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Favorite Composers

post #1 of 68
10/13/04 at 12:14am
Thread Starter 
[Composers have been covered time and again here on CHUD but I couldn't find any so here you go]

I'm not really good at explaining why I love a composers piece of music, in fact from elementry school i've often been looked down at for my taste in soundtracks but damn it films contain much more creative music than the usual band so whatever.

Anyways my favorite composers are as follows

- Jon Brion: Because Punch-Drunk Loves score gives it a surreal fealing through the whole thing for me, his work on Magnolia [score as well as co-writing one of the songs] adds a hell of a lot to the movie and now with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and I Heart Huckabees [Still waiting for Huckabees soundtrack to hit stores here but everyone I talk to tells me it is one of the best of the year] he seems he can only get better, certainly cool that he writes songs as well as the score, those are always my favorite soundtracks. I'm currently listening to his tracks "Meaningless", "Gotta Start Somewhere", and "Walking through Walls"

- Danny Elf-man: I really don't agree with those who hate Spider-mans soundtrack, you may not notice it on the first occasion but it certainly stuck with me afterwards, that final triumphant musical cue that accompanies Spidey as he embarks on another day of crime fighting always works for me. I also think the main theme in Spider-man 2 is better than the firsts, maybe Elfman really picked up his game or it's the inclusion of Doc Ocks theme but it just sounds better.

- Harry Gregson-Williams: Metal Gear Solid. Team America: World Police.

More composers I dig

- Edward Shearmur [Sky Captain and the World of Tommorow]
- Alan Silvestri [Back to the Future and I like bits of Van Helsings score]
- Marco Beltrami [Hellboy]
- John Debney [Elf]
- Alf Clausen [The guy's scored about 99.8% of Simpsons!]

oh yeah
AND JOHN WILLIAMS
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post #2 of 68
10/13/04 at 4:52am
Excellent choices made above. I'll add:

Jerry Goldsmith
Ennio Morricone
James Horner
Howard Shore
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post #3 of 68
10/13/04 at 5:06am
Howard Shore
Danny Elfman
Jon Brion
Eric Serra
John Williams
Ennio Morricone
Bernard Herrmann
David Julyan
Basil Pouledoris
Elmer Bernstein
James Newton Howard

I really don't care for Elliot Goldenthal's work in general but I have to give props to his contributions in Heat. That's just good fucking music.
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post #4 of 68
10/13/04 at 8:40am
I love Elfman's Hulk score. Think he's a brilliant composer.
John Williams and Ennio Morricone, of course, masters.
And:
Carter Burwell.
Miller's Crossing alone puts him at the top of the heap.
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post #5 of 68
10/13/04 at 8:50am
Angelo Badalamenti. No-one else can follow up an industrial, hardcore soundtrack like Lost Highway with a subdued, beautiful acoustic one like The Straight Story and get it absolutely right both times.

Carter Burwell. No explanations necessary.

Ennio Morricone. Maybe the greatest of them all.




I'll never understand the John Williams thing. To me it's horrible, pompous orchestral loudness, it's nearly unbearable with the films already so listening to it on its own... urgh. And his short attempt at techno music in AI still makes me laugh.
To each their own, I suppose.
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post #6 of 68
10/13/04 at 10:25am
John Williams
Alan Silvestri
The late Jerry Goldsmith
Alan Menken
Howard Shore
Danny Elfman
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post #7 of 68
10/13/04 at 9:21pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by El Topo
Ennio Morricone. Maybe the greatest of them all.
Damn right.
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post #8 of 68
10/13/04 at 10:13pm
Michael Kamen

You died too soon my friend.
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post #9 of 68
10/14/04 at 12:38am
Mychael Danna- not the most heard of guy, but his work on Kama Sutra and Monsoon Wedding are great, and of course, Morricone.
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post #10 of 68
10/14/04 at 5:55pm
I agree with all of the above and I'll add Joe Kraemer (The Way of the Gun) to the list, if only for that score. And I was fairly impressed with Gabriel Yared's rejected score for Troy.
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post #11 of 68
10/14/04 at 7:14pm
John Ottman is a brilliant composer. "The Usual Suspects" is such a deep and unnerving score, yet thematic a la John Williams at the same time. "Apt Pupil" and many others were equally promising, and I nearly cried when I heard that schedules were conflicting and he wouldn't do "X-Men". Thankfully he was around for "X2", and the result is the grandest superhero score since "Superman" and "Batman".

Hans Zimmer is responsible for a whole new method of scoring action/adventure films, and some of those scores are just infectiously cool. But for me its his subtler work where he shows he truly is one of the greats. The operatic tone of "Hannibal", the tragedy of patricide in "Gladiator", the tribal meets western motifs of "Black Hawk Down", Lisa Gerard in "M:I-2", and "The Thin Red Line".

James Newton Howard can simply do it all. Every type of score for every type of film. His diversity and skills are really evident in Shyamalan's films, which have an early Spielberg/Williams feel of making the music a character. His "Peter Pan" is one of the best listens in a long time, and the fact that he's doing "Batman Begins" is perfection.

Patrick Doyle first hit me with Branagh's "Henry V" and his big choral piece in the finale. It completely makes the film. He's since done "Hamlet", "Donnie Brasco", and a beautiful if underheard score for "Great Expectations".

Craig Armstrong does some great work, both in Baz Luhrman's "Moulin Rouge" and "Romeo and Juliet" and in the trailer classic "Plunkett and MacLeane".

And naturally, the master, John Williams.
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post #12 of 68
10/18/04 at 1:39am
Although he's never composed for an actual movie, E.S. Postumus has written some music that been famously used in trailers, commercials, and television show intros.

E.S. Posthumus website

Him, along with practically everyone else mentioned, make up my list of favorites.
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post #13 of 68
10/18/04 at 1:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by El Topo
I'll never understand the John Williams thing. To me it's horrible, pompous orchestral loudness, it's nearly unbearable with the films already so listening to it on its own... urgh. And his short attempt at techno music in AI still makes me laugh.
To each their own, I suppose.
Wow.

To add:

Horner, even though he's a huge hack.
Goldsmith.
David Julyan.
Mark Isham (hella underrated).
Morricone of course.
I like Zimmer, but he's been nailing his GLADIATOR leftovers ever since that flick.
Elfman slacks sometimes, but the music for EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS and BATMAN is great. His score for PLANET OF THE APES eclipsed the actual film.
Howard Shore is a genius.
And yes, John Williams. STAR WARS, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS, E.T., SUPERMAN, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, SCHINDLER'S LIST, JURASSIC PARK, A.I., and the best score in the world, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, to name but a few.
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post #14 of 68
10/18/04 at 1:20pm
Oh, and Korngold and Steiner.
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post #15 of 68
10/18/04 at 2:05pm
Maurice Jarre
Yann Tiersen
Jon Brion
Max Steiner
Bernard Hermann
Jean Constantin
Georges Delerue
Nino Rota
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post #16 of 68
10/18/04 at 2:20pm
David Byrne

Lisa Gerrard and Pieter Bourke

Ryuichi Sakamoto

Wendy (nee Walter) Carlos

Danny Elfman
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post #17 of 68
10/18/04 at 2:38pm
John Williams
James Horner
Hans Zimmer
Jerry Goldsmith
Michael Kamen
Ennio Morricone
John Carpenter
Basil Poledouris
Howard Shore
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post #18 of 68
10/18/04 at 2:54pm
Having recently listened to the rejected score for Troy, I am really digging Gabriel Yared.

Other faves include Thomas Newman, John Williams, Elmer Bernstein, Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, Howard Shore, James Newton Howard and countless others.
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post #19 of 68
10/19/04 at 5:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chest Rockwell
Howard Shore
James Newton Howard

GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS is an amazing score
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post #20 of 68
10/19/04 at 5:01pm
I'm surprised no one's mentioned Vangelis yet.
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post #21 of 68
10/19/04 at 7:37pm
The composers in my collection include:

David Arnold
Elmer Bernstein
Klaus Badelt
John Barry
Jay Chattaway
Georges Delerue
Patrick Doyle
Randy Edelman
Danny Elfman
Jerry Goldsmith
Christopher Gordon
Lee Holdridge
Maurice Jarre
Michael Kamen
Mark Mancini
Joel McNeely
Ennio Morricone
Alfred Newman
David Newman
James Newton Howard
Basil Poledouris
Miklos Rozsa
Marc Shaiman
Ed Shearmur
Howard Shore
Max Steiner
Brian Tyler
Stephen Warbeck
John Williams
Gabriel Yared
Hans Zimmer

Of those, John Williams is my favorite. He's the one who started me on my score obsession. I also dig Alan Silvestri, Bll Conti, and a few others yet for some reason own none of their scores.
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post #22 of 68
10/20/04 at 4:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by beamish13
I'm surprised no one's mentioned Vangelis yet.
I've dug on the few films I've seen that he's worked on but I haven't heard enough of his other stuff (despite having a few of his "New Age" albums) to genuinely consider him a favorite. I am however really looking forward to his score in Alexander.
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post #23 of 68
10/20/04 at 6:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by El Topo
[B]
I'll never understand the John Williams thing. To me it's horrible, pompous orchestral loudness, it's nearly unbearable with the films already so listening to it on its own... urgh. And his short attempt at techno music in AI still makes me laugh.
To each their own, I suppose.
I'm sort of mystified by this one. Even if you hate his "big" scores, the man can do everything. He's had several much more subdued scores of equal brilliance. For starters:

Presumed Innocent
JFK
Minority Report
Catch Me If You Can
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Nixon
Sleepers
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post #24 of 68
10/20/04 at 9:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stew
Catch Me If You Can
I particularly loved what he did on that film.
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post #25 of 68
10/21/04 at 6:51am
Or any of his older jazz based scores when he was plain old Johnny Williams.

My (other) favourites:

Christopher Young
Jerry Goldsmith
William Ross
Christopher Gordon
Franz Waxman
Frank De Vol
Max Steiner
Gabriel Yared
Zbigniew Preisner
Kenji Kawai
Alfred Newman
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post #26 of 68
10/21/04 at 7:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stew
I'm sort of mystified by this one. Even if you hate his "big" scores, the man can do everything. He's had several much more subdued scores of equal brilliance. For starters:

Presumed Innocent
JFK
Minority Report
Catch Me If You Can
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Nixon
Sleepers
Hum, out of those I've seen, JFK was still very pompous and far from subtle, the jazzy score of CMIYC was, like the film, cute but forgettable I thought, and I can't remember the music in the others, which to me is a bad sign. I've never agreed with the cliché of "the best film music is the one you don't notice", it's like saying that the best films are the ones where you don't remember the images.
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post #27 of 68
10/21/04 at 2:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by beamish13
I'm surprised no one's mentioned Vangelis yet.
Speaking of Vangelis, I noticed there is a sample of his Alexander score on this website.
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post #28 of 68
10/21/04 at 3:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by El Topo
Hum, out of those I've seen, JFK was still very pompous and far from subtle, the jazzy score of CMIYC was, like the film, cute but forgettable I thought, and I can't remember the music in the others, which to me is a bad sign. I've never agreed with the cliché of "the best film music is the one you don't notice", it's like saying that the best films are the ones where you don't remember the images.
I'm sorry, but you are joking right?

"The best film music is the music you don't notice." You don't agree with that, but you say you dont like his "pompous orchestral loudness"? I know, to each his own, but that's like saying, "I've never liked F.F.Coppola's films as they are stereotypical, lengthy messes."

At least admit you've like one score of his. Star Wars, E.T., Raiders?? All pompous loudness? C'mon, I know there's one you half-enjoyed.
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post #29 of 68
10/22/04 at 12:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by buffyfreak007
Mychael Danna- not the most heard of guy, but his work on Kama Sutra and Monsoon Wedding are great, and of course, Morricone.
Not to sidetrack too much, but both of those are good films.

Now to sidetrack out of left field in a strictly composite way, mind you, I'd throw in Cameron Crowe's name. To me, this guy makes any film better because of his uncanny ability to choose just the right music from others.
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post #30 of 68
10/22/04 at 12:45pm
El Topo, your Williams aversion is now even more difficult to grasp. You complain that his famous scores are too big, and then belittle his smaller scores as "forgettable". You say you want to be able to remember the music, but you're writing off the man who has written the most memorable and iconic scores of the last 30 years.
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post #31 of 68
10/22/04 at 2:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stew
El Topo, your Williams aversion is now even more difficult to grasp. You complain that his famous scores are too big, and then belittle his smaller scores as "forgettable". You say you want to be able to remember the music, but you're writing off the man who has written the most memorable and iconic scores of the last 30 years.
Hum, what's difficult to grasp about my opinion of Williams's scores as being either pretty unremarkable and forgettable, or consisting of noisy, unsubtle big orchestral music? His scores are usually memorable to me in a bad, annoying way, like how I do remember watching Armaggeddon or Independence Day, but those aren't fond memories of mine. Or how I can remember in my head bits of songs from the Spice Girls or Britney Spears, it doesn't mean I like them.

Most of all his music is noisy enough to my ears that the idea of listening to a full CD of Star Wars or Indy on their own is torture, but that's in the opinion realm - I can listen to Philip Glass or Carter Burwell or Angelo Badalamenti all day, maybe you can't.

And your last sentence is an insult to Ennio Morricone
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post #32 of 68
10/22/04 at 2:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by El Topo
Hum, what's difficult to grasp about my opinion of Williams's scores as being either pretty unremarkable and forgettable, or consisting of noisy, unsubtle big orchestral music? His scores are usually memorable to me in a bad, annoying way, like how I do remember watching Armaggeddon or Independence Day, but those aren't fond memories of mine. Or how I can remember in my head bits of songs from the Spice Girls or Britney Spears, it doesn't mean I like them.

Most of all his music is noisy enough to my ears that the idea of listening to a full CD of Star Wars or Indy on their own is torture, but that's in the opinion realm - I can listen to Philip Glass or Carter Burwell or Angelo Badalamenti all day, maybe you can't.

And your last sentence is an insult to Ennio Morricone
You didn't answer my question. If you are truly a listener of movie soundtracks, then you must be familiar with Williams' scores. There has to be one you liked. Even the simple JAWS theme, in that it worked for that movie.

And regarding memorable or iconic, in a general public sense, Williams scores are the most recognizable of all, (and I think that encompasses memorable and iconic, to take nothing away from Morricone). Granted, that may be because they are "unsubtle big orchestral music".

So, again, just admit there is ONE Williams score you could agree as being remarkable or memorable.
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post #33 of 68
12/28/04 at 12:52pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by El Topo
And your last sentence is an insult to Ennio Morricone
Morricone is the man but let's look at that quote

Quote:
you're writing off the man who has written the most memorable and iconic scores of the last 30 years.
That's 1974, Morricones most memorable stuff is in the '60's, obviously his scores with Leone, so technically Stew is right, if he said last 40 years then you'd be correct, and yeah I am aware Morricone wrote great scores in the last thirty years but it's the '60 westerns that stand out.........besides, you're crazy and Williams scores are soaring amazing pieces of work.

But mainly what I came back to this thread for was this

Michael Giacchino's score for the Incredibles should win best score this year.
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post #34 of 68
12/28/04 at 1:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Detective Richard Dix
So, again, just admit there is ONE Williams score you could agree as being remarkable or memorable.
God, I'd forgotten about this thread...

What can I say, John Williams' music gets on my nerves, I just don't like it and couldn't listen to it on headphones, like I do with my favourite composers.

That said I watched The Long Goodbye for the first time in years and that is a good soundtrack - nothing earth-shattering but good re-orchestrations of the same theme that seem to blend in with the film rather than overpower it with mucho strings and brass.
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post #35 of 68
12/29/04 at 11:09pm
Howard Shore continues to impress. Aside from doing three masterful scores for the LOTR trilogy, this year he has "The Aviator", a score that just stuck with me long after the film. That haunting little melody that accompanied everything. Really nice. I used to think he was too low key, then I realized just how unnervingly brilliant his scores for "Silence of the Lambs" and "Se7en" really are.
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post #36 of 68
12/29/04 at 11:44pm
Gotta be Hans Zimmer, c'mon you know you love him. Crimson Tide, Broken Arrow, The Rock, The Thin Red Line, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, The Last Samurai.

And also, Cliff Martinez for: The Limey, Traffic, Solaris.

Don Davis for: Bound, The Matrix trilogy, Animatrix.

Craig Armstrong for: Romeo + Juliet, Plunkett & Macleane, Kiss of the Dragon, The Quiet American.

John Powell for: Face/Off, The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy.

Joe Hisaishi for: My Neighbor Totoro, A Scene at the Sea, Sonatine, Princess Mononoke, Hana-bi, Brother, Spirited Away, When the Last Sword Is Drawn.

David Holmes for: Out of Sight, Oceans Eleven & Twelve.

James Newton Howard for...um: Collateral.

Massive Attack for the Danny the Dog (aka Unleashed) soundtrack. Dust Brothers for the Fight Club soundtrack. Erik Lundborg for the Enter the Matrix soundtrack. Ilan Eshkeri for the Layer Cake soundtrack. And the company 'Immediate Music' for their awesome trailer music.
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post #37 of 68
12/30/04 at 6:40am
Hello, where's Goran Bregovic?
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post #38 of 68
12/30/04 at 2:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cognizant
James Newton Howard for...um: Collateral.
Are you kidding?

Restoration
Peter Pan
Snow Falling on Cedars
The Sixth Sense
Unbreakable
Signs
The Village

All brilliant scores. The man is one of the best working.
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post #39 of 68
12/31/04 at 11:04pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by cognizant
Don Davis for: Bound, The Matrix trilogy, Animatrix.
Erik Lundborg for the Enter the Matrix soundtrack.
Enter the MAtrix I hardly rmember the score and it was probably using some of Davis' stuff......probably lots...

and Davis' Matrix stuff is amazing..........the only other thing I rmember bsides those you mentioned is JPIII and that stuff dsosn't stick out much.

Again I must say Michael Giacchino is my pick for best score of the year with The Incredibles with Jon Brion close second.
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post #40 of 68
12/31/04 at 11:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stew
Are you kidding?

Restoration
Peter Pan
Snow Falling on Cedars
The Sixth Sense
Unbreakable
Signs
The Village

All brilliant scores. The man is one of the best working.
Honestly, I know he's good, but Collatoral and Unbreakable (which I forgot to add) are the only ones that I would actually go out and buy, the rest is just passable, in my humble opinion. Unbreakable was too restrained though, just when it got exciting near the end it...ended. Damn M Night! Need a sequel to that movie...

Also, the main reason Collatoral is so cool is the last track which is actually by Antonio Pinto. I love that track, but its too short.

edit:

Quote:
Enter the MAtrix I hardly rmember the score and it was probably using some of Davis' stuff......probably lots...
Although Davis had a little input into the Enter the Matrix score, it most mostly scored by Erik himself, its pretty cool I thought. And the Matrix soundtracks are awesome, you can really hear an evolution taking place of various themes throughout each of the films, and the way the music is constructed at times reflects the themes of the movies is also brilliant.
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post #41 of 68
1/2/05 at 2:54am
I thought American Beauty was highly overrated except for its soundtrack

Thomas Newman rocks

other favourites of his In The Bedroom and Lemony Snicket particulary the credit piece Drive Away

The Horse Whisper was his first score that made me look for more of his work
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post #42 of 68
1/3/05 at 9:31pm
Howard Shore
Danny Elfman
Ennio Morricone
James Horner
Brian Tyler

----

I like Hans Zimmer, but a lot of what I've heard that he's composed sounds too much alike.

I also like John Williams' music, but a personal seething hatred prevents me from putting him on the list.
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post #43 of 68
1/3/05 at 9:36pm
I can't stand Don Davis. Especially his awful reorchestrations of JW's work on JURASSIC PARK III.

Been listening to a lot of Goldsmith recently, and his stuff is greatness (especially GREMLINS and the score for STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE). Shame he had to go out with such an average score like NEMESIS.
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post #44 of 68
1/3/05 at 10:19pm
Basil Poleduris' thundering score is easily the best part of Conan: The Destroyer.
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post #45 of 68
1/4/05 at 12:07am
Ennio Morricone
John Williams
John Powell
Yeong Wook-Jo (His score for oldboy is stunning)
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post #46 of 68
1/4/05 at 12:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Charles B
I can't stand Don Davis. Especially his awful reorchestrations of JW's work on JURASSIC PARK III.

Been listening to a lot of Goldsmith recently, and his stuff is greatness (especially GREMLINS and the score for STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE). Shame he had to go out with such an average score like NEMESIS.
I feel Star Trek had to much of the electronic noises going on.

I think Medicine Man or Ghost and the Darkness might be my favorite score of his.
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post #47 of 68
1/4/05 at 12:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stew
Are you kidding?

Restoration
Peter Pan
Snow Falling on Cedars
The Sixth Sense
Unbreakable
Signs
The Village

All brilliant scores. The man is one of the best working.
Dont' forget Dinosaur and Atlantis, very very good.
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post #48 of 68
1/16/05 at 7:47am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Charles B
I can't stand Don Davis. Especially his awful reorchestrations of JW's work on JURASSIC PARK III.

Been listening to a lot of Goldsmith recently, and his stuff is greatness (especially GREMLINS and the score for STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE). Shame he had to go out with such an average score like NEMESIS.
Actually, his last score was Looney Tunes: Back in Action

and all you Williams haters are insane....INSANE.....
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post #49 of 68
1/17/05 at 12:29am
Definitely insane. I just rewatched "Catch Me If You Can", and that score is brilliant too. Thematic, but totally fitted to the time period and tone of the film. Its subtle, but every bit as memorable and effective as his best work.
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post #50 of 68
1/17/05 at 2:09am
Angelo Badalamenti - The unsung hero of all of David Lynch's work. His work on Twin Peaks remains some of my all time favorite compostitions to this day.

I'm a huge Jean-Pierre Jeunet fan, but I was far more excited to see A Very Long Engagement for his score than for anything Jeunet could have done.
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