[Closed] Now Playing XXXVI

Community-shared* dislikings are very easily confused with values.

*meaning shared by a statistically meaningful subset of a community...not shared by the whole community, obviously.

"CHiPs", Volume 2 (Alan Silvestri)

In preparation for Volume 3 coming out at the end of this month. As my review states, V2 is vastly inferior, but I still wanted to hear it again (skipping the song/score tracks), then I'll get to V1 just as V3 is announced.

But before V1 gets the play ... it'll be "The Phantom" (David Newman)

Philosopher's Stone is one of the most overscored film Williams has written. While the new thematic material is fantastic... I find most of the score just floating along. The Ludlow's Demise action material in The Quidditch Match is irritating and lazy. I do enjoy Williams' Voltermort Theme... gets a great workout in "The Face of Voldemort" and "The Chess Game" features some really interesting percussive writing but the rest is all rather average in a been there done that fashion.

While Chambers does indeed feature re-worked cues from the first film by Ross the wealth of original material that Williams wrote for the second film is far more imaginative and far more interesting musically! The new themes are beyond incredible (minus Gilderoy Lockhart's theme which is just sad to listen to... ) and compliments the older themes perfectly. This score feels like it was written during Williams heyday in the early to mid 80's. It's full of life!

Azkaban is on a whole other level. I think most of us here agree that Williams went above and beyond and wrote the best score of the franchise!

-Erik-

Ok: it is a fact that mickey-mousing has derogative implications to a limited number of MT members, and it is also a fact that the same term has no such implications to the rest.

I think he went above and beyond on the first film! It's easy to forget just how great the main theme is, especially when it's been overplayed since its first appearance in subsequent trailers, concerts, compilations and of course scores. That's partly why I hold the first score in such high regard; its main theme. As for the rest, I think it's Williams doing what he does best and creating very magical, complex music with a lot of depth (well, it's Williams... duh!), and to be honest I couldn't care less if it was over-scored: it's what's on the album that counts for me. Chamber of Secrets feels like a natural extension of the first, but -save for the Phoenix theme- I don't find anything significantly different about it to the first, especially when compared to the third. And that's by no means a criticism.

It seems Philosopher's Stone is almost hated!

Anyway, although the third is arguably the best, I'm still attracted to the first since it's got more of that traditional Williams charm and magic (i.e. Hook) that I've always been accustomed to. Again, it's hard to choose a favourite... so I tend not to worry about it. They're all great.

That's one of the funniest and most bizarre posts I've read in a long time.



-Erik-

Guilty too! <--hands up

Steven, Philosopher's Stone sure isn't hated, it's a very fine score! In fact, we're not far off with our opinions. Like I said, the main theme (Hedwig's) is brilliant and, yes, it surpasses any of the new material on its sequel score. Yet, I just think Chamber on the whole is a much better, more developed and consistent effort.

I do it with natchos too, I've eaten thousands of star destroyers.

I think a lot of the electronic elements still work well ( though some are gratingly unlistenable ) and I like the way Goldsmith makes the score purely orchestral once we're in the outside world away from the Dome.

Fair enough. It's not so much that people say it's better or even prefer it that I find odd; it's that you say it's "much" better! I honestly can't see what's so significant about it -that is, compared to the first- that makes it much better!? But... it's all taste I guess. Nobody's right or wrong. (Except me of course, I'm never wrong.)

NP: Salt - James Newton Howard

First listen... and I'm liking this A LOT!

-Erik-

What about the recording? and what about the music used in the movie? Is it fine to you?

I've gone about maybe ten tracks into "The Phantom". I'm enjoying it, and a repeat listen is needed, but this was really, really, terribly overblown in how "amazing" it was supposed to be. It's really not.

It kind of jumps around, too, with coherency sometimes wanning. Maybe it fits the picture like a glove, can't say, but that's irrelevant to a CD listen, and a little frustrating. I'd like to hear Newman take the key elements and themes from the score and arrange it into a new suite. That would be interesting.

Anyway, as it stands, I would say this fall just short of Top Shelf Newman.