What are your top 10 soundtrack score one hit wonders?
- Dette emnet har 23 svar, 6 deltakere, og ble sist oppdatert 2 uker, 2 dager siden av
Thor Joachim Haga.
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10. May 2025 klokken 14:13 #4818
GerateWohlDeltakerThere are some composers where you are not hugely impressed by their work. But there is one score from these composers which you find exceptionally great.
You might like some scores of these composers good enough. But just one stand really out. Or they just wrote one score.
Which are these?My list would be something like this:
Black Dahlia – Mark Isham
The Last Unicorn – Jimmy Webb
Clash of the Titans – Laurence Rosenthal
Watership Down -Angela Morley
The Dark Crystal- Trevor Jones
Moby Dick – Philip Santon
Conan The Barbarian – Basil Poledouris
The Matrix Trilogy – Don Davis
The Others – Alejandro Anemabar
Magnolia – Jon BrionI know, some of these don’t have a reputation as one hit wonder. But for me they are.
10. May 2025 klokken 15:15 #4820
Thor Joachim HagaNøkkelmesterCool topic! Let me think a bit about that.
12. May 2025 klokken 11:20 #4863
Thor Joachim HagaNøkkelmesterFirst of all, pretty wild to see Isham, Jones and Poledouris on your list, GerateWohl — great composers with a variety of scores on their resume.
This question can be answered in a number of ways — there are composers where I only have one score, because I’m not familiar with the rest of their work. Or I AM familiar with their work, but have only landed on one to own. Or they’ve just done one, or close to one. Etc.
So taking ALL of that into consideration, I would need to list literally HUNDREDS of “one-off” titles in my collection. But I’m going to limit myself to famous or semi-famous composers with pretty extensive catalogues (in film music and/or non-film music), and choose 10 from them. So maybe something like:
Air – THE VIRGIN SUICIDES
Carter Burwell – ROB ROY (well, plus the WSA compilation)
Goblin – SUSPIRIA (plus a compilation)
Jerome Moross – THE BIG COUNTRY
Michael Land – THE DIG
Paul van Dyk – ZURDO
Sergei Prokofiev – ALEXANDER NEVSKY
Simon Franglen – AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER
Toto – DUNE
Tom Tykwer & co. – PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER12. May 2025 klokken 13:54 #4865
GerateWohlDeltakerGood list, too.
I thought Goblin has quite a record of famous scores, e.g. the Euro cut of Dawn of the Dead.Tom Tykwer & co. – PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER
I find their score for Babylon Berlin quite good as well.
Many seem to claim Daft Punk’s Tron Legacy to be a great singular score effort.
12. May 2025 klokken 13:56 #4866
Thor Joachim HagaNøkkelmesterYeah, with Goblin I like quite a few individual themes, but outside SUSPIRIA, I’ve rarely grabbed on to the scores as a whole.
Daft Punk’s TRON: LEGACY definitely needs to be on the list, although I have all their studio albums as well, so it’s certainly not alone in my collection.
12. May 2025 klokken 14:04 #4868
GerateWohlDeltakerNot sure, if you are familiar with Babylon Berlin. But the score has a nice Golden 20s sound.
12. May 2025 klokken 15:19 #4871
Thor Joachim HagaNøkkelmesterYes, I’m familiar with it, somewhat. Didn’t quite do it for me when I sampled it awhile back, but I probably need a systematic walkthrough of that whole Tykwer/Klimek/Heil world again. LOLA RENNT is another cool one that I need to reassess.
5. November 2025 klokken 16:50 #6260
Nick ZwarDeltakerNot quite sure how to approach the subject… there are definitely some scores mentioned here where only one work stood out, or only one work I’m really familiar with… possibly because the people didn’t write all that much film music to begin with. Jon Brion, for example, wrote a good score for Magnolia (the score as a whole was heavily influenced by Hans Zimmer’s music for THE THIN RED LINE and Richard Wagner), but I don’t really know any other Jon Brion film scores (though I know his work with singer/songwriter Aimee Mann… I guess that’s how he came to score Magnolia in the first place?).
By Tom Tykwer I really love CLOUD ATLAS.When it comes to Philip Sainton, Daft Punk, Toto, Franglen, I basically only know (and like) the film scores mentioned here… so I fully align with you here.
Of course, I could mention Leonard Bernstein… who only wrote one film score, but a very good one.
Let’s see.. I try to look for some more composers who fit the bill… where one score really stands out for me, or one score.
So here goes.
Apart from the ones mentioned so far, for me it is:
Stanley Myers, where I absolutely love THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES. I do have some other scores by his, and I know his Cavatina is world famous, but it’s THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES that stands out for me.Then there are Andrew Belling’s WIZARDS and and Danny Zeitlin’s INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS.
5. November 2025 klokken 19:41 #6263
Thor Joachim HagaNøkkelmesterMyers is an interesting case. If you take “Cavatina” out of the equation, my only connection to him was THE WITCHES for many years, which I saw with my mom in the cinema when it came out. But then as I discovered his Zimmer connection later on, I started to explore his back catalogue (both the things he did with and without him) and found several things to enjoy. I hope to discover more.
5. November 2025 klokken 19:54 #6264
SigbjørnDeltakerThese as the ones I can think of right now:
Stephen Oliver – Lady Jane
Roy Budd – Phantom of the Opera
Clint Mansell – The Fountain
Don Davis – The Matrix
Joe Kraemer – MI5
Daft Punk – Tron Legacy
Joe Hisaishi – The General
Carter Burwell – FargoBtw, Thor, you don’t like Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kijé?
5. November 2025 klokken 19:57 #6265
Thor Joachim HagaNøkkelmesterBtw, Thor, you don’t like Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kijé?
Of course. So much so that when I watched a classical quiz show on Danish TV a few months back, I prided myself in catching this within seconds, whereas the piece left the “expert panel” stumped. 🙂
But Prokofiev is one of those composers where I’ve otherwise heard bits and bobs over the years, but never set out to explore properly, or amass a collection of any kind. Beyond NEVSKY, that is (and the John Williams album from the 70s).
By the way, you should do a thread on classical music recommendations! I know we sometimes get them in the “What are you listening to now?” thread that you once started, but would be neat with one on its own.
5. November 2025 klokken 20:17 #6266
GerateWohlDeltakerProkofiev’s symphonies and piano concertos are very worth exploring.
5. November 2025 klokken 20:20 #6267
SigbjørnDeltakerEspecially his 5th symphony, if one likes Nevsky.
Added a few more titles.
5. November 2025 klokken 20:22 #6268
SigbjørnDeltakerI watched a classical quiz show on Danish TV a few months back
Which show is this? Would be fun to watch, as classical music quiz shows haven’t been a thing in Norway for decades.
5. November 2025 klokken 20:28 #6269
GerateWohlDeltakerJoe Hisaishi – The General
No sympathy for Princess Mononoke?
Or Hana-Bi? -
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