I am limiting this thread to us Horner fans, because I don't want to read comments by his haters that trash him and his music. We are folks that appreciate his talent and have that one score that we just were truly disappointed with. (And maybe you have many that you were disappointed with, but which one do you consider your least favorite?)
Mine would probably be Ransom. I find it to be lifeless for the most part. It only comes alive as the credits roll at the end. It also doesn't help that its CD presentation is AWFUL being that it is paired with that Billy Corgan garbage.
I would have to say it’s a tie between “Class Action” and “Unlawful Entry”. I just don’t find myself listening to them at all, even as a devoted Horner fan.
I would have to say it’s a tie between “Class Action” and “Unlawful Entry”. I just don’t find myself listening to them at all, even as a devoted Horner fan.
Kind of agree with these but I do like a couple tracks from each. Good themes. For me it is def JADE. Not one track I could get past.
Least favorite would probably be something from the early years because unlike the majority I have never really warmed up to that period of his career that so many cite as his best.
I think Red Heat is probably it for me as an answer to provide.
Well for me he's done a ton of things I love and many I don't enjoy. But it usually comes down to personal taste in music styles.
For me the biggest blunder was in a genre he excels at, animation. For the life of me I cannot get into "Once Upon a Forest".
Oh my. Once Upon a Forest is so so as a movie, but the score is a true buried treasure. A hidden gem. "Stuck in the Mud" is annoying as hell, but the rest of the score is terrific. Melancholic, touching, and easy to hum. The Michael Crawford song alone is worth the price of the CD.
So you are asking....Out of My Favorite James Horner scores, which one do I favor the LEAST? This is very different from "Whats the worst or most disappointing James Horner score you've heard."
I interpret your question as the former. Out of my favorite James Horner scores I favor Titanic the least. Its arguably one of the most memorable and recognized scores in the last 2 decades. And while it certainly pulls at your heartstrings and commands respect for James Horner a master film composer, its a very difficult listen out side of the movie. So much that I can't really recommend it to anyone unfamiliar with the film music genre. I'm talking about all the action and suspense music. It's just so loud and vexatious with all the constant big orchestral hits and anvil strikes. And with the very often wide dynamic range Horner's scores usually have, I have to constantly adjust the volume, from it going from too quiet to too loud in an instant. There is also the jarring contrasts in tones through out the score from the romantic stuff to the bombastic action stuff and then to the Irish jig stuff. I've never been able to just sit back in my chair and listen to this from beginning to the end without getting a little annoyed. So it would be last in my top 5 favorite James Horner score list.
I don't really mind if a score is "bad" so long as it isn't boring, which is why I can find something I like in almost all of his scores. There were a few autopilots in later years, where the music retained that Horner sound but became more abstract and less thematically focused. Chief among these is THE LIFE BEFORE HER EYES, which for me is the personification of a completist's score.
Five listens, and I still haven't warmed to Jumanji, except "Monkey Mayhem" which I always liked.
I watched that film for the first time recently (thought it looked like junk 20 years ago, and -- surprise! -- it was), and Horner's score was like a grab-bag of his usual fantasy/adventure licks stitched together with random shakuhachi howls. Definitely one of his weakest efforts from that mid-90's period.
