Top 10 Scores of the 2000's

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- CommentAuthorErik Woods
- CommentTimeDec 9th 2007
This is a copy and paste post from scorereviews.com's forum.

Looking back at my best of lists and how my tastes have changes over the years here are some of my favorite scores composed in this brand new century... not including any scores released in 2007 because I haven't made up my mind as to what the Top 5 scores of the year are.

FILM AND TV

GLADIATOR (Hans Zimmer)
DINOSAUR (James Newton Howard)
THE PERFECT STORM (James Horner)
ALL THE PRETTY HORSES (Marty Stuart, Larry Paxton and Kristin Wilkinson)
CHICKEN RUN (John Powell and Harry Gregson-Williams)
THE LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY (Howard Shore)
A.I. (John Williams)
PAVILION OF WOMEN (Conrad Pope)
THE SHIPPING NEWS (Christopher Young)
THE MUMMY RETURNS (Alan Silvestri)
FINAL FANTASY: THE SPIRITS WITHIN (Elliot Goldenthal)
SIGNS (James Newton Howard) - I consider this the best of the decade so far.
THE MATRIX RELOADED AND REVOLUTIONS (Don Davis)
ANGELS IN AMERICA (Thomas Newman)
BIRTH (Alexandre Desplat)
BLIZZARD (Mark McKenzie)
SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW (Edward Shearmur)
HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN (John Williams)
THE POLAR EXPRESS (Alan Silvestri)
THE INCREDIBLES (Michael Giacchino)
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA (John Williams)
REVENGE OF THE SITH (John Williams)
X-MEN 3: THE LAST STAND (John Powell)
PERFUME: A STORY OF A MURDERER (Tom Tykwer, Reinhold Heil, and Johnny Klimek)
EIGHT BELOW (Mark Isham)
THE DA VINCI CODE (Hans Zimmer)
CASINO ROYALE (David Arnold)

GAME SCORES

PRIMAL (Paul Arnold and Andrew Barnabas)
SECRET WEAPONS OVER NORMANDY (Michael Giacchino)
MEDAL OF HONOR: FRONTLINE (Michael Giacchino)
GUN (Christopher Lennertz)
MEDAL OF HONOR: EUROPEAN ASSAULT (Christopher Lennertz)
SUPERMAN RETURNS (Colin O'Malley)
MERCENARIES (Chris Tilton)

If I had to pick only ten then the list would look like this...

1. SIGNS (James Newton Howard)
2. SKY CAPTAIN THE WORLD OF TOMORROW (Edward Shearmur)
3. MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA (John Williams)
4. THE MUMMY RETURNS (Alan Silvestri)
5. THE SHIPPING NEWS (Christopher Young)
6. SECRET WEAPONS OVER NORMANDY (Michael Giacchino)
7.THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (Howard Shore)
8. THE MATRIX RELOADED (Don Davis)
9. FINAL FANTASY: THE SPIRITS WITHIN (Elliot Goldenthal)
10. THE INCREDIBLES (Michael Giacchino)

-Erik-
host and executive producer of THE CINEMATIC SOUND RADIO PODCAST | www.cinematicsound.net | www.facebook.com/cinematicsound | I HAVE TINNITUS!
- CommentAuthorNautilus
- CommentTimeDec 9th 2007
My favourites? or What I think are the most importants?
- CommentAuthorplindboe
- CommentTimeDec 9th 2007
Interesting choices. Think I'll give the sky captain another listen, as I haven't really grown attached to it.

My list would look something like this:

1.WILD AFRICA (Gunning)
2.SINBAD-THE LEGEND OF THE SEVEN SEAS (Gregson-Williams)
3.IL CUORE NEL POZZO (Morricone)
4.THE LAST SAMURAI (Zimmer)
5.LOTR-FOTR (Shore)
6.MISSION TO MARS (Morricone)
7.THE CLAIM (Nyman)
8.CHICKEN RUN (Powell & Gregson-Williams)
9.THE MISTS OF AVALON (Holdridge)
10.GLADIATOR (Zimmer)

Peter
- CommentAuthorMartijn
- CommentTimeDec 9th 2007
??? Where did my post go?
'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
- CommentAuthorplindboe
- CommentTimeDec 9th 2007
Martijn, your post is here-> http://www.maintitles.net/forum/discuss … e/#Item_19

Erik started a new thread.

Peter
- CommentAuthorMartijn
- CommentTimeDec 9th 2007
Thanks Peter.
'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
- CommentAuthorErik Woods
- CommentTimeDec 10th 2007
BUMP!

-Erik-
host and executive producer of THE CINEMATIC SOUND RADIO PODCAST | www.cinematicsound.net | www.facebook.com/cinematicsound | I HAVE TINNITUS!
- CommentAuthorfranz_conrad
- CommentTimeDec 10th 2007
I must post my own. Will do this tonight. I kept a list back at scorereviews.com which I've now forgotten!
A butterfly thinks therefore I am
- CommentAuthorMartijn
- CommentTimeDec 10th 2007
I'll just do a quick CTRL-C/CTRL-V then.

OK. here we go: top 5 shortlist per year (and it's been hard cutting some favourites out in preference of others! )

Personal bests of 2000
Czas Cyganow - Goran Bregovic
Dinosaur - James Newton Howard
Chicken Run - John Powell / Harry Gregson-Williams
Jaws - John Williams (McNeely rerecording)
Gladiator - Hans Zimmer

Personal bests of 2001
A Knight's Tale - Carter Burwell
The Mists Of Avalon - Lee Holdridge
Fellowship Of The Ring - Howard Shore
The Shipping News - Christopher Young
Black Hawk Down - Hans Zimmer

Personal bests of 2002
Die Another Day - David Arnold
The Touch - Basil Poledouris
Road To Perdition - Thomas Newman
Frida - Elliot Goldenthal (even though it's mostly folk songs)
Kilimanjaro - Alan Williams

Personal bests of 2003
Ned Kelly - Klaus Badelt
Stara Basn - Krzesimir Debski
S.W.A.T. - Elliot Goldenthal
Paycheck - John Powell
Johnny English - Edward Shearmur
Shade - Christopher Young

Personal bests of 2004
Resident Evil: APocalypse - Jeff Danna
The Incredibles - Michael Giacchino
House Of Flying Daggers - Shigeru Umebayashi
The Bourne Supremacy - John Powell
Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban - John Williams

Personal bests of 2005
The Legend Of Zorro - James Horner
Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire - Patrick Doyle
The Promise - Klaus Badelt
Revenge Of The Sith - John Williams
Mr. & Mrs. Smith - John Powell

Personal bests of 2006
Doctor Who - Murray Gold (TV score)
Tokyo Drift - Brian Tyler
The Nativity Stor - Mychael Danna
Superman Returns - John Ottman
Dead Man's Chest - Hans Zimmer

Personal bests of 2007 (so far)
...nothing yet... (but obviously there's a lot I haven't heard).

Now, I'm gonna let this sink in for a while, and then try and compile a Top Ten...
'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
- CommentAuthorErik Woods
- CommentTimeDec 10th 2007
Interesting choices... but I wouldn't include JAWS as best score of 2000. I understand what you are saying that it is one of your favorite albums in 2000 but we are talking about scores written within the decade.

-Erik-
host and executive producer of THE CINEMATIC SOUND RADIO PODCAST | www.cinematicsound.net | www.facebook.com/cinematicsound | I HAVE TINNITUS!
- CommentAuthorMartijn
- CommentTimeDec 10th 2007
Yeah, you're absolutely right.
And while I did write it down initially, I thought I took it out later for exactly the same reason you mentioned. Well, apparently something went wrong. I probably deleted the wrong entry.

I'll recheck and adjust.
'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
- CommentAuthorTimmer
- CommentTimeDec 10th 2007
On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt
- CommentAuthormoviescore
- CommentTimeDec 10th 2007
Here are ten quick picks from me:

- Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (Edward Shearmur)
- Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (Elliot Goldenthal)
- I, Robot (Marco Beltrami)
- Far From Heaven (Elmer Bernstein)
- The Sum of All Fears (Jerry Goldsmith)
- Spider-Man 3 (Christopher Young)
- War of the Worlds (John Williams)
- Catch Me If You Can (John Williams)
- Signs (James Newton Howard)
- Fellowhip of the Ring (Howard Shore)
- CommentAuthorBobdH
- CommentTimeDec 10th 2007 edited
Mmm... These are my Top 10 picks of the decade so far:

1. Howard Shore - The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003)
2. John Debney - The Passion of the Christ (2004)
3. Clint Mansell - The Fountain (2006)
4. Hans Zimmer - The Da Vinci Code (2006)
5. Javier Navarrete - El Laberinto del Fauno (2006)
6. John Williams - AI: Artificial Intelligence (2001)
7. Harry Gregson-Williams - Spy Game (2001)
8. James Newton Howard - Unbreakable (2000)
9. John Powell - The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
10. Elliot Goldenthal - Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)

Honorable mentions: John Powell - United 93 (2006), Cliff Martinez - Solaris (2002).
- CommentAuthorNautilus
- CommentTimeDec 10th 2007
a top 10!! WoW! here I go....

1-The Da Vinci Code
2-Lost
3-Final Fantasy Spiri Within.
4-Bourne Supremacy
5-Lair
6-At world's End.
7-The Passion of Christ
8-Signs
9-Memoirs of a Geisha
10-The Fountain.

Honorable Mentions: Hellboy, Chiken Run, Solaris, Dinosaur, Birth , Polar Express and Ratatouille.

The Most Influential:

Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Bourne Identity, Lord of The Rings
- CommentAuthorfranz_conrad
- CommentTimeDec 10th 2007 edited
Some favourites from the decade:
- Signs (James Newton Howard)
- Birth (Alexandre Desplat)
- Mission to Mars (Ennio Morricone) (Fateless also)
- AI, Artificial Intelligence (John Williams) (Most of his scores, to be honest - Memoirs, Azkaban, Munich, Terminal, and others are all highlights)
- The Dancer Upstairs (Alberto Iglesias) (Sex and Lucia also)
- Final Fantasy or Titus (Elliot Goldenthal)
- Angels in America (Thomas Newman) (The Good German and Road to Perdition also)
- Troy (Gabriel Yared)
- The Black Dahlia (Mark Isham)
- Enduring Love (Jeremy Sams)
- Planet Earth (George Fenton) (Deep Blue also)
- Punchdrunk Love (Jon Brion) (just had to get something light-heated onto this list!)
- Solaris (Cliff Martinez)
- Spanglish (Zimmer)
- The New Moon in the Old Moon's Arms (Kamen)
- On the Beach (Christopher Gordon) (his Commonwealth Games music is great too)
- The Caveman's Valentine (Terence Blanchard)
- Mists of Avalon (Holdridge)
- Return of the King (Shore)
- Zodiac (Shire)

And crazy as it sounds, I think my favourite single track from the decade for me at the moment comes from one is otherwise of the worst arthouse scores, and is probably the least worthy Oscar-winner of the decade. 'Endless Flight' by Gustavo Santaolalla from BABEL.
A butterfly thinks therefore I am
- CommentAuthorNautilus
- CommentTimeDec 10th 2007
franz_conrad wrote
- AI, Artificial Intelligence (John Williams) (Most of his scores, to be honest - Memoirs, Azkaban, Munich, Terminal, and others are all highlights)
.

Yes....When I tried to remember the best of this decade I really had in mind a lot of Williams scores. In fact I think this has been one of his best decade. Because This last years he tried to investigate, to innovate to go out of his confort zone.

A.I, Azkaban, Memoirs of a geisha,Revenge of the sith are his highlights but also....Munich (Very visceral), Terminal or catch me if you can (very, very fresh) or even War of the Worlds ( I don't like it, but at least is dark and dissonant )
- CommentAuthormoviescore
- CommentTimeDec 10th 2007
I just realized I should have included at least one or two Marianelli scores in my list... probably Pride and Prejudice and Atonement.
- CommentAuthorDemonStar
- CommentTimeDec 10th 2007
My personal favourites:

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Howard Shore)
Dinosaur (James Newton Howard)
King Kong (James Newton Howard)
Atlantis: The Lost Empire (James Newton Howard)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (John Williams)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Patrick Doyle)
Van Helsing (Alan Silvestri)
The Mummy Returns (Alan Silvestri)
Superman Returns (John Ottman)
PoTC: At World's End (Hans Zimmer)
Gladiator (Hans Zimmer)
Spiderman 1 and 2 (Danny Elfman)
Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (Harry Gregson-Williams)
Kingdom of Heaven (Harry Gregson-Williams)
Troy rejected (Gabriel Yared)

JNH is an all time fav of mine :D
- CommentAuthorMartijn
- CommentTimeDec 10th 2007 edited
OK, for 2007 I've added
Personal bests of 2007
Doctor Who Volume 2 - Murray Gold (TV score)
AT World's End - Hans Zimmer
3:10 to Yuma - Marco Beltrami

And from that list and my previous entries I've tried to compile a top ten...but I can't do it.
I simply can't get below 12 without negating essential aspects of what *I* consider "good".

So here then, is my top 12 of this decade so far.
As we all know these things tend to change over time due to new insights, or new discoveries, or something simply wearing out its welcome. However, I think this list may be pretty consistent for me, with scores only being added rather than changed or dropped.

3:10 to Yuma - Marco Beltrami (2007)
(A very clever take on a genre that's been dead for decades now. This is one of those scores that will become pivotal...or forgotten. Guess we'll see in a year's time, whether it'll still make my list. It's the one I'm currently least sure of.)
Black Hawk Down - Hans Zimmer (2001)
(Defended this score as Zimmer's best many, many times. Brutal, vicious, and uncompromising. The best war soundtrack ever.)
The Bourne Supremacy - John Powell (2004)
(Powell pretty much made the action genre his personal own with this score. Not one single note doesn't ring true or has no function. Excellent work.)
Chicken Run - John Powell / Harry Gregson-Williams ) (2000)
(Funniest score ever. Any music that makes me smile *throughout* is on the list. And STAYS on the list.)
Doctor Who - Murray Gold (TV score) (2006)
(Best TV score since The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, and a complete surprise! Varied and intelligent this score runs the whole gamut of emotions and as such may be one of the most interesting and coherent listens I've had in a looooong while!)
Fellowship Of The Ring - Howard Shore (2001)
(What can I say that hasn't been said a thousand times before? A masterpiece and magnus opus in the best sense of the word. If people don't get it now, they probably never will.)
House Of Flying Daggers - Shigeru Umebayashi (2004)
(Exquisite. Just exquisite. May well become my pick for best score of the decade. It's just all so delicate. No note seems out of place. No phrase without meaning. A beautiful, wonderful piece of work.)
The Legend Of Zorro - James Horner (2005)
(Horner's most exciting and energetic work in many years. The adrenalin flows from moment one and doesn't let up until 74 fire-filled minutes have passed. Eso es! Ole! )
Revenge Of The Sith - John Williams (2005)
(Williams back in true form with the score that -in my opinion- most closely resembles the mood and feel of the Original Holy Trilogy. A lack of new themes is well balanced by melodic phrasing and some of the best darkly epic and action music out there in ages.)
Road To Perdition - Thomas Newman (2002)
(One of those scores that inflicts itself on you. I can't help being drawn in by some of the most magical, outworldish and strange compositions I've ever heard. Not conventional in any way, it still hits every single right button.)
Shade - Christopher Young (2003)
(Young does cool jazz, and he does it the way we haven't heard since Schifrin in the early seventies. It's swinging, it's cool and all in all it's just a fucking exciting score. Absolutely spot-on in feel and tone. Excellent!)
S.W.A.T. - Elliot Goldenthal (2003)
(And just when I'd written off Goldenthal's quirky, very proprietary style as "not for me", he comes up with one of the finest action scores (with a twist and a wink) ever. Huge, bombastic to the point of operatic and fantastic, this is something that works on *every* level!)
'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
- CommentAuthorLSH
- CommentTimeDec 10th 2007 edited
My favourites (in no particular order):

Signs - James Newton Howard
Dinosaur - James Newton Howard
King Kong - James Newton Howard
Lady In The Water - James Newton Howard
Hidalgo - James Newton Howard (OK, I'll stop here )
The Passion Of The Christ - John Debney
The Lord Of The Rings - Howard Shore
Spy Game - Harry Gregson-Williams
Veronica Guerin - Harry Gregson-Williams
Gladiator - Hans Zimmer
The Last Samurai - Hans Zimmer
Road To Perdition - Thomas Newman
The Mummy Returns - Alan Silvestri
The Perfect Storm - James Horner
Paycheck - John Powell
The Bourne Supremacy - John Powell
- CommentAuthorThomas Glorieux
- CommentTimeDec 10th 2007
1. LOTR: The Two Towers Howard Shore
2. LOTR: The Return of the King Howard Shore
3. LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring Howard Shore
4. Chicken Run John Powell & Harry Gregson-Williams
5. Deep Blue George Fenton
6. Medal of Honor: Frontline Michael Giacchino
7. The Promise Klaus Badelt
8. The Da Vinci Code Hans Zimmer
9. The Core Christopher Young
10. Angels in America Thomas Newman

reason because LOTR is found in the top 3 is because music of this scope, size and theme has not been written in a long time, and alongside Star Wars and other classics this will stand the test of time, no matter how brilliant all the rest is
waaaaaahhhhhhhh!!! Where's my nut? arrrghhhhhhh
- CommentAuthorJoep
- CommentTimeDec 10th 2007
Martijn wrote
If people don't get it now, they probably never will.

Indeed
- CommentAuthorJoep
- CommentTimeDec 10th 2007
In no particular order;

Kenji Kawai - Avalon (2002)
Reinhold Heil & Johnny Klimek - One Hour Photo (2002)
Alberto Iglesias - Pasos de Baile (2002)
Bruno Coulais - La PlanÃ¨te Blanche (2006)
Johan SÃ¶derqvist - Efter Brylluppet (2006)
Jan A.P. Kaczmarek - Quo Vadis (2001)
Eleni Karaindrou - Trilogia I: To Livadi Pou Dakryzei (2004)
Kenji Kawai - KÃ´kaku KidÃ´tai 2: Inosensu (2004)
Lisa Gerrard - Whale Rider (2002)
Slvian - Bin-Jip (2004)

So many to consider.... I might actually replace these 10 with 10 other legendary scores.
- CommentAuthorThomas Glorieux
- CommentTimeDec 10th 2007
Joep wrote
In no particular order;

Kenji Kawai - Avalon (2002)
Reinhold Heil & Johnny Klimek - One Hour Photo (2002)
Alberto Iglesias - Pasos de Baile (2002)
Bruno Coulais - La PlanÃ¨te Blanche (2006)
Johan SÃ¶derqvist - Efter Brylluppet (2006)
Jan A.P. Kaczmarek - Quo Vadis (2001)
Eleni Karaindrou - Trilogia I: To Livadi Pou Dakryzei (2004)
Kenji Kawai - KÃ´kaku KidÃ´tai 2: Inosensu (2004)
Lisa Gerrard - Whale Rider (2002)
Slvian - Bin-Jip (2004)

So many to consider.... I might actually replace these 10 with 10 other legendary scores.

wow Joep, you've given me a selection of which I know only 2 of
I still expected to see a Craig Armstrong one in that
waaaaaahhhhhhhh!!! Where's my nut? arrrghhhhhhh
- CommentAuthorDemetris
- CommentTimeDec 10th 2007
I know 7 from Joep's list!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I even have them!
Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders.
- CommentAuthorTimmer
- CommentTimeDec 10th 2007
Joep wrote
In no particular order;

Kenji Kawai - Avalon (2002)
Reinhold Heil & Johnny Klimek - One Hour Photo (2002)
Alberto Iglesias - Pasos de Baile (2002)
Bruno Coulais - La PlanÃ¨te Blanche (2006)
Johan SÃ¶derqvist - Efter Brylluppet (2006)
Jan A.P. Kaczmarek - Quo Vadis (2001)
Eleni Karaindrou - Trilogia I: To Livadi Pou Dakryzei (2004)
Kenji Kawai - KÃ´kaku KidÃ´tai 2: Inosensu (2004)
Lisa Gerrard - Whale Rider (2002)
Slvian - Bin-Jip (2004)

So many to consider.... I might actually replace these 10 with 10 other legendary scores.

10 other "legendary" scores??
On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt
- CommentAuthorThomas Glorieux
- CommentTimeDec 10th 2007
Christodoulides wrote
I know 7 from Joep's list!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I even have them!

my god, and I'm supposed to be the reviewer here
I know jack here
waaaaaahhhhhhhh!!! Where's my nut? arrrghhhhhhh
- CommentAuthorMartijn
- CommentTimeDec 10th 2007
He meant 10 actual legendary scores, as opposed to these ten which he's actually made up on the spot.
'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
- CommentAuthorTimmer
- CommentTimeDec 10th 2007
Martijn wrote
He meant 10 actual legendary scores, as opposed to these ten which he's actually made up on the spot.

Of course! Thank goodness your here bud, I'd be contiinually suckered otherwise.
On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt

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Top 10 Scores of the 2000's