John Williams' THE FABELMANS (2022) (2024)

This cue might just be THE cue of the year for me. Just beautiful. Can't wait to listen to the whole score!

The audience stayed through most of the credits and John Williams got a big round of applause when his name came up.

James, your post made my day. So glad the audience applauded John Williams.

Well, it's a monumental occasion. One of the last new Williams film scores, and presumably the last for Spielberg. So I can't blame people for posting their thoughts on the album prior to watching the movie. As I said earlier, this is top 3 post-2005 Williams for me, and I can't wait to hear it in context. Alas, the movie won't premiere here until February next year, I think.

“John knew my parents well”, Spielberg said, “and loved introducing them to the orchestra during our scoring session which made my Dad so proud and left my Mom beaming.”

“He wrote this score as a gift to them and, when he first previewed it for me on his Steinway, I knew he had made this his most personal gift to me as well.”

“Thank you, Maestro,” Spielberg added.

(From Classic FM)

I'm one of that generation who saw their own families in Jaws and Close Encounters and E.T.. I expect similar vibes on this.

I actually think that Thomas Newman's solid, but rather unremarkable score to Bridge of Spies is the best Steven Spielberg score in many years. Here's hoping that Spielberg will go with Newman when he moves on from John Williams. That would definitely interest me.

The Fabelmans is not one of my favorite scores of the year, and it will probably end up getting a lot of unwarranted praise.

But then, i'm not a JW fan. I don't think that this score will convert Williams haters such as myself. Probably the only small positive thing that I can say about this score is that it is at least a more low-key score, unlike the typical JW bombast that he probably wrote more of for Indiana Jones 5.

I actually think that Thomas Newman's solid, but rather unremarkable score to Bridge of Spies is the best Steven Spielberg score in many years. Here's hoping that Spielberg will go with Newman when he moves on from John Williams. That would definitely interest me.

The Fabelmans is not one of my favorite scores of the year, and it will probably end up getting a lot of unwarranted praise.

But then, i'm not a JW fan. I don't think that this score will convert Williams haters such as myself. Probably the only small positive thing that I can say about this score is that it is at least a more low-key score, unlike the typical JW bombast that he probably wrote more of for Indiana Jones 5.

Really? There are John Williams haters here? Wow...

That said, I'm a Thomas Newman fan too. When Spielberg has to move on, Newman would be a great place to go,

For me it is very hard think of any JW score after '95 that I like or even a single track of his I like. I suppose there are small moments on extremely rare occassions, like say for example the opening titles of Catch Me If You Can that worked quite well I thought, but I would never listen to that score on its own. In terms of jazzy scores from 2002, I much prefer Elliot Goldenthal's The Good Thief.

I'm continually mystified, or morbidly fascinated, by people constantly on the lookout for discussions about composers and music they actively dislike though. People whose thought process is apparently, "Man, I've always hated John Williams. Oh, there's a new John Williams score and thread about it! I think I'll take some time to carefully listen to this score to see if I have the same loathsome reaction to it I've had to every John Williams score, and then drop in to this discussion to share my observations with people who clearly like Williams' music and are excited to talk about it!" What a wonderful use of one's time...

I actually think that Thomas Newman's solid, but rather unremarkable score to Bridge of Spies is the best Steven Spielberg score in many years. Here's hoping that Spielberg will go with Newman when he moves on from John Williams. That would definitely interest me.

The Fabelmans is not one of my favorite scores of the year, and it will probably end up getting a lot of unwarranted praise.

But then, i'm not a JW fan. I don't think that this score will convert Williams haters such as myself. Probably the only small positive thing that I can say about this score is that it is at least a more low-key score, unlike the typical JW bombast that he probably wrote more of for Indiana Jones 5.

In order to process your "hate" for John Williams - who are your favorite composers and name a score you like by them.

Sure, here are three of my favorite film composers and a score I like by them:

Elliot Goldenthal: Alien 3
Alex North: A Streetcar Named Desire
Thomas Newman: American Beauty

Also, Ennio Morricone, Bernard Herrmann, Leonard Rosenman, Toru Takemitsu, Georges Delerue, Nino Rota and some others - basically anyone who is innovative and imaginative.

OK, I now kind of regret posting anything at all, but it is too late to change that now.. But the truth if that there is actually some of Williams's music that I quite like, such as the Nixon score for example, otherwise I wouldn't care to check out his new scores at all.

Sure, here are three of my favorite film composers and a score I like by them:

Elliot Goldenthal: Alien 3
Alex North: A Streetcar Named Desire
Thomas Newman: American Beauty

Also, Ennio Morricone, Bernard Herrmann, Leonard Rosenman, Toru Takemitsu, Georges Delerue, Nino Rota and some others - basically anyone who is innovative and imaginative.

OK, I now kind of regret posting anything at all, but it is too late to change that now.. But the truth if that there is actually some of Williams's music that I quite like, such as the Nixon score for example, otherwise I wouldn't care to check out his new scores at all.

I don't disagree with you about some of his work post-2000 - some good stuff, but most of it isn't for me. It's the "hate" comment that baffles me and the bombast, because he's written some amazing scores since he began - perhaps you haven't heard them all? The Reivers is wonderful, Images is very interesting, The Accidental Tourist is almost my favorite score of his, monothematic as it is. Jaws is a masterful score, IMO. I'm trying to steer clear of the "bombast" you speak of - Close Encounters is also a brilliant score, IMO.

I have heard most of JW's scores. I quite like parts of Close Encounters of the Third Kind because it was something more progressive and daring than almost all of his other scores (I don't like any of the other scores that you mention even if some of them may be more interesting than the others): it might actually be my second favorite JW score after Nixon. Still, as much as I like parts of Close Encounters, I find much of the CE3K score to be somewhat of a chore to sit through. Nixon for me is the JW album that I like the most overall.

Parts of Nixon may be bombastic, but it isn't the usual bombast that we hear in many of his blockbuster scores, it was more progressive than his usual shtick. It was generally more subdued and also refreshingly unsentimental. The use of electronics in that score was also something different from what we usually hear from JW. As I wrote before, I find Nixon to be his most consistent and strongest album.

I take it anodyne was the word of the day and you are putting it to good use?

MV