COME ON PEOPLE!!! these are FILM scores, this is a FILM score site. see the ****ing FILM! You seem to be missing the whole point to the existance of a film score, which is the(thats right) FILM. The score would not be written unless there is a film for it to support(and i stress support...the point of a score is to help a film, not dominate it)I personally own 2 scores to movies i have not seen. and i own 200 plus scores.
The most interesting thing about a film score is looking at how it works within the medium of film. If you do not know what is happening in the movie during track 8 on the Titanic CD, then i pity you, because you are missing the whole point of writing a film score.
remember Last of the Mohicans? Promentory is a great track, but not half as good as how it sounds during the climax of the movie. Braveheart: well.....Audacity, go see Braveheart, then we'll talk about not being able to get into the score.
Granted, a score can sound great on its own, but listening to a film score without having seen the movie is a bit like watching something on pan and scan instead of widescreen. With pan and scan, you only get part of the picture, i want to see the whole damn thing. You miss the biggest and most important part of a film score if you dont see it used in a movie.
Anyway, that's just my opinion...I could be wrong(Dennis Miller rules)
-peace, Matt

NP: The Saint

Now here my answer to your question, which is sort of pointless since you already bashed it.
If I am familiar with the composer's previous scores and I liked them , then I usually buy the score before the film is released. Then see the movie afterward to see how everything fits, I wind up liking the score even more than I did before.
This just happened with the Bone Collector.
I put a good amount of faith in my favorite composers.

I'll buy scores in advance of seeing a movie too, always have done as I too can put enough faith in a composer I like, to know their work and to know what to expect, and just go buy it right away. A lot of the time hearing a score in advance can make me wanna see a movie even more (latest example, The World is Not Enough)...

We're here on this board to talk about FILM SCORES, granted we're all probably film lovers too, in fact I know we are, but its the music we come here to talk about at the end of the day.

Dont bash our methods of how and why each of us listen to music, it's not right, we all have different takes upon specific things, so your argument is kinda pointless. You have stated your take on scores and how you like to listen to them, and thats cool, I totally dig that, but some of us do it a different way.

Whats cool is that those of us on here who do such a thing, buy or listen to a score before seeing the movie can have that very same movie recommend to us by other board members, and its great we have that interaction and understanding between all of us here. But its wrong to critisie on anothers methods...

End of rant.

Dan (UK)

I think it's a matter of preference. I buy film scores all the time before seeing the movie. I've only made one bad decision so far. Every cd I purchase, I find it easier to interface w/ the music before rather than after seeing the movie. Matt, I haven't sat down and watched Braveheart all the way through. I bought the score - and love it. I bought Kevin Kiner's score for "Wing Commander" waaay before I ever saw the movie, and loved every second of it. Actually, I found the cd more exciting to listen to prior to watching the film.

It's interesting - several of the professionals in the industry with whom i'd had the pleasure of meeting, professors at UCLA Film School, etc... they have all praised me for being able to enjoy a film score and grasp it in it's entirety prior to seeing the film it accompanies.

That's my take. I don't think I'm missing anything. The point is to enjoy the music, and if I enjoy it just as much, and sometimes more than not having heard it in the movie it accompanies, well... that's even better.

Jeron

PS - So I guess you're pissed off I wrote an entire review on TWINE before I even saw the movie...

Anyway, here is my two cents:

I buy scores before seeing the movie thousand of times. In fact, probably 20 or so of all of my scores are to movies, I have never seen. So, there!
I buy every Goldsmith and every Williams score as soon as they are released. I find these two just too good to pass up. Often a composer writes for a movie that is just awful but the score is great (Mom and Dad save the World for example).
To say you shouldn't buy a score unless you see or are planning to see the movie is like saying don't listen to classical music without seeing the composer conducting it. I enjoy scores on two grounds: How they are composed, the beauty withing themselves and how they fit in the movie.
It is beneficial to see the movie of course, but hey, wether you ever see a movie like oh...let's say ET or not, if you enjoy film scores you will enjoy that score as well , wether you've seen the movie or not.
What about all the oldtimers,Hermmann, Korngold etc. do I have to watch all of their movies before I buy their soundtracks. Do I have to read about the Swan Lake to appreciate the ballet by Tchaikosvki (I know misspelle, I got just a little time today)?

But sometimes even if it is highly recommended, I will still wait until I have watched the movie and then decide, e.g. Braveheart (just watched it on video yesterday and now I have to get the score.!)

On buying soundtracks before the movie is released, wanted to do so, but due to the location of where I am staying, it does not permit me to do so. Some of the soundtracks which I bought before the release are The Phantom Menace, Mulan, and Tarzan.

I don't see any problem with buying scores before the movie comes out. Sure I have been burnt a couple times doing this, but more times than not I find a great score that makes me want to see the movie all the more. If I am certain a score is good, like if I listen to clips on the web or someone shoots some MP3s of the score over to me I will rush out and buy it brand new. But if I am not certain about a score I will not just run out and buy it. In the case of Braveheart, and a few other scores, I found it at a local used CD store for very cheap around three dollars. How many of us would pass up paying three dollars for a Horner or Williams or Goldsmith score, whether we have seen the movie or not?

Matt,
I never once said that I wont ever watch Braveheart, that happens to be a movie that I have wanted to see for quite a while. I have just not got around to seeing it yet. And maybe you are right, after I see the movie I might appreciate the score more. But I don't regret buying the score before I knew anything about it.

About one fourth of the scores that I own, are to movies that I have never seen, i.e. Schindler's List. And another fourth are to movies that I have seen, but would not ever want to see again, i.e. Titanic and The Phantom. I love movies, and I love movie music, but they don't always have to go hand in hand. There are certain scores (Waterworld) that when I hear it I can picture every scene in the movie in my head because I loved the movie also. And there are other scores (Cutthroat Island) that I listen to and purposely try to forget the horrible movie that went along with it. Either way I enjoy the music.

I would like to rant more but I think that is Matt that I see across the street with a high powered rifle so I must say farewell, remember me my movie music friends.

-NP What Dreams May Come (rejected) Ennio Morricone 5/5
(So whats your take on film scores that were not used in the film?)

I have purchased many, many scores without seeing the movie. There are some which I like, but plan never to see the movie. E.g. Drop Zone, Lake Placid, I Know What You Did Last Summer to name a few. Unless I can find maybe a nine-tenths majority who say the film is good (this happened to me with Glory), I will not see many of these movies. There are others which I will watch in order to see if I can appreciate the score more.

And for the record, I have never seen Braveheart, but I love the music anyway. It has made me cry before. I plan to see the movie at some point or another (I know you don't "****ing" care Matt, this isn't directed solely at you), but its not the music that makes me want to see it, its the overwhelming unanimity of its greatness.

That's all for me.

Nope!