Bloody hell! Tough question. There are so many. Certainly SOMMERSBY is near the top for me. I also love A SIMPLE PLAN. Then there are his 'classic' scores like EDWARD SCISSORHANDS and BATMAN. I must add I also love his MILK score, that one's been a real grower of late.
Hulk? One of the worst scores by Elfman? Really? Uau. I would say that's a joke. Have you heard Batman? Beetlejuice? Darkman? Batman Returns? Dolores Claiborne? Dick Tracy? Sleepy Hollow? Edward Scissorhands? A Civil Action? Any of these examples (but there are much more) is a much much MUCH better score than Hulk...
I think The Nightmare Before Christmas has everything I like about Elfman condensed into one score, so that is probably it. Other favorites are Batman, Edward Scissorhands, and The Family Man, and Charlotte's Web.
>>>>>>>Any of these examples (but there are much more) is a much much MUCH better score than Hulk...>>>>>>>
IN YOUR OPINION!! That's the beauty of things, everybody likes different stuff. His love of HULK is no less valid than your favourite scores by Elfman. My problem was when the theme reappeared in RED DRAGON.
I wouldn't place HULK at number 1, but it would probably have a place in my top five. There's a lot of dark, powerful music in there and even if you don't like it, it is far away from being the least of his work.
In addition to HULK, I mostly listen to his more recent work (meaning after 2002), with a few exceptions:
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE (still the best of the M:I feature scores!) THE FAMILY MAN SPIDER-MAN 2 CORPSE BRIDE CHARLOTTE'S WEB HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE THE WOLFMAN CIRQUE DU SOLEI: IRIS