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James Newton Howard - Unbreakable

Actually wanted to listen to the theme only (the eponymous track, namely), stayed for the rest of the score. I seriously think it's really underrated and not discussed enough.

He, he. I recognize that process, Alan. The "rabbit hole" of going to Youtube for something, and you end up watching something completely different. This is kinda related to that "how do choose which music to listen to?" thread you created. Sometimes, it's just about random associations or links.

NP: RADIO (James Horner)

So many unheralded Horner scores from the 2000s, including this from 2003. There's a hint of Americana, but it's both broader and more intimate than that.

(I just realized I used the word 'herald' again....I love that word).

I don't have the CD, only a digital version. I've removed all the songs, so I'm left with a wonderful 26-minute "suite" of just the score.

I did not. But perhaps I should have.

I see that this was released on album back in January. Will give it a listen...

NP: IL LADRONE (Ennio Morricone)

Not so much lyrical this time (well, there is some of that too), but a fairly jaunty comedy score from 1980 with a host of cool instrumentational details. Morricone was such a master arranger as well. Haven't seen the film, but it appears to be a sort of Italian LIFE OF BRIAN, made around the same time.

I'm a give me all songs, or all score kind of soundtrack lover. I hate with they mix it all up, or only feature a suite a the end of a bunch of songs.

I've had a chance to listen to some of this album and I do have to say that I don't dislike it. I like the palette of electronica that is used but I am not sure about the prominent use of the vocals (though I love the more 'traditional' sounding vocals in 'Sara's Solitude'.).

The score as a whole works best when it focuses on laying down a more restrained electronic atmosphere rather than when it features more orchestral elements or when it has a more upbeat feel to it. But that really hearkens back to my own personal tastes in how the electronic aspects sounds.

For me, it's a better than a lot of 2021 scores I have heard so far this year.

NP: MUSIC FOR THE FILMS OF PETER MULLAN (Craig Armstrong)

It's almost impossible to go wrong with Armstrong, and I was again delighted by this compilation from 2019 - although I could be without the dialogue. The "Orphans" theme is broad Americana in the style of JW. This is laidback - often based on cautious pianos and slowmoving strings - but very sophisticated stuff.

NP: ELD & LÅGOR (Nathaniel Mechaly)

Aka SWOON in English. Lovely, old-school orchestral score -- plenty of waltzes! ("Welcome to Gröna Lund" is very Elfman) -- that few have heard (about). Certainly a highlight in 2019. Displays a completely different side of Mechaly than the Europacorp films (the TAKEN movies, COLOMBIANA etc.). Highly recommended.

Hans Zimmer - Drop Zone

I've been listening to the original album where the programming itself may have some issues based on the film I rewatched recently.

It's not a score without its problems, which can be pretty much summarized with a one of the album's track titles: Too Many Notes - Not Enough Rests. It can get quite chaotic and even harsh at times, but when it's good it's really good. That score's selling point is really half minute of material after the two minute track of the track I mentioned, which underscores the only openly heroic moment of the film. Hans Zimmer himself is really fond of the score, especially its guitar solos (he claims it's the best Pete Haycock guitar he had) and of that Too Many Notes theme (he dubbed it the Pirates theme and, indeed, a variation does appear in that score, the original suite for the main theme features it quoted almost verbatim with minimal change).

As opposed to the album, what I can recognize from the film features more breather main-theme based material (main title theme, to be precise). I can't really pinpoint what it's supposed to underscore (mostly features with the villains, until it's present in some Snipes scenes). A particularly nice moment is in the boat scene. There's another instance of the beautiful theme that opens Too Many Notes (itself a very clear theme of the skydiving routines as performed in the film, a nice touch that the event itself has a theme of its own). A notable difference is the Hi Jack cue which features dramatic gospel vocals over the tragic finale of the cue and it was scratched off the official album. There's not much added in terms of action, all the major moments are featured, but the full version of After the Dub (the film's action finale) features a really cool motif (not unlike Bird on a Wire/alternate Black Rain finale) that's cut from the album, while the dissonance that rounds it... is in, and a funny-in-retrospect foreshadowing of a Broken Arrow theme. Why funny in retrospect? In the film this underscores a Mexican standoff, a classic one. Because Hans foreshadowed a motif (which would become one of the main themes there) of a John Woo film in what is pretty much a John Woo trademark.

All in all, I think this score may gain quite a bit in the expansion, while featuring a bit more of the grating action (though really, just about 4-5 minutes at worst), but the non-action bits making the score more well-rounded and slightly more nuanced, might be just about worth the price of admission alone.

NP: LE CINÉMA DE.... (Georges Delerue)

This 6CD "box" is one of my most treasured film music "items" (even though the CD placeholders inside became unglued the minute I opened the package). Won't be playing the whole set today (7 hours and 10 minutes in total), obviously, but perfect to sample once in a while for a Delerue dose.

It will be interesting to hear from you how cohesive (or not) the listening experience is.

Having the same composer doesn't guarantee what I would call a 'cohesive sound' - especially if there is a large amount of time elapsed between start and finish (e.g., John Williams and the Star Wars franchise) but different composers makes it difficult to retain a style.

I do think for franchises where the story is so integrated between movies that how the films look and sound really needs to maintained as much as possible.

Didn't get as far as I wanted in my HP journey today, so I don't have any thoughts to add just yet.