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Movie/TV/Game Scores Through The Ages - Alan's Personal Favourites
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- CommentAuthorTimmer
- CommentTimeAug 26th 2011
Cheers Jedi.On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt -
- CommentTimeAug 26th 2011 edited
Martijn wrote
Thor wrote
Nice tune, although I'm not as blown away by it as everyone else. I agree, it has a Jewish, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF-type feel.
Did you listen all the way through the suite to the Mro Ilo main titles.
Fuck me, but that sears right through your soul. Nothing Fiddler-ish about that! Dark balkan at its most most melancholic.
I listened to the whole thing, yes. It's nice and everything, but I didn't get the orgasmic feel some of you did. We're all wired differently that way!
The film seems very touching, though. I'd like to check it out.I am extremely serious. -
- CommentTimeAug 26th 2011
So, logically, if you are all wired differently...wouldn't that make you...the same?
Well, I assert my individualism by stating beforehand that I am not different at all.
Hence unique.
So there.
And for my next trick I will prove that I can float and am therefore a duck.'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn -
- CommentTimeAug 26th 2011 edited
I really like how the reference to samples (like Bregt did above) helps make the music become more "alive".
We should employ this more, I think!'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn -
- CommentTimeAug 26th 2011
I couldn't believe it when I saw 16 new posts since I last looked. And I am pleased that my choices have introduced people to new music and that it has had such a powerful effect!The views expressed in this post are entirely my own and do not reflect the opinions of maintitles.net, or for that matter, anyone else. http://www.racksandtags.com/falkirkbairn -
- CommentTimeAug 26th 2011
Listening to Bandyta now. The wailing in that first track was just awful, I thought.
My favorite from 1994 was Legends of the Fall. The rest of my favorites have all been mentioned except for Rachel Portman's lovely little score for Only You. -
- CommentTimeAug 27th 2011
christopher wrote
Listening to Bandyta now. The wailing in that first track was just awful, I thought.
My word!
Well.
No accounting for taste, I guess.'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn -
- CommentTimeAug 27th 2011
Martijn wrote
christopher wrote
Listening to Bandyta now. The wailing in that first track was just awful, I thought.
My word!
Well.
No accounting for taste, I guess.
I think it's great that we have a spectrum here -- those who adore it, those who are more lukewarm (like myself) and those who outright dislike it.I am extremely serious. -
- CommentTimeAug 27th 2011
I get how one can get turned off by wailing, after it became a Hollywood cliché. I do think the first track is pretty unique and interesting though. The second track is what really kicks buttock though.
Peter -
- CommentTimeAug 27th 2011
Martijn wrote
Thor wrote
Nice tune, although I'm not as blown away by it as everyone else. I agree, it has a Jewish, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF-type feel.
Did you listen all the way through the suite to the Mro Ilo main titles.
Fuck me, but that sears right through your soul. Nothing Fiddler-ish about that! Dark balkan at its most most melancholic.
It's funny, but the "Mro iło" portion of this score is my least favourite part of it!The views expressed in this post are entirely my own and do not reflect the opinions of maintitles.net, or for that matter, anyone else. http://www.racksandtags.com/falkirkbairn -
- CommentAuthorTimmer
- CommentTimeAug 27th 2011 edited
plindboe wrote
I get how one can get turned off by wailing, after it became a Hollywood cliché. I do think the first track is pretty unique and interesting though. The second track is what really kicks buttock though.
Peter
It is an odd thing, I've said many a time how I'm not keen on "wailing" but in this score it hit me for the proverbial six. Maybe it's the "folky" sound in it that has a link ( for me ) to British folk music ( rather than the Middle Eastern wailing that I'm not enamoured with ) and a hint of Vaughan Williams even? I'm not good at explaining these things, all I can say is that it hits the right buttons with me.On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt -
- CommentTimeAug 27th 2011 edited
To me there is a MASSiVE difference between the middle-eastern wailing and the Balkan type.
The oriental one is far less melodic and serves mostly to punctuate: it's a musical aspect. A fragment.
The Balkan one is not only more melodic (and HARMONIC as well! It is often employed through an ensemble, in a more western tradition), but it is an integral part of the melody line.
Last but not least, the Balkan wail is incredibly dark and melancholic, mirroring that state of mind that is so very east European. In that deep passion, it echoes the vocal folk music -that is to me far more accessible and listenable than anything middle eastern- of Spain, Ireland or Sardinia. That combination of harmony - just a matter of the right chords and their progression!- and feeling that seems to come from within their very soul, really hits home with me.
Always has.'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn -
- CommentTimeAug 27th 2011
I'm surprised no one else has mentioned Little Womenlisten to more classical music! -
- CommentAuthorPawelStroinski
- CommentTimeAug 27th 2011
Right, it is one of my favorite Thomas Newman scores.http://www.filmmusic.pl - Polish Film Music Review Website -
- CommentTimeAug 27th 2011
Martijn wrote
To me there is a MASSiVE difference between the middle-eastern wailing and the Balkan type.
The oriental one is far less melodic and serves mostly to punctuate: it's a musical aspect. A fragment.
The Balkan one is not only more melodic (and HARMONIC as well! It is often employed through an ensemble, in a more western tradition), but it is an integral part of the melody line.
Last but not least, the Balkan wail is incredibly dark and melancholic, mirroring that state of mind that is so very east European. In that deep passion, it echoes the vocal folk music -that is to me far more accessible and listenable than anything middle eastern- of Spain, Ireland or Sardinia. That combination of harmony - just a matter of the right chords and their progression!- and feeling that seems to come from within their very soul, really hits home with me.
Always has.
Great points.
Peter -
- CommentTimeAug 28th 2011
PawelStroinski wrote
Right, it is one of my favorite Thomas Newman scores.
I was surprised Alan gave it no mention at all.
Tomlisten to more classical music! -
- CommentTimeAug 28th 2011
It is just not one that has stuck in my mind from this year. It could be a solid score but there are many I rank above it in my list.The views expressed in this post are entirely my own and do not reflect the opinions of maintitles.net, or for that matter, anyone else. http://www.racksandtags.com/falkirkbairn -
- CommentTimeAug 28th 2011
There are some that argue it cost him an Oscar for Shawshank Redemption that year because he had two nominations. The other was Little Women.
Tomlisten to more classical music! -
- CommentAuthorTimmer
- CommentTimeAug 28th 2011
SHAWSHANK should have scooped a whole clutch of Oscars IMO, including best score.On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt -
- CommentTimeAug 28th 2011
Some of his vote was splitlisten to more classical music! -
- CommentTimeSep 2nd 2011
1995 - Se7en - Howard Shore
Looking through this year there are lots and lots of possible contenders. Some that I have been familiar with since their release and some that I have gotten to know more recently. I am sure that very few people will even like this Shore score as a stand-alone listen never mind call it a possible favourite for the year.
This is definitely a score that I have grown to love because of its association with the film. I love the film, I love the feel of the film and I have a great admiration for the filmmakers' commitment to telling the story they wanted. And the music is part of this. Many a time have I just closed my eyes and let the score wash over me. Shore's whole composition for the film is something I find really interesting. And the score comes alive with the action scoring for the film - and I was so pleased when I managed to get a hold of the Concorde CD (from SAE of all places many years ago!) Tracks such as "SWAT" and "Chasing John Doe" are exciting but restrained. And people probably know how much I love the climactic cue, "The Desert". An awesome track for music and image where less is definitely more.
I think that the second place runner for the top spot this year was John Ottman's The Usual Suspects. It has a great feel to it this score, I think it sounds quite different from a lot that was around at that time. Probably as a result of some imaginative orchestration choices and Ottman's "sound".
There's also a lot of scores that I want to mention in passing as having excellent tracks/themes (and I am just going to go down my list) - Martin Kiszko's excellent score for the BBC natural history show Alien Empire, Mancina's main theme from Bad Boys, Batman Forever (vintage Goldenthal), Braveheart (Horner's "For The Love of A Princess" is wondrously beautiful), Chris Young's score for Copycat and particularly the cues for Weaver's character's agoraphobia, Young's Murder In The First, Silvestri's action scoring in Judge Dredd, tracks from Nell (Isham), Powder (Goldsmith), First Night (Goldsmith), Carter Burwell's Rob Roy (maybe a contender if I had heard it when it first came out and I had had a chance to grow with it) and Kaczmarek's Total Eclipse. Oh, and Karaindrou's Ulysses' Gaze and tracks from Waterworld (Newton Howard). Quite a list!
A couple of other mentions for a couple that may not be as well known: Bruno Coulais' La Rivière Espérance is a score that could be from the same stable as James Newton Howard's Restoration. It's quite a classical-sounding score. And there's also a score to a film called Morirás en Chafarinas (Bernardo Bonezzi). Apparently called Zafarinas in the US, it's a Spanish film that has a sort of Moroccan feel to it and sounds like it could be used to entice a cobra from its basket. Well worth hunting down (perhaps as a download only if I remember.
And there are lots of other scores that I know people will say I have missed...The views expressed in this post are entirely my own and do not reflect the opinions of maintitles.net, or for that matter, anyone else. http://www.racksandtags.com/falkirkbairn -
- CommentTimeSep 2nd 2011 edited
Yup, 1995 is another great year. I love SEVEN -- the film -- and how the music works in it, but I can't listen to the music alone. I can't stand Shore's droney Cronenberg sound. But many of your other picks mirror my own.
Honorable mentions to APOLLO 13 (James Horner), BATMAN FOREVER (Elliot Goldenthal), BEYOND RANGOON (Hans Zimmer -- my favourite score of his EVER!), BRAVEHEART (James Horner), CRIMSON TIDE (Hans Zimmer), CUTTHROAT ISLAND (John Debney), DOLORES CLAIBORNE (Danny Elfman -- especially how it works in the movie!), FIRST KNIGHT (Jerry Goldsmith), HEAT (Elliot Goldenthal & various -- one of the best musical portrayals of cityscapes in sunset!), MURDER IN THE FIRST (Christopher Young), NIXON (John Williams), RESTORATION (James Newton Howared & Henry Purcell), ROB ROY (Carter Burwell).
Damn, I remember picking these up at the time they were released, and most of them are still in my collection, that's how good they are.
Still, there is IMO no beating this one:
WATERWORLD (James Newton Howard)
It has everything -- thematic action music, aweinspiring "religious" music (in the underwater scene), gorgeous synth textures ("Swimming") and everything inbetween.I am extremely serious. -
- CommentTimeSep 2nd 2011
I think that "Swimming" may be my favourite track out of Waterworld.The views expressed in this post are entirely my own and do not reflect the opinions of maintitles.net, or for that matter, anyone else. http://www.racksandtags.com/falkirkbairn -
- CommentAuthorTimmer
- CommentTimeSep 2nd 2011 edited
Great ( mostly IMobjectiveO ) mentions from both Alan and Thor, i would add honourary mentions for John Barry's THE SCARLET LETTER, Christopher Young's SPECIES and David Arnold's THE LAST OF THE DOGMEN.
For me it must be....
BRAVEHEART - JAMES HORNER
John Williams NIXON is second for me, it's such a superb score. All in all, 1995 was a VERY good year for film music.On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt -
- CommentTimeSep 2nd 2011 edited
1995 is the best year ever I think. It's like every composer decided to compose a masterpiece in that year; Young (Murder in the first); Goldsmith (First knight); Burwell (Rob Roy); Zimmer (Beyond Rangoon/Crimson tide); Arnold (Last of the dogmen); Horner (Braveheart): Shaiman (The american president); Kamen (Mr. Holland's opus). To me, these scores are the peaks of their respective composer's careers.
Other great ones worth mentioning: Nixon (Williams), Cosmic voyage (Michael Frank), Casper (Horner), Apollo 13 (Horner), Under siege 2 (Poledouris), I magi randagi (Morricone), L'uomo delle stelle (Morricone), Restoration (Newton Howard), The usual suspects (Ottman) and many more.
1995
Peter -
- CommentTimeSep 2nd 2011
Lots of what is on offer this year is very good, and could easily take a top spot in another year.
Looking ahead to 1996 (already) I think this may be a battle of two scores from the same composer.The views expressed in this post are entirely my own and do not reflect the opinions of maintitles.net, or for that matter, anyone else. http://www.racksandtags.com/falkirkbairn -
- CommentTimeSep 2nd 2011
I enjoyed Mr. Holland's Opus
Tomlisten to more classical music! -
- CommentTimeSep 2nd 2011
FalkirkBairn wrote
Looking ahead to 1996 (already) I think this may be a battle of two scores from the same composer.
ID4 > The rest!
-Erik-host and executive producer of THE CINEMATIC SOUND RADIO PODCAST | www.cinematicsound.net | www.facebook.com/cinematicsound | I HAVE TINNITUS! -
- CommentTimeSep 2nd 2011
I. Don't. Think. So.The views expressed in this post are entirely my own and do not reflect the opinions of maintitles.net, or for that matter, anyone else. http://www.racksandtags.com/falkirkbairn -
- CommentAuthorTimmer
- CommentTimeSep 2nd 2011
On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt