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Yeah. I just hope the 'celebratory' pieces aren't relegated to older film music alone -- and that this film music season of theirs (which is to be applauded!) can showcase some of the brilliant new stuff too.

Well said Alan.

What you said about those love themes is true.
Indeed there are some similarities between the Williams-phenomenon of the late 70s and early 80s and the Zimmer-phenomenon of recent years. Producers were craving that block-buster-music sound back then as they are now. Of course Willliams was riding the tiger just the way Zimmer does today.
But further comparisons between Williams and Zimmer will lead astray. Starting from his background and composing techniques he compares much better with Vangelis.

Volker

Ah, I see.

Perhaps it was groundbreaking not have used a steel guitar?

I assumed that your suggestion was something more than a variety in the orchestration. If someone of the stature of James Horner is highlighting that they are all the same, I for one will take note and assume that there is something to the statement.

The fact that it has something supposedly never done before doesn't necessarily mean it's good. What matters is how you use that idea, and personally I don't think Zimmer's Man of Steel is a particularly interesting score - even if it does have a steel guitar.

Although I concede to your point about Williams' scores being very similar in their structure, and probably hard to differentiate between them from a non-fan perspective, I think it hardly matters given that they are all truly excellent scores with truly excellent themes. The themes are all memorable, and they all work extremely well, which to my mind far outweighs the supposed con of relying on a more traditional approach and not trying something new.

For doing something new, my vote unequivocally goes to Remember Me.

I don't think the question is whether it did, but whether it worked.
The mere use of an instrument doesn't define the effectiveness of a score.
At the end of the day it's whether it properly supports the visuals (which goes to the 'media-centric' point of view) or whether it's memorable musically (which would be the 'pure music' approach).

Using "quirky" or offbeat instruments in a score is by no means new (I have heard solo mouth harp scores, percussion scores, organ scores and of course when you talk quirky instrumentation then Thomas Newman ("sponge and broken glass") or John Powell (kazoo!) are WAY more distinctive.

But I guess it's neither here nor there: the human brain (or to be more nuanced: the occidental human brain) is keyed on repetitive and recognisable patterns. If ONLY for that reason, melodic scores like Williams will stick FAR longer in the brain -whether conscious ("I can whistle this tune") or subconscious ("I KNOW this tune!")- than Zimmer's soundscape work on Man Of Steel.

It's not a matter of preference.
You're perfectly welcome to love the Man Of Steel score and to heap Williams' works together (heck, I've heard worse: I know of a bloke who only listens to hardcore trance because he can't stand any kind of melody line or harmony ("it all sounds the same!").), but at the end of the day that's merely a preference.

When we're talking about melodic and harmonic qualities or complexity of composition -which i guess we are- then it's a different matter. These are measurable qualities.
And in that measure the score for Man of Steel is simply outclassed.
Which is OK.
It doesn't need to be what it never set out to be.

Besides, we've heard a comparable lament (although certainly less loudly!) during the late fifties up to the late seventies when pop influences started invading score composing and music, critically, was "dumbing down to four chords on a guitar". And then Williams came along and pretty much singlehandedly redefined the field to more reactionary format once more.

And now we have the two note electronically altered soundscaping craze.
Me? I'm just riding that wave until the next Williams comes along and evreyone realises that, hey, you know what? A fantastically thematic score with full orchestra sounds REALLY good!

It's statement that requires qualification, I guess: I'm pretty sure Horner means there's no distinct personality. But that development started way earlier than Zimmer.
In fact, I can't think of a single other (regular) superhero film or series since (Elfman's) Batman where I'd be able to hum his or her theme (in the sense of a proper bar or twelve. Not that old 'two-note' chestnut argument).

No, I enjoyed the read, no need to apologize.

But your penultimate post to mine supports my original point...where you mention not being able to hum any superhero themes since Elfman-Batman...it all depends on what type of music your brain is best at analyzing. I still can't remember how the Indiana Jones love theme goes, or Elfman's Batman theme for that matter, but I have had at least 4 (no, 5, actually) emminently hummable themes from Man of Steel stuck in my head all summer, and all of them are much longer than 2 notes.

NP: THE VILLAGE (James Newton Howard)

I've never been a big fan of JNH's Shyamalan scores, but I decided to get this after many recommendations. Let's see how it plays out.

James Horner.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this one.

I'm probably biased due to enjoying the games, but I find Gary Schyman's action/horror music for the Bioshock series to be absolutely delicious.

Probably something to do with the fact that you've been listening to that score recently and haven't really listened to those other scores very much. The love theme from Raiders is one of those tunes which is always in my head, but I can't remember a damn thing about Man O' Steel (except that I was bored by it), because, shockingly, I don't listen to it.

My point exactly.