It's a lot of things at once and clearly the film demands that it elicits a lot of varied emotions -- epic sci-fi adventure, sea-shanty quaint/period-ness, quiet character introspection, whacky supporting character goofines (these Mickey Mouse-ing parts of cues are perhaps the only real drawback I've discovered thus far in one and a half listens, but they seem inevitable for this type of material). I liked Newton Howard's stuff for DINOSAUR but i don't like the film as it was just very "meh" and I don't listen to the album much anymore. ATLANTIS was a major step up and clearly paved the way, at least in my opinion, for PLANET. I don't want to oversell it -- It's not like blow-you-away original, but in this day and age, to have something this fun, rich, big and bold come out of a Disney film of all things is at least to my mind mildly inspiring. And as someone who loves film music but technically doesn't know much about it, I was glad to hear a lot of moments where I'd imagine JNH would play into an expectation of a certain sound or rising action motif, then try to take it a different way. I know this one'll be gettin' lotsa play in the coming days. Now if the movie is any good.....

Peace

MS

Word is that much of the big action stuff is not on the album.... and considering the action stuff on the album, wowza!!

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Man, what a great score.

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Nothing against MillsSomerset, but why are people surprised when they here the latest from James Newton Howard? This guy is kicking serious ass. A brilliant composer.

"Can somebody tell me why James Horner gets all my press? This town needs an enema!"
- James Newton Howard

Of course, hey, I'm not a moron: Williams will score EPISODE III. Duh! That's not what I meant. I'm just curious as to the power and fun Howard could bring to the STAR WARS themes were he to get involved in a Joel-McNeely-SHADOWS-OF-THE-EMPIREsque project.

(I mean, just listen at that incredible treatment of the Egg theme from DINOSAUR during the action sequence when the raptors attack!)

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Originally posted by Kosh:
who here would like to hear James Newton Howard tackle STAR WARS?

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Not I.

After some point of exposure to a composer's style, it all becomes a question of taste. You like it, you can take more of it. You don't like it, you get fed up. I am very much saturated in JNH music. And I have found his recent stuff to be anything but exciting (Unbreakable, Vertical Limit, 6th Sense, Atlantis...).

Looking forward to Goldsmith's ST:Nemesis, but besides Sum Of All Fears haven't been too impressed for a long time!

NP : Walking With Dinosaurs - Benjamin Bartlett...t.v. score to this beats most of what I've heard in the last few years! *****/*****...brilliant!!

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Originally posted by Dinko:
And I have found his recent stuff to be anything but exciting

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Wow.

I thought that UNBREAKABLE was excellent, and SIGNS was one of the best scores of the year....

Good to have varying opinions on the board, though!

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Originally posted by Kosh:
who here would like to hear James Newton Howard tackle STAR WARS?

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I don't really think that JNH is anywhere near similiar in style to John Williams. They are quite different. If anything, Howard's action material reminds me more of Goldsmith. Don't believe me? Listen to THE PACKAGE.

And hey, why does everyone consider scoring a STAR WARS movie to be the pinnacle test of someone's abilities? I think STAR WARS is as dull as a talent show at an old folks home. Let Williams finish the ****ing thing off and let it remain dead.

"Sometimes, dead is bettah"
- Herman Munster, Pet Sematary