence is important - like the similarity between Marion's Theme and the slower theme from The Sea Hawk.

His film career started in 1941 which was the Golden Age. Yes, he progressed into the Silver Age but for 20 years or so he was composing in the Golden Age.

I mean, Miklos Rozsa was writing up until 1982... but is he not considered a Golden Age composer?

-Erik-