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Today’s Goldsmith: THE EDGE - Jerry Goldsmith

With its 38 minutes and only a single theme this is not a ‘big score’ per se, but that main theme is a majestic one and gets used throughout (Lost in the Wild, Mighty Hunter, and touching versions in The River and Rescued, and was quite surprised by the piano / jazz rendition in the concluding The Edge). With some rather intense action (The Ravine, Deadfall), it’s a serviceable and enjoyable score for as long as it takes, but doesn’t leave a huge impression. I especially liked what Jerry did with the horns and percussion - I wouldn’t have minded if he chose to use those jungle drums a bit more often. 3.5*

NP: HEAVEN & EARTH (Kitaro)

Can't make up my mind if I like the electronic or orchestral bits more. Either way, one of the best ethno scores I know of.

The Boy who Could Fly (London Symphony Re recording)

Talking about the bonus cues of other Broughton scores. Is it intential or does sound "We'll be Back" of Silverado completely off key? I mean, you got to tell me this is done deliberately to add some weird depth to it, variations within the themes? Because this can't be the LSO butchering this piece no?

The last month my playing has been giving scores second chances, giving scores I never really gave a chance another chance, and listening to scores I've never really heard, trying to prune my old trading collection and trash things. The results:

"Rain Man"
Hanzi Zimmer and some troops.

What cheap synth garbage. Totally made to be thrown in the trash. Watched the movie a couple times maybe twenty years ago, enjoyed it. Still quote, "Yeah, Whopner, definitively Whopner" to this day. That film deserved better than it got.



"Forces of Nature"
John Powell

Since I got that old boot, La La Land Records has released the score. Nothing here to keep. Some of it is just horrible. Aside from one completely out-of-place lush strings cue which still wasn't good enough for me to want to keep, nothing was salvageable.



"Breakdown"
Basil Poledouris

Frist off was the replacement score, which was total garbage. Simplistic crap drones and percussion patterns. I remembered this being better in the film, but I was totally wrong. Bottom of the barrel material from a composer who brought us such scores as "Conan the Barbarian" and "Starship Troopers".

Next up I listened to the rejected score Basil did. Much better than what ended up in the film, but still garbage. It wouldn't shock me at all to find out he handed off parts to ghostwriters to do the replacement score.

This was another one that La La Land Records later released (both the used and rejected score, too). I know -- not the most ringing endorsement to go buy it...



"Medal of Honor"
Giacchino

I know this has a lot of fans, but I was bored. Too generic. Big sounding, but nothing that was worth being big. I eventually had to cut it off. Put it in the trash bag, moved on with my life. I've given this score chances before and this was the last time for me. Those who enjoy it, great -- keep enjoying it; I'll move on to things that I actually enjoy and stop wasting my life on this one.



I'm sure I listened to one or two other scores, but I just don't recall right now.

RAIN MAN is one of Zimmer's best scores, and a bona fide masterpiece. 'nuff said.

More titles given that second chance experience as described in an above post:


"Last Man Standing" (rejected score)
Elmer Bernstein

Wow, shockingly bad. A whole lot of simplistic percussion material that cuts in and out, a simplistic theme with little to no variation and overall just bottom of the barrel stuff from Elmer. I have no idea if the replacement score is any better, but I think rejecting this was wise.



"Nothing to Lose"
Robert Folk

Lord help me, for some reason I kind of vaguely recall liking this score when I saw the movie. I was horribly horribly wrong. Poppy garbage with sounds effects thrown in (even barking dog) that is like a slimy Ceti Alpha VI worm defiling my inner ear cortex. It's well done, I'll grant it that, but this is probably amongst the top ten worst scores he's done.



"The Bookies"
Christopher Tyng

Being a fan of his scoring from "Futurama", I had started years ago seeking out promos of scores he did. I only ended up getting two before eventually my trading times came to a close.

Yet another score that wants to double-team my inner ear cortex. Truly nothing here that anybody needs to hear. And to make it worse, patterns of music played in reverse are used in the score; I guess to make it more hip.



"The Associate"
Christopher Tyng

Much better in comparison to the above score, but it's a lot of plucky upbeat orchestral material that stops and goes too much and really goes nowhere, with moments of gospel material tossed in for Woo-pie Goldberg.

It's a mediocre effort and not really anything anybody needs to waste their time on.



"LOST"
Giacchino

One of the Varese volumes. I think volume one (I don't have the CD handy).

Lots of cold and boring material, though I will say for all it's heard it before and lack of development and real variation, the sad piano music was still so much of a joy for me that I took all that, and edited the pieces together into a nearly fourteen-minute suite.



"Matrix: Revolutions"
Don Davis

This was a little tough to get threw. It surely does have it's moments, and the brass writing is complex and interesting like others before me have noted, but it's a score all over the place. Ideas come and go and a number of them never really go anywhere or are so brief they do nothing more than service the film. Granted that's the reason why the score exists at all, but structurally I would have expected him to do more as a writer.

And while that brass writing is complex, the score itself is often simple, to a fault. Even the them when heard is brief spurts, always seems simple and unvaried. And I certainly do hear "The Fugitive" in the temp or at least from Davis' brain.

I don't hate it, but it's going to need some serious editing/arranging/crossfading to make this an enjoyable listening experience for myself.



"James Bond: Tomorrow Never Dies"
David Arnold

Some good cues here and there, but overall there are more good parts of cues than wholly good cues. The electronics are often irritating and too heavy. One cue in particular (this boot had the original take and film version) had its orchestral buried under a steaming pile of synth work. I wanted to hear the cue sans electronics.

Half the score is just totally life-wasting nothing or even some degree of garbage.

Almost all the good material, is of course, uses of the Norman/Barry theme. There's one lovely cue at the end that's worth noting.

Another rounds of "second chances" last Sunday. Titles I recall listening to:


"Stargate: Atlantis"
Composer: Joel Goldsmith

Aside from the theme -- which I think I poo pooed back in the day, but it's really not a bad theme -- the score is a little disjointed and appears to be mainly -- if not completely -- from the feature-length pilot.

There are good parts to be had and -- of course -- the highlight is the Atlantis rising music; somebody combined the main theme with this cue, rather seamlessly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be-FXlAliYw

In the end, I consider it a keeper.



"UP"
Composer: Michael Giacchino

Giacchino is a hit & miss composer for me, with him often being a miss, but here he was a hit.

I've not seen the film, so I can't comment on it or how the score works in it, but I can tell you outside of the film and therefore with no emotional connection to scenes, the score is just wonderful. I'd rather he scored ten films like this and scores along this line than any of these big bloated CGI fests he's been doing.

A terrific sad piano theme, uplifting music for the house taking off (from what I know of trailers; in fact, you KNOW the house taking off cue just from listening to it and not knowing that's the cue), action music, quirky material, miscellaneous material. Not as much development and variation as I would have hoped for, but that does not diminish the final product. Surely amongst his best work.

Disney later put out an expanded edition of the score, but it's still about twenty minutes shorter than the Academy promotional CD. I have a lossless copy of the Academy promo (fifty tracks, about seventy-two minutes of score).

I, of course, recommend the score. :-)



"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"
Composer: Mark Snow

This score is a hit & miss effort.

It opens with two orchestral cues, but quickly de-evolves into cheap synth in comparison to those two opening cues. Some cues have orchestral, others have a hybrid mix (but are mostly synth).

The theme is generic and kind of hard to latch on to.

The highlight is the cue Midnight Arctic Walk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4CWxDgAw-c

NP: LES TEMPS DES SECRETS (Philippe Rombi)

One of the year's highlights. Should probably do a review.

The expanded Jumanji. (Did anyone else prefer the cartoon to the movie?)

Wojchiech Kilar - Zycie za zycie. Maksymilian Kolbe

Still one of his best I do keep returning to he official album and the concert stage piece combined.


http://www.maintitles.net/reviews/zycie … ian-kolbe/

Jack Mimoun et les secrets de Val Verde (Mathieu Lamboley)

Has got a nice symphonic scope, lacks a strong theme or melody though. It can't quite capture what it starts, but actually quite nice to hear a solid fluent adventurous score, without resorting into the typical dribble. It sounds more heroic than Uncharted, which says more about Djawadi's lackluster score.

But mix his theme with this sound and I think you've got a small winner

Aw, that's a shame Justin. I usually really enjoy Carter Burwell. Looks like I'll be skipping that one!

Don't just take my word for it though -- just to be sure; trying listening to Burwell's score if you dare:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEEfGNZ8eiY

That would actually have been interesting to hear.

That would be the obvious assumption. And it's probably correct.