Taylor Millard
Dec 20th, 2003, 10:10:10 PM
I've been thinking about doing this sort of thread for a while and given the fact I bought like eight or nine soundtracks a couple months ago and have listened to pretty much all of them. Since I have a pretty large collection of soundtracks (real soundtracks- inside joke sorry), I've decided to go ahead and evaluate some of the composers and their work. Feel free to comment on it and post your own if you wish.
Thematic Composers: There are a ton of composers who go on a theme but few who do it quite well. Basically the composers find various themes for the hero, villain, setting that sort of thing. They normally do it for a series of movies or for all of their movies.
John Williams: Probably front and formost in this category. From his work on 'Star Wars' or 'Indiana Jones', Williams finds a theme for almost all of his movies. Even movies such as 'The Patriot' or 'Saving Private Ryan', Williams has found a theme for the movie and stuck with it through the entirety. Whether it's the mellow brass for 'Ryan' or the triple-tonguing brass for the 'Imperial March', all of his work is quite enjoyable. He also pays tribute to his jazz roots in 'Star Wars' with the Cantina Music. I can always tell when Williams has done a score because of the way it sounds. It's not that he reuses his stuff all the time (although there are plenty of similarities between parts of 'Battle of the Fates' and one of the 'Indy' movies (don't ask me where, I just know). I can just 'tell' when he's done a soundtrack.
Howard Shore: For someone who's been around for a while, I'd never really listened to his work until LOTR. But then when I was watching 'Silence of the Lambs' I noticed he'd done the music for it. Boy talk about greatness. There are stark differences between the two movies (as there should be) and the music is haunting in both. With 'The Score' Shore does a very nice jazz score which sounds great and his work on 'That Thing You Do!' shows his diversity. But it's LOTR that stands out for me. The way he melds the Honor of Gondor (baritone and french horn) with the simplicity of the Hobbits (violin and clarinet), the evilness of Saurron, and the strength of the Fellowship (everything) it all comes together.
Flowing Composers: I would proceed to relist people like Williams and Shore into this category but I'd rather not. There are several composers who do not always play on a theme but who's work flows excellently together through the entire soundtrack. Some names are well known others might not be.
Hans Zimmer: He pretty much does every Ridley Scott movie in existance, including 'Hannibal' and 'Gladiator'. His work on 'Hannibal' is some of the best I've heard (La Vita Nuova gives me chills every time and To Every Captive Soul does the same). The haunting of most of these two pieces is just maginificant. Combine that with his high octane (yet simple) scores of 'The Rock' and 'The Threat Matrix' (theme only) his work flows wonderfully. His overscoring of 'Pirates of the Carribean' and his big brass on 'Gladiator' is just fantastic.
Harry Gregson-Williams: HIs work on 'Spy Game' is my only exposure to him (although imdb says he did work on 'The Rock' too) but his stuff flows. A combination of techno and classical there's not much else I can say about his work right now. 'Spy Game' is a treat to listen to though.
I've got more to add which I will soon...comments?
Thematic Composers: There are a ton of composers who go on a theme but few who do it quite well. Basically the composers find various themes for the hero, villain, setting that sort of thing. They normally do it for a series of movies or for all of their movies.
John Williams: Probably front and formost in this category. From his work on 'Star Wars' or 'Indiana Jones', Williams finds a theme for almost all of his movies. Even movies such as 'The Patriot' or 'Saving Private Ryan', Williams has found a theme for the movie and stuck with it through the entirety. Whether it's the mellow brass for 'Ryan' or the triple-tonguing brass for the 'Imperial March', all of his work is quite enjoyable. He also pays tribute to his jazz roots in 'Star Wars' with the Cantina Music. I can always tell when Williams has done a score because of the way it sounds. It's not that he reuses his stuff all the time (although there are plenty of similarities between parts of 'Battle of the Fates' and one of the 'Indy' movies (don't ask me where, I just know). I can just 'tell' when he's done a soundtrack.
Howard Shore: For someone who's been around for a while, I'd never really listened to his work until LOTR. But then when I was watching 'Silence of the Lambs' I noticed he'd done the music for it. Boy talk about greatness. There are stark differences between the two movies (as there should be) and the music is haunting in both. With 'The Score' Shore does a very nice jazz score which sounds great and his work on 'That Thing You Do!' shows his diversity. But it's LOTR that stands out for me. The way he melds the Honor of Gondor (baritone and french horn) with the simplicity of the Hobbits (violin and clarinet), the evilness of Saurron, and the strength of the Fellowship (everything) it all comes together.
Flowing Composers: I would proceed to relist people like Williams and Shore into this category but I'd rather not. There are several composers who do not always play on a theme but who's work flows excellently together through the entire soundtrack. Some names are well known others might not be.
Hans Zimmer: He pretty much does every Ridley Scott movie in existance, including 'Hannibal' and 'Gladiator'. His work on 'Hannibal' is some of the best I've heard (La Vita Nuova gives me chills every time and To Every Captive Soul does the same). The haunting of most of these two pieces is just maginificant. Combine that with his high octane (yet simple) scores of 'The Rock' and 'The Threat Matrix' (theme only) his work flows wonderfully. His overscoring of 'Pirates of the Carribean' and his big brass on 'Gladiator' is just fantastic.
Harry Gregson-Williams: HIs work on 'Spy Game' is my only exposure to him (although imdb says he did work on 'The Rock' too) but his stuff flows. A combination of techno and classical there's not much else I can say about his work right now. 'Spy Game' is a treat to listen to though.
I've got more to add which I will soon...comments?