The biggest flaw in TFA was John Williams. At best he reused some motifs from his classic themes. The bulk of his work was just atmospheric audio filler garbage. No themes. Unlike the older films - yes, even the prequels - this time the music cannot stand on its own.
For example, this was his biggest theme this time around: Rey's theme. The melody goes nowhere and its intro turns out to be the culmination of the whole song, like with that execrable Sam Smith "song" for Spectre.
https://youtu.be/65As1V0vQDM
Han and Leia redux would have been a good opportunity to add something to the classic theme, but after the first few seconds, it's just pompous filler with no clear melody.
https://youtu.be/1mRB-6IwZMs
My point is this: SW, Bond, ST etc. these movies owed a big deal to their music. If they want to continue them, they need to hire real composers. John Williams was just lazy this time.
>>64145006
The old man just went senile.
Why didn't he make a signature piece for this movie, like Duel of the Fates, Across the Stars, or Battle of the Heroes?
>>64145126
OP here. I guess it's basically what the first reply said. Wikipedia lists Lin-Manuel Miranda as a composer of additional music, so I guess Williams didn't do that much.
Also equally important is that nobody in Hollywood gives a fuck about film music anymore. There's no discernible composition anymore, just rich orchestration to complement the mood of each scene.
I have dozens of older OSTs on my phone, but I gave this 2-3 listens just to be fair towards it, but I feel no need to ever revisit it.
>>64145006
Why did a video game get a good original theme but not the latest star wars mainline entry?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyuVz1_knGQ
Were they afraid of ruining the nostalgia?
>>64145314
Tron legacy is one of my favourite movies for this reason, the soundtrack + the visuals is fucking magic. The story is decent too contrary to what many posters here think.
ran out of planets to steal from
>>64145006
>John Williams was just lazy this time.
No. He got no input from the director. With no inspiration you get nothing.
Williams is just catching up to the truth. Themes are obsolete. Leitmotif is passe. Hans Zimmer understood this which is why he moved to ambient music.
>>64145383
to be fair, I like RC soundtrack but I wouldn't want jesse harlin (or whoever wrote it) in TFA.
Jedi Steps is the only good track. It's the only one with a clear melody.
are you fucking kidding me? I know it's cool to hate this movie but jesus christ. the soundtrack was amazing. not everything has to be catchy pop-insipred orchestral pieces -- if anything that's lazier than what was in this film. john williams shows his true talent here, and his ability to adapt to new standards in the medium
>>64145126
He knew it wasn't Star Wars.
>>64145837
lol
>>64145837
Hahahahahaha
>>64145837
>and his ability to adapt to new standards in the medium
Agreed, the score was shit.
>>64145837
those are some big claims
>>64145867
>>64145878
the fact that you think I'm trolling shows how out of touch you really are. stop clinging to the past
Do I get to blame this on somebody or is this actually his fault
I don't want to believe
>>64145893
ok disney shill.
i really badly wanted to hear something like trade federation march during the whole third space reich scene
>>64145830
I liked The Attack on Jakku Village, Kylo's theme, the X-Wing themes, the Scavenger, and Finn's confession. Pretty comfy soundtrack desu solid 3.5/5
>>64145006
Wat dafuq is a motif?
>>64145830
if your definition of a good song is something with a clear melody, then you have shit taste in music and art in general
>>64145920
>third Reich scene
Totally overdone, and I just realized music could have fixed it
>>64145952
thats what i meant
music can fix a lot of cheesy over the top scenes
>>64145006
george told him not to help those white slavers
>>64145622
heheh
>>64145893
I think they were laughing at you, not accusing you of trolling.
>>64145929
Something you can easily google.
>>64145929
>a short succession of notes producing a single impression; a brief melodic or rhythmic formula out of which longer passages are developed.
>>64145947
I'm a musician. The soundtrack was filler.
The guy who did composed the music for the trailers was far more competent than Williams. He needs to retire.
>>64145006
I am mad because in the theatre it sounded like the drop in :46 seconds was exactly like the drop in from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBNJ-rAtUzI at :25 seconds in. All through the movie I couldn't help but wonder why they were copying it. But in this audio version the pitch is different. Bleh
JW probably wasn't a disappointement. Composers gives many, many themes to the people in charge, and THEY decide the ones they're gonna use.
For all we know, this was the shittiest themes JW gave them, but they went with them because they felt more like the OT than the others.
>>64145837
Come on now. I really liked the movie but even in the theater I felt like the soundtrack was very weak.
Hans Zimmer has surpassed John Williams as the pre-eminent composer of our time. Prove me wrong.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3lcGnMhvsA
They should've hired Giacchino and that's that.
>>64146126
>I'm a musician
Sure you are. How long have you been playing The Rockstar Game on your browser?
>>64145006
People complained that Howard Shore was repeating himself and phoning it in with the Hobbit score, but I actually found it much more memorable than Williams TFA score. I mean everyone remembers the Misty Mountains theme, and even fucking Radagasts theme was more memorable than any of the new ones in TFA.
>>64146232
Jerry Goldsmith
The Shadow's score.
That is all.
Perfection.
>>64146232
Generic. Zimmer is dicking around.
>>64146334
Bad example. He's apeing Elfman's Batman theme which is apeing Christopher Young's Hellbound theme.
>>64146232
Zimmer can great, but he's mostly really bland, and Williams has never done anything as bad as Zimmer's Amazing Spider-Man 2 score
Rey theme is great and only standout t b h
>>64146395
It's not apeing Elfman. The themes are really different.
>>64146457
Yet nobody remembers it
>>64146457
I agree. It's a great theme:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otmkdDB3mUg
>>64146399
>Williams has never done anything as bad as Zimmer's Amazing Spider-Man 2 score
Somebody didn't see Tintin
>>64146520
...
touché
you win this round
>>64146493
Kek
>>64146256
Giacchino makes the same effusive wall of sound compositions every time. There's no creativity or unique flavor to define the film, just blasting the listener with corny emotional melodies.
