NOW PLAYING LI

Thanks guys!

I want to get to one of those chats but yes, wifi can be a problem here.

Carl Johan Sevedag, Jon Eckstrand - Horizon Line

Just listening to it on spotify, more by chance than anything else, and I'm absolutely floored by the fact how intense the action scoring is. It's not to everyone's taste, I guess. But if you like Dunkirk, you should definitely give this one a try.

I've been listening to the sweetness that is News of the World. As a big JNH fan, I was surprised by how subdued it is. However, as I've been listening, I just enjoy his momentous moments and lovely melodies that much more now that they're sort of hidden away in this score. It all made a lot more sense when I watched this interview with him (https://youtu.be/aH-dHlTkA5A), where he talked about it being a quiet score. And that was the director's call and wishes for the film, so he was restrained but in a creative way and was able to go in a different direction he doesn't normally head. It was refreshing to hear about the details behind his process in making this score, and I highly recommend you check out both!

It's a good score for the most part, but the soundtrack drags with a lot of perfunctory tracks. One of these days, I need to sit down and whittle the album to a decent listening experience. But I have tons of other albums that I need to do the same with, so might take a while.

The electronics don't bother me (quite the contrary), but there are other things that do. I'm waiting for a press screener link; I'll probably write a review after that where I organize my thought on this.

I posted a mini review of it in the James Newton Howard thread.

NP: Zack Snyder's Justice League - Tom Holkenborg

I got as far as "The Provenance of Something Gathered" before I had to stop (because of time rather than the content). I thought that this was ok - for me, better than Godzilla vs. Kong. I didn't mind there being so much 'filler' and it's a shame that the more memorable melodic stuff is lost in amongst the less-interesting bits. As Thomas said yesterday, there's no way of knowing in this score what's happening. There's no indication of the story in anything the music is saying.

Some of the sounds he creates are interesting and I found the score at its best during the more rhythmic percussion passages. But, overall, I wouldn't want to listen to it again.

I have problems with any score that's that long. Even the complete recordings of The Lord of the Rings scores are really difficult to get through; I am not sure I've made it through any of them from start to finish. And these scores are full of themes!

I agree with you both. I got about 1.5 hours through the 7+ hour full score that Watertower Music posted on Youtube, and it seemed so repetitive, like nothing new was happening, there was no build, there didn't seem to be any overarching themes or progressions. Just the same themes whenever a type of action was happening or a certain character was on screen, so it really lost my interest pretty quickly. I also thought that there was too much music in the film also, and mixed with some rock songs popping up - it seemed very distracting how pieced together the cues sounded, in and out of the scene, not really apart of the fuller dialogue or part of a comprehensive story.

I have the 4-hour "official soundtrack" on my harddrive. Not sure if I'm going to delete it or keep it. I was thinking that I could at the very least TRY to whittle it down to a tight 60-minute presentation or something, but I have soooo many other albums that require the same treatment, so it won't be for a while.

Since you have posted it here on this thread I hope you are only listening to those 3 tracks.

I am not that familiar with this one though there is one cue in particular I remember especially liking.

You are one of these multi-taskers. I wish I was - I have to read with no distractions.

I could see that as emulating being outdoors in nature and reading with all the nature sounds integrated into the score. I can't focus when I read outside, too much bird and wildlife activity, haha that I just want to watch what they're all up to!

NP: NANA (Ennio Morricone)

I try to listen to a little bit of lyrical Morricone every day, so that I can properly acquaint myself with all these new acquistions. From the cover, this looks like something from the 60s or 70s, but it's actually from 1999. Elegant waltzes and über-romantic through and through - but with occasional mood breakers, typical Morricone.

Hans Zimmer - Crimson Tide

Part of my mid-90s action series after reacquiring The Rock on physical media.

Watching the film was a forming experience for me in my cinematic taste (I miss Tony Scott and this is one of his most intelligent films on this side of True Romance and Spy Game), but the score is one of Hans' masterpieces, especially as heard in film. I get that the album programming is very controversial, though my only beef is in the material selection (how long I wanted to listen to a part of the main title cue...) rather than track length. It does work in a somewhat prog-rock concept album kind of way. Though some of the choices for these cues leave some room for complaints.

All in all, fantastic score, not just the thematic writing. It has a unique, claustrophobic atmosphere and some of Hans' very best brass writing (these French horns!).