Composers that you disliked, but now like?
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Thanks for the specs, Gerate…that’s very much useful. I’ll sit down this weekend and think up some 4-5 recommendations that might suit your preference.
I do like Zimmer often but I am not a fan of him like I am of Goldsmith or Williams. He’s good suited for best of playlists. For example I don’t rank GLADIATOR that high althought there are some nice tracks. And I tend to like his earlier stuff more than the newer ones.
Having said that, he does sometimes surprise me. I might be the only person in the world to say this, but my favourite Zimmer score is the small drama comedy SPANGLISH, which is so beautiful and lyrical. Highly recommended.
Do you know his Irish-celtic influenced score to EVERLASTING PIECE? I found that surprising as well.
Alright, first of all it’s important to stress that Zimmer shouldn’t be judged on orchestral chops. That’s not what he’s about (you don’t judge Bob Dylan by how well he writes techno music either). He mostly uses orchestra for colouring. That being said, I would still recommend a largely orchestral score like THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS to you. Sumptously romantic and kinda dark. In a similar vein would be INVINCIBLE.
It’s a shame you don’t go for ethnic colouring, because that is – IMO – where Zimmer is at his very best. BEYOND RANGOON, for example, is one of my top 10 scores of all time.
There’s a lot of variation, modulation and polyphony in THE THIN RED LINE. It’s more minimalist/suggestive than ethnic, really. It’s usually a score liked by those who generally don’t like Zimmer.
There are also the light drama scores, which are again quite orchestral. SPANGLISH and EVERLASTING PEACE were mentioned; I’d also mention NINE MONTHS and AS GOOD AS IT GETS in that vein.
Alright, those are some recommendations. It’s tricky, because your “don’t” list basically included everything that makes Zimmer Zimmer.
Thank you for the easrecommendations.
As you can see in my top 10 in the other thread I mainly aim for symphonic or melodic film scores.Both areas where I would claim, Zimmer is not good at.
And obviously he doesn’t have to be. People are hiring him for something else.And Hans Zimmer usually works in styles which are either completely outside my taste or where I prefer respective excesses from original pop or rock artists. Just like some fans of orchestral music might prefer Stravinsky or Elgar over John Williams.
Basically it is about the music itself. The fact, that it is used in film is secondary. Still that leads often to weird musical comparrisons between composers like Hans Zimmer and John Williams which make musically as much sense as comparing Metallica to Prokofiev. Of course it is possible to compare both musically.
But the argumentation why I should like Metallica when I like Prokofiev might be vastly difficult.Yes, I think it’s important to evaluate a composer on his or her own terms.
Once you do that, and if you still don’t like it, it has more to do with the fact that you don’t like those particular modes.
Fortunately, in the case of Zimmer (and most eclectic film composers), there are many different modes in play. So one might just be lucky and find one that corresponds to your own preferences.
Have reached Mark Isham in my composer collection walkthrough now, a composer I once disliked, but now like. Back in the 90s, I thought he was a one-trick pony — loads of trumpet, jazz and noodlings, which I didn’t care for at the time. But of course, I know better now. Love his synth work, in particular. Playing the groovy-moody THE HITCHER from 1986 as I write this. Have 12 of his albums.
Have a few Ishams and never had him high on my list, too. Didn’t listen to those for quite some time (well, counts for 90% of everything ;-)). Two favorites are SKETCH ARTIST and THE BLACK DALIA.
Not sure if my example counts, but: I first knew of Dave Grusin from his jazz albums, and as a young person teaching himself about jazz, I instinctively knew that I should avoid them. (Jazz was in a weird place in the late ’70s/early ’80s.)
It was only decades later that I learned he wrote the themes to The Girl from UNCLE, The Name of the Game, and It Takes a Thief. And then I heard his scores to Three Days of the Condor, Friends of Eddie Coyle, The Yakuza, the Scorpio Letter, and Assignment: Vienna, and that was it.
I now consider Dave Grusin to be one of the prime architects of late-1960s/early-1970s Hollywood film- and TV-scoring, and rank him with up there with Q, Lalo, Jerry Fielding, and all those other cats.
But I’m still afraid of his jazz albums!
Dave Grusin is an interesting choice, and echoes mine.
Didn’t care for him back when. Simplistic, I thought. But I’ve come to appreciate his skill, and simple can be great. Love scores like AND JUSTICE FOR ALL, AUTHOR! AUTHOR!, BOBBY DEERFIELD, DIVORCE AMERICAN STYLE, FALLING IN LOVE, SELENA, THE CHAMP, THE CURE, THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE, THE GOONIES (obviously, I was born in ’77), THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER, THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR and TOOTSIE.
Never really explored his non-film work, though, other than having noticed — in the corner of my eye — that he did a lot of albums with Lee Ritenour.
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