What are you listening to now?
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I know the movie is a strange, goofy mega box office bomb, but John Barry’s score is one of my favorites. It’s typical 80s Barry, but it’s a mix of everything Barry had to offer in that period, it’s got adventure music, laid back loungy music, sweeping strings, comedic interludes, varied orchestration, lots of different themes and moods… Definitely one of Barry’s finest scores of the decade.
One of those films I rented on VHS with my mates back in the early 90s. Everyone speaks about how bad it is, but I remember liking it at the time. Haven’t dared to rewatch, though. I remember sampling the score awhile back, and liking some of the Levay/Dolby material, less enthused with the Barry.
I love the Barry score, one of his finest.
I think one must remember that the movie was a very expensive prestige production, so maybe the stakes were high and hence the reviews were worse.
Interesting concept album, obviously inspired by (and led in) my Mussorgsky.
New music by Don Davis, Bill Conti, Marc Shaiman, Anna Newman, Marco Beltrami, Ihab Darwish, Michael Dana, Harry Gregson-Williams, Jeff Beal, Michael Abels…Yes, I’d like to check out that. They’ve released tracks peacemeal throughout, what, a year or so? A bit of PR overkill, if you ask me. So plenty of time to register on my radar. Remains to be seen if the music is as great as the buzz.
William Ross’s own compositions definitely bear the hallmark of John Williams, for which he often orchestrates, but in a good way. He’s more “immediate”, somehow. This is a fine effort, as are his works, usually (other favs include STEEL MAGNOLIAS and IN MY DREAMS).
I have a few Ross scores that as usual I haven’t listened to for “ages”. But they are labeled as “liked them” 😉
Getting a lot of play on the streaming apps:
Austin Wintory’s Sword of the Sea – it won the Grammy for best video game score, and I do think it’s better than Expedition 33.
Frieren – The Journey Continues by Evan Call (this is a preview release of the full album due out in April, pre-ordered the CD).
Heated Rivalry – Peter Peter (A lot of electronic elements here – but a solid score that works great in the show)
Orwell 2+2=5 – Alexei Aigui
Octopath Traveler II (exception game score)
nirvanna the band the show the movie the score (this is a loving tribute to Silvestri’s Back to the Future)
On CD:
Frieren Beyond Journey’s End – 2CD
Star Trek The Final Frontier Collection (2022 LLL) – scored it for about $35CAD recently in a fluke Amazon marketplace deal.
nirvanna the band the show the movie the score (this is a loving tribute to Silvestri’s Back to the Future)
I sampled this awhile back, and I must have sampled it too quickly, because the BTTF references flew right over my head. Then when it got some buzz, I took another listen and they were so obvious, I don’t understand how I missed them the first time around. Cute score, but not something that will register on my annual lists, I think, when that time comes.
By the way, Ryan, we have a thread on videogame music that might interest you.
Palace of Pleasure was/is a Norwegian band in the ambient/art pop genre (or “dubby electronica”, as they call it themselves) that have released a number of albums since this debut in 1996. They’ve done some great stuff over the years. Bonus: One of its members is a friend of mine.
Speaking of COP LAND, I see Gerate did a thread on non-LOTR/non-Cronenberg Shore scores on JWFAN. He should replicate it here as well.
My enthusiasm for this 21-minute work was such that it skyrocketed to 2nd place of 2024. That’s overkill, in retrospect, but it’s still a superb one. Full review here.
Choose any given Taiga drama, from any given year, and you’re bound to find great music. This one, ONNA JOSHU NAOTORA, from 2017, is no exception. Huge, fullbodied orchestral score – very old-fashioned, like it comes out of a different era entirely – by Yoko Kanno, who is perhaps most famous for her anime scores. Fans of thematic, romantic orchestral music, do check this out.
And another gorgeous Taiga drama score, GUNSHI KANBEE (2014), with music by Yugo Kanno (no relation to Yoko above). Yugo also JUST released another wonderful score, THE CAMPHORWOOD CUSTODIAN, which I talked about here.
OK, so I caved in and bought Intrada’s recent 3 CD edition of JAWS. But hey, it’s a Williams expanded / sound-improved release, and those are basically no-brainers for me (including three LPs, this is my eighth (!) version of this soundtrack). And the sound quality on this one is VERY good. The JAWS soundtrack releases over the years have steadily improved on the sound quality, starting from the quite abysmal-sounding original MCA LP, and this one is probably as good as it gets (well, until it isn’t…).
I think the extra material here more interesting than usual for this type of release, containing more elaborately orchestrated versions both of the score’s themes and many of the incidental cues, that were ultimately deemed too dense for the actual film (and album recording). The “reductions” to the versions we know from the film and earlier score releases were, according to Mike Matessino’s liner notes, done by Williams on the fly in the recording studio. Fascinating.
Eight versions! That’s impressive.
I have ONE — the old MCA CD that was issued in the early 90s, I believe. I did once own the expanded release that came out later in the 90s (Decca, was it?), but sold it. I have no regrets. That old MCA CD is all I ever need on physical format. It sounds fine. Of course, I wouldn’t be opposed to replacing my iTunes version of that MCA CD with the remastered OST version from that new set you’re talking about, if the sound quality is as improved as you say.
Of course, I wouldn’t be opposed to replacing my iTunes version of that MCA CD with the remastered OST version from that new set you’re talking about, if the sound quality is as improved as you say.
Nothing easier than that, actually, as the Intrada restauration of both the complete film score and the original soundtrack album (JAWS (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Album 50th Anniversary)) have been released separately on digital platforms in 24bit/192kHz (of course, you could always choose a lower quality if that suits you).
Should be on Spotify as well.
The Intrada 3CD set contains the remastered film score, the remastered soundtrack album, and remastered bonus tracks and extras. The bonus tracks & extras remain exclusive to the 3CD set, but the two score albums are available separately for streaming and as digital download.
Eight versions! That’s impressive.
Wow, indeed impressive. I actually bought it three times which is a rarity. There are a few Goldsmith and Williams that I bought two times if an expansion was worthwhile or the sound. On JAWS I had the old MCD and the DECCA which had a really muffled sound but was okay. I then bought the first 2CD Intrada because the sound of the film score was really way better. With that one I am confident and don’t really need the new one… Just besides that limited funds dictate to better invest in things I don’t have yet at all (and my list is far from complete ;-)).
Btw, I did re-watch the movie last year in an IMAX cinema, still great, even the shark without all the CGI stuff.
JAWS is a great score, I’ve got several copies myself… I have the original soundtrack LP, though I skipped the MCA CD of that. However, I do have the Decca Album, Intrada 2CD & Intrada 3CD, and of course the excellent McNeely recording of JAWS. I did not bother with the more recent LP releases, though they certainly look cool. When I list my JAWS albums in iTunes, it looks like this. It’s bit redundant, I know. Basically, if you have the Intrada 3CD set and the McNeely recording you have all you’ll ever need.
It’s of course also a great movie, definitely one of the movies I had the most on home video. I had it on VHS (taped off the TV), I had the DVD (sold or gave that away), I still have the Bluray and recently acquired the 4K remastered version of it (though I have not seen it yet… next time I watch the movie). Simply because it is one of those movies I can watch often, it never gets old. It’s pretty much “perfect”, everything came together with JAWS. Terrific direction, excellent cast, superb music score, and a gripping tale well told.
It’s bit redundant, I know. Basically, if you have the Intrada 3CD set and the McNeely recording you have all you’ll ever need.
I am content so far with the 2CD Intrada indeed 🙂
It’s of course also a great movie, definitely one of the movies I had the most on home video.
Yeah, for sure a movie I saw several times over the years. Never had it on home video as for some reason I was never into having physical media for films.
am content so far with the 2CD Intrada indeed 🙂
Which is excellent, I most certainly agree. No need to “upgrade”.
Speaking of COP LAND, I see Gerate did a thread on non-LOTR/non-Cronenberg Shore scores on JWFAN. He should replicate it here as well.
I though I had the old COPLAND edition at least digitally but actually I don’t. The movie was good and certainly one of the better Stallone roles. At that time Shore was sometimes not to my liking, maybe that’s the reason…
And another gorgeous Taiga drama score, GUNSHI KANBEE (2014), with music by Yugo Kanno (no relation to Yoko above). Yugo also JUST released another wonderful score, THE CAMPHORWOOD CUSTODIAN, which I talked about here.
As usual I am a little late to the party (10 years?). But that score was my discovery of last year.
Don’t know when was the last time I heard so many different but memorable themes in one score.
Didn’t even find anything comparable on that level in any other of Kanno’s work. Great score!Sure is. And do check out that brand new Yugo score I posted about (you can just follow my link up there, to the review page). It’s not on the level of GUNSHI KANBEE as a whole, but the central theme is.
Another Taiga score I didn’t mentioned earlier, is Yumi Tono’s wonderful DEAR RADIANCE (2024), although the album(s) might require some whittling. I wrote a couple of sentences about that too, here. Weirdly, the US composer John R. Graham has scored a few Taiga dramas as well, including the latest 2025 one. Haven’t gotten around to those yet, but he’s an interesting composer (I believe I posted about his score to ALLEGED earlier in this very thread).
Anyways, a world to get lost in, those Taiga drama scores. Another area that should have its own thread.
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