So I finally got around to renting Evil Dead and was struck by how magnificent the score was. It's been ages since music for film grabbed me this way. I do remember his terrific eerie score for The Machinist as well and I wonder why he hasn't gotten more A list projects. From what I've read, the director for Evil Dead had to fight the producers to even get Banos on this project. I guess that says a lot about the industry.
Anyhow, I know he's done a lot of Spanish films and I hope ED can garner him more Hollywood projects. His music is a welcome contrast to the electronic/synth laiden scores of late.
He's fantastic and yes, his EVIL DEAD score is a huge breath of fresh air. The cue "Come Back to Me" is one of the most sincere, heart-wrenching things I've heard in a long while from a new score.
The sad thing is that he's done OVER 75 scores (!!!) since 1997 (virtually all large-scale orchestral works, often with massive choral accompaniment and a highly adept orchestrational nuances), and I'm fortunate to own quite a few. Here are some favorites I recommend:
SECOND SKIN - A gorgeous romance score, kinda John Barry meets Lee HOldridge by way of Trevor Jones' more lyrical side.
BACKROADS - Another great romance score with a really wonderful, Daphnis et Chloe-inspired title theme and plenty of jazz-infused pieces.
THE LAST CIRCUS - Tragedy/horror/humor in ample abundance. This one's a must as well (and the film is just awesome; This is one score where having the film's context really helps a lot). I especially the love dark, tragic love theme.
THE HEART OF THE WARRIOR - A great Sword/Sandals adventure throwback, clearly heavily inspired by CONAN THE BARBARIAN and other 80's fantasy gems but really well-done. Surprised to have never seen this one mentioned here before - CONAN fans will eats this one up.
FRAGILE - Utterly beautiful horror score in the Christoper Young model of "dark elegance". Some really breathtaking passages for children's choir here.
GOYA IN BORDEAUX - A dark masterpiece! Imagine is Penderecki and Sibelius hand a lovechild; This would be it. Dark, brilliant and often neo-classical in nature, with some brutal dissonance to match EVIL DEAD.
GOD IS ON THE AIR - A monumental score for orchestra and choir that is perhaps his most dramatic and Rozsa-esque achievement. It'll make you wish Banos had been given a shot at PASSION OF THE CHRIST!
INTRUDERS - Another great horror score in Christopher Young mode, with a creepy children's lullaby for a main theme and a gorgeous 'family theme' that's given some very stirring and dramatic renditions a la the aforementioned cue from EVIL DEAD (in fact, this score was used extensively in ED's temp track and in a few instances one will here distinct 'similarities').
ALATRISTE - A great period score for choir, orchestra, extended percussion section and spanish guitar. Often highly inventive in its intentional avoidance of period elements one expects to hear in epic scores like these. The more intimate, woodwind-led moments are a real treat!
DON'T TELL ANYONE - This early score has some truly heartbreaking chamber writing for strings and piano.
OXFORD MURDERS - A fun, often Herrmann-esque darkly elegant suspense score, replete with the occasional harpsichord.
I just acquired and need to still explore LAS 13 ROSAS, DIARY OF A NYMPHOMANIAC, THE MACHINIST, KOJAK BOX (saw this film; the score worked great) and a few more. There's a TON of his stuff out there; Most of it very obscure but so worth tracking down! He is especially adept at darkly romantic or slightly tragic lyricism.
His sampler ROQUE BANOS IN CONCERT is a real treat; Most of the aforementioned scores are featured and his ARAGON SYMPHONY's orchestral interludes are amazing; A brilliantly majestic portrait of vast mountains.
Some of his more jazz and latin-infused works (of which he has done many of both) aren't my cup of tea, but they're still well done. Roque has a fantastic ear and like most truly GREAT composers, he always orchestrates his own music. His command of the orchestra is unmatched by most of his contemporaries.
Hey bobbengan, thanks for the cool list. I have to check out more of Banos' stuff.
Without getting back onto that dreaded topic on the current state of film music, it is really sad that this guy is so talented but the director of Evil Dead had to fight with the studio to get him on the project....
I love his ED title card orchestral blast. It's kind of like a big "F*** YOU" to studios and focus groups and all that. he he he.
I had a chance to listen through ED today on headphones and I don't think there's any meandering as some others noted. He's extrapolated the brother/sister theme and broken it down in various cues but there's never any random stuff going on. It's a very deliberate score. And frankly it's a breath of fresh air to hear just orchestral instruments being played. The Pro Arte Orchestra he's used on a few of his projects and the sound is just terrific.
I have to check out that Sword and Sandals score you were talking about.
I really enjoy his work, the only little thing that bothers me being that he seems to lack of his own voice: most of his works are inspired on the style of another composer: rozsa-like, poledouris-like, herrmann-like, williams-like and so on... but anyway, he's a top composer.
The Machinist as well and I wonder why he hasn't gotten more A list projects. From what I've read, the director for Evil Dead had to fight the producers to even get Banos on this project. I guess that says a lot about the industry.
Well, Roque Baños has done a lot of A projects here in Spain. For instance he is the composer of the music for the greatest box office Spanish hits, the four Torrente movies. He composed the music for a great production as was Alatriste, starred by Viggo Mortensen. Movies as "Celda 211" (won 8 Goyas, the Spanish Oscars), "La Comunidad" or "El día de la bestia" are far superior to Evil Dead (or other Hollywood films) in terms of cinematography quality.
If for A movies you only mean Hollywood or US movies, then I think it is difficult for a foreigner go into a Hollywood production. I think guys as Alberto Iglesias or Javier Navarrete were able to do it thanks to Almodovar movies or Del Toro successful Pan's Labyrinth.
Per example, José Nieto, one of the greatest Spaniards composers, never composed the music for a Hollywood production. May be he wasn't interested or maybe he never had the chance to do it.
Apart from the fact that he, too, seems to be indulging in the post-LOTR trend of inflationary use of choirs where no choirs are needed, his music appears to be well-crafted and enjoyable. Another pointer that in this age of Zimmer there are still composers around that are independent of spirit and real craftsmen.
He's fantastic and yes, his EVIL DEAD score is a huge breath of fresh air. The cue "Come Back to Me" is one of the most sincere, heart-wrenching things I've heard in a long while from a new score.
...
INTRUDERS - Another great horror score in Christopher Young mode, with a creepy children's lullaby for a main theme and a gorgeous 'family theme' that's given some very stirring and dramatic renditions a la the aforementioned cue from EVIL DEAD (in fact, this score was used extensively in ED's temp track and in a few instances one will here distinct 'similarities').
So far only own these two on CD and agree about Intruders having that Chris Young vibe! Thanks for the other recommendations, I'm looking forward to discovering more from Banos.
So I finally got around to renting Evil Dead and was struck by how magnificent the score was. It's been ages since music for film grabbed me this way. I do remember his terrific eerie score for The Machinist as well and I wonder why he hasn't gotten more A list projects. From what I've read, the director for Evil Dead had to fight the producers to even get Banos on this project. I guess that says a lot about the industry.
Anyhow, I know he's done a lot of Spanish films and I hope ED can garner him more Hollywood projects. His music is a welcome contrast to the electronic/synth laiden scores of late.
Funny you should post this. I just (I`m slow!) watched the BluRay, and thought the score was definitely the highlight of the movie. The end titles are something I`d wish might have been played with in the main some more, though I suppose that may not have fit the particular suspense/gore-fest scenes.
They had to fight to get him? Thats silly... having a composer like this onboard is a big plus, not a negative.
This thread has compelled me to dig out a cool little book/CD combo called Recopilatorio, which I bought while I was in Ubeda some years back, but never really got around to playing that much (I seem to do that quite a lot!). It's a collection of themes from the various Spanish films he scored up to 2007. It's so neat looking, I passed on the chance of him signing it, while we were chatting to him, cos I didn't want to mess up the look of it (I'm not one for autographs or such like anyway). So, Howard Blake scores, a ton of John Scott titles and now some Roque Banos. I'm gonna be one busy little boy!
Unfortunately, film composers are not usually hired due to their talent. They are hired because they become household names, regardless of whether they are actually good or not. Think about the amount of talented composers today that are still in obscurity. There could be a hidden John Williams somewhere around the world and we may never hear about them if they don't make it to the industry. Sad but true.
Roque Banos is excellent composer and he deserves the same attention as say Hans Zimmer.
IMHO the best scores of him are those for Spanish movies.
I found his recent horror output less interesting than his previous works which are really marvellous. In EVIL DEAD and INTRUDERS he has abandoned his usual hermannesque style which I love. So I don´t find these score as good and challenging as his older stuff like for example FRAGILES or his thriller scores LA CAJA KOVAK, THE OXFORD MURDERS, etc. which are fabulous.
I hope his subsequent work for Hollywood will not cause permanent departure from his usual style. It would be shame and great loss. I think we don´t need another Christopher Young (as is heard in EVIL DEAD and INTRUDERS). We and film music need Roque Banos as he is!
Unfortunately, film composers are not usually hired due to their talent. They are hired because they become household names, regardless of whether they are actually good or not.
Which is kind of ironic, because almost nobody will go see a movie just because it says "Music by Hans Zimmer" (or by another composer).
I really enjoy his work, the only little thing that bothers me being that he seems to lack of his own voice: most of his works are inspired on the style of another composer: rozsa-like, poledouris-like, herrmann-like, williams-like and so on... but anyway, he's a top composer.
Same criticism people slap on Robert Folk all the time, though I still love his music no less even if there isn't a consistent SOUND between his scores, per se. Each one taken at its own merit, and you have a very different view of the overall body of work. Ditto for Banos!
