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      CommentAuthorDemetris
    • CommentTimeOct 13th 2010 edited
    PawelStroinski wrote
    Michael Kamen - Band of Brothers

    Both this score and its series are masterpieces. Honorable Americana, restrained classicism, character development.

    While The Pacific (which I listen to alternately with Band of Brothers) is a worse score, I think it's getting a bit unfair bashing due to not being Kamen's level. Well, Kamen's masterpiece is nowhere to reach for Geoff Zanelli and Blake Neely, though we must not forget. Neely *co-orchestrated* on Band of Brothers.

    There come the amazing series and again, somewhat worse Pacific. Pacific had one issue which is basically the general idea, alas. Telling three different (completely different) stories in a coherent series is hard and the writers didn't quite handle it. Even if Band of Brothers has a central character (Doc Roe in Bastogne, Winters in many, Pvt. Webster in The Last Patrol, Nixon in Why We Fight? or Sgt. Lipton in The Breaking Point) it still has a company (Easy Company of 506th Regiment of 101st Airborne Division) as a center of the series. This means that central characters offer a perspective (personal one and Band of Brothers manages to keep it for the whole running time, even if the action scenes are more "general") on the events (doing Battle of the Bulge through a medic's perspective? Brilliant) and the company, The Pacific defines characters through their colleagues (rather colleagues through the character and the other way around at the same time, no it's not a vicious circle). The Pacific through intercutting between America and the line in, say, Peleliu becomes all over the place and thus may lose dramatism once in a while.

    Kamen did a restrained dignified Americana war score, an even more chamber Saving Private Ryan and is actually used better in the series than Williams's score. Zanelli and Neely (Zimmer did only a theme) pulled off an Americana version of The Thin Red Line - also restrained and dignified. The musical worlds are different and interestingly they decided *not* to include ethnic instruments in the score.


    The pacific is a fine spin-off, with some 3-4 very strong pieces but its nowhere near Kamen's themes; they simply don't have Kamen's passion and emotional strength which is in top form in Band of Brothers; i don't think you can easily compare the 2 scores, other than the fact that the Pacific's main theme follows the same formula as Kamen's.
    Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders.
  1. Timmer wrote
    Martijn wrote
    Timmer wrote
    Now then, aside from the main title theme that at one time was famous the world over, there is a secondary theme, Aujourd Hui C'est Toi which has been familiar to British TV viewers for a long long time as the theme to PANORAMA, a heavyweight world and current affairs program.


    Interesting! I didn't know that.
    Thanks for the info and the clips. smile


    You're welcome beer

    Alan or James wave

    Were you familiar with this?

    I was familiar this, Tim. I'd come across the original track when I was looking for the Panorama theme for my mp3 player a while back. I much prefer the short version put together for the current affairs show.

    BTW, these two tracks are the only Lai tracks I have on my player!
    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
  2. 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.
    http://www.filmmusic.pl - Polish Film Music Review Website
    • CommentAuthorTimmer
    • CommentTimeOct 14th 2010
    FalkirkBairn wrote
    Timmer wrote
    Martijn wrote
    Timmer wrote
    Now then, aside from the main title theme that at one time was famous the world over, there is a secondary theme, Aujourd Hui C'est Toi which has been familiar to British TV viewers for a long long time as the theme to PANORAMA, a heavyweight world and current affairs program.


    Interesting! I didn't know that.
    Thanks for the info and the clips. smile


    You're welcome beer

    Alan or James wave

    Were you familiar with this?

    I was familiar this, Tim. I'd come across the original track when I was looking for the Panorama theme for my mp3 player a while back. I much prefer the short version put together for the current affairs show.

    BTW, these two tracks are the only Lai tracks I have on my player!


    Un Homme Et Un Femme is the only Lai score I have.

    I never liked Love Story.
    On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt
  3. Timmer wrote
    NP : THE GOLDEN COMPASS - Alexandre Desplat



    One of those scores I didn't like on first listening but have grown to absolutely love it, more of this for fantasy film scoring please and less of the generic nonsense we've been force fed by MV/RC composers.

    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. smile
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      CommentAuthorDemonStar
    • CommentTimeOct 14th 2010
    Regarding Legend Of The Guardians, I'm not familiar with the exact technical details of the peak levels (decibels etc), but I clearly hear distortion in some of the louder portions of the score (eg: the chorus at the end of My Soldiers, My Sons. I think the recording is otherwise very good, but I wonder why these people feel the need to push the volume meter so high. Fortunately, this is a rare occurence and doesn't spoil the overall listening experience of the score for me. smile
    • CommentAuthorTimmer
    • CommentTimeOct 14th 2010
    NP : HIMALAYA - Bruno Coulais



    Just couldn't help playing this a second day in a row, gorgeous work.
    On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt
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      CommentAuthorDemetris
    • CommentTimeOct 14th 2010
    That and TRAVELLING BIRDS with the wonderful Coulais- Nick Cave songs, are my favorite works by such a brilliant artist like Coulais.
    Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders.
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      CommentAuthorScribe
    • CommentTimeOct 14th 2010
    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.
    I love you all. Never change. Well, unless you want to!
    • CommentAuthorTimmer
    • CommentTimeOct 14th 2010
    Scribe wrote
    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.


    Darn, I've got this somewhere, it's pretty good too, I'll have to dig it out.
    On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt
    • CommentAuthorKatiek
    • CommentTimeOct 14th 2010
    NP: High Road to China by John Barry

    Just lovely -
    • CommentAuthorTimmer
    • CommentTimeOct 15th 2010
    Katiek wrote
    NP: High Road to China by John Barry

    Just lovely -


    As a huge Barry fan this is one of my least favourites.
    On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt
    • CommentAuthorMatt C
    • CommentTimeOct 15th 2010
    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.
    http://unsungfilmscores.blogspot.com/ -- My film/TV/game score review blog
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      CommentAuthorDemetris
    • CommentTimeOct 15th 2010
    Matt C wrote
    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.


    Absolutely loved that score! For anyone who's watched his music all these years, it's no lie that he's the master of modern horror cinema and his influence is all over youngsters, Thank God smile
    Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders.
    • CommentAuthorTimmer
    • CommentTimeOct 15th 2010
    What I most appreciate is that Young makes horror scoring interesting to listen to, more than just stingers and violent music.
    On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt
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      CommentAuthorMartijn
    • CommentTimeOct 15th 2010
    Hawaii Five-O - Morton Stevens

    Excellent! Marvelous! Outstanding!
    This is the kind of music I adore: on the brink of cool jazz, prog jazz, rock and film music.
    A fantastic theme, followed by a variety of very accessible and at times swinging tracks.
    What a great release!
    Five stars! All the way!
    'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
    • CommentAuthorTimmer
    • CommentTimeOct 15th 2010
    Martijn wrote
    Hawaii Five-O - Morton Stevens

    Excellent! Marvelous! Outstanding!
    This is the kind of music I adore: on the brink of cool jazz, prog jazz, rock and film music.
    A fantastic theme, followed by a variety of very accessible and at times swinging tracks.
    What a great release!
    Five stars! All the way!


    I have to be careful with money right nowe but this is at the top of my list for next purchase.
    On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt
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      CommentAuthorDemetris
    • CommentTimeOct 15th 2010
    MICHAEL GIACCHINO - lost the final season

    Some of the best music written for tv in the last 10 years or more. I can't wait to hear what's in the bonus limited edition varese release.
    Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders.
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      CommentAuthorErik Woods
    • CommentTimeOct 15th 2010 edited
    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-
    host and executive producer of THE CINEMATIC SOUND RADIO PODCAST | www.cinematicsound.net | www.facebook.com/cinematicsound | I HAVE TINNITUS!
  4. Been making my way steadily threw "CHiPs" (Volume 3), as I got it yesterday. Better than V2, but still not as good as V1.
    The views and opinions of Ford A. Thaxton are his own and do not necessarily reflect the ones of ANYONE else.
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      CommentAuthorDemetris
    • CommentTimeOct 15th 2010
    McCreary's and Giacchino's tv music for the series mentioned above, is unreachable in the last years, and dare i say more.
    Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders.
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      CommentAuthorErik Woods
    • CommentTimeOct 15th 2010 edited
    Stealing the Me262, Peenamunde, Harz Mountains and The Normandy Coast from Secret Weapons Over Normandy are some of the most ridiculously awesome action cues Giacchino has ever written. IMHO, he has never written a finer score... game or film... well, Ok, I still have an soft spot for the original Medal of Honor. SWON is his second best score. wink

    -Erik-
    host and executive producer of THE CINEMATIC SOUND RADIO PODCAST | www.cinematicsound.net | www.facebook.com/cinematicsound | I HAVE TINNITUS!
    • CommentAuthorAnthony
    • CommentTimeOct 15th 2010
    The original Medal of Honor is bloody brilliant!
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      CommentAuthorErik Woods
    • CommentTimeOct 15th 2010 edited
    ...and so far the new one isn't. I'm not really sure I want to dedicate an hour of my time to this especially with John Frizzell's expanded Alien Resurrection waiting for me to devour! Let's see where this goes...

    -Erik-
    host and executive producer of THE CINEMATIC SOUND RADIO PODCAST | www.cinematicsound.net | www.facebook.com/cinematicsound | I HAVE TINNITUS!
    • CommentAuthorLars
    • CommentTimeOct 15th 2010
    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.
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      CommentAuthorDemetris
    • CommentTimeOct 15th 2010
    Lars wrote
    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.


    All of his BSG installments are spectacular, my favorite is the most dramatic, the 3rd series so far.
    Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders.
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      CommentAuthorErik Woods
    • CommentTimeOct 15th 2010
    Christodoulides wrote
    All of his BSG installments are spectacular, my favorite is the most dramatic, the 3rd series so far.


    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-
    host and executive producer of THE CINEMATIC SOUND RADIO PODCAST | www.cinematicsound.net | www.facebook.com/cinematicsound | I HAVE TINNITUS!
    • CommentAuthorTimmer
    • CommentTimeOct 15th 2010
    I haven't heard any of the Battlestar Galactica music yet and I'm not in any hurry to, i've got too much to listen to.
    On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt
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      CommentAuthorDemetris
    • CommentTimeOct 15th 2010
    Erik Woods wrote
    Christodoulides wrote
    All of his BSG installments are spectacular, my favorite is the most dramatic, the 3rd series so far.


    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...
    Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders.
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      CommentAuthorErik Woods
    • CommentTimeOct 15th 2010
    Timmer wrote
    I haven't heard any of the Battlestar Galactica music yet and I'm not in any hurry to, i've got too much to listen to.


    Take 7 minutes and 51 seconds out of your life and listen to THIS!

    -Erik-
    host and executive producer of THE CINEMATIC SOUND RADIO PODCAST | www.cinematicsound.net | www.facebook.com/cinematicsound | I HAVE TINNITUS!