For me:

Bruce Broughton (That man should have work every second of his life)
Michael Giachino (Maybe it's the name)
John Scott (Yeah, he's done a lot, but not enough, and try to get a wide release from any of his scores or just find him at Best Buy)
Clif Eidelman (wow, never had a score that dissapointed)
Rober Folk (Look Toy Soldier alone...)
George Fenton (sure he gets gigs, but enough? I don't think so)

I got more, but I let you guys speak.

Scott

Conrad Pope - just watch the film Project:MetalBeast and you'll hear what I mean. Orchestrates more than he composes.

Mark McKenzie - another gifted and well-trained composer who seems to be stuck orchestrating scores for other composers, but perhaps that's by choice

Fredric Talgorn - another composer who can't seem to write a bad score, at least, not one that I've heard

Richard Band - ever since Re-Animator, this guy was branded as a hack due to his very Herrmann-sounding score. If anyone actually WATCHED the film, they would know that that was exactly the point! The film wasn't serious and the music was obviously a tribute to Herrmann, not a "rip-off" as many would lead you to believe. He was stuck scoring his brother's b-movies for Full Moon ever since. I give him credit for coming up with the music he did, considering what he had to work with for films. Now writing cartoon music which leaves much to be desired...then again that may also be by choice.

He composed a moving, orchestral score for "Commandments," as well as some great jazz tunes with a nice love theme in "Kissing A Fool."

Vitarelli, WHERE ARE YOU?

Giacchino just did the pilot for Alias. It was nice hearing real horns in a television score for once. I wonder if he's doing the whole series. I also wonder if there will be any more releases for the Medal Of Honor soundtracks.

But yes, Giacchino is extremely underrated, and I've been saying so for a while....

Christopher Stone is also fabulous, though I don't know that much of his work. Tuning into TaleSpin on Toon Disney is always a listening treat, though.

Bruce Broughton... why he doesn't get better projects is mind-boggling. He has such massive, blockbuster talent.

Yes, I just wrote that.

The songs were awfully obtrusive (although, anytime anyone plays Cat Stevens on TV is fine by me), to the point when my girlfriend said, "Jesus, this thing would be 15 minutes long if they didn't have an extended musical montage every three [expletive deleted] minutes!"

So yeah---I want more Giacchino music, damnit.

Louis Febre - This John Debney protege has impressed me ever since I heard his first score for a direct-to-video "Scooby-Doo" movie. I truly hope he makes it big.

Udi Harpaz & Amotz Plessner - Of late, I've become this board's cheerleader for these two, and listening to "Digimon: the Movie", it's easy to see why.

Julian Nott - Virtually unknown here in the States, but when (and if) a CD release of his Wallace and Gromit scores ever sees the light of day, that should change.

Steve Bartek - Hiding in plain sight, his composing career has spanned funky rhythms ("Romy & Michele's High School Reunion", "The Crew"), cartoon music (the little seen Disney series "Nightmare Ned"), sweeping adventure ("Cabin Boy") and nods to long time boss and bandmate Danny Elfman ("Snow Day"; when will this get released?!)

Daniel Licht - Often referred to in some circles as 'the poor man's Chris Young'. Well, they're right...in the sense that Licht is starting out doing cheesy horror flicks, but given the right project, he'll shine. His work on "Thinner" and the Disney Channel original movie (yes, he scored a kids' film) "Don't Look Under the Bed" have piqued my interest.

There are some TV composers who get no respect as well:

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Originally posted by SBD:
Julian Nott - Virtually unknown here in the States, but when (and if) a CD release of his Wallace and Gromit scores ever sees the light of day, that should change.

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Julian Nott does not even seem to be too popular in the UK. There's a hard to find promo with some excerpts from Wallace & Gromit floating around.

quote:

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Daniel Licht - Often referred to in some circles as 'the poor man's Chris Young'. Well, they're right...in the sense that Licht is starting out doing cheesy horror flicks, but given the right project, he'll shine.

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Shirley Walker - The reigning mistress of action music, her command of the orchestra is incredible and her melodies are terrific. I'd love to see her do a comedy, someday.

David Newman - He absolutely needs to be mentioned in this category. There isn't a single bad score on his resume (though "Critters" comes close), and his melodies, the sudden chord changes...if his work doesn't impress you, you're beyond the help of any shrink. Perhaps the best A-list composer that very few people have heard of.

Kevin Manthei - He's toiled on several Marco Beltrami scores as orchestrator and additional composer. His work on the Nickelodeon series "Invader Zim" is especially good. Check out his site for music samples: www.kmmproductions.com