If I only bought scores from movies I've SEEN, it'd basically halve my entire collection, if not more.
Great film music does not require the actual film to enjoy. Sometimes, I've caught up with movies I had owned the soundtrack for years if not decades before, and it hasn't really changed my appreciation for them one way or the other. It's nice to hear it "in context", but oftentimes, especially with bad movies, it will make me appreciate the scores more considering what the composer was handed in the first place.
I didn't even know Vangelis' Opera Sauvage was a soundtrack when I bought it.
The series was never shown in America, and Polydor removed all references to its television origins on the American sleeve artwork, releasing it as if it was a studio album.
I do this a lot. Particularly with James Bond movies and Star Trek movies where I kind of know I like the score no matter what. Or I want to have the score no matter what. It’s also true for many old movies that I was too young for or not yet born.
I find it’s kind of an interesting experience seeing the movie second.
If you hear the music first, you will form your own impressions. Then it may well seem "wrong" when you hear it where it actually belongs. I abhor the practice but understand why it's bound to happen sometimes.
Just curious, what's to "abhor?" It's music, and can be enjoyed just like any other album.
I had this experience with "Lawrence of Arabia ", becoming a fan of the music before seeing the movie years later. This happens with movie musicals too where you become a fan of the song or songs of the musical by exposure to them before seeing the movie.
Summer of 1982 I had the soundtrack for ET before I saw the film. I fell so in love with the music, listening to it endlessly as an enraptured 12 year old, that when I saw the film I found it wasn't the same emotional world I'd constructed in my imagination while listening to the music in my headphones. I still prefer the world I imagined with the music.
Definitely have done this, usually in expectation of enjoying the film, but one that comes to mind is, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty." Found the score CD at the thrift shop for $1, hadn't even heard of the film, but read a few reviews and figured it was worth a shot. Now it's one of my favorite weird scores for an obscure film that typically flies under the radar.
The Ben Stiller version? That was a movie I felt deserved a bit more attention, but still fell short of the mark for me. The trailer is amazing, though.
I used to only buy albums for movies I was very familiar with. But over time, as I discovered I was a fan of a composer's sound I started to branch out. Soon I bought scores to movies I had only seen once and could barely remember, and then eventually blind buys for a few composers.
At this point anything Horner, or Williams from the late 70s onward, is a safe bet. And there are others like Silvestri and Goldsmith where I'll take a chance as long as the brief samples on the site sound appealing.
That being said, if I buy a score and become a fan I do like to watch the movie at least once afterwards to have proper context. The connection to a greater whole is a big part of the appeal for film scores vs standard orchestra for me.
Like most here, I got many soundtrack albums for movies I have not seen. Among my first soundtrack albums ever was JAWS 2 (on LP), which I had not seen back then (I watched it a year or so after I had the album).
I remember I was puzzled when I first saw ALIEN, where I knew the score from LP quite well, but the music in the movie turned out to be very different at times and applied differently than I expected. There were also many fantastic cues there that were not on the album.
There is a lot of film music I enjoy where I have not seen the movie and also are not particularly interested in seeing the movie. There are film scores that stand best in the context of the movie, like John Williams STAR WARS scores, which are operatic with leitmotifs etc. that are supposed to represent different characters and ideas, where the connection between the film and the music is very close and I listen to the music with that context in mind, but I can just as easily listen to music without any referred to context.
The majority of music I listen to is not film music to begin with, so I don't need a movie to enjoy music.
Summer of 1982 I had the soundtrack for ET before I saw the film. I fell so in love with the music, listening to it endlessly as an enraptured 12 year old, that when I saw the film I found it wasn't the same emotional world I'd constructed in my imagination while listening to the music in my headphones. I still prefer the world I imagined with the music.
What visuals to go with the music did you imagine that you thought were better than what was actually in the movie? Just curious.
I seem to be the opposite of most people. I CAN'T listen to a score until I've seen the movie/tv show. I just cant "connect" with the score if I dont know why it sounds like it does. It would just be classical music (which I am not a fan of). Its weird really and quite frustrating + time consuming! Specially if I'm really excited for a score but have to wait for the movie, or even worse, the whole season to have aired! And I even try as best as I can to find out which cue exactly from the release is being played. I often sit ready with the Shazam app trying to make it recognize the score and tell me which cue is being played. So in other words, it can be really stressful and exhausting for me to check out new score / watch movies, hah!
It did happen ONCE though where I completely fell in love with a score before having seen the movie. I was so excited for the release of the score as I'm a huge fan of the composer. And the movie just wasnt a movie I felt worthy of a cinema visit. But at the same time I couldnt wait for it to finally hit streaming services and then I "accidently" heard the main theme on youtube and I just snapped and listened to the whole damn thing!! This album is still one of my favorite movie scores.
But only that one time....wish I was the opposite though. Would certainly save me a lot of time! lol!
I seem to be the opposite of most people. I CAN'T listen to a score until I've seen the movie/tv show. I just cant "connect" with the score if I dont know why it sounds like it does. It would just be classical music (which I am not a fan of).
Absoluetly agree. I feel ditto. But the are exceptions when your favourite composer (say John Williams) has written a score and you have to buy it at first opportunity having not seen the film or not. Its a definite blind buy for me. But I ahve to eatch watch the film and connect with the score to complete the cycle.
I seem to be the opposite of most people. I CAN'T listen to a score until I've seen the movie/tv show. I just cant "connect" with the score if I dont know why it sounds like it does. It would just be classical music (which I am not a fan of).
Absoluetly agree. I feel ditto. But the are exceptions when your favourite composer (say John Williams) has written a score and you have to buy it at first opportunity having not seen the film or not. Its a definite blind buy for me. But I ahve to eatch watch the film and connect with the score to complete the cycle.
Oh I have bought plenty of scores before I've checked them out. Still has a lot that I really want to check out in my collection but I havent been bothered (or had time) to watch the movie or season yet so they're just stuck unopened in my shelves which is a shame but I am who I am, lol!
I practically memorized the Empire Strikes Back album during the two weeks I had it before seeing the film. I kept pretending it wasn't a film score at all, but the newest symphony by my favourite composer. I was under my headphones all day, every day, listening to the details. Then I saw the movie and was totally confused within moments, that the music wasn't what I'd been listening to. I try not to do that anymore.
I'm in the minority on here, but I generally never listen to or pick up a score until I've seen the film first. For me personally, the score is part of the film it was written for, so I like to see and hear the efforts of what the composer and director and filmmakers collaborated on in the first place.
I feel as though much of the emotional impact and the weight of the score is appreciated much more so when it's first heard with the film and scenes it was composed for. At least for me it does. It's just my opinion from personal experience that I've noticed over the years. I also feel like I don't truly appreciate the score until I have seen the film. The music becomes way more rewarding after I have pictures in my mind and specific memories of the film married with the music.
There are exceptions to the rule here and there, but generally I don't usually fall in love with a score until I have seen the movie it was originally written for first.
I'm in the minority on here, but I generally never listen to or pick up a score until I've seen the film first. For me personally, the score is part of the film it was written for, so I like to see and hear the efforts of what the composer and director and filmmakers collaborated on in the first place.
I feel as though much of the emotional impact and the weight of the score is appreciated much more so when it's first heard with the film and scenes it was composed for. At least for me it does. It's just my opinion from personal experience that I've noticed over the years. I also feel like I don't truly appreciate the score until I have seen the film. The music becomes way more rewarding after I have pictures in my mind and specific memories of the film married with the music.
There are exceptions to the rule here and there, but generally I don't usually fall in love with a score until I have seen the movie it was originally written for first.
Not that much in the minority.
Most of the time I have seen a film, or watched a tv series, and enjoyed the music so much I had to have any soundtrack attached. As time went on there were times when I just thought I'd take a bet and buy the album first. First time I did that was Star Wars back in 1977. The rest are basically Morricone's spaghetti western scores where I never thought I'd ever see the film.
I think in all honesty it's the right way 'round. Watch the movie first.
Back in the day of "blind buys" I'd go by composer. I can't say I've seen 90% of the scores I have by Goldsmith, Horner or Williams. Even James Newton Howard and Brian Tyler wound up in the collection without my seeing the films. Bernard Herrmann, Max Steiner or Miklos Rozsa? Ferget it. A handful of films from each guy. If I didn't hear the music until I saw the film, there would be VERY few amazing composers whose music I'd have been exposed to.
Nowadays, I don't have the money to waste on that, so I pick and choose.
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