First off, a shout out to Craig for once again committing his time and energy to serving as project manager of this most geeky of endeavors. I think I speak for everyone when I say this has grown into an annual event we all actively anticipate and enjoy. Many thinks sir.
Second, the amount of diversity among responses so far has been astounding. 2016's 'decentralization of quality' has something to do with it...lots of 4 and 4.5 star scores, but limited alignment around ***** ones. But the 'down year' (debatable) isn't the only driver...one could also cite the increasing number of folks voting, enhanced awareness of international scores, and the emergence of more non-traditional score composers (Scott Walker, Manchester Orchestra, Hauschka, etc.)
I wouldn't be at all surprised if my list barely overlaps with the community consensus. And honestly that's fantastic. One of the great strengths of this group is the many discoveries I've come to enjoy just because some (over)excited chap started a thread raving about a new album or an old favorite. And even if I don't agree with someone's assessment...there's always next time.
I look forward to seeing what 2017 brings.
And with that...my Top 10 for 2016:
1) Tale of a Lake (Panu Aaltio)
2) ABZÛ (Austin Wintory)
3) La La Land (Justin Hurwitz, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul)
4) Gods of Egypt (Marco Beltrami)
5) Alice Through The Looking Glass (Danny Elfman)
6) Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them (James Newton Howard)
7) The Monkey King 2 (Christopher Young)
8) Kubo and the Two Strings (Dario Marianelli)
9) Now You See Me 2 (Brian Tyler)
10) The Banner Saga 2 (Austin Wintory)
Runner up: Doctor Strange (Michael Giacchino)
Composer of the Year is Austin Wintory, with Michael Giacchino a close second.
Track of the Year is 10 Cloverfield Lane’s eponymous end credits piece.
Expansion Release of the Year is Prometheus/Tadlow’s stupendous re-recording of The Thief of Bagdad.
Of the 65 scores I heard from last year’s films, completed TV seasons/miniseries, and video games, I thought the other really solid (i.e., 4-star) works were The BFG, The Jungle Book, Kung Fu Panda 3, The Last Guardian, The Light Between Oceans, Outlander Season 2, Penny Dreadful Season 3, Pete’s Dragon, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Secret Life of Pets, Sid Meier’s Civilization VI, Star Trek Beyond, Strangely in Love, Swallows and Amazons, 10 Cloverfield Lane, and X-Men Apocalypse.
Also worth citing are some high quality 2015 scores released in 2016: Penny Dreadful Season 2 (so good it would have made last year’s Top 10), Abulele, The Cairo Declaration, and Living in the Age of Airplanes. And special kudos to Debbie Wiseman's The Musical Zodiac, as well as the long overdue release of Danny Elfman’s Rabbit & Rogue ballet music.
