Movie soundtracks (1 Viewer)

[Dick]

James Horner is my favourite composer. I have over 80 of his scores. I love film music, it is my # 1 musical love (U2 are a close second)
I have 400+ scores and it is the most remarkable genre of music. I can taste any style and flavor the world over through film scores! But Horner is my clear favourite, with his scores for Aliens, Four Feathers, Glory and Wrath of Khan being my faves of his.
I could talk about film scores all day

Film scores have been described as the "classical music of today." While the structure is different (short cues rather than longer movements), I absolutely agree that the better orchestral scores are indeed the evolved form of their musical predecessors. I lament not having the likes of Debussy and Wagner and Tchaikovsky create new works during our lives, but we have their music for all time, and in their stead (and heavily influenced by them) come the Miklos Rozsa's and Jerry Goldsmith's and John Williams' of our generation. Even heard apart from the visuals of the films for which they were composed, the good scores affect us profoundly. I own several thousand film soundtracks, and I have only to choose one appropriate to the mood I wish to be in, close my eyes, and be whisked away to a desirable place or memory. How we humans have relied on music for comfort all these many centuries! Emotionally, where would we be without it?

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

Film scores have been described as the "classical music of today." While the structure is different (short cues rather than longer movements), I absolutely agree that the better orchestral scores are indeed the evolved form of their musical predecessors. I lament not having the likes of Debussy and Wagner and Tchaikovsky create new works during our lives, but we have their music for all time, and in their stead (and heavily influenced by them) come the Miklos Rozsa's and Jerry Goldsmith's and John Williams' of our generation. Even heard apart from the visuals of the films for which they were composed, the good scores affect us profoundly. I own several thousand film soundtracks, and I have only to choose one appropriate to the mood I wish to be in, close my eyes, and be whisked away to a desirable place or memory. How we humans have relied on music for comfort all these many centuries! Emotionally, where would we be without it?

It's funny you quoting such an old post of mine. Since 2007 my score collection has grown considerably from the 400 I quoted then (I am approaching 1700 now) but my favorites haven't changed. Horner is still my absolute favorite, though I would now add his Pas De Deux (a double concerto for violin, cello and orchestra) that he composed before his death (which I still haven't quite come to terms with).

Over the years I have expanded my appreciation for many more composers and have greatly grown my collection of Miklós Rózsa scores - and I am all the better for it.

But I agree with your post, Dick. The influences of the great classical composers ripples through film score composition - and that a good collection of scores can provide the accompaniment to any mood and any place from around the world!

 

[Dick]

It's funny you quoting such an old post of mine. Since 2007 my score collection has grown considerably from the 400 I quoted then (I am approaching 1700 now) but my favorites haven't changed. Horner is still my absolute favorite, though I would now add his Pas De Deux (a double concerto for violin, cello and orchestra) that he composed before his death (which I still haven't quite come to terms with).

Over the years I have expanded my appreciation for many more composers and have greatly grown my collection of Miklós Rózsa scores - and I am all the better for it.

But I agree with your post, Dick. The influences of the great classical composers ripples through film score composition - and that a good collection of scores can provide the accompaniment to any mood and any place from around the world!

It takes me a while to catch up on many of threads on this forum. I, too, love Horner's music (my favorite of his scores is THE JOURNEY OF NATTY GANN). Haven't yet heard his concerto -- will have to seek that out.

It's hard to keep up with the excellent composers of modern films, but I now religiously follow the careers of Alexandre Desplat, Michael Giacchino, Gabriel Yared and a dozen others. I think what distinguises excellence in current scores is the (increasingly unpopular) use of silence. Movies (even animated ones) do not have to be scored wall-to-wall, which the classic composers certainly understood. Scoring needs to be judicial. Look at any of Bernard Herrmann's or Miklos Rozsa's scores and you will typically see that the soundtrack music times out at 50% or less of the film's running time. If a movie absolutely has to have music from the first minute to the last, then the film is not as good as it needs to be.

 

[Carabimero]

Horner is still my absolute favorite

I just got through listening to virtually every score James Horner ever composed (except his final score for THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN). It was for a project I worked on, but needless to say, I enjoyed it. Don't know the exact number but I think it was more than 100 scores.

 

[Citizen87645]

John Carpenter's Lost Themes II: http://www.npr.org/2016/03/28/472166991/first-listen-john-carpenter-lost-themes-ii

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

John Carpenter's Lost Themes II: http://www.npr.org/2016/03/28/472166991/first-listen-john-carpenter-lost-themes-ii

I have this on order and from the first listen, it is a little more cohesive than Lost Themes (I) which I very much enjoyed. Thanks for posting this!

 

[Eve Babcock]

I've always loved the soundtrack of Breaking Dawn Part 2.

 

[Scott-S]

This is a pretty neat thread. Even though it is pretty old.

I own a number of soundtracks, most of them are the type with various artists. Like Dirty Dancing, Top Gun, Pretty in Pink, Footloose, Grease, Good Morning Vietnam, etc.

I also own compilation albums from John Williams and Danny Elfman. But my 3 favorite soundtracks are:

The Music of Cosmos
A Clockwork Orange
Electric Dreams ( I really like Jeff Lynne and Giorgio Moroder)
I went through a phase in life where I really like synthesizer music.

I also have a number of Erich Kunzel albums that are basically re-imagining of famous movie (and classical) music. But I doubt that counts here.

 

[Alf S]

I've been revisiting some soundtracks on Spotify and a few I've come to enjoy are: Dances with Wolves, Rudy, Blade Runner and a handful of others.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Don't you just love it when your holy grail actually materializes?

 

[TravisR]

^ I was shocked that that had never come out before. Given the stature of the movie and of Goldsmith, I figured that was something that had an expanded release 15 years ago.

 

[Lord Dalek]

^ I was shocked that that had never come out before. Given the stature of the movie and of Goldsmith, I figured that was something that had an expanded release 15 years ago.

Apparently the stereo session tapes are long gone along with a rather large chunk of Goldsmith's pre-1978 output. Happily he saved a complete mono recording.

 

[Tetracom Beograd]

My friend, please make some addition to your amazing list. It's about a masterpiece of Bernardo Bertolucci - The Novecento (1900) and the soundtrack music by Enio Morricone. Kill me if I am wrong

Does anyone else have a passion for movie soundtracks?

I think they are the modern equivalent to classical music.

Some of my favourites (and i have many different movie genres) are:

Dances with Wolves (John Barry won an Oscar)

Van Helsing

The Mummy

Blade Runner

Vangelis (themes)

Romeo is Bleeding (Mark Isham)

Fifth Element (Eric Serra)

The Messenger (Eric Serra)

La Femme Nikita (Eric Serra)

The Professional (Eric Serra)

The Prisoner (3 disc tv series)

The Saint (both soundtracks)

Master and Commander Far Side of the World

A Beautiful Mind

A.I.

Star Wars series (John Williams)

Harry Potter series

King Kong (John Barry)

Battlestar Galactica series (original and remakes tv)

The Sopranos (tv series)

Ronin

Lord of the Rings series

Replacement Killers

Black Hawk Down (Hans Zimmer)

Gladiator (Hans Zimmer)

MI-2 (Hans Zimmer)

Bourne Identity and Supremacy

Tears of the Sun (Hans Zimmer)

Pirates of the Carribean Dead Mans Chest (Hans Zimmer)

Pirates of the Carribean Black Pearl

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

Catch Me if You Can (John Williams)

The Passion of the Christ

Vertigo (Bernard Herrmann)

North by Northwest (Bernard Herrmann)

Day the Earth Stood Still (Bernard Herrmann)

Thin Red Line (Hans Zimmer)

Thief (Tangerine Dream)

Ghost in the Shell

The Avengers

Alexander (Vangelis)

Kingdom of Heaven

Patriot Games

Moby I like to Score

Amelie

Life Aquatic

Rob Roy

Well, thats most of the ones I took with me in cd cases when I recently moved over a thousand miles away, after my mother's passing in May.

Does anyone else collect soundtrack's? I have been for many years and have many more (just cant think of them).

I find this music (with no lyrics mostly-the orchestral scores) to be relaxing and unwinding and with many different moods (themes) to choose from. No lyrics like rock albums that sometimes have lyrics you cant make out or understand.

 

[Mikael Soderholm]

This is a pretty neat thread. Even though it is pretty old.

I own a number of soundtracks, most of them are the type with various artists. Like Dirty Dancing, Top Gun, Pretty in Pink, Footloose, Grease, Good Morning Vietnam, etc.

I also own compilation albums from John Williams and Danny Elfman. But my 3 favorite soundtracks are:

The Music of Cosmos
A Clockwork Orange
Electric Dreams ( I really like Jeff Lynne and Giorgio Moroder)
I went through a phase in life where I really like synthesizer music.

I also have a number of Erich Kunzel albums that are basically re-imagining of famous movie (and classical) music. But I doubt that counts here.

Funny you should mention Danny Elfman. Although his music most often fit really well with the Tim Burton movies he scores, it's normally not something I'd buy and listen to on its own, unlike, say, Thomas Newman, who is one of my absolute favorites, someone I almost blind-buy. So it was an unexpected surprise when I watched Big Eyes and thought, hmmm, has Thomas Newman scored a Tim Burton movie? Turned out he hadn't, it was still Elfman, but I was not the only one noticing the Newman vibes:
http://www.soundtrackdreams.com/2015/01/soundtrack-review-big-eyes-danny-elfman-2014/
http://www.soundtrackgeek.com/v2/soundtrack-review-big-eyes/
So just as I was ready to actually buy my first Elfman recording, it turns out it is a digital release only (except for some promo CDs given away at the premiere), and I am mostly a physical media guy myself, still, so I still don't own any Elfman records
Pity, because the soundtrack also features two new excellent tracks by Lana del rey.

 

[Ryanlion]

Det Var Paa Rundetaarn

 

[MatM]

I have always enjoyed the Big Blue soundtrack: by Eric Serra. That paradise island, ocean, beach vibe is right up my street. One track was my ringtone for a few years.

Also enjoyed the soundtrack to O Brother Where Art Thou.

Quentin Tarantino has great taste in music, so I have also spent a lot of time listening to the ones from Jackie Brown, Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction - although they are compilations of old music so I don't know if that counts?

I think Prince's Purple Rain and Sign O The Times albums were made as movies, both very high on my favorite albums list.

Brian Eno's Apollo should probably be classed as a soundtrack as lots of films have used various tracks from it, like Trainspotting.

I tried a compilation from Ennio Morricone once as I love things like the Good, The Bad and the Ugly. But it didnt stick. I also tried Phlip Glass and hated it. Will have a Youtube search for James Horner as I dont know his name and he seems well loved here.

 

[Bryan^H]

Release date-12/9/16. Oh man, I can't wait to splice this with the musical score to make the ultimate Fright Night compilation!

 

[Rodney]

John Carpenter's Lost Themes II: http://www.npr.org/2016/03/28/472166991/first-listen-john-carpenter-lost-themes-ii

I have this on order and from the first listen, it is a little more cohesive than Lost Themes (I) which I very much enjoyed. Thanks for posting this!

I am very late to the party on this. I just found out yesterday about this, and JC's first one, Lost Themes (which I am listening to as I type this out. Great stuff.



And here is something else I just found out about and immediately ordered online, (which is why I originally came to this thread):

 

[kaleb dukes]

The Fountain OST (Clint Mansell). My favorite sound track

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

The Fountain OST (Clint Mansell). My favorite sound track

That's an incredible soundtrack, one of my all-time favorites now. "Death is the Road to Awe" is a stellar track.