In my opinion, nobody can ever hit it perfectly every single time. Even my favorites (Goldsmith, Williams, Silvestri, Elfman, Horner and others) have scores that, while maybe not necessarily "clunkers," simply don't work for me.
Goldenthal has never missed for me, and I have every released score of his. Williams is something like 98% since the early 1970's (STEPMOM and ALWAYS were pleasant, skillful misses). Goldsmith lost his edge somewhat, very late in the game and several of the synth scores just never appealed to me, but he's still over 90% for me. I can't think of. John Barry score that I actively disliked.
But in the final analysis, the only composer whose every score has hit the mark for me is Elliot Goldenthal.
No such composer exists, I'd go as far as to say. And I'm lokking at you with raised eyebrows and a "really???" look if you claim otherwise.
I can't speak for his unreleased stuff, but Christopher Gordon:
Moby Dick Sydney: A Story of a City On the Beach When Good Ghouls Go Bad Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World 'Salem's Lot Daybreakers Mao's Last Dancer Crawl Adore + the titles represented on Unreleased Titles + The Gift of Light
So raise your eyebrows all you want: the man is batting 1000. Not every one of them is a masterpiece, but there's not a dud among them.
No such composer exists, I'd go as far as to say. And I'm lokking at you with raised eyebrows and a "really???" look if you claim otherwise.
I can't speak for his unreleased stuff, but Christopher Gordon:
Moby Dick Sydney: A Story of a City On the Beach When Good Ghouls Go Bad Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World 'Salem's Lot Daybreakers Mao's Last Dancer Crawl Adore + the titles represented on Unreleased Titles + The Gift of Light
So raise your eyebrows all you want: the man is batting 1000. Not every one of them is a masterpiece, but there's not a dud among them.
Now if someone can tell me where to get cd of Sydney portrait of a city
But no, nobody who's composed more than one film score has ever batted 1000 for me. Even my favorites occasionally produce(d) a score that I found weak.
Is my esteem for them lower because of it? Nope. Chaplin made bad films, too, and that doesn't mean he wasn't a genius. It's the nature of the creative process.
Miklos Rozsa George Fenton Elmer Bernstein Christopher Gordon Erich Wolfgang Korngold
come to mind for me.
Goldsmith, Herrmann, and Poledouris are certainly 95% or above. Of the still very active Hollywood guys Giacchino, Desplat, and Powell are somewhere around 90% I'd say. I'm sure I can think of more...
