Goldsmith has indeed composed some mediocre scores - INSURRECTION and US MARSHALS comes quickly to my mind.But even his mediocre scores feature, at least, one interesting cue and are miles ahead of many of others... And PSYCHO II is not mediocre by any means!
I remember many of these usernames from various film music discussion groups in the late '90s or early '00s.
Lots of scores trashed on here and other places 20 years ago are quite beloved now. I actually don't remember Goldsmith's "Psycho II" being considered mediocre, but here we are. I've always found it to be a marvelous, gorgeous, fascinating score.
I remember many of these usernames from various film music discussion groups in the late '90s or early '00s.
Lots of scores trashed on here and other places 20 years ago are quite beloved now. I actually don't remember Goldsmith's "Psycho II" being considered mediocre, but here we are. I've always found it to be a marvelous, gorgeous, fascinating score.
Agreed, Dylan! PSYCHO II is a beautiful and haunting score.
I saw PSYCHO II back in 1983 in its original theatrical run and on the same day went into a record store and bought the LP; I remember I enjoyed the movie (I had just seen PSYCHO a week or two before on TV), but have not seen it since. The score by Jerry Goldsmith is a favorite though, I was very happy when the Intrads CD came out and structured the music more logically with the climatic "It's not you Mother" at the end. Excellent score and to this day a favorite.
Goldsmith later admitted that on reflection he did not care for the sound of the Chroma synthesizer which featured prominently in the score, which he felt had a "sicky sweet sound".
Brian May was supposed to have scored Psycho II originally. But as the production grew into something more "high concept" Universal wanted a "name composer" and Goldsmith was available. Too bad, I think May deserved the break (and would have certainly delivered).
The first time I heard this score was in the 80's when I could borrow LPs from my local library. I got it home and thought it was the most action packed and fast moving score I'd ever heard.
Then I realized the turntable was set to 45.
Still love it. Goldsmith's 80's output was amazing.
Psycho 2 score far more elegant and creepy than the Herrmann score
Yeah. It would be great if we could reissue the original "Psycho" and replace Herrmann's music with Goldsmith's. Maybe we can start an online petition?
The first time I heard this score was in the 80's when I could borrow LPs from my local library. I got it home and thought it was the most action packed and fast moving score I'd ever heard.
Then I realized the turntable was set to 45.
Still love it. Goldsmith's 80's output was amazing.
Ha, and here I am 20 years later taking and meeting the entire Psycho series re-watch challenge per recent Zoom discussion. I don't know if that's any eerier than seeing my responses from back then. Strange progression!
Regarding the synths in Psycho II, one of the rare instances where music was praised on Siskel and Ebert was a clip from Psycho II where Norman is holding a knife and Goldsmith's hissing synth sound plays and I remember Siskel saying, "I like that sound."
