Intrada Soundtrack Forum

Well, Doug started one on Goldsmith, I thought I'd start one on Williams. I was just listening to SLEEPERS. That end title alone (track 2) is just stunning. And yet, no one talks about this album!

I know it's a little hard to come by in its present form, but on several threads I've read in the past, SPACECAMP seems to get very short shrift and be dismissed as Williams-lite.

Not for me. I first saw that movie when I was 7 (and the VHS copy I'm still using, according to the receipt inside the sleeve, was bought on the 18th November 1989!) and still the first thing I think of about it is that opening twinkle and gorgeous main theme coming in. I watched it again a couple of months ago and that music makes the opening scene with the young version of Kate Capshaw (who did a really good job matching her adult counterpart) watching John Glenn "wink" at her truly magical.

The major themes in that movie and their various statements are some of Williams' best 80s work, I think.

Also, would we say THE FURY is underrated, or less mentioned? Maybe because unless people know the film, it's not really on their radar? I have a Spielberg-Williams obsessive friend and I had to tell him about it. It's also one of the current banes of my life that I discovered limited edition labels too late to get the Varese Club edition - try finding that for under $100 online! - but luckily I do have the original album recording.

It's stunning in every respect - and the way it works in the film is so amazing. My little sister is back from her first year at university soon, and I'm going to show her the film for the first time. I can't wait for that final scene when the theremin hits, and I fully expect her jaw to drop at last moments of the film, but no matter the amazing visuals, it's those final, violent hits of the orchestra that does it for me. The Epilogue written for the album is truly great too.

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Stanley and Iris

One of the maestro's most underrated scores. It's a short album... just under 29 minutes in length but what Williams gives you in that 29 minutes is more than what some composers attempt to do in two and half hours. Williams crafts a charming melody in the open track and delivers playful little tune in the second track, "Reading Lessons." And there is yet another NEW melody which opens up the light and breezy "The Bicycle" cue... with a sprinkle of The Witches of Eastwick for good measure. The score is dominated by soft strings, delicate piano and flute. A perfect lazy Sunday score if I've ever heard one!

-Erik-

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Erik Woods
host and producer CINEMATIC SOUND RADIO PODCAST


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Erik Woods
host and producer CINEMATIC SOUND RADIO PODCAST


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Heartbeeps, how such a charming score full of tenderness and energy can be so ignored ?

I've always been fond of Presumed Innocent.

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Jerry Goldsmith conducting the Detroit Symphony and nearly knocking me through the back wall with Air Force One....priceless.

I don't understand why IMAGES, with a limited pressing of only 2,000 copies, is still available after two-and-a-half years. This is honestly baffling to me, as I consider it an essential entry in Williams oeuvre. It's utterly original and unique, and features some of the finest string and percussion writing in Williams' career. Williams even performed the keyboards on the score himself. Perhaps people aren't comfortable with Stomu Yamashta's unconventional vocal accents? I don't know. It's a powerful work, and a challenging listen at times, but you'd think Williams' fans would embrace that!

Well for me


THE EIGER SANCTION
A wonderful effort that draws on William's Jazz roots, loaded with get themes and some wonderful set pieces.

The album is a re-recording, but in some ways it greatly improves on the sound recording, "TRAIN WITH GEORGE" is just a delight.

It's the closest he ever came to doing a "James Bond type Score"..

It's well worth seeking out.

and


THE MISSOURI BREAKS
It seems that folks are put off by this score because it's not a large scale orchestral work.

It's one of the most interesting scores in his cataloge, a western scored for a 14 piece chamber orchestra that is loaded with great pieces and a very delicate and touching love theme.

Two stand outs:

The Train Robbery (Great work by Tommy Morgan on Harmonica)

and

Love Theme From The Missouri Breaks


If you haven't pulled this one out in a long time, do so, you'll be richly rewarded.


Ford A. Thaxton

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"He who hears music, feels his solitude peopled at once." - Robert Browning

"As long as the human spirit thrives on this planet, music in some living form will accompany and sustain it and give it expressive meaning." - Aaron Copland

I've always found that A.I., Prisoner of Azkaban and Revenge of the Sith haven't gotten the attention they deserve. Hindered they all are, of course, by dismal album situations. Should I ever have the fortune to get it, I shall aquire the 2CD Oscar promo for A.I. And a clean DVD-ripp of RotS a friend made me is absolutely stunning and confirms the score has one of the best of the 2000s!

Three of my favorite Williams scores, that don't get all that much attention and seem to be overshadowed by their better known brethren:
1. Presumed Innocent
2. The Cowboys
3. Monsignore (indidentally I am playing this right now as I came across this thread)

I have seen SLEEPERS, but don't have the score on CD, so I may be guilty of overlooking that one myself. Some of the scores mentioned here I love, like A.I. or THE FURY but don't considerm them particularly overlooked. And one Williams score I'd love to see remastered and restored to glory is DRACULA.

Ditto on Dracula and The Cowboys.

And I'll add that Jane Eyre still doesn't get nearly enough attention -- I think it is hands-down the most beautiful music Williams has written. I wonder if he wrote any more than was released on album...

And I would say Family Plot, except there isn't even an album for this amazing score (until Intrada gets around to it, that is...)

Yavar

Some John Williams albums that don't get mentioned much:

THE RIVER
NIXON
MIDWAY (a re-record, but I like it a lot)
SABRINA (a bit of a mess on CD, with vocals and source music)
JOHN GOLDFARB (okay, there is a reason for that one)