Intrada Soundtrack Forum

Do you guys have years in film scores that interest you much more than others? I was going through my database of soundtrack albums, and found that is indeed the case for me.

Starting with the 1960s, I identified 1968, 1974, 1985, 1992 and 2005 as by far my personal favorite years in their respective decades. Listed below are my top 15 highlights for each of those years in order of interest with favorites at the top. I am interested in seeing other people's interests in this regard.

1968
Bullitt (Lalo Schifrin)
The Power (Miklós Rózsa)
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (Dave Grusin)
Once Upon a Time in the West (Ennio Morricone)
The Lion in Winter (John Barry)
The Split (Quincy Jones)
Where Eagles Dare (Ron Goodwin)
The Thomas Crown Affair (Michel Legrand)
Rosemary's Baby (Krzysztof Komeda)
Planet of the Apes (Jerry Goldsmith)
Twisted Nerve (Bernard Herrmann)
The Shoes of the Fisherman (Alex North)
Ice Station Zebra (Michel Legrand)
Bandolero! (Jerry Goldsmith)
Coogan's Bluff (Lalo Schifrin)

1974
The Parallax View (Michael Small)
Airport 1975 (John Cacavas)
The Conversation (David Shire)
Murder on the Orient Express (Richard Rodney Bennett)
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (David Shire)
The White Dawn (Henry Mancini)
The Godfather Part II (Nino Rota)
Chinatown (Jerry Goldsmith)
McQ (Elmer Bernstein)
Truck Turner (Isaac Hayes)
The Super Cops (Jerry Fielding)
Gold (Elmer Bernstein)
Mr. Majestyk (Charles Bernstein)
The Towering Inferno (John Williams)
Death Wish (Herbie Hancock)

1985
Young Sherlock Holmes (Bruce Broughton)
Flesh+Blood (Basil Poledouris)
The Bride (Maurice Jarre)
Back to the Future (Alan Silvestri)
Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (Craig Safan)
Return to Oz (David Shire)
Red Sonja (Ennio Morricone)
Brazil (Michael Kamen)
Agnes of God (Georges Delerue)
Clue (John Morris)
First Blood Part II (Jerry Goldsmith)
Pee-wee's Big Adventure (Danny Elfman)
Rocky IV (Vince DiCola)
Legend (Jerry Goldsmith)
A View to a Kill (John Barry)

1992
A League of Their Own (Hans Zimmer)
Basic Instinct (Jerry Goldsmith)
Scent of a Woman (Thomas Newman)
Sneakers (James Horner)
Ruby Cairo (John Barry)
Wind (Basil Poledouris)
Lethal Weapon 3 (Michael Kamen)
Hoffa (David Newman)
Of Mice and Men (Mark Isham)
Radio Flyer (Hans Zimmer)
Alien 3 (Elliot Goldenthal)
A River Runs Through It (Mark Isham)
Medicine Man (Jerry Goldsmith)
Unforgiven (Lennie Niehaus/Clint Eastwood)
Bram Stoker's Dracula (Wojciech Kilar)

2005
The Legend of Zorro (James Horner)
Cinderella Man (Thomas Newman)
River Queen (Karl Jenkins)
Transporter 2 (Alexandre Azaria)
Four Brothers (David Arnold)
Kingdom of Heaven (Harry Gregson-Williams)
Munich (John Williams)
The New World (James Horner)
King Kong (James Newton Howard)
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (John Ottman)
Cefalonia (Ennio Morricone)
Hostage (Alexandre Desplat)
The Greatest Game Ever Played (Brian Tyler)
Memoirs of a Geisha (John Williams)
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (John Powell)

You forgot so many great scores of 1985... Definitely the best year for film music ever !

Cocoon (James Horner)
Explorers (Jerry Goldsmith)
Silverado (Bruce Broughton)
The Goonies (Dave Grusin)
The Black Cauldron (Elmer Bernstein)
Enemy Mine (Maurice Jarre)
Out of Africa (John Barry)
The Color Purple (Quincy Jones)
Mad Max 3 (Maurice Jarre)
The Journey of Natty Gann (James Horner)
Lifeforce (Henry Mancini)
North & South (Bill Conti)
Amazing Stories (various)
Invasion USA (Jay Chattaway)
Commando (James Horner)
Missing in Action (Brian May)
King Solomon's Mines (Jerry Goldsmith)
Baby (Jerry Goldsmith)
The Ewoks (Peter Bernstein)
Fright Night (Brad Fiedel)
Ladyhawk (Andrew Powell)
The Dungeonmaster (Richard Band)
Silver Bullet (Jay Chattaway)
Starchaser (Andrew Belling)

Plus all you already mentioned!

Oh, I did not forget most of those; I kept each year to 15 highlights in movie soundtracks.

1968 also had many other high quality soundtracks, such as The Swimmer, Hellfighters, Dark of the Sun, Guns for San Sebastian, The Bride Wore Black, The Green Berets, The Devil's Brigade, Firecreek, Interlude, No Way to Treat a Lady, P.J., Deadfall, Petulia, Inspector Clouseau, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Candy, Sol Madrid...

1968 was an amazingly diverse and fruitful year in film music, and a lot of it really appeals to my tastes.

First half of the 80's was amazing, it is difficult to choose one year. But I'd choose 1982:

80's: 1982
Conan The Barbarian (Poledouris)
Poltergeist (Goldsmith)
E.T. The Extraterrestrial (Williams)
First Blood (Goldsmith)
Blade Runner (Vangelis)
The Dark Crystal (Jones)
Halloween III (Carpenter/Howarth)
Star Trek II (Horner)
Mad Max 2 (May)
The Man From Snowy River (Rowland)
The Thing (Morricone)
The Secret Of NIMPH (Goldsmith)
The Escape Artist (Delerue)
Night Crossing (Goldsmith)
Rocky III (Conti)

70's: 1977
Star Wars (Williams)
Close Encounters Of the Third Kind (Williams)
Islands In The Stream (Goldsmith)
Orca (Morricone)
Exorcist II (Morricone)
Suspiria (Goblin)
Island Of Dr. Moreau (Rosenthal)
Black Sunday (Williams)
Martin (Rubinstein)
The Spy That Loved Me (Hamlish)
People That Time Forgot (Scott)
The Deep (Barry)
Audrey Rose (Small)
The Gauntlet (Fielding)
Jesus Of Nazareth (Jarre)

Being that I am "Old School" when it comes to film music most of my collection contains scores from what I consider the "cream of the crop" years 1955 to 1985. I suppose a big reason is because most of my favorite composers were alive and in their prime.

Hard to top 1985. And 1977 was a personal favorite. In any case, I suppose in keeping with just fifteen titles and spotlighting particular years within favorite decades, I'd zero in on the 1960's, with the following year being a formative one for me as a fourteen-year-old:

1966
Cast A Giant Shadow (Bernstein)
The Sand Pebbles (Goldsmith)
The Blue Max (Goldsmith)
Is Paris Burning? (Jarre)
Hawaii (Bernstein)
Return Of The Seven (Bernstein)
The Professionals (Jarre)
The Chase (Barry)
Born Free (Barry)
Judith (Kaplan)
Nevada Smith (Alfred Newman)
The Appaloosa (Skinner)
Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (North)
Lost Command (Waxman)
Arabesque (Mancini)

But my list of favorites is probably endless.
--Doug