Great Scores

I really liked this thread. And what with trevor lamenting the lack of threadage here in The Arts forum, I think it’s appropriate to bring it to attention.

Anyhow, as I mentioned in the My Favorite Video Games Ever. thread (btw, trevor, another good thread that’s been wasting away under layers of dust in The Arts forum!), I’ve been playing through the Final Fantasy classics (I - VI) (working my way through V, now) and I think it’s not too early to say that the soundtracks for IV and V deserve recognition. Although I’m sure Silhouette will make some remark about Shining Force being 10x the game than any classic Final Fantasy, I’m still reveling in the afterglow of freshly played Final Fantasy and it seems that nothing can ruin it for me right now.

Final Fantasy IV [1991]:
My God, the first Final Fantasy to have a few semi-complex characters and a story worth playing through perhaps more than once! Of course, outside Japan everyone thought this was FFII because the real FF2, 3, & 4 were denied release to the rest of the world until more than a decade later. Compared to FFI through III, the music in this game really helped set the tone for a more involved plot with more developed characters.

Suspicion
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3tn5nKGvpM[/youtube]

Into the Darkness
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvAstwDYVqQ[/youtube]

Battle with the Four Fiends
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGrTvlE_DO0[/youtube]

Final Fantasy V [1992]:
Not as big a step music/story-wise as FFIV had been from I-III, but it still offers at least a few memorable tracks. (And the new Job System is amazing! But that’s a whole other story…)

[Will add songs soon]

Shining Force (3) is 10x the game than any classic Final Fantasy.

Don’t know if anybody mentioned 2001 Space Odyssey.

:slight_smile:

True. 2001 is a great movie period. Incidentally, the opening piece that everyone identifies with it (here) was composed in 1896 by Richard Strauss and he called it Also Sprach Zarathustra, inspired by You Know What. It’s also interesting to note that Kubrick rejected the original score requested for his film and decided to go with all classical pieces instead.

I positively love the tracks made by Hans Zimmer to Gladiator, but especially the contribution of the singer Lisa Gerrard, she has an insanely deep and magnificent voice, I saw her live once, it is like seeing to God in which I dont believe or rather the Goddess… but anyway she has made some other inspiring film music mainly that I know of, for the Insider. Listen to this it will send chills up your spine (if you have one).

Never mind and pay no attention to the boring video they put to this song it is a waste to look at it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6DZsEQ82lE[/youtube]

Of course Hans Zimmer can do it well by himself as well this is fucking mind blowing.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBTIoL5vaOM[/youtube]

Wagner eat your heart out…

Also a good movie with good music. I love that punch Pitt delivers in that knucklefight.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJL8GjLCGxU[/youtube]

Definitely! Incredible voice and, of course, (what really matters) the feeling carried through the voice.

Richard Strauss - Also Sprach Zarathustra, op. 30

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyJwbwWg8uc[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsnenRHcXZY[/youtube]

And here’s some musical montage for the same movie (L’Intrus) in the trailer…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDazyLilB0g[/youtube]

Some great shouts there. Hans Zimmer really is amazing, esp his work on Christopher Nolan’s films (Dark Knight/Inception etc).

What I didn’t know until recently is that Lisa Gerrard (singer who collaborated with Hans Zimmer on Gladiator) is also in a band called Dead Can Dance. Erik posted a couple of their songs in a thread awhile ago which was how I found out about them. Indus and Anabasis. These songs evoke a timeless trance and I feel connected to that which is ancient and mysterious in us and in nature.

Divinity: Original Sin [2014]
Kirill Pokrovsky was a prolific composer for the Divinity series, D:OS being the latest, crowdfunded addition that has been widely praised as an example of a modern classic-style role-playing game (CRPG). Pokrovsky breathes life into the world of Divinity with countless, beautiful airy themes of promise, intrigue, sadness, battle, and reflection. He passed away in June of 2015, but not before leaving behind an entire world in sound.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiR4g0A-83s[/youtube]

More than seven hours of music for the Divinity series alone.

Nothing about the Halo soundtrack is haunting. Halo is very much like an Irish jig. If you want haunting, try this.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFobu9vDt_M[/youtube]

Lord of the Rings [2001 - 2003]
Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy was pretty much everything it should have been to do justice to J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy masterpiece. Cast, location, dialogue, faithfulness to the canon. Absolutely epic. Perhaps not perfect, but damn good. And the music of Howard Shore fits the bill. Two of my favorites serve as End Credit songs for The Fellowship and The Two Towers, respectively:

May It Be
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOykCYDMKBs[/youtube]

Gollum’s Song
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLvseUMGpYc[/youtube]

The Outer Worlds [2019]
Gorgeous opening theme that builds intrigue and sense of bombastic adventure, composed by Justin E. Bell

Hope (Title Theme)
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRLwYM-0uKE[/youtube]

Crimson Tide: Roll Tide [1995]
One of the most epic tracks to ever hit the earth must belong in this thread.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnmDeFOIXoE[/youtube]

Game of Thrones: Opening Theme [2011]
one of the most addictive melodies as of late to appear in the sky
Don’t like the series too much but this is genious, to speak with Pezer.
Its the crazy rhythm, never heard an arrangement alike it.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdQ3JDLlmPI[/youtube]

Vikings opening [2013]
Just classic
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Umgco_YoGuw[/youtube]

True Blood opening [2008]
Maybe the funkiest opening of all of television ever.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlnb_Bnyxps[/youtube]

I have to say, those are both great intros. I’ve loved that Vikings intro for a long time.
The True Blood intro is cool too, very American south tune and imagery - I used to watch that show with my ex-gf.

Not exactly a film score but . . .

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JaeBxYCI9k[/youtube]

As for scores:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Cr4odojoSs[/youtube]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u20sVtCxf_8[/youtube]

The Inspector Morse Theme, thanks for sharing that. It has really good tension, dramatic build-up and release. Excellent.