MovieMusic.com Message Boards: Williams's "Dracula"

Message Boards

Movie Soundtracks

Williams's "Dracula" (Page 1)

Archive of old forum. No more postings.

Please visit our new forum, The MovieMusic Lobby, to post new topics.

This topic is 2 pages long: 1 2

Author	Topic: Williams's "Dracula"

dantoris Oscar® Winner	Does anybody have this score? How is it? The "Videohound's Soundtracks" guide gives it four bones outta five. I've never seen the movie or heard even a sample from the CD, so I have no idea what this music is like. But I'd be more than interested to her Williams' take on the Dracula legend. Just curious.
posted 06-09-2000 03:41 PM PT (US)

JJH Oscar® Winner	awesome score! kind of a precursor to Empire Strikes Back, actually. according to what I hear anyway.
posted 06-09-2000 04:00 PM PT (US)

Scott Oscar® Winner	Yes. I agree. Awesome score. A good companion score would be "The Fury". Pretty much same style, tone and orchestration (I think). Scott
posted 06-09-2000 04:25 PM PT (US)

Chris Kinsinger Oscar® Winner	John Williams' Dracula is one of his finest scores. It's a thoroughly magnificent piece of work. Stupendous! I did my best NOT to say "awesome"!
posted 06-09-2000 04:57 PM PT (US)

Howard L Oscar® Winner	I've got the LP but have generally put it on just for the Love Theme.
posted 06-09-2000 05:58 PM PT (US)

John C Winfrey Oscar® Winner	The CD and LP of it is fantastic. Several great cues in the score. Frank Langella's Dracula is OK. Laurence Olivier is in too. The Night Journeys cue on the Nightmares CD of Mauceri and the Hollywood Bowl is very good. Highly recommended also. Five min cue. Best, John.
posted 06-09-2000 06:04 PM PT (US)

Cole Oscar® Winner	this is the unsung John Williams score. as good as the big names like superman star wars indiana jones and ET. the themes are incredibly and the music is wonderfull the whole way through. huge lush romantic sound. a must have
posted 06-09-2000 06:49 PM PT (US)

MWRuger Oscar® Winner	I have lost count of the number of times I have listened to this score. It is vintage Williams at what I consider to be the top of his form. (Not that he's bad now, but 70's and early 80's is my favorite period for Williams) It is powerful and strikes the imagination just so. Certainly no fan of Williams can be without it. No fan of evocative, soulful music should be.
posted 06-09-2000 08:09 PM PT (US)

H Rocco Oscar® Winner	A very fine score from the earliest part of the peak of Williams' career. I'm no big audiophile, but I've heard many people say that the sound mix on this disc is atrocious ... however, it's the only complete version of the score we're ever likely to have, and I'm not one bit sorry to own it. Nor should you be. NP: OUT OF SIGHT (David Holmes) (bought it today, $8.65 after tax ... I got tired of waiting for it to get cheaper)
posted 06-09-2000 08:44 PM PT (US)

Boris Oscar® Winner	Don't walk...RUN! to get this CD RIGHT AWAY! GO! GO NOW!!!! Stop asking us about it...GO GET IT!!!
posted 06-09-2000 09:15 PM PT (US)

Kevin Oscar® Winner	All I can say is that I agree with the learned company here. Go get it! Kevin
posted 06-09-2000 09:25 PM PT (US)

H Rocco Oscar® Winner	It just hit me, dantoris: you also started an identical thread about Williams' JAWS 2. Don'tcha get it yet? JOHN WILLIAMS = WORTH HAVING. One of the tiniest handful of composers for whom that is ALWAYS true. You can stop asking now! Yer gonna get the same answer every time! JOHN WILLIAMS (as with JERRY GOLDSMITH) always = WORTH HAVING. Got it? Good!
posted 06-09-2000 09:28 PM PT (US)

Swashbuckler Oscar® Winner	Dracula is a masterful score, intense, Gothic and romantic. Although the aforementioned "Night Journeys" cue is the score's centerpiece, I also enjoy the delicate strings and trumpet "For Mina." The Varese issue sounds... okay. It's a bit dry and shrill, but the music is so good that I tend to overlook these relatively minor faults, and instead allow myself to get swept away by the music. I'm a bit thirsty... some AB- should do the touch... NP - "Three Snakes and One Charm" by the Black Crowes
posted 06-09-2000 09:38 PM PT (US)

Chris Kinsinger Oscar® Winner	BUY JOHN WILLIAMS SCORES! BUY JERRY GOLDSMITH SCORES! BUY! BUY! BUY! BUY! BUY! BUY! BUY!
posted 06-09-2000 09:40 PM PT (US)

Lou Goldberg Oscar® Winner	Yeah, I think Rocco hit it on the head. Maybe you should ask what Williams scores you should avoid and figure the rest are worth pursuing. I don't even consider Williams as one of my top 12 favorite composers (blasphemy, I know), but in the case of Dracula, Jaws 2, and many other scores (The Fury, Empire Strikes Back, Jane Eyre, The Reivers, ET, etc), there would be an empty place in my heart without 'em.
posted 06-09-2000 11:41 PM PT (US)

Lou Goldberg Oscar® Winner	I've posted this before, but what the hell. My idea of the indisputable champs of film music are: Malcolm Arnold Barry Waxman Jarre Herrmann Rozsa Goldsmith Bernstein Morricone Moross Delerue Tiomkin I couldn't shorten it to 10. I couldn't include Williams though I love him. I realize Jarre has taken a lot of flak and that many people consider him worthless, certainly weaker than Williams, but he really moves me. NP: Police Python 357 (Georges Delerue)
posted 06-10-2000 12:16 AM PT (US)

JJH Oscar® Winner	I don't have a problem with any of those. I'm very much a product of the 70 and 80s and so am partial to that music, and proud of it. Long live John Williams, dang it! NP -- Marche miniature, Tchaikovsky
posted 06-10-2000 06:07 AM PT (US)

JJH Oscar® Winner	Chris Kinsinger hat geschrieb: quote: I did my best NOT to say "awesome"! Oh dear. Those first few posts ALL say "awesome" don't they? terrible.... NP -- Marche Slave, Tchaikovsky
posted 06-10-2000 06:11 AM PT (US)

Marian Schedenig Oscar® Winner	I think I bought Dracula together with Jaws 2 - as should you do, dantoris. It's... it's... AWESOME! BTW, JJH: It's "hat geschrieben" NP: Essential Goldsmith
posted 06-10-2000 08:11 AM PT (US)

Rang Oscar® Winner	DRACULA sucks! He really does. Williams' score doesn't.
posted 06-10-2000 08:50 AM PT (US)

Andre Lux unregistered	Listen to Rocco. Goldsmith, Williams = GET IT ALL! Specially the old ones... As for "Dracula" CD I must say it's a little repetitive. Basically they released only the cues which feature the "Main Theme". There's so many great cues left out of the album! This is a score in desperately need of an expanded version. And it's performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, which means no re-use fees excuse... Anyone listening??
posted 06-10-2000 10:18 AM PT (US)

Chris Kinsinger Oscar® Winner	OK OK Awright already! John Williams' DRACULA is AWESOME! It is AWESOME! AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME! AWESOME!
posted 06-10-2000 10:23 AM PT (US)

Luscious Lazlo Oscar® Winner	Dear dantoris: Dear dear dantoris. (Oh wow, a double-dear dantoris message.) I see that I'm the only person on this board who is sane enough to hate Williams's DRACULA. I'm serious. I loathe it. (And I consider myself a Williams fan.) DRACULA is painfully banal. It's boring Lisztian romantic music. The score also happens to be monotonously repetitive. If I remember correctly, the only thing I liked was the ending of a track called "Night Journey". Rocco & Swashbuckler are right about the crappy sound quality. It's dry & shrill.
posted 06-10-2000 11:17 AM PT (US)

JJH Oscar® Winner	oh dear. My German has gone by the wayside. Forgive me, Marian. It's not too awesome is it? Np -- What Dreams May Come, rejected score by a certain Italian composer
posted 06-10-2000 01:04 PM PT (US)

Scott Oscar® Winner	H Rocco and Chris: I agree. Scott
posted 06-10-2000 03:22 PM PT (US)

meegle Oscar® Winner	This score is very enjoyable and is 80% the reason I bought the film on DVD. Adieu4now P.S. AWESOME!
posted 06-10-2000 04:12 PM PT (US)

Mark Olivarez Oscar® Winner	I love this score, then again I love any score by Williams, except maybe EARTHQUAKE. If you see it as well as THE FURY grab it!!!!
posted 06-10-2000 11:00 PM PT (US)

Marian Schedenig Oscar® Winner	quote: Originally posted by H Rocco: I'm no big audiophile, but I've heard many people say that the sound mix on this disc is atrocious ... however, it's the only complete version of the score we're ever likely to have. As it seems the album is NOT complete, and I'm confident that we'll get more or less complete releases of nearly all Williams scores since Jaws sooner or later, I also hope we will have an awesome Dracula release one day. NP: Scaramouche (Victor Young; from Marco Polo's Captain Blood album)
posted 06-11-2000 06:48 AM PT (US)

H Rocco Oscar® Winner	Since it was an LSO recording, there might well be a remixed/expanded disc one day. Let's cross our fingers, people, both as a hopeful gesture, and, additionally, to create the sign of the cross against incipient vampires. (Honestly, I'm much more worried about werewolves, but that's me.) NP: my mother's just found a documentary about Arthur Rubinstein on TV -- ancient footage of him playing the piano -- something by Chopin, she believes
posted 06-11-2000 10:53 AM PT (US)

Darth Fart Oscar® Winner	The problem is that Dracula is not a big title like Star Wars or Supes which might hinder any chance of an expanded release. I've never heard this score, I'll buy it next time. NP Magnificent Seven
posted 06-11-2000 11:27 AM PT (US)

Marian Schedenig Oscar® Winner	I don't really think that CE3K's score was that popular among the "common soundtrack buyers", and yet it got a very decent score release (I hope the upcoming Jaws release has the same fantastic sound quality!) NP: Spaceballs (John Morris)
posted 06-11-2000 12:35 PM PT (US)

logied Oscar® Winner	I,m suprised that no one mentioned Jane Eyre when you want to compare one Williams score with another. Put Dracula and Eyre on at the same time and never come in out of the fog.
posted 06-11-2000 03:28 PM PT (US)

H Rocco Oscar® Winner	Remember that CE3K was one of the biggest boxoffice successes of its time, and while it's kind of been "overlooked" in the wake of such other hits as E.T. and the INDY movies, it DID deservedly receive an expanded release -- one that was certainly more expensive than an expanded DRACULA would be (wasn't CE3K done in Los Angeles? I believe so. While DRACULA, as I said, is an LSO recording.) DRACULA is an obvious candidate for an expansion, whether by Varese, Intrada, Silva, or (dare I suggest?) FSM. Just clean up the old tapes, pump in every available minute, and hey presto! Something that's liable to outsell half the crap that's already being put out just by reflex (I'll name you no names.) I'm feeling oddly missionary all of a sudden. GIVE US DRACULA! GIVE US DRACULA! GIVE US DRAAAAACULAAAAA!!!!!!! (It's not even one of my favorite Williams scores, as much as I do like it, but neither are RAMBO II or SUPERGIRL among my very favorite Goldsmiths, and I'm thrilled to have THOSE expanded discs. So how bout it, whoever's paying attention? We KNOW some of you MUST be lurking here ...)
posted 06-11-2000 07:42 PM PT (US)

Swashbuckler Oscar® Winner	Well, I don't know if it will outsell too many other discs, but I'd love to have an expanded version of this score. I have never even seen this or The Fury, but I love the scores.
posted 06-11-2000 08:55 PM PT (US)

Darth Fart Oscar® Winner	Let's ask FSM, I think this could be a good seller for them because Williams usually sells well, No? No re-use fees!!!!!!!!
posted 06-12-2000 12:16 AM PT (US)

Marian Schedenig Oscar® Winner	Rocco: I meant that I don't think the score itself is as popular as the usual Williams blockbuster score. Except for the final, much of it is atonal. Don't get me wrong, I love the score, but I don't believe that everybody who buys an expanded Star Wars or Raiders score also picks up CE3K. Swash: Watch The Fury! Whatever you may think of the movie as a whole (the plot is very far-fetched), it's masterfully directed, and I have yet to hear a score that enhances a movie more perfectly than this one. Watching and hearing the movie is really a stunning experience. NP: Superman expanded
posted 06-12-2000 04:34 AM PT (US)

Nicolai P. Zwar Oscar® Winner	I agree with all the voices who already praised Williams' score for DRACULA. Sadly, the Varese release sounds fairly poor because it's a straight forward presentation of the original LP; I think they just used the old LP master to produce it. DRACULA could use an extended and re-mastered release.
posted 06-12-2000 04:54 AM PT (US)

Marcelo Ferreyra Oscar® Winner	Hello Gentleman. Please, go to byy Dracula Now!!!! Is one of my prefered scores, so gothic and so romantic. Is one of the most deeply scores of Williams. Not so "In Your Face" as Superman or Star Wars but it has an internal energy that the others do not have. The Fury would be the perfect compannion. Especially the adagio for strings.
posted 06-12-2000 11:05 AM PT (US)

Scott Oscar® Winner	quote: Originally posted by Marian Schedenig: [b]Rocco:Except for the final, much of it is atonal[/B] Marian, Which Dracula have you been listening to? Welchen Dracula haben Sie sich angehoert? Scott NP:Mission Impossable (Elfman)
posted 06-12-2000 11:59 AM PT (US)

Marian Schedenig Oscar® Winner	That comment was about CE3K! NP: Dracula (why does nobody ever mention this score?)
posted 06-12-2000 12:01 PM PT (US)

Old Infopop Software by UBB