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      Praise for "Nixon"

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    Author
    Topic:   Praise for "Nixon"

     Wedge
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     Oscar® Winner
     

    I've heard lots of people complain about this score. But to be honest, I really enjoy it. It's certainly not an easy listen. Musically, it challenges the listener, who may resist being drawn into the darkly melancholic, almost stormy experience. That said, this is a score that gets better with repeat listens (a characteristic of many great scores.)

    Make no mistake about it, I'm not claiming that "Nixon" is a masterpiece (it does drag a bit in the middle, where it is helped out by the "Battle Hymn of the Republic.") But it IS a consistently interesting, well-crafted, and eminently worthy composition that belongs in your collection. It certainly deserved its Oscar-nomination. Among my favorite cues: "The 1960's: The Turbulent Years," "Growing Up In Whittier," and "The Meeting With Mao." The fullness of the Hollywood Records release is also to be commended.

    This is also a case where time heals wounds, so to speak. In an online review, Jonathan Braxton rightly points out that the score "marked the beginning of a real change of style for Williams, which has continued on through Sleepers and The Lost World, and for all those people who knew and loved his upbeat marches, soaring love themes and dramatic action cues, it came as quite a shock."

    I realize that not everyone objected to this score. Looking back, I see a broad selection of reactions ranging from enthusiastic to moderate to sheer loathing. Still, I'm curious as to what the members of this board think about "Nixon" now. How do you think it would have been received if it were composed this year, now that we've grown more familiar with Williams' development as a composer?

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    posted 11-03-2000 04:54 PM PT (US)     

     JJH
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    they'd still hate it.

    My opinion of the score is the same as yours and the venerable Mr Broxton's. Good, solid score.

    the only thing I despise about it, while cool on it's own terms I admit, is the attacking main theme culled from the Darth Vader theme of ESB. Whether that was Williams' idea or Stone's I don't know, but that's also one movie that irritated me to no end.

    NP -- Cider House Rules, Portman

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    posted 11-03-2000 07:08 PM PT (US)     

     Lou Goldberg
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     Oscar® Winner
     

    I think H Rocco is a big fan of this score. I have it, but haven't played it for a while. Obviously, it's that time again. Nothing wrong with a moody Williams score, so I don't understand the criticisms against it. Nixon was not Indiana Jones so why should he be treated musically that way.

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    posted 11-03-2000 08:55 PM PT (US)     

     JJH
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    he wasn't Darth Vader, either.


    NP -- Prince of Foxes, Alfred Newman

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    posted 11-03-2000 09:07 PM PT (US)     

     Chris Kinsinger
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    Wow! Here's a topic that I find myself completely torn in two over.
    Watching NIXON was like watching a four-hour train wreck.
    Moments of total BRILLIANCE connected together by some of the most inane reconstructionist history ever invented!

    However, I give John Williams FIVE STARS for a wonderful score.

    I don't call it NIXON...I call it THE GREAT TRAIN WRECK!



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    posted 11-03-2000 09:28 PM PT (US)     

     PeterK
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     FishChip
     

    Speaking of Rocco, where's he?

    I gave high praise to this CD when it came out, one of my favorite tracks being "The Turbulent '60s." I just wish I could listen to it again, but everytime I put it in my player, the interactive "bonus" part of the CD freezes up my player...

    NP - "Moviola" Barry

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    posted 11-03-2000 10:19 PM PT (US)     

     Shaun Rutherford
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    I love "Growing Up In Whittier" (hope I spelled that right......all right, I don't care).

    PK, if you want to remedy your situation, why not just make a CDR of the score? I mean, that's an easy solution!

    Shaun

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    posted 11-03-2000 11:14 PM PT (US)     

     PeterK
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     FishChip
     

    No time. I still have too many Delerue scores transferred from LP to hard disk that need cleaning up and burning to CDR. They've been sitting on the hard disk for at least 18 months now....


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    posted 11-03-2000 11:29 PM PT (US)     

     Swashbuckler
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    This is a very good solid score, I have to say. The thematic material is interesting, and weaves well through the album. "The 1960's" is a grabber and is a great example of what a trailer score should be; thematic material from the film is introduced while drawing you into the drama. Well... sort of. Nothing has really made me want to see this film too much.

    However, I have to say all in all, it was something of a prelude to the absolutely stunning and modern Sleepers, one of Williams best.

    NP - Howard Blake The Duellists/The Riddle of the Sands

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    posted 11-03-2000 11:33 PM PT (US)     

     Lou Goldberg
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    Pete, I may disagree with you about the board, but I can't disagree with your tastes. Any time you want to CDR some of that Delerue my way just drop me a line.

    NP: Elizabeth Taylor in London (John Barry)

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    posted 11-04-2000 03:08 AM PT (US)     

     Timmer
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    An excellent Williams score that also includes one of my all time favourite cues by him, the Vaughan Williams flavoured 'The Farewell Scene'.

    Have to agree with Chris K on his summing up of the movie!

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    posted 11-04-2000 04:14 AM PT (US)     

     Rang
     Oscar® Winner
     

    The chorus of praise continues ... very good score.

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    posted 11-04-2000 11:47 AM PT (US)     

     Graham Watt
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    ...and continues! Brilliant!

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    posted 11-04-2000 12:43 PM PT (US)     

     Marian Schedenig
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     Oscar® Winner
     

    Very good score, even though it doesn't get that much play time in my collection. The opening track (composed specifically for the trailer, right?) and The Meeting with Mao are my favourites; I find the Battle Hymn rather distracting.

    The interview snippets with Williams on the enhanced track are really interesting, too. Took me YEARS until I was finally able to play them on my computer, this must have been one of the first "enhanced CDs".

    And yes, Swash, Sleepers is great. The Football Game is one of my favourite single Williams tracks (although in the movie it's hardly mixed loud enough to be heard).

    NP: Kundun (Philip Glass)

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    posted 11-04-2000 05:43 PM PT (US)     

     Shaun Rutherford
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    ....and, regarding Sleepers, it sounds as if the film version has no synth drums. The damn things.

    Shaun

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    posted 11-04-2000 10:12 PM PT (US)     

     Swashbuckler
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    Marian, "The 1960's" was indeed the trailer score. As such, it is the only piece of this score I have actually seen interacting with its intended screen image.

    I was quite taken by the music when I saw Sleepers. It's true that I did have to strain to hear it at times, but what I could hear sounded so different, so interesting. I knew by the time I reached the end credits (track 2, "Hell's Kitchen" on the album: why, John, why?) that I needed to get the record. Then I heard the end credits and realized that the reason that I was so hooked by the score was it's dry modernity. The music doesn't force emotion onto you, it quietly and dispassionately describes what is happening.

    It is similar to Nixon in many respects, not least of which is the sophistication it shows both musically and dramatically.

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    posted 11-05-2000 06:12 PM PT (US)     

     Jeron
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    I was in Midland, TX this weekend (5 hours away from home) visiting family, and decided to check out the used CD store. Ya never know what you'll find. Among the 5 discs I picked up, "Nixon" was one of them. I hadn't even read this thread until today. It's kind of interesting how those things happen. As for the score? It is, as Graham says: Brilliant! "The 1960's: The Turbulent Years" track is definitely one of my favorites.

    [Message edited by Jeron on 11-05-2000]

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    posted 11-05-2000 07:32 PM PT (US)     

     H Rocco
     Oscar® Winner
     

    awww, the K noticed I was gone ... damn phone bills, damn lack of money. This is what we get for living like communists. I am typing this from the library. Right now I have precisely enough in the bank to cover the rent; except for the Internet, we have little use for a phone, so that's taking a back seat, although I COULD take the overdraft option and thereby pay the minimum required to get the service back. In fact I probably ought to do that very thing. How did people live before there was an Internet? (Homer Simpson on a local radio commercial: "Oooh, they have the Internet on COMPUTERS now!")

    Lou remembers correctly, I think the Nixon score is absolutely thrilling. I found a very cheap copy on St. Marks' Place and decided to get it because I had, at least, liked the trailer music. Then I found I couldn't stop playing the thing. A buddy I recommended it to (who doesn't post here) compared it to THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, and I think the parallel is reasonably apt.

    NP: nothing, it's a library, dammit.

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    posted 11-06-2000 03:02 PM PT (US)     
     

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