..."Boys From Brazil".

serifiot, February 9, 2009; 6:17 PM

I must admit, that his music is pure audible coma to me. Except for his very early work for TV.

;)

coma, February 10, 2009; 1:53 PM

Just listened to ''Coma'', ''Capricorn One'', ''Alien"... three masterful scores!

''Star Trek'' is now playing... I dig!

How early David?... Twilight Zone early? :)

What can I say... different ear drums?

Yes, Goldsmith's early TV music is indeed ingenious (like Twilight Zone) but it's just fascinating to listen to his work chronologically, if possible (so many scores), to appreciate his evolution as a musician and the infinite musical possibilities he contributed to film scoring.

This man opened doors and reached for new boundaries breaking all conventional rules. His music is transparent, on the edge, and never the same!

Quite far out man if I must say!!!

:)))

serifiot, February 10, 2009; 6:35 PM

How early, Seri? As early as Perry Mason.

Perhaps I have completely different eardrums, but I think, his music works as good in the
movies, as it's unlistenable apart from these. Too much razzmatazz.

(Except for Chinatown and L.A. Confidential!)

coma, February 11, 2009; 10:08 AM

I usually like the earlier Goldsmith scores. Some of the more recent big blockbuster films the guy probably did for the money. Although some of his later scores are pretty good as well.

"Sleeping With The Enemy" I despise as a film yet the Goldsmith music rings a bell with me.

"U.S. Marshals" is probably one of the most idiotic films ever made yet the Goldsmith score is a powerhouse.

The old "Twilight Zone" scores are exceptional. The CBS cue library is loaded with exceptional stuff. Once years ago before a lot of that stuff was released commercially I came across a few CBS EZ Cue LP's at a junk store. One had two very short tracks of Jerry Goldsmith music, "Rock Dust" and "Forecast". I remember being very happy to have the oppourtunity to hear something so obsure. Since that time the music has been released on the Silva "Twilight Zone" discs. The two cues are from the episode "Dust".

"In Like Flint" is great as are many of his 60's scores.



victoravalentine, February 11, 2009; 11:01 AM

@ knives: Thanks for reminding me of Flint! If you like the CBS stuff and the library cues, have
a look at Prometheus' release "The Early Years Vol.1".

coma, February 11, 2009; 2:00 PM

Eardrums are eardrums. Our perception of music as a whole is what differs which of course is a good thing. Understandably Jerry Goldsmith's music is not for everyone and a lot of his film scores are not exactly the type of music to accompany... bird watching.

Numerous Jerry Goldsmiths's film scores without a doubt have made there own music impact and hold a unique place in the history of film scoring and that in itself is quite an achievement.

Just a few more so caled 'recent' good scores that might have been overlooked are "Rudy'', certainly ''Under Fire'' and ''Basic Instinct'' and last but not least... a perhaps underated ''Final Conflict'' which was not a good film at all, as a substantial number of unmemorable films were in which Goldsmith had composed memorable music to. I guess that holds true for every film music composer more or less.

Okay, brassy "Poltergeist'' as well which I think has a wonderful and very hummable main theme.

serifiot, February 11, 2009; 7:26 PM

serifiot:
i, too, am currently listening to all goldsmith-scores that i have in chronological order. the man was a genius.

and, yes, it is fascinating to listen to his stuff in chronological order. you can follow his development and discover where certain ideas in earlier scores began and were honed and perfected in latter scores.

for example his sci-fi scores: they get better and better from score to score. "planet of the apes", "the illustrated man", "logan´s run" and then the absolute highpoint of his work in science fiction - "star trek the motion picture".

well, i am at "gremlins" now. "supergirl" and "king solomon´ mines" next :)

l_arne, February 12, 2009; 1:49 AM

It's a shame that he did not age, age. You know what I mean. He was not THAT old when he left us. This business can certanly wear one out. I wonder if he was a heavy drinker.

I can only imagine what more Goldsmith could have contributed to film scoring if he was still with us today. Perhaps another ground breaking, milestone of a score??? Who knows.

The same goes for other aging GIANTS like Barry, Williams who are still with us... anyone else? I will not mention Morricone because the man is still kicking ass and composing his music bless him... and he is older.

I wish Barry was involved in film scoring. Age is irrelavent as long as all the marbles are there. Look at the hidden messages in the recent film Benjamin Button. The music by Monsieur Despalt was very good BTW. I just saw the film yesterday. I'm am certain that Barry in his own time is definitely sitting on his piano composing some sort of music. People with such talent just don't stop. They can't. Maybe he is pooped and sick of the film music business and has chosen to do his own thing in his own time. Good for him! He certainly does not need the money. In recent pics I have seen, he does look sort of frail. He needs to eat. I wish him many years of productivity as well to ALL the 'senior' maestros.

serifiot, February 12, 2009; 7:35 AM

What separates Mr. Barry from all the other composers - no matter how good they are - is that
he had style. And what's even more, a timeless style which he managed to maintain on his very
own level.
Something that was always quite rare and that's painfully missing nowadays.

coma, February 12, 2009; 9:33 AM