Best Scores of 2012

Even though it’s a month into 2012 and I haven’t written a post in forever, I thought it would be prudent to write up what I thought were the best scores of 2012. Absolutely no one has thought of doing anything remotely similar to this, so I’ll take a moment and bask in the illustrious light of my ingenuity.

Anyway, this was an OK year for scores, though only one I thought was worthy of two asterisks (the best of the best), with five more earning one asterisk (almost the best).  All in all, I listened to 29 soundtracks and found at least some merit in all of them. However, I did see some films that I did not get the scores too because they sounded downright abysmal.

A few brief notes about some scores that didn’t make the cut. I might be becoming one of Henry Jackman’s biggest fans, but Man on a Ledge was disappointing, aside from the somewhat engaging final cue. I actually enjoyed Jackman’s score to Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter a bit more than I expected, though it’s not one of his best. Harry Gregson-Williams’s Total Recall was of course nothing compared to Jerry Goldsmith’s masterpiece score for the original, though it had its moments and was a little better than most of the MV/RC dreck out there. Bourne Legacy by James Newton Howard had a couple of good action cues, but was overall rather nondescript. Alan Silvestri’s Flight and Danny Elfman’s Promised Land were decent, though very subdued and not the most engaging listens on their own. Elfman’s Men in Black 3 was solid and entertaining as all the MIB scores are, though the first is still my favorite. Cloud Atlas by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek, and Reinhold Heil was pleasant enough, but nothing revolutionary. James Horner’s Amazing Spider-Man was the best and most original score he’d done in a while (by his standards, at least), but I found most of it dull or cheesy despite the OK main theme. Christopher Young and especially Danny Elfman wrote better scores for the Sam Raimi trilogy. I didn’t buy or want the score to Hans Zimmer’s The Dark Knight Rises, but I think, due to its popularity, it at least warrants a mention. There, I mentioned it. Battleship’s score by Steve Jablonsky also warrants a mention because it’s ghastly. I subjected myself to Battleship the film, and hearing the score in it was egregious enough. I couldn’t imagine what listening to the CD would be like.

A special note on two scores: I saw Prometheus and didn’t think much of Marc Streitenfeld’s score. But Harry Gregson-Williams’s “Life” theme, which plays under the opening credits and numerous other places in the film, was quite captivating. I can see why he was hired to write that theme as it overshadowed by a disconcertingly large margin everything else in the score. 21 Jump Street has become one of my favorite comedies, and Devo member Mark Mothersbaugh wrote a score worthy of one of Hans Zimmer’s ‘90s action opuses. The opening logos blast us with a mega-muscular power anthem that stands up there with the best of them, and Mothersbaugh develops that theme along with a slightly pop-flavored love theme throughout the film. A remix (of sorts) of the power anthem plays in the middle portion of the end credits (starting as the crawl begins). Unfortunately, that score remains unreleased in any form.

In any case, here’s some thoughts about the 20 scores I enjoyed most this year.

20. The Hunger Games (James Newton Howard)

When I heard Danny Elfman had been replaced on this because he was busy on Dark Shadows, I was a bit bummed. But then I learned that his replacement was James Newton Howard, and I got my hopes up again. His score for The Hunger Games is quite subdued, but it grew on me with repeated listenings. “Rue’s Farewell” is a gorgeous cue of the kind Howard seems to turn out regularly, and his choral arrangement of Arcade Fire’s “Horn of Plenty” is glorious.

19. Mirror Mirror (Alan Menken)

Apparently the movie was terrible, but Menken took a cue from Jerry Goldsmith and wrote a good score for a bad film. Menken is best known for his songs, but his scores for films like Beauty and the Beast, Enchanted, and especially The Hunchback of Notre Dame are first rate. Mirror Mirror doesn’t quite reach those heights, but it contains the full romantic sound that he has become known for.

18. Moonrise Kingdom (Alexandre Desplat)

Desplat wrote less than half an hour of score for this film, which also contains brilliant use of Benjamin Britten music, some Hank Williams, a dash of Schubert and Camille Saint-Saëns, a Franciose Hardy French song, and a percussive Mark Mothersbaugh march thrown in for good measure. Desplat’s contributions are whimsical and quirky, utilizing varied instrumentation and orchestration as heard in the end credits demonstration.

17. Sorcery (Mark Mancina)

In my opinion, Mark Mancina has been missing from the film scoring scene for too long. So it was a pleasant surprise to hear a new score from him, even if it’s for a video game and not a film. Mancina employs lush Celtic-flavored themes and his trademark driving action for this fantasy game. The themes aren’t quite as impactful as those he wrote for films like Speed, Twister, Tarzan, and Blood+, but it’s an entertaining listen nonetheless.

16. Silver Linings Playbook (Danny Elfman)

Danny Elfman may have left The Hunger Games, but he would end up scoring no less than six films in 2012. Elfman wrote a highly enjoyable (though brief) soft rock-ish score for this highly acclaimed film, using a small ensemble including guitars and his own vocals. Some surprisingly tender piano and string writing rounds out the score. Elfman proves that a score for a romantic comedy need not consist of generic, syrupy mush, especially when the composer (unlike Elfman) has no idea how to write for an orchestra.

15. W.E. (Abel Korzeniowski)

On the other hand, when a composer does know how to write for orchestra, writing romantic tunes for such an ensemble tends to transcend the merely sentimental and approaches the sublime. The score for Madonna’s W.E. isn’t quite sublime, but the sensitive writing makes for an extremely engaging listen and further cements Korzeniowski’s status as one of the best new composers in the medium of film.

14. Skyfall (Thomas Newman)

John Barry is untouchable as far as Bond music goes, but David Arnold with his five Bond scores came the closest by far to approaching Barry in terms of quality. Thomas Newman in turn wrote a score for Skyfall almost worthy of Arnold. Newman hadn’t really written a full-on action score before, but he proved up to the task and brought his own unique style and sound to Mendes’s film. Skyfall is another score that grew on me, with its effective writing for strings and woodwinds and a tender, noble theme for M. Adele’s great song (not written by Newman) is the cherry on top (a real cherry, not one of those bright-red, fake looking cherries that taste like sugared plastic.)

13. Hitchcock (Danny Elfman)

For this biopic about Hitchcock and the making of Psycho, Elfman could have written a score in the vein of Bernard Herrmann, but he went in his own direction for the most part. He wrote one of his characteristically melancholy themes for the master of suspense, as well as actual suspense music that runs from silky to brooding and downright ominous. Perhaps as a nod to Psycho, there’s great violin work as well. Yet another great work from Elfman,

12. The Master (Jonny Greenwood)

Famed Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood created a highly complex and difficult score for Paul Thomas Anderson’s film, which apparently focused more on character than on plot. Appropriately, Greenwood’s score has no obvious through-line (at least not one apparent to musical novices like myself), but creates an individualized, distinctive soundscape that aptly reflects the various aspects that make up a fully realized character.

11. Snow White and the Huntsman (James Newton Howard)

Howard wrote a beautiful theme for a not-so-fairest-in-the-land Kristen Stewart (especially when compared with Charlize Theron, and let’s not get started on the substantial difference in acting ability). The action material veers dangerously to the generic MV/RC side, but when Howard lets rip with his romantic material, the score shines. I’m also extremely fond of his orchestral additions to Florence + the Machine’s “Breath of Life”—it’s a fine song, and I’m not much into modern pop music at all.

10. Dark Shadows (Danny Elfman)

Some have called this score “Wolfman-lite” (which in turn owes a debt to Wojciech Kilar’s Dracula). Maybe I need to listen to Wolfman again, which is indeed a very fine score, but I found Dark Shadows to be more entertaining. Elfman mostly plays it straight with Gothic, tragic, melodies and mysterious, fluttering flute material (a nod to Robert Cobert’s music from the original show). And that cheesy synthesizer portamento (heard in “Dark Shadows-Reprise”) sure put a grin on my face when I first heard it.

9. Brave (Patrick Doyle)

Doyle had a mighty comeback in 2011 with the mighty Thor, La Ligne droite, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes. In 2012, he continued with his score to Brave, an appropriate assignment given the composer’s Scottish heritage. In addition to some boisterous bagpipe jigs, Doyle also wrote two lovely main themes. One opens a bit like John Williams’s song “Somewhere in My Memory” from Home Alone, and the other is an evocative, traditional sounding tune he used for the vocal ballad “Noble Maiden Fair.”

8. The Avengers (Alan Silvestri)

Alan Silvestri followed his heroic score to Captain America with a slightly more modern, but still refreshingly orchestral score to this superhero epic. Silvestri’s talent for writing dynamic, thrilling action music is on full display, anchored by snippets of his Captain America theme, a malleable tune for Black Widow, and a simple yet rousing theme for the Avengers as a whole. The score meanders a bit in the non-action scenes, but once the action does get going, it’s quite a ride. Especially impressive is how Silvestri never lets the momentum halt in the lengthy mid-film and climactic action sequences while keeping the music fresh.

7. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (Andrew Lockington)

Lockington’s score to Journey to the Center of the Earth was a solid effort, but his music for the sequel surpasses it in every way.  His adventurous action music utilizes a variety of orchestral colors, and he introduces several distinct themes and motifs. The score has a measured quality about it and it never quite soars into the stratosphere, but it gets very high into the troposphere. (How’s that for taking a cliché and making it sound even lamer?)

6. Wreck-It Ralph* (Henry Jackman)

I’ve raved about Henry Jackman plenty, but his score for Wreck-It Ralph does contain his most emotional writing since his music for Kick-Ass (no joke.) He mixes retro sounds with catchy modern electronic riffs and dramatic orchestral themes. The more silly, slapstick music may not be the best listen separated from the film, but the score at its best approaches the masterful. The track “Wreck-It Ralph” is one of the few mainly electronic tracks that I find truly affecting, evoking all the hope, melancholy, and enduring spirit of the title character and his quest to find his purpose. It’s probably my favorite track of the year.

5. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey* (Howard Shore)

It’s no Lord of the Rings, but I actually preferred this as a standalone listen to The Two Towers. The new themes are subtler and not as memorable as most of those in LOTR, but the action music is a distinct improvement, with more interesting melodic things going on. “Khazad-Dum” was one of my favorite tracks from Fellowship of the Ring, and it was nice to hear more choral Dwarf action material. Insert your own joke about choral Dwarf action here, because I’m not witty enough to think of a good one right now.

4. Rise of the Guardians* (Alexandre Desplat)

Like Elfman, Alexandre Desplat wrote about 47 scores this year, but unlike Elfman, Desplat seems to do that every year. Rise of the Guardians is one of my favorite scores of his. Desplat was let loose to write a full-blown fantasy-adventure score that shows what he could have done with Harry Potter 7.1 and 7.2 (which are still pretty good scores) had the real You-Know-Who let him. Desplat writes the most fun, boisterous action music of his career for this DreamWorks underperformer, featuring a beautiful theme representing the power of dreams and a thrilling, David Arnold-esque fanfare for the guardians themselves (who apparently have nothing to do with owls).

3. Frankenweenie* (Danny Elfman)

Elfman continued his fecund collaboration with Tim Burton with this delightful score. He weaves together a tender, whimsical theme for Sparky the dog with portentous, intentionally over-the-top Gothic grandeur. One of the dark themes sounds suspiciously like Elfman’s own theme for Batman, complete with what may be the most massive sounding pipe organ in any score of his.  The skill with which Elfman meshes the lighthearted and ominous material is admirable. The main theme is lively for the most part, but the third trio of notes hints at something deeper and more reflective. And the darker music may be even more grandiose than the music for Dark Shadows. Elfman had a great year, and I thought this was his best.

2. Lincoln* (John Williams)

Any score from Williams nowadays is extremely welcome. Lincoln may not be quite as strong as either of the master’s two scores from last year, but it still shows that Williams has no living equal at his craft (save Ennio Morricone). Williams paints a restrained, noble portrait of the president, with a surprising number of themes, each rich in nuance. It may not break any new ground or contain anything overtly rousing and unabashedly emotional, but in contains that intangible “magic” that makes great music what it is. From the nobility of “The People’s House” to the almost ethereal simplicity of “With Malice Toward None,” this is definitely a score to savor.

1. John Carter** (Michael Giacchino)

Giacchino is no Williams (obviously, no one is), but he’s definitely one of the top composers of his generation. For Andrew Stanton’s commendable, entertaining sci-fi adventure, Giacchino took the style of his best music for Lost and crafted a magnificent, swashbuckling score that is his own. There are several high-quality themes, including the slightly exotic theme for Carter, a melancholy melody for Princess Dejah Thoris and a mystical tune for the mysterious Therns. There are also minor motifs for London, the six-limbed Tharks, and the treacherous Sab Than (sadly, there is no theme for Poopos Flem). On top of that are some spectacular standalone melodies, including a jagged action motif that serves as the spine of “Sab Than Pursues the Princess” and a dramatic choral composition in “The Prize is Barsoom.” Giacchino knits these superb threads together into a cohesive whole that serves as a perfect accompaniment to the drama on screen and is also an engrossing listen on its own. It all culminates in an exquisite, nearly nine-minute end credits suite that climaxes with a glorious flourish. This is my favorite score of 2012.