[KMCG]

Regarding the original thread question, I discovered Horner quite early, as I was really starting to delve deeper into movie scores, having been introduced by John Williams via JAWS, STAR WARS, CE3K, SUPERMAN etc and then Jerry Goldsmith with ST-TMP and ALIEN.
I’d recently seen BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS and MONSTER (aka HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP) in the cinema and bought the LPs based on the exciting new voice/pastiche music I’d heard in the films.
Seeing (and hearing) things like THE HAND, WOLFEN, DEADLY BLESSING only added to my growing love of his music. ST2, GORKY PARK, KRULL, BRAINSTORM had me grabbing everything I could by him on LP and lamenting the stuff I couldn’t (48HRS, SOMETHING WICKED, TESTAMENT, DRESSER, NATTY GANN etc).
I like that his voice was singular and unique, despite his constant cribbing and re-use. You either love it or you don’t.
He’s right up there in my Top 3, always behind Williams but about level with Jerry Goldsmith in overall love of his music (and more so with my growing disdain for JG in his latter/post 90s years and awful synth use from time to time).
I was in the shower, getting ready for work, when Classic FM played a piece by him and the announcer stated that was in tribute to James Horner, who had died in a light aircraft accident in California.
I was gutted!! Put me in a downer mood all day.
The shock aspect made it worse than the likes of Goldsmith, Barry, Bernstein etc. Like Kamen and Poledouris, he was still young and appeared to have so many great years before him for music writing.
Picking a Top 5 in nigh impossible and subject to change from day to day, BUT…right now, in THIS moment, I would grab WOLFEN, KRULL, TESTAMENT, PROJECT X and GLORY (or MIGHTY JOE YOUNG).