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I remember buying the LP when it was first released and getting home all excited to spin this new score by this thrilling and exciting new composer.
At first I was like, hmmmmm wtf.
But there was something intriguing about it.
And I loved those jaunty, flourishing cues that danced along with sprinkly synths.
I warmed to it with repeated listens and it, together with The Name Of The Rose (around the same time?) made me realise there were more strings to this fellas bow than just big orchestral fireworks.
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I remember buying the LP when it was first released and getting home all excited to spin this new score by this thrilling and exciting new composer.
At first I was like, hmmmmm wtf.
But there was something intriguing about it.
And I loved those jaunty, flourishing cues that danced along with sprinkly synths.
I warmed to it with repeated listens and it, together with The Name Of The Rose (around the same time?).
I had pretty much the same reaction at the time and eventually I warmed up to it quite a bit (including LE NOM DE LA ROSE - which I still love). However, and as was bound to happen, I found the same type of pilfering in the work - music from Mark Isham's Mrs. Soffel for instance - typical of Horner really, and thus my appreciation of the score went down quite a bit. To be fair, the score is very listenable once you discount the borrowings. Yes at the actual price, never at the insane amounts it was going for on the secondary market back in the day.
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Just noticed a shocking agreement with Thor, again! This has happened a scary number of times in the last few months. If this worrying trend continues, I'll have to consult a medical professional.
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Now, THE NAME OF THE ROSE I quite like. Just not WTRRB, for some reason. Weird.
ROSE is on my listen list for tomorrow. Upon finishing my listen I will circle back and confirm whether you are in fact weird.
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Listening to this score now for the first time in many, many years, and man, it's so good. It basically takes one of Horner's intimate dramatic scores from the mid-80's to early 90's and filters it gently through a synth ensemble car wash. I get that's not everybody's cup of tea but he had a real gift for this kind of thing; shifting the tonal landscape but always keeping his melodic sense in the foreground. Hell, for a long time it wasn't my cuppa either but now I find myself often preferring these listens to the more bombastic stuff. Of course I'm the lunatic who puts PATRIOT GAMES in my Horner top 5 so YMMV.
It's on Spotify, at least in the States: https://open.spotify.com/album/4qiIaDoxWYGtcH4tVqeVVN
ETA: The cue here titled "The Assassin" begins with the same synth-string fluorish as the cue in THE PELICAN BRIEF when Khamel, the assassin, is introduced. That's not meant as a knock at all, but it's interesting how granular Horner's mind worked with that kind of thing.
Oh yeah, you’re right! I never got the whole way through this godforsaken score. I’ll put it on while I’m reading later and see if time has changed my mind.
EDIT: that Khamel music is in the very first track as well, so I definitely haven’t listened to this in a long, long time. It is not going well with this Richard Russo novel, though.
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I cannot play Name Of The Rose without breaking out into singing I'm Walking In The Air from The Snowman (cartoon) during his big flourish of the nice/main theme at the end.
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Posted: |
Oct 26, 2023 - 1:43 AM
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By: |
Thor
(Member)
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OK, trying again with this one. On the surface, it may appear to be a spiritual cousin to VIBES (which, it turned out, I actually love), what with the pan pipes/South Americanisms and all, but perhaps a tad more whimsical and less focussed. And the odd meters and rhythms make it a tad bit harder to get properly engrossed. I do like it when it's downkey (love those eerie synth voices, like in the highlight track "Alone"), some of the busier tracks could benefit from a bit more structure. I'd say it's definitely strong enough to stay in my iTunes collection, even though the new encounter wasn't as great as VIBES.
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Posted: |
Oct 26, 2023 - 1:47 AM
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By: |
Thor
(Member)
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FINAL VERDICT: Not weird! Congratulations!
ROSE is also phenomenal but, except for some surface similarities, in an entirely different way than RIVER. As I mentioned above, RIVER sounds much like a transposed version of another kind of Horner score. ROSE is after different things and works with a deeper, more full-throated palette. Loved it. You often talk about the religious sound, Thor. Is it reaching to suggest that maybe ROSE draws you in because of its quasi-liturgical tone?
Sorry, I didn't see this 2020 post of yours earlier, Mike. Yes, I think that might be part of it. That, and the fact that I love those chilly, textural, electronic landscapes in and of themselves.
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