1. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2
2. Wicked
3. The Fall Guy
4. The Wild Robot
5. That Christmas
6. Young Woman and the Sea
7. ARK: The Animated Series Vol. 1
8. Interview with the Vampire Season 2
9. Spellbound
10. IF
Composer of the year: John Powell
***** for 1-4. ****½ for 5-10. There’s enough great material from the year to not worry about including Christopher Young’s The Piper based on how that score was presented in its April 2024 album release. As for Young’s Nosferatu re-score, keep reading…
Said every year, but still bears repeating: many thanks to Christian for hosting this interruption of the board’s usual fanboy silliness, whinging, trolling, and smut - and many thanks to Craig for coordinating this event and owning its not insignificant administrative responsibilities.
Comments on the top 10
Warning: may include gaslighting
- I have probably posted enough about The Rings of Power here over the last six months or so (lol).
- Complete & chronological album presentations for major film adaptations of stage musicals largely don’t exist, so it’s not straightforward to discern how much, say, Alfred Newman contributed to The King and I or André Previn contributed to My Fair Lady. In the absence of concrete data, while I can’t say with absolute confidence that John Powell’s work on Wicked constitutes the most substantive expansion of a preexisting stage musical ever, I feel comfortable saying that it is at least on par with what John Williams did for Fiddler on the Roof.
- Three things I really liked about The Fall Guy that weren't just “simply pretty decent action cues at the end”*
*Those pretty decent action cues at the end are also brilliant. Please @ me.
1) Rock-infused action scores these days are often at best a kind of cool sonic wallpaper (ArborArcanist’s recent post about the John Wick franchise comes to mind). On the flip side, musical nods to the 80s are often either dated nostalgia (The 4:30 Movie recently did this, albeit intentionally and effectively) or the library music feel of Stranger Things. Dominic Lewis managed to live in both of these worlds while simultaneously avoiding their pitfalls, delivering the kind of theme-based writing we as a collective often demand of the genre without losing any of the coolness that comes from utilizing this kind of ensemble. His score has an extroverted personality and works to enhance its scenes in ways beyond just layering on a kind of modern ambience - and while, yes, one could argue that it stands out because such writing for the action genre is in short supply these days, that doesn’t make the accomplishment any less commendable.
Or to put another way it’s Bullet Train with all of the madness but 25% more coherence, with Lewis doing an even better job this time integrating his song elements into his score (and his own wailing voice, for that matter). How he incorporated Kiss without causing the movie to drift into high camp should be studied in schools.
Or - to really put it provocatively - it’s Lewis’ Cherry 2000.
2) It’s a masterclass in taking a seemingly simple theme and putting it through the wringer, something I may not have picked up on if not for an FSM piece that broke it all down. Lewis’ main tune exists in so many different forms - a rock riff, a rapid-fire stinger, and an ostinato for starters, with some of those played concurrently at times - that part of the fun of revisiting the album is finding some new wrinkle in how he messed around with the idea. By the time you get to the long-lined heroic versions near the action climax, you feel like the score’s earned the right to play it that way (one could argue the music nails Ryan Gosling’s character redemption / resurrection arc better than the rest of the shrug-inducing movie does).
3) Those conclusive songs are hella fun. It’s one thing to turn your love theme into an 80s power ballad. It’s another thing to crank out a rowdy jam that's a stealth middle finger to the Academy for not formally recognizing stunt work; some of those lyrics in Unsung Heroes are hilarious, inducing laughter amidst the head-banging. And if you thought Lewis hadn’t done enough with his main theme, you can find him singing it in the back half of his bizarrely catchy disco tune Ain’t No Galaxy, a track written early in his process for a chase scene that was cut from the movie (hence why it’s just an album piece).
- And to think there’s a first listen post of mine where I wrote that The Wild Robot didn’t seem to be terribly thematic. Oh dear. My only consolation is that sleuths digging in the Scoreboard archives will likely find several way dumber takes on my part.
- I wish I liked the Spellbound movie as much as I liked its music. Regardless, The Way It Was Before is Disney Renaissance-level good.
- I really should take advantage of Interview with the Vampire now being on Netflix to see how the music works in context…cuz who the heck’s gonna pay for AMC+?
- Star Wars: Skeleton Crew would’ve made my top 10, but as the IFMCA’s gonna treat it as a 2025 score I’ll throw it on next year’s list. Regardless, the #nepotism crowd sure got quiet after it came out. 
The **** residents of my 11-20 spots - in alphabetical order - are Takeshi Furukawa’s immensely overrated but also at times spectacularly immense Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 1, David Fleming’s surprising Damsel, Rob Simonsen’s outrageously fun Deadpool & Wolverine, Harry Gregson-Williams’ enticingly layered Gladiator II, Alan Silvestri’s serene Here, Gordy Haab’s faithful franchise continuation Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (complete with that swingin’ big band jazz!), David Fleming’s whimsical Jim Henson Idea Man, Stuart Hancock’s alternatingly rambunctious, mysterious, and heartfelt throwback Kensuke's Kingdom, Alexandre Desplat’s jazz-adjacent darkness for The Piano Lesson, and Lorne Balfe & Julian Nott’s giddy Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.
My favorite 2024 specialty releases
Not as much a ranking of film scores as how much I appreciated the album coming out.
10. Star Wars Rebels Season 4 - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=136026
9. LLL Goldfinger - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=137378
8. LLL Top Gun - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=132758
7. VS Deluxe HTTYD: The Hidden World - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=132742
6. VS Deluxe Eye of the Needle - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=136116
5. VS Deluxe For Love of the Game - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=136102
4. LLL The Godfather Part II - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=137847
3. LLL Jurassic Park III - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=137846
2. Intrada Backdraft - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=134759
1. Christopher Young’s Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror re-score - No post yet! For shame!
Breakdown of 2024 acquisitions - discoveries of older scores (2022 and earlier)
I discovered 146 older scores last year, which was 15 more than I did in 2023. You may have even seen me post about some of them (lol). The best of those were:
1. Victory at Sea (1952-53) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=136188
2. Mission to Mars (2000) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=135081
3. 1900 (1976) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=134124
4. The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000)
5. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=133031
6. The Gospel of John (2003) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=135150
7. Nostromo (1997) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=134903
8. When the Levees Broke (2006)
9. Shaft (1971) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=133957
10. Between Heaven and Hell (1956) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=133191
***** for 1-3. ****½ for 4-10.
Other ****½
Avalon (1990) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=134505
Malcolm X (1992)
North and South: Book II (1986)
Rocco and His Brothers (1960) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=133331
Scorpio (1973) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=134915
Secret of the Sahara (1988) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=134304
The Time Machine (1960) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=133281
Top Secret! (1984)
12 O’Clock High Season 1 (1964-65)
12 O’Clock High Season 2 (1965-66)
War and Peace (1956) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=133139
**** - 1950s
La Strada (1954) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=133080
Night Passage (1957) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=134397
Soldier of Fortune (1955) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=133191
**** - 1960s
Bob & Ted & Carol & Alice (1969)
The Boy in the Tree (1961)
Burn! / Queimada (1969) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=133512
Cactus Flower (1969)
Goldsmith’s GE Theater S8-10 episodes - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=136882
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown (1969)
Mirage (1965)
The Pawnbroker (1965)
The Sicilian Clan (1969) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=133628
12 O’Clock High Season 3 (1966-67)
**** - 1970s
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973)
Compañeros (1970) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=133794
Maddalena (1971) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=133937
My Name is Nobody (1973) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=134010
The Other (1972) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=139317
They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970)
You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown (1972) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=136088
**** - 1980s
The Betrothed (1989) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=134442
Frantic (1988) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=134369
Top Gun (1986) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=132758
**** - 1990s
Awakenings (1990) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=134625
Candyman (1992)
Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1992) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=134748
Nightbreed (1990) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=134774
Playing by Heart (1998) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=135032
Strangled Lives (1996) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=134785
What Dreams May Come (1998) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=134964
**** - 2000s
The Caveman’s Valentine (2001)
Inside Man (2006)
One Night with the King (2006) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=135215
25th Hour (2002)
**** - 2010s & 2020s
Star Wars Rebels Seasons 3 & 4 (2016-18) - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=136026
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 7 (2020)
Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi (2022)
Breakdown of 2024 acquisitions - other stuff
2023 catchup - 65, the most notable being Ahsoka Season 1, Blue Giant, Good Omens Season 2, Haunted Mansion, The Little Mermaid, Mushka, The Pigeon Tunnel, Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed, and What If...? Season 2
Expanded score releases - 30
Compilations - 14
Film recordings of scores I’d already heard - 2
Jazz / R&B albums - 109
Pop / rock albums - 9
Concert albums - 7
Classical albums - 3
Stage musicals - 2
Other - 6
My most essential non-score discoveries were:
1955: Julian “Cannonball” Adderley - Cannonball Adderley; arranged by Quincy Jones
1955: For Those in Love - Dinah Washington; arranged by Quincy Jones
1957: My Fair Lady Loves Jazz - The Billy Taylor Trio; arranged by Quincy Jones
1957: This Is How I Feel About Jazz - Quincy Jones
1959: The Birth of a Band! - Quincy Jones
1960: Under Paris Skies - Andy Williams; conducted by Quincy Jones
1961: Around the World - Quincy Jones
1961: Genius + Soul = Jazz - Ray Charles; arranged by Quincy Jones & Ralph Burns
1961: The King of the Gospel Singers - Little Richard; produced by Quincy Jones
1962: Big Band Bossa Nova - Quincy Jones
1963: Ella and Basie! - Ella Fitzgerald with Count Basie and his orchestra; arranged by Quincy Jones
1964: Jazz Impressions of a Boy Named Charlie Brown - Vince Guaraldi
1964: Sinatra at the Sands - Frank Sinatra with Count Basie and his orchestra; arr. / cond. by Quincy Jones
1969: Walking in Space - Quincy Jones
1970: Gula Matari - Quincy Jones
1971: Smackwater Jack - Quincy Jones
1972: A Message from the People - Ray Charles; produced by Quincy Jones
1973: You’ve Got It Bad, Girl - Quincy Jones
1974: Body Heat - Quincy Jones
1976: Look Out for #1 - The Brothers Johnson; produced by Quincy Jones
1978: Sounds…and Stuff Like That!! - Quincy Jones
1979: Off the Wall - Michael Jackson; produced by Quincy Jones
1981: The Dude - Quincy Jones
1982: Thriller - Michael Jackson; produced by Quincy Jones
1987: Bad - Michael Jackson; produced by Quincy Jones
1989: Back on the Block - Quincy Jones
1993: Miles & Quincy Live at Montreux - Miles Davis; produced & conducted by Quincy Jones
2007: A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina) - Terence Blanchard & colleagues
2013: Diversity - Emily Bear; produced by Quincy Jones
2021: Absence - Terence Blanchard featuring the E-Collective and the Turtle Island Quartet
Oh, look, MORE 2024 scores
Aka if I heard 200 scores from the year but don’t list them, did it even happen?
The nine other scores I have at **** - most of which arguably could’ve ended up in my top 20 if I’d done this exercise at a different time - are Benjamin Wallfisch’s occasionally challenging but largely satisfying Alien: Romulus, Laurent Perez Del Mar’s pretty Bambi: A Tale of Life in the Woods, Lorne Balfe’s retro Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, Fernando Velázquez’s playful Western adventure romp Buffalo Kids, Bear McCreary’s semi-parodic Tolkien palette cleanser The 4:30 Movie, Batu Sener’s capable extension of his mentor’s sound Harold and the Purple Crayon, Marco Beltrami’s stylish The Killer, John Paesano’s monkeying around with past and present for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, and Fernando Velázquez’s elegant and mysterious The Last Night at Tremore Beach, that last one a surprise entrant as an earlier collaboration with this director resulted in The Invisible Guest, one of the most obnoxious albums I’ve ever spent money on. The sole ***½ resident of my top 30 is Benjamin Wallfisch’s Twisters.
Anyone apoplectic at the recent assertion that I might be - gasp - lowering standards should be relieved to read that there were plenty of other scores from last year that received lower than **** from me.
Other ***½ (round up to 4 stars): Yugo Kanno’s ACMA:GAME and ACMA:GAME - The Last Key, Christophe Beck and team’s Agatha All Along, Danny Elfman’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Iván Palomares’ Carmen and the Wooden Spoon, Ramin Djawadi’s Fallout Season 1, Guillaume Roussel’s Family Pack, Arthur Simonini’s Fortune of France, Evan Call’s Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Season 1, Federico Jusid’s A Gentleman in Moscow, Dario Marianelli’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, A. R. Rahman’s The Goat Life, Fabrizio Mancinelli’s Go for Grandma, Wilbert Roget II’s Helldivers 2, Stephen Gallagher’s The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, Blake Neely’s Masters of the Air, Christopher Benstead’s The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, Alexandre Desplat’s The Most Precious of Cargoes, Dave Metzger, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mark Mancina & Nicholas Britell’s Mufasa: The Lion King, Jo Seong-woo’s A Normal Family, Siddhartha Khosla’s Only Murders in the Building Season 4, Ho-Ling Tang’s Our Oceans, Jeff Toyne’s Palm Royale Season 1, Henry Jackman’s Red One, Inon Zur’s Rise of the Ronin, Alberto Iglesias’ The Room Next Door, Yugo Kanno’s Sayonara, Maestro!, Tom Holkenborg’s Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Diego Navarro’s SuperKlaus, Hans Zimmer & Kara Talve’s The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Brian Tyler’s Transformers One, Robin Hoffman’s Treasure Trackers, Alexandre Desplat’s Unstoppable, Rachel Portman and Jon Ehrlich’s We Were the Lucky Ones, and the two What If…? scores (An Immersive Story and Season 3) by Laura Karpman & Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum.
***½ (round down to 3 stars): Michael Abels’ The American Society of Magical Negroes, Lorne Balfe’s Argylle, Batu Sener’s Atatürk 1881-1919 Part 2, Andrew Lockington’s Atlas, Frederik Wiedmann’s Batman: Caped Crusader Season 1, Jeymes Samuel’s The Book of Clarence, Kris Bowers’ Bridgerton Season 3, Jeff Danna’s Churchill at War, Craig Armstrong’s The Critic, Naoki Sato’s Diamonds in the Sea, Arturo Cardelús’ Dragonkeeper, Takashi Ohmama’s Eye Love You, Daniel Pemberton’s Fly Me to the Moon, Carlos Rafael Rivera’s Griselda, Wilbert Roget II’s Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance, Sam Haft & Andrew Underberg’s Hazbin Hotel Season 1, John Debney’s Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1, Andrea Datzman’s Inside Out 2, Philip Klein’s The Madness, Osvaldo Golijov’s Megalopolis, Pawel Lucewicz’s Our Folks: The Beginning, Dario Marianelli’s Paddington in Peru, Mick Giacchino’s The Penguin, Evan Call’s Sengoku Fox, Alan Williams’ Space: The New Frontier, Michael Abels’ Star Wars: The Acolyte Season 1, Kevin Kiner & crew’s Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 3 and Star Wars: Tales of the Empire, Wilbert Roget II’s Star Wars Outlaws (yes, four straight scores from this franchise!), Ilan Eshkeri’s Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, Nitin Sawhney’s Tiger, Steve Jablonsky’s The Tiger's Apprentice, The Newton Brothers’ X-Men '97 Season 1, and Why Dinosaurs? by Raphaël Dargent.
***: Brian Tyler’s Abigail, Taran Mitchell’s Alexander: The Making of a God, Jacob Shea & Laurentia Editha’s Asia, Pinar Toprak’s Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora - Secrets of the Spires, Hans Zimmer’s Blitz, Daniel Blumberg’s The Brutalist, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross’ Challengers, Daniel Pemberton’s Concord, Vatche Kalenderian’s Cygni: All Guns Blazing, Rupert Gregson-Williams’ Dear Santa, Giuliano Taviani & Carmelo Travia’s Diamanti, Nami Melumad’s Dream Productions, Hans Zimmer’s Dune: Part Two, Zbigniew Preisner’s Europa Centrale, Carlos Rafael Rivera’s Ezra, Julia Newman’s Feud: Capote vs. the Swans, Massimo Martellotta’s Finally Dawn, Antonio Di Iorio’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Masahiro Tokuda’s Hanasaki Mai Speaks Out, Mark Mothersbaugh & Nick Lee’s Interior Chinatown, Roc Chen’s Into the Mortal World, Fernando Velázquez’s Invisible, Steven Price’s Joy, Tom Howe’s Knuckles, Hans Zimmer & Steve Mazzaro’s Kung Fu Panda 4, Alexandre Desplat’s Lee, Dominic Lewis & Guillaume Roussel’s Lift, Mark Mancina, Abigail Barlow, Emily Bair & Opetaia Foa’i’s Moana 2, Carlos Rafael Rivera’s Monsieur Spade, Frederik Wiedmann’s Monster Summer, David Fleming’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith Season 1, Kei Haneoka’s The Name of the Game is a Kidnapping, Siddhartha Khosla’s No Good Deed, Rubén Melià’s Nordic Ashes: Survivors of Ragnarok, Laura Karpman’s The Only Girl in the Orchestra, Robert Lydecker & Kevin Lax’s Orion and the Dark, Emily Bear’s Our Little Secret, Pinar Toprak and team’s Our Living World, Frederik Wiedmann’s The Painted, Rupert Gregson-Williams’ The Perfect Couple, Richard Band’s The Primevals, Mark Mothersbaugh’s A Real Bug’s Life Season 1, Tom Holkenborg’s Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver, Uno Helmersson’s The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, Oil Julian & Nick Foster’s Renegade Nell Season 1, Johan Söderqvist’s Ronja the Robber’s Daughter Seasons 1 & 2, Christophe Julien’s Saint-Ex, Joe Hisaishi’s Silent Love, Lauri Porra’s Stormskerry Maja, Evan Call’s The Swallows Don't Come Back, John Powell’s Thelma the Unicorn, Christophe Julien’s This Is the Goat!, Mark Mothersbaugh’s Time Bandits Season 1, Pinar Toprak & Gerrit Wunder’s Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft Season 1, Hans Zimmer, Omer Benyamin, and Steven Doar’s Twilight of the Gods, Joseph Shirley’s The Underdoggs, Christophe Beck’s Unfrosted, Rupert Gregson-Williams’ The Union, Abel Korzeniowski’s The Watchers, Thomas Newman’s White Bird, and Piernicola Di Muro’s A World Apart.
Eh: Lorne Balfe’s Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Steve Jablonsky’s Borderlands, Volker Bertelmann’s Conclave, Lorne Balfe & Kevin Riepl’s Decoded, Hans Zimmer, Lorne Balfe, 11 assistants, and Corvus Corax’s Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Amaury Chabauty’s The Dreamer, Dave Porter’s Echo, Nicolás Repetto’s Empire Queen: The Golden Age of Magic, Daniel Pemberton’s Endurance, Fabio Frizzi’s Flaminia, Fabrizio Mancinelli’s Here After, Ramin Djawadi’s House of the Dragon Season 2, Joseph Shirley’s Killer Heat, Jacob Shea & Sara Barone’s Minecraft Education: Planet Earth III, Robin Carolan’s Nosferatu, Wilbert Roget II’s Pacific Drive, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross’ Queer, Mark Mothersbaugh’s [REDACTED], Lorne Balfe’s Sherwood Season 2, Aaron Zigman’s The Six Triple Eight, Steffen Thum’s Slingshot, Andrea Farri’s The Tearsmith, and Roque Baños’ Valley of Shadows.
Meh: William Marriott’s Beacon 23 Season 2, Martin Phipps’ Black Doves Season 1, Lorne Balfe’s Carry-On, Mark Baechle’s Edge of Space, Christophe Beck’s The Instigators, Mark Mancina’s Juror #2, Benjamin Wallfisch and the Galperines’ Kraven the Hunter, Lorne Balfe’s Off the Grid, Atticus Ross, Leopold Ross, and Nick Chuba’s Shōgun, Tom Holkenborg’s Skull and Bones, Jason Graves’ Still Wakes the Deep, Steffen Thum’s Stockholm Bloodbath, Ramin Djawadi’s 3 Body Problem Season 1, and Winifred Phillips’ Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord.
Oh dear: Naoki Sato’s 6 Lying University Students
The anti-score: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
One other random thought
2024, the year I got away with making a crass joke about Dimitri Tiomkin’s rear end. I guess this place isn’t that smutty after all!
