Poll: Best Composer

[Antwerp Caveman]

Well that was quite useless.
1. If those were corrections in my use of language, big deal, I'm not a native english speaker/writer.
2. If that was, how it reads, to make more clear that this concerns my opinion... where do you think we are? This is a forum. A place where opinions are written and shared. It's the entire point.

 

[Antwerp Caveman]

Hmm I love John Williams' music a lot, but I'm not sure it makes him a great composer... just someone who is great at catchy and memorable tunes. Maybe that's the point?

I'm a bit sad the following weren't even in the poll:

Howard Shore
Hans Zimmer
James Horner
Harry Gregson-Williams

Some names that should be mentioned in conjuction with some awesome video game soundtracks include:

Harry Gregson-Williams - MGS3
Martin O'Donnell - Halo Series
Jack Wall - Mass Effect 1 & 2
Inon Zur - Fallout 3/New vegas
Petri Alanko - Alan Wake
Normand Corbeil - Heavy Rain

About the recurring mentions of Shore and Zimmer; why did I not include them? Because I didn't think of them. When I think of legendary compositions like Morricone, his music springs to mind. And then some John Williams. And then my girlfriend immediately and correctly jumps to Elfman.

About Shore, he made the LoTR soundtrack.
I sat through the 3 movies, reluctantly, I actually fell asleep a few times. I love the fantasy genre but this I could not enjoy, too pretentious and too epic.
They're succesfull, good for them. And they have a lot of fans, good for them (probably you).
But is their music special and unique? No.

Zimmer, looked him up after reading his name in this topic.
Wow, he's got quite a few big titles and summerblockbusters on his name, but still, not as influential on the genre.

Now, for your game examples:

- MGS3: aren' the MGS soundtracks lately just rehashes of the MGS 1 soundtrack? (Been a while since I played, correct me if I'm wrong)

- Fallout 3: Absolutely lovely soundtrack, I always had Galaxy News Radio on ingame. But it's not applicable, because the person who assembled the songs didn't compose them.

- Halo/ Mass Effect (very similar music): well... Halo is popular due to marketing, and the free copies you got with most Xboxes, not due to being a good and innovative game. I played the first 3, co-opped the campaings, but it's not memorable at all. The music is very appropriate to the game, but is it influential to the genre? Or has that music itself been influenced by others? I think the latter. And Mass Effect is just 3rd Person Halo with a leveling system.

 

[Anarchemitis]

There are two great composers who made excellent music for film (one of which is still living), but never made music with the intention of it being used for film.
Tchaikovsky for one. The Nutcracker suite has been adapted to animation many times over, but I bet you didn't know Disney actually made a movie out of one of his ballets:
Entirely Tchaikovsky's orchestration. (Performers information cannot be found. Conducted by Frederick Stark)
This was written about 12 years ago by a man named Arvo Part, who is a still living Minimalist composer from Estonia.

 

[Raven's Nest]

About the recurring mentions of Shore and Zimmer; why did I not include them? Because I didn't think of them. When I think of legendary compositions like Morricone, his music springs to mind. And then some John Williams. And then my girlfriend immediately and correctly jumps to Elfman.

About Shore, he made the LoTR soundtrack.
I sat through the 3 movies, reluctantly, I actually fell asleep a few times. I love the fantasy genre but this I could not enjoy, too pretentious and too epic.
They're succesfull, good for them. And they have a lot of fans, good for them (probably you).
But is their music special and unique? No.

Zimmer, looked him up after reading his name in this topic.
Wow, he's got quite a few big titles and summerblockbusters on his name, but still, not as influential on the genre.

Now, for your game examples:

- MGS3: aren' the MGS soundtracks lately just rehashes of the MGS 1 soundtrack? (Been a while since I played, correct me if I'm wrong)

- Fallout 3: Absolutely lovely soundtrack, I always had Galaxy News Radio on ingame. But it's not applicable, because the person who assembled the songs didn't compose them.

- Halo/ Mass Effect (very similar music): well... Halo is popular due to marketing, and the free copies you got with most Xboxes, not due to being a good and innovative game. I played the first 3, co-opped the campaings, but it's not memorable at all. The music is very appropriate to the game, but is it influential to the genre? Or has that music itself been influenced by others? I think the latter. And Mass Effect is just 3rd Person Halo with a leveling system.

Wow, I completely disagree with just about everything you have said...

Its actualy difficult to find a more varied and deep musical score than Howard Shore's score for the Lord of the Rings. I'd go as far to say it's the greatest piece of film music since Star Wars and there would only be a few that might disagree with me. All three films have a unique musical feel, the character themes are instantly recognisable. Honestly, I don't know how you can pass this off as not special...

Hans Zimmer is probably noted for being the second most influential film composer since John Williams. His work on epics like Gladiator, The Last Samurai, Pirates of the Caribbean, Batman and Black Hawk Down have literally inspired hundreds of scores across many different platforms. To say that his work is not influential on the genre is just completely inaccurate!

And have you actually heard the Halo and Mass Effect soundtracks? They sound nothing alike... I'm not commenting from a fan boy perspective but the music for the Halo series has probably been the best part of games. And as for Mass Effect, they are two unique scores across both games featuring a previously seldom heard cross between 80's synth electronic music and some competent traditional orchestral elements. The second brought us some of the finest music ever produced for a game in my opinion. (I'm not even going to dignify the 3rd person halo comment with a response)

Frankly, omitting the likes of James Newton Howard, Howard Shore, Jerry Goldsmith, Joe Hisashi, James Hohner, Michael Giachinno, Hans Zimmer, Tenmon, David Arnold and Patrick Doyle is tragic and and indication of your lack of knowledge regarding film musical composition.

 

[Antwerp Caveman]

You're right on 1 thing, we do disagree completely.

Oh, and which are these hundreds of soundtracks influenced by Zimmer in the last 5-10 years (the timespan all the movies you mention have been released in)?

 

[BonsaiK]

Which do you think is best, and what piece will always stay with you?

As far as film composers go, I'd go for Angelo Badalamenti over anyone listed by any previous posters, although I do have a soft spot for Morricone's spaghetti western work. Favourite pieces by each:

 

[Raven's Nest]

You're right on 1 thing, we do disagree completely.

Oh, and which are these hundreds of soundtracks influenced by Zimmer in the last 5-10 years (the timespan all the movies you mention have been released in)?

Have you ever heard a soundtrack which blends Electronic and Classical orchestration together? Zimmer might not have been the first but he's certainly the biggest and in my opinion the best at doing so. His work has earned him an Oscar, several Golden Globes and a wheelbarrow full of Grammy's over the years (since the mid 80's).

Scores that run off the top of my head which have been primarily influenced by Zimmer include the later Call of Duties (and therefore every cod clone going), Daft Punk have citied him as a major influence on their stellar work on the Tron Legacy soundtrack. Many of the younger composers out there working on films whose name I haven't mentioned above will have been influenced by Zimmer's scores. I've studied music technology and virtually everyone I've ever met lists Zimmer as an inspiration. You just have to look at the amount of times he has been mentioned in this thread to get a feel for his influence.

You are in an extremely small minority of people who don't rate him as a composer, and that's fine if he isn't your cup of tea, but rubbish he ain't and he is sure as hell belongs in a list of the top 10 greatest film composers of all time. To disagree is to just be wrong quite frankly.

 

[Antwerp Caveman]

Ok, Call of Duty and Daft Punk are the only examples you came up with. Hardly "hundreds".

Electronic and classical together... the theme to Star Trek TOS? Just off the top of my head.

Furthermore, this poll started out as me asking everyone which of these 3 composers that I love, they love best. These 3 are influences on my musical tastes and development ever since I was little. (Go ahead and make a joke that I still have tastes of a child or whatever,I can take it )

It turns out, about half love Hans Zimmer and Howard Shore. And the music they made just never sounded special to me. That's why I never even considered putting them on the list.

Also, most of their work is too recent to have to have been as great an influence as the composers I mention. This is not criticism. This is just the times that we live in. They are contemporary, while the ones I mentioned have their roots and their legends in the 60's, 70's, 80's and even 90's. I'm not just talking about recent years, but about everything. And saying Zimmer or Shore is easy because their music is so recent that it will be the first thing that comes to mind.
But think about it for a second.
Think back.
Go to your childhood, your puberty, the first time you heard these themes.
Or put them on now and see how these old themes make you feel; nostalgic maybe?

 

[SimuLord]

My money's on Bert Kalmer and Harry Ruby, who composed all the song-and-dance numbers for the Marx Brothers.

"The last man nearly ruined this place, he didn't know what to do with it
If you think this country's bad off now, just wait'll I get through with it!"

 

[Raven's Nest]

Ok, Call of Duty and Daft Punk are the only examples you came up with. Hardly "hundreds".

Electronic and classical together... the theme to Star Trek TOS? Just off the top of my head.

Furthermore, this poll started out as me asking everyone which of these 3 composers that I love, they love best. These 3 are influences on my musical tastes and development ever since I was little. (Go ahead and make a joke that I still have tastes of a child or whatever,I can take it )

It turns out, about half love Hans Zimmer and Howard Shore. And the music they made just never sounded special to me. That's why I never even considered putting them on the list.

Also, most of their work is too recent to have to have been as great an influence as the composers I mention. This is not criticism. This is just the times that we live in. They are contemporary, while the ones I mentioned have their roots and their legends in the 60's, 70's, 80's and even 90's. I'm not just talking about recent years, but about everything. And saying Zimmer or Shore is easy because their music is so recent that it will be the first thing that comes to mind.
But think about it for a second.
Think back.
Go to your childhood, your puberty, the first time you heard these themes.
Or put them on now and see how these old themes make you feel; nostalgic maybe?

Do you realise how many hundreds of films and games get released every year? I can't possibly list everything because of the sheer number of them, I can only point to a few examples where I actually know he has been listed as a direct influence. Its easier than directing someone to a Williams influenced piece, as much as I love him, he is pretty much a one trick pony. Zimmer plays around with many different elements from world music, folk music, choral singing, classical orchestration, sound fx + ambient and electronica. He then goes one step further and fuses these diverse elements together to create memorable and unique film scores. He is a master at this and has been doing it since the beginning of his career. None of the composers you mentioned have become as prolific as Zimmer for taking this approach. Hence, it's safe to say whenever you hear a soundtrack reminiscent of the likes of "Batman Begins/The Dark Knight", "The Last Samurai", "Black Hawk Down", "Mission Impossible 2", which to me, can be heard in everything from "Splinter Cell" to "The Bourne Trilogy" and the recent "Bond" films, you are hearing elements of Zimmer's style.

Concerning the Star Trek score I do believe I said he wasn't the first, just the most famous composer for using that technique/genre.

You are basing your whole argument on nostalgia. Nostalgia adds precisely fuck all critical merit to a piece of art/music/film/game it's just a subjective reaction to a memory, in the worst case it can make us ignore faults and deny negative criticism... Just because John Williams and Danny Elfman were born earlier means their work is critically better? Bullshit! Zimmer's work already invokes a sense of nostalgia with works such as "The Lion King" and "Gladiator". Many people on this forum were not even born when these films were released. The Pirates of the Caribbean is immensely recognisable, as is Shore's work on the Lord of the Rings. And what about James Horner's scores for Titanic, Braveheart, The Abyss or A Beautiful Mind? Do none of these works warrant merit because they featured in films made after 1990!?!

What, in your opinion, actually defines a great soundtrack or composer? Because I find your critique fundamentally lacking in objectivity.

 

[Proverbial Jon]

About the recurring mentions of Shore and Zimmer; why did I not include them? Because I didn't think of them. When I think of legendary compositions like Morricone, his music springs to mind. And then some John Williams. And then my girlfriend immediately and correctly jumps to Elfman.

About Shore, he made the LoTR soundtrack.
I sat through the 3 movies, reluctantly, I actually fell asleep a few times. I love the fantasy genre but this I could not enjoy, too pretentious and too epic.
They're succesfull, good for them. And they have a lot of fans, good for them (probably you).
But is their music special and unique? No.

Zimmer, looked him up after reading his name in this topic.
Wow, he's got quite a few big titles and summerblockbusters on his name, but still, not as influential on the genre.

Now, for your game examples:

- MGS3: aren' the MGS soundtracks lately just rehashes of the MGS 1 soundtrack? (Been a while since I played, correct me if I'm wrong)

- Fallout 3: Absolutely lovely soundtrack, I always had Galaxy News Radio on ingame. But it's not applicable, because the person who assembled the songs didn't compose them.

- Halo/ Mass Effect (very similar music): well... Halo is popular due to marketing, and the free copies you got with most Xboxes, not due to being a good and innovative game. I played the first 3, co-opped the campaings, but it's not memorable at all. The music is very appropriate to the game, but is it influential to the genre? Or has that music itself been influenced by others? I think the latter. And Mass Effect is just 3rd Person Halo with a leveling system.

Ok, my response would pretty much be the same as Raven's Nest's below me:

With some additions from me:

Howard Shore - LOTR - Don't condemn a whole composer simply because you didn't like the GENRE of movies in which he has composed for. Granted the music needs to work WITH the movie but sometimes you have to review the two seperately to remain objective.

Zimmer is a good composer, perhaps you never noticed his music or ever looked him up because it simply works. You're not supossed to notice the background soundtrack, it is supossed to blend seemlessly with the whole experience. To say that he has composed for some great movies but you never even noticed, has got to be a compliment to some degree.

MGS3 had an entirely NEW soundtrack scored and composed by Harry Gregson-Williams himself with a full orchestra at his disposal too (I think he may have returned for MGS4 as well.) Hideo Kojima purposely set out to find a movie composer to give the game a more epic feel to it. It is one of the best video game soundtracks out there with some truly moving pieces.

Fallout 3/New Vegas - Did you ever just turn the radio OFF in the last two fallout games? Shock horror, there is an orchestral soundtrack which plays when you're not listening to the radio! It's a real shame so many people miss it. New Vegas has a truly epic soundtrack, composed by a real person... it goes beyond the signature menu screen theme I assure you.

Halo/Mass Effect - Did you just compare Mass Effect and Halo? Well prepare your flame shield my friend because many people won't like that comparison! Again, you can't just comment on the games themselves, you need to extract the music and study it seperately without bias. Both soundtracks are incredibly different and deserve praise in their own right. Martin O'Donnell did a fantastic job with Halo, it's my most listened to soundtrack, well all 5 of them are! He did especially well with ODST, although a lot of people hate that game.

Wow, I completely disagree with just about everything you have said...

Its actualy difficult to find a more varied and deep musical score than Howard Shore's score for the Lord of the Rings. I'd go as far to say it's the greatest piece of film music since Star Wars and there would only be a few that might disagree with me. All three films have a unique musical feel, the character themes are instantly recognisable. Honestly, I don't know how you can pass this off as not special...

Hans Zimmer is probably noted for being the second most influential film composer since John Williams. His work on epics like Gladiator, The Last Samurai, Pirates of the Caribbean, Batman and Black Hawk Down have literally inspired hundreds of scores across many different platforms. To say that his work is not influential on the genre is just completely inaccurate!

And have you actually heard the Halo and Mass Effect soundtracks? They sound nothing alike... I'm not commenting from a fan boy perspective but the music for the Halo series has probably been the best part of games. And as for Mass Effect, they are two unique scores across both games featuring a previously seldom heard cross between 80's synth electronic music and some competent traditional orchestral elements. The second brought us some of the finest music ever produced for a game in my opinion. (I'm not even going to dignify the 3rd person halo comment with a response)

Frankly, omitting the likes of James Newton Howard, Howard Shore, Jerry Goldsmith, Joe Hisashi, James Hohner, Michael Giachinno, Hans Zimmer, Tenmon, David Arnold and Patrick Doyle is tragic and and indication of your lack of knowledge regarding film musical composition.

Hear hear, I agree wholeheartedly!

 

[Victor Field]

Besides, John Williams is notorious in the music community for blatantly ripping off other composers. His tunes are catchy, but he's better known for barely dodging those copyrights than producing truly original content.

You seem to have John Williams confused with James Horner.

 

[Victor Field]

And I can't really vote because the range is just too narrow!

 

[Alade]

Well that was quite useless.
1. If those were corrections in my use of language, big deal, I'm not a native english speaker/writer.
2. If that was, how it reads, to make more clear that this concerns my opinion... where do you think we are? This is a forum. A place where opinions are written and shared. It's the entire point.

1. Neither am I but these are things everyone should know and pay attention to.
2. To clarify, while this is a forum, fact and opinion somehow have to be separated. This is usually done by the method I've shown you in the big bold letters. However I do understand that this may be due to the fact that you haven't had that much experience with the English language as aforementioned.


Now, since you've managed to insult my favorite composer and video games (The Mass Effects) in the very same thread, and since you're nowhere near a reasonable travel distance, I will go on a rampage against my boxing bag to calm myself down.

PS: If you're trolling, which is pretty much possible considering some of your opinions, well played sir, here's your free internet.

 

[xHipaboo420x]

All of those are good but {my opinion here} is superior to everything, for obvious reasons.

 

[Chased]

Maybe not the best, but I'd say Akira Yamaoka defiantly ranks up there as one of the best. I'd also say Trent Reznor (Natural Born Killers) and John Murphy (28 Days Later and Sunshine) are worth mentioning.

Reznor also did some cool sounds for The Social Network.

I'm gonna say Howard Shore, that stuff was epic.

 

[JLML]

Other: Hans Zimmer. Together with about 40% of everyone voting. :3

Seriously, he's made some of the most awesome soundtracks ever to be used in films.

 

[DevilWolf47]

...that's it? You give us three options? That would've been phenomenally lazy if you came up with good options. Where the hell is Hans Zimmer?