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LOG IN Forgot Login? Register General Discussion • Trading Post • Non-Film Score Discussion  Profile • Preferences • Community Rules • Help/Contact • Search Board Search Terms:  Search Within:  topics posts since 2019 2018 posts 2017 posts 2016 posts 2015 posts 2014 posts 2013 posts 2012 posts 2011 posts 2010 posts 2009 posts 2008 posts 2007 posts 2006 posts 2005 posts 2004 posts 2003 posts 2002 posts 2001 posts 2000 posts users  search tips  You must log in or register to post.   Go to page:  1 2      General Discussion: Stepmom by John Williams     1 2    NEXT   LAST   Last Post   Posted:   May 25, 2017 - 12:44 PM     By:   WhoDat   (Member) As an unapologetic John Williams fan, including many of his quieter works (Book Thief, Memoirs of a Geisha, Seven Years in Tibet, Accidental Tourist, etc), I was wondering if anyone else has a little trouble getting through his score for "Stepmom"...? I had the CD on while working yesterday and honestly kinda forgot it was playing at times. While I think JW's quieter scores are 95% better than most of the drivel out there today, "Stepmom" is a bit of a challenge. Am I alone here?    Posted:   May 25, 2017 - 12:47 PM     By:   KonstantinosZ   (Member) I think such scores need your full attention, and not listen while you're doing something..    Posted:   May 25, 2017 - 12:47 PM     By:   connorb93   (Member) Yes. For my money it's one of his nicest listens, though definitely a bit syrupy. Really the only "lighter side" score of his that I can't get through is ALWAYS.    Posted:   May 25, 2017 - 7:45 PM     By:   Shaun Rutherford   (Member) Just skip to the last track, which is beautiful and has such a great string arrangement underneath the guitar.    Posted:   May 25, 2017 - 8:11 PM     By:   Howard L   (Member) "The Days Between" and "One Snowy Night." The wintry effect. Ah, yes.    Posted:   May 25, 2017 - 8:48 PM     By:   drivingmissdaisy   (Member) "The Days Between" and "One Snowy Night." The wintry effect. Ah, yes. Some of my favorites as well. Always enjoyed this quieter score. Nice to see some love thrown it's way Shaun very right about the last track, GREAT stuff.    Posted:   May 25, 2017 - 10:11 PM     By:   tvogt1   (Member) Always and Geisha are the ones that do NOTHING for me. But most of his other quiet scores are quite nice. Not familiar with Stepmom though.    Posted:   May 25, 2017 - 10:34 PM     By:   pete   (Member) It's not a score I often listen to from start to finish, but I love the credits piece, the pieces that feature guitar, and the sprightly Isabelle's Horse and Buggy.    Posted:   May 25, 2017 - 11:38 PM     By:   Amer Zahid   (Member) This is one of the two Williams scores from his post 80's work that I have missed. The other being Varese's Presumed Innocent. Need to get these two some day!    Posted:   May 26, 2017 - 12:09 AM     By:   drivingmissdaisy   (Member) Just listened to it, track 6 the up tempo classical vibe is just fun. The Carriage Ride cue. Great stuff JW!    Posted:   May 26, 2017 - 4:27 AM     By:   Maarten   (Member) I love Williams in guitar mode, (just like that other great John Williams!) I like the Tedesco playing on The River too. These quieter, more intimate scores are a great counterweight after listening to Star Wars for hours in a row :-) As for "Always", I find it quite lovely too. That's a score I really have to pay attention to when listening, if not it can drift away in the background without making any impact, because of the light and "fluffy" orchestrations I guess. Among the clouds is one of my favorite Williams tracks (and has one of my favorite endings of a Williams cue!)    Posted:   May 26, 2017 - 5:15 AM     By:   Josh "Swashbuckler" Gizelt   (Member) I think that context is very important when it comes to appreciating music. There was an old thread on the original version of the message board in which Howard L described a specific reaction to certain cues included on the soundtrack album. Thankfully, he saved the thread before that version of the board was replaced with this one, and you can peruse it here: http://filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=1749&forumID=1&archive=1 As you can see, that conversation prompted me to buy a copy of the CD. To date, I have not seen Stepmom. It's not high on my list of things to get around to, either. I do spin the CD every once and a while, though, and the feelings that it evokes in me are the ones brought up in that discussion (those cues in particular, but in general the whole score). I don't expect that will change anybody's mind about Stepmom, but that's why I like it. I miss when threads like that would happen more regularly… alas…    Posted:   May 26, 2017 - 5:42 AM     By:   Graham Watt   (Member) I think it's beautiful, but it took me several goes before I "got" it. It's not in-your-face music, and in fact on first listen I thought that it was perfectly adequate but hardly outstanding. Then I persevered and on about the third spin it suddenly clicked. It works its magic that way. It weaves a hypnotic spell, but you have to put yourself in the right frame of mind and "let" it seduce you. Definitely a candles and wine job.    Posted:   May 26, 2017 - 8:04 AM     By:   WhoDat   (Member) I'll give Stepmom another spin in the coming weeks. But the handful of times I've had the full CD on it's felt a bit like wallpaper to me, kinda there in the background but not grabbing me or clicking with me. But everyone's thoughts about it are definitely appreciated. And following up on a couple more of John WIlliams' quieter scores -- Varese, if you're listening, your recent Stanley & Iris has gotten a huge amount of play for me over the past couple months! I would gladly instant-buy an expanded/remastered Always (which I still have on cassette, though never picked up on CD and the cassette player is long since gone). I always loved Always' balance of soaring strings and gentle moments.    Posted:   May 26, 2017 - 12:03 PM     By:   Thor   (Member) I absolutely LOVE STEPMOM. As for scores in a similar vein I can't get into (that just "sits there"), that would be THE BOOK THIEF to me. One of Williams' most non-descript works.    Posted:   Jun 2, 2017 - 2:57 AM     By:   Ratatouille   (Member) Does Patrick Doyle finished his score before Williams took the work ?    Posted:   Jun 2, 2017 - 8:24 AM     By:   Howard L   (Member) I'll give Stepmom another spin in the coming weeks. But the handful of times I've had the full CD on it's felt a bit like wallpaper to me, kinda there in the background but not grabbing me or clicking with me. Wish I had a buck for every film music album purchased just for a couple of tracks. Same went for many pop albums. We've had threads about this kind of thing also going way back.    Posted:   Jun 2, 2017 - 10:45 AM     By:   OnyaBirri   (Member) I've never heard Williams in full-on horror mode. Looking forward to checking out the samples.    Posted:   Jun 2, 2017 - 11:31 AM     By:   Thor   (Member) I've never heard Williams in full-on horror mode. Looking forward to checking out the samples. He, he. In all seriousness, plenty of effective 'horror tracks' on Wiliams' resume. I could list several, even from films that aren't considered horror movies per se. But that's a different topic.    Posted:   Jun 2, 2017 - 12:32 PM     By:   basmith   (Member) Stepmom is a wonderful score, and for that matter so are The Book Thief and the rest of the quieter scores mentioned in this thread. This style seems to me what Williams has done best since the mid-1990s. Unlike many other composers, some of whom I adore (Morricone is a prime example), I have found something of value in each one of John Williams's many scores.     General Discussion: Stepmom by John Williams    < 1 2  > >>  Go to page:  1 2   First Post    General Discussion • Trading Post • Non-Film Score Discussion  Profile • Preferences • Community Rules • Help/Contact • Search Board You must log in or register to post.   Go to page:  1 2

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