Movie Soundtracks

Cafe Society
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I recently started buying and liking movie soundtrack CDs, I have The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, Waterworld, and my favorite - The Black Stallion/The Black Stallion Returns (I love the Black Stallion, the Black Stallion Returns is so-so, but they were both on on CD so That’s the way I bought them), and a few others. Waterworld is excellent, probably the best thing about that movie is the music (Except for that opening scene where all the ice is melting and the Earth is getting covered with water), so I know that bad movie != bad soundtrack.

What are some other really good soundtracks from movies?

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From Dusk Til Dawn
Desperado
Grease

3

Jurassic Park
O Brother Where Art Thou
The Rock

I’ll have to check my collection when I get home for more,but those are three of my top ten definitely.

4

Swingers
Tommy
Jesus Christ Superstar

5

Well, I am a big soundtrack collector, and what I suggest you start to do is start looking for is the composers that you like, because you’ll see that you’ll be drawn to some more than others. (I gather from the soundtracks you’ve mentioned—which are, I believe, mostly orchestral—that you are at least partially looking for scores). Scores are not always the same as soundtracks. Soundtracks can either include original scores written specifically for the film, or can be “compilations” of songs gleaned from other sources. But I’ll concentrate on scores here, and their composers.

Everyone knows who **John Williams** is, and he’s a good place to start. He’s not all “Star Wars” either. “Schindler’s List” is supposed to be pretty good (I have it somewhere) and “Phantom Menace” is wonderful. He’s got some non-epic-sweeping scores (“The River” comes to mind) that you might enjoy as well. An oddball (but delightful) score that sounds very un-Williams is “The Missouri Breaks”—weird Country music. Weird, but good. Williams is, I think, unjustly pigeonholed as a “big sweeping epic” composer, but he’s more than that. You have to search a little, but he’s done some really different and beautiful scores that don’t sound like “Star Wars”.

My personal favorite is **Jerry Goldsmith**. He’s been around forever and has got so many styles it’s hard to describe just one. He’s done a lot of the “Star Trek” scores (“Nemesis” is pretty good, though the first “Star Trek” movie score did get nominated for an Oscar, and for good reason.) “L.A. Confidential” has this weird moody bluesy style (also Oscar-nominated) that you may or may not like. “Under Fire” (another Oscar nominated one) is a must-have of Goldsmith’s, in my opinion. It’s got a South American sound and features guitarist Pat Metheny. Goldsmith is also famous for “The Omen” (which he did actually get an Oscar for) and “Planet of the Apes”. These are two unusual scores that are not as melodic and beautiful as, say, “Under Fire”, but are brilliant nonetheless. He has written about as many scores (or more) than John Williams, and in my opinion, he has a few more “styles” up his sleeve. But they’re both very good.

**James Horner** is another perennial favorite, and is also Oscar-nominated. “Titanic” is a beautiful score, as is “Braveheart” (he did that one, right?). A favorite of mine is “The Devil’s Own”. A beautiful score. I personally think that Horner’s scores from the '80s are a little weak, but that could be just me. His stuff from the '90s and beyond is pretty good to outstanding. You can’t go wrong with Horner.

**Danny Elfman** has such a wonderful sound, I love him too. He does seem to have an instantly recognizable “Elfman” sound (but I guess the other guys do too) but I never tire of him. He’s done umpteen scores, but a favorite of mine is “Edward Scissorhands”. Beautiful, beautiful score.

Hans Zimmer got an Oscar (I think) for “Lion King”, and he’s fantastic too. I recommend “Gladiator”, “Crimson Tide”, and “Green Card” since I own these and love them to death. Looking at his filmography, I can’t think of anything he’s done that I haven’t liked. Man, he’s fantastic.

Then there’s Thomas Newman. He never ceases to amaze me, and I know I need to get more of his scores. “American Beauty” and “Scent of a Woman” are what immediately spring to mind when I think of him, but looking at his filmography, he’s done so much more—so much. He has this kinetic style that is gentle yet fascinating. I can’t describe him too well, other than his sound is beautiful and he’s going to be around for a long time, I predict.

I don’t know a whole lot about Carter Burwell, but his score for “Conspiracy Theory” is fantastic—fun, jazzy, very energetic. One of my favorites. And I see by his filmography that he did incidental music for “O Brother Where Art Thou”. Hmmm… I need to get that score too.

Yeah, I obviously could go on and on. One thing I will tell you—just because you don’t like the movie, it doesn’t mean the score won’t be good. Take the “Rambo” series, for instance. Not my cup of tea at all, but damn! Jerry Goldsmith did a fantastic job on the scores, (I grudgingly admit) so I own all the CD soundtracks, which feature Stallone’s glistening body gracing the CD covers. (Blech.) What can I do? The scores are great. And sometimes, a good score can pick up a lukewarm movie.

Yeah, yeah, I know I listed a lot of composers. And I almost left out one of the best, **Ennio Morricone!** (He did the Spaghetti westerns, and SO much more. He’s brilliant.) So many composers, too little time…

6

The score for David Lynch’s 1984 version of “Dune” is pretty awesome. Kinda huge, galvanic, and sweeping. So-so movie, though.

On the offbeat side, if you like horror films, then the soundtracks of the progressive-rock band Goblin might be of note. They did the music for “Dawn Of The Dead”, as well as a plethora of Dario Argento horror films…all of which are very listenable in their own right without ever having to see the movies.

7

Shrek has some awesome music in it – make sure you get the score, not the soundtrack (which is just the rock-type songs from the movie).

Hunt for Red October also has some absolutely gorgeous, dramatic music in it, but the CD is a disappointing 38 minutes long.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is also good, featuring some beautiful cello work by Yo-Yo Ma.

You might also look into some TV soundtracks; I love my Farscape and Tales from a Parallel Universe (aka Lexx) CDs.

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I agree with yosemitebabe on finding a good composer. Film composers are the modern classical artists and it’s fun to follow one and see his progression. John Williams used to be my fave and he still churns out some really good ones, but not like he used too. I used to go around humming his themes, but lately only Harry Potter comes to mind as something memorable.

Lately I’ve been on a Jerry Goldsmith kick. I didn’t see yosemite offer up The Mummy but it is one of my favorite scores because it sounds like a classic dessert movie score, like a Lawrence of Arabia.

Plus if going with James Horner, don’t forget to pick up Aliens. If you think you’ve never heard the score before, wait until you listen to the track where they are escaping the soon-to-be-destroyed compound. you’ve heard it in countless movie trailers where people are fleeing something terrible.

As far as Elfman goes, most of his early stuff sounds like the rest of his early stuff. Pick up Batman and you’ve heard almost everythinjg from that era by Elfman. Not to say it’s not good, it’s just repetitive. I haven’t heard Edward Scissorhands, but I’ll take yosemite’s word on it and take a listen for myself. However, his newer stuff really stands out. Mission Impossible, Red Dragon, The Frighteners, Men In Black, all great stuff.

9

Out of Sight. Excellent movie, ditto soundtrack.

Fight Club. Same deal.

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Max: Oh yeah. “The Mummy” slipped my mind, but it’s one of the best. I’m a serious Goldsmith junkie, so I might as well give a longer list of faves: “The Wind and the Lion”, “The Shadow” (out of print, you can find it on eBay), “Wild Rovers”, “Alien”, “In Like Flint / Our Man Flint”, “The Russia House”, “Total Recall”, “Basic Instinct”, “First Knight”, “Love Field”, “Rudy”, “Hoosiers”, “Legend” (UK version), “Patton”, “Chinatown”, “Papillion”, “Justine”, “Sebastian”, “The Sand Pebbles”, “The 'burbs”, “Lilies of the Field”, “Sleeping with the Enemy”, “The Ghost and the Darkness” and I could go on and on and ON!

Goldsmith has dramatically different styles (but still a common Goldsmithesque quality in each score) so you might like some of these scores while not liking others. Some of the more strong orchestral and melodic scores might be: “The Ghost and the Darkness”, “Medicine Man”, “Rambo” (any version), “Total Recall”, “The Shadow”, “Rudy”, “Hoosiers”, and “First Knight”. Scores like “Lilies of the Field”, “Sebastian”, “Love Field” and “In Like Flint / Our Man Flint” have a completely different sound—some bad '60s retro, some simple and spare—you just never know what you’ll get sometimes. I’ve been a fan of his since I was age 14 and I never seem to tire of his work.

And I’m sure it’s true about Danny Elfman—about his early stuff. It had that “Elfman” sound. Not that I minded it, but I didn’t feel inclined to buy every score of his since they were so similar. I haven’t caught up with his more recent stuff; I feel I ought to now.

11

Passion: Music from The Last Temptation of Christ (Peter Gabriel) is some of the most beautiful muic ever recorded.

The Virgin Suicides

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I’m with Yosemite, but I’d add:

Bernard Herrmann who did the music for the great Hitchcock movies, like VERTIGO and PSYCHO, as well as FAHRENHEIT 451 and CITIZEN KANE and a host of others.

John Barry, more a matter of personal taste, but he did the early James Bond movies, as well as OUT OF AFRICA and DANCES WITH WOLVES. I personally like his stuff, but …

Elmer Bernstein, whose score for THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (the 1957 epic with Charleton Heston) is my personal favorite of all movie scores – a thousand piece orchestra, plus ancient musical instruments. He also did GHOSTBUSTERS.

13

Pump up the Volume and Reality Bites both have pretty good soundtracks.

14

Thanks CD. I wanted to include these guys too, but ran out of steam. There are too many good composers!

Elmer Bernstein, especially, has been underappreciated, IMO. He’s done some fantastic stuff through the years. John Barry’s “The Lion in Winter” is unsurpassed, and Bernard Herrmann? Where do I start? What you named, and also “The Day the Earth Stood Still” and “Taxi Driver”.

Oh, and another: Maurice Jarre. He can get repetitive sometimes, but “Witness”, “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” and “A Walk in the Clouds” are a few of my favorites.

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yosemite, marry me! And I’ll include the Red Dragon score as part of my dowry.

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A Clockwork Orange - I discovered this in my dad’s record collection when I was a wee little boy … my introduction to Beethoven’s Ninth.

Also, I maintain a deep affection for all of John Carpenter’s early soundtracks - Assault on Precinct 13, Halloween, Escape from New York … almost childishly simple, but wonderfully creepy and atmospheric. I guess I’m just a sucker for analog
synthesizers.

17

While I’m at it, let me also suggest John Ottman who composed ** The Usual Suspects**, and Don Davis who may not be as well known but the stuff he has done (Jurassic Park 3, The Matrix, House on Haunted Hill) is fantastic. Haunted Hill gets my vote as the creepiest soundtrack of the past decade.

18

Ok, one more and I’ll shut up. John Powell and his scores for The Bourne Identity and Antz. Wunnerful!

And Terminator 2 by Brad Fiedel.

And if you want some good 80’s sounding scores, pick up some Basil Poledouris like **Robocop, Starship Troopers,

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crap…hit submit too soon…

…Robocop, Starship Troopers, Conan the Barbarian.

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Thanks for all the great suggestions.

THis was supposed to be: …they were both on one CD.:rolleyes: