[Closed] Now Playing XXXVII

I think a comparison is possible (in fact I am working on a project which compares the series and my job is to compare it musically).

Both scores are Americana, even if Neely and Zanelli don't use choir. Both scores serve a very similar role in their respective series. The Pacific is a companion to Thin Red Line, Kamen's score is one to Saving Private Ryan.

The differences are of course more prominent. The Pacific features more suspense material, Kamen usually *doesn't* work with suspense (except one or two pieces in the whole series). Kamen underscores one action scene, the Pacific two. Kamen's piece is Americana (one of the suite themes during attack on Foy), The Pacific has the score in two, one is a drone (not too dissimilar to the way Powell's Beam works in Thin Red Line), the other one is a dramatic piece for a major scene on Iwo Jima, which is the only Hans Zimmer piece in the movie (as Zanelli said in the interview). Zanelli said that in an interview - it was from Hans's first suite for the main theme which proved to dark for the sequence, but they put it in that scene and "worked perfectly" (possibly that's why Zimmer has a *main* credit along with the two rather than purely a main theme one (which I think was the original idea).

Both scores are restrained works. Kamen goes fully fledged Americana for the suites (one is the training episode, the other one - not sure where it is in the series) and the theme from the first one appears in several pieces in episodes. Suite no. 2 *may* feature the end credits, but I'd have to prove it (rewatching the wonderful series right now). Some people voice that the suites are plain rip-offs of his Robin Hood themes, maybe, but I don't frankly care. The composer who's more into pure Americana in The Pacific is Neely and his very emotional love theme (Where Do We Go from Here for example, lots of pieces from that episode) is one of the most outwardly Americana pieces. It was also Neely who arranged Zimmer theme for the title sequence. It's interesting to get such material from him, because he is straying away from Americana as much as he can, Malick wanted Copland for Thin Red Line, but Zimmer opposed and got his way. Outside from the Copland formula, both scores go into neoclassical sound. Kamen's ends up being much more delicate, part of it possibly due to Kamen's better education. All of it is singularly character-oriented rather than situation-oriented, concentrating on being personal rather than generally dramatic.

The Thin Red Line is an interesting context not only for the music actually. Band of Brothers aims really at telling the story of a company in their war hardships. The themes of brutality of war, even handling POWs, the struggling for saving one's humanity do appear, but rather as side effects to the general point of telling the history of a company. Of course, sometimes it's more of a symbol of the whole American war effort - Easy Company *never* liberated a concentration camp, Major Winters kept the German general's sidearm, the situation where a soldier is supposed to throw a grenade into a house, hesitates and enters to see there's a civilian family happened to a different member of the company in a different place, but the general point stays - we're telling the story of a bunch of guys going through the war in Europe. Even the fact that the episodes are character-centric proves the point - they just pick a POV to show a certain perspective of events *rather than* using the rest of company to characterize them.

The Pacific puts the brutality of war and humanity struggle as its *central* theme. This influences the fact that the seies don't expand the characterization of the main characters' colleagues, rather using them as a tool to give depth to the main ones. This series as a principle employed a more personal point of view - rather than showing a company going through battles, they show *single characters* (real guys, too) going through them. Struggle for humanity was an important theme in Thin Red Line. And a thing that may not have occured to some people. The Pacific starts with episodes (two) about Guadalcanal. Some shots look simply *stolen* from Malick's movie. This may have also influenced the musical choices for the series. Band of Brothers resembles Saving Private Ryan more.

Same here. I don't know why I wasn't blown away by this at first like the other Desplat works...but that's not really relevant now.

NP : HIMALAYA - Bruno Coulais



Just couldn't help playing this a second day in a row, gorgeous work.

NP: Robot Jox - Frederick Talgorn

A fine action-adventure score with a rousing, somewhat playful march as its main theme - whole thing is very reminiscent of Poledouris' style IMO.

NP: High Road to China by John Barry

Just lovely -

NP: The Grudge 2 (Young)

Terrible film, but wonderful score. I don't know how Young comes up with so many appealing horror scores, from Fly II to Hellraiser to this. And looking back now, it's painfully obvious that the DTV Grudge 3 was temp-tracked with this score. Why Sean McMahon wasn't allowed to actually write more than 10 minutes of score is beyond me.

What I most appreciate is that Young makes horror scoring interesting to listen to, more than just stingers and violent music.

I have to be careful with money right nowe but this is at the top of my list for next purchase.

You know... now that I've heard all 6 seasons of Lost and all of the music from McCreary's Battlestar Galactica I'm going to give McCreary the nod for writing the best TV music I've heard in the past ten years. Not to take anything away from Lost though - which is spectacular - I just found that Giacchino peaked in the early seasons and couldn't keep up with a tanking show in the latter seasons.

-Erik-

McCreary's and Giacchino's tv music for the series mentioned above, is unreachable in the last years, and dare i say more.

The original Medal of Honor is bloody brilliant!

Battlestar Galactica: Season 1 - Bear McCreary

that's a fantastic score. i haven't seen the series yet, only the pilot, but the music is a good reason to start watching the show. the taiko drum parts are awesome and the celtic theme is also amazing. the music is really unusual for a tv show setting in space, but i think it works. i will listen to the other seasons over the weekend.

Yup!

Got back from getting some lunch and continued with Djawadi's Medal of Honor. Thank goodness I didn't give up on this one because there is a wonderful - albeit simplistic - string theme heard in the track "Heroes Abroad" that I hope it pops up again...

-Erik-

It's a very good score, check out the following cues especially:

From here (opening cue)
heroes abroad
failing away (i think this will impress you!)
high ground
the summit
all rounds expended
wfo
final extraction
Wiyar

Listen to them at least once...